Tag: fantasy

Crop

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

I missed last week’s update because I was doing a read edit of Seed. This week happens to be the day before the first day of the month so I’m combining the two.

After a great deal of thought, I’ve decided to close The Ethereal. This means His Halo is being removed from the schedule and I will not be pursuing more books in the world. This doesn’t mean that I will never complete the trilogy, just that there are no plans to work on it.

I’m not enjoying writing or editing the books. Readers don’t get excited over them like they do with others so it’s time to call it.

I liked the covers though.

So it’s the last day of January, and His Wings is halfway through a description edit and sitting just shy of 80k words. It’s launching April 8th so I’m determined to get this done.

Seed has gone through the first read edit and I think I like it better than At Death’s Door but that could just be me liking a newer story better than an old one. Once I have the description edit of His Wings done, I will input the edits for Seed and get it off to the betas.

Fragments is almost halfway through a read edit. Once that’s done and Seed is off to the betas, I will input it’s edits and get it up for preorder.

Depending on betas, I might have three books launch across a month.

I’m also working on a side project that started bothering me called The Others which is a blog story? I’m not entirely certain. It is an experiment for sure. It’s just written as the whim takes me and in between things.

Which finally brings me to February. It’s project is Crop which has gone back on the rotation instead of being a floater. With about ten chapters left to write, Crop will likely take most of the month because of how it is written. Its word count is unknown, probably somewhere between 35k and 45k at the moment. I believe I had just started chapter ten.

I can only write Crop on my phone, which leaves the mornings, nights, and work breaks open. Hence where I’m getting all the other edits done. If I finish Crop early, I will launch into writing Harvest almost immediately.

Depending on other edits, I will also start the description edit of Crop right away. If Seed launches May 1st, I want Crop to launch no later than August 1st, and Harvest on October 1st.

No word on March’s project yet. I have to get Harvest written by April 12th. Hmm, 13th, let’s say. That’s when my long commutes end and I want to keep that… that kind of pace.

I’ll miss those focused times for writing on my phone. I’ll have to get a longer pair of headphones so I can plug into my computer once I move and blast music loud enough to drown my own thoughts until I can focus. Maybe that’ll work.

His Wings Week 3

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Yeah, unless something turns around in the next six months, I’m going to close The Ethereal. It’s just dragging on and on.

The first draft is about 3/4 done, is only about 44k words and is mainly dialogue. I will get this done.

I thought I was just having problems because of the stress of moving. It does all kinds of weird stuff to my head, like swapping… homonyms? The words that sound the same but are spelled differently.

I contacted the moving company and three times used higher instead of hire in reference to hiring movers. I know higher shouldn’t be used, but it still happens.

I’ve reached a point where Michael pulls out his flaming sword (But on the physical plane it’s not exactly flaming without his grace) and all of a sudden tv replaced sword four times!

Stress, man. Whoever said stress is just an emotion and to get over it needs to be stressed out, shaken really hard and then thrown into their biggest fear.

Over the last two weeks or so, I have created an escapism world. Called The Others, I’ve been sinking into it at every available moment. While at work, on the bus, as I’m trying to sleep.

Long story short on that, I have a blog up for it and wrote about 3000 words of setup and just over 2000 words for the first entry.

So it’s the world, not necessarily my head.

I’ve decided to take a break from The Ethereal next month. I still want to finish the trilogy in the next eight months, but I need something that gets a little excitement in the writing department. Something I’m stoked to write.

Debating between The Awakened (there is no plan…) Prototype (a rewrite. A massive rewrite) or The Visitors (lots of plot, no ending) for February.

The Others has no clear ending so it’s going to be an experimental project and is on no list.

About 83 days to the move. I just want to get it on and going. I haven’t started packing, don’t have movers packed (waiting to hear about that question) and I need to start purging some stuff I don’t want to take with me.

Broken furniture, my ex’s stuff… the old computer tower I was like “I can totally save this!”

Anyhow, I’m on Chapter Fifteen, and I am desperately hoping to have the first draft of His Wings done by Monday.

Claimed Week Two

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

I finished Contract Claimed on November 11th at about noon. It wasn’t until I headed out for my passport photo that I realized the actual date, and that I missed a ceremony happening near me that I was supposed to go to. I can’t keep the days of the week straight, numbers are apparently beyond me. For some reason I thought Sunday was the 11th.

I’m disappointed in myself for forgetting.

After finishing, I took two full days off writing. If I finish early in the morning it’s technically two and a half because the days off start in the morning. But I think I need to shift the days off to my next weekend off. Monday, what with the day job, was a real struggle for me to get through.

I’ve made an amendment to the plan. It’s now write a book, read a book. The read a book isn’t strictly enforced because I may not always have time. These are indie books and likely always free.

I’m a broke author on the verge of starving artist, but all books will be downloaded legally so that the author gets that little nudge.

So, Sunday I read a book. And I hated it. That’s all I’ll say at this point. If I encounter a book I love I will, of course, go on about it and such. I’m all about spreading the good news.

Yesterday I went back to work. It’s all editing at the moment, as Fragments and Seed are both completed and are up next for publication.

Technically speaking, after that I can laze about for the next eleven months or so. I never promised publishing all the books I write in that twelve month period.

I doubt I’d make it more than a week before I started editing again, however.

I had planned on publishing Fragments in about two weeks, but life got in the way.

If this constant exhaustion could go away faster, that’d be fantastic. It’s my own fault for forgetting my iron supplement. About four more weeks before I see results. Ugh.

Besides editing, I’m going to be taking some time to help Beth out. She wants to rebrand, I think the word is. Come December I’ll be writing again.

Given the fact that it’s Christmas, and the busiest and most exhausting month of the year for the day job, I am planning at this point to write Contract Sealed, or more of finish it. I think there are four to six chapters left to write. It is not a full book by far and is within my rules for the year long run.

But four to six chapters in a month that last year reduced me to tears and a catatonic state once I left work isn’t asking too much of myself. I still have about sixteen days to change my mind but short of my workplace burning down, and my no longer having a job, that is my plan.

I can officially say:

Goal: 12 books written in 12 months

Current: 1 book written in 1 month.

Word count: (I’ll add this in once I have access to a computer)

Woo!

… But I know I’ll be cursing myself when I start editing.

Idle Hands

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

I’m going to go crazy, I just know it.

The update isn’t until Wednesday, but this is sort of the way to idle time away.

Yesterday and today are off days, as in I’m not supposed to be working, just relaxing and doing whatever the heck I want.

I played Sims while watching television and knitting a blanket. Then partway through the day I remembered an addendum I wanted to add to my year long marathon.

Write a book, read a book. This isn’t an enforceable rule because I may not always have time. And these books are not to be done by big publishers, or what is sitting on my shelf. Technically it is work, so I shouldn’t do the next one on my time off.

Anyhow, read a novella that was #2 or so in the same category as Contract Taken and I didn’t like it.

I’m not a pornography gal. I don’t want to jump to the part where penis enters vagina and I am not a fan of cock, pussy, fuck, or making childish noises during sex.

That’s how the author described them, not me.

But five hundred or so reviews, 4k on Goodreads, it must be popular. I’m still cursing about it, though. It’s not for me and I would not suggest it to friends.

Except Beth, I made her read it because misery loves company. She’s now cursing it and me.

Anyhow, I feel like I’m going to go mad and it’s only day two of my time off. The problem with today is that I work the day job today.

Day job puts me in work mode. Why? Well, this is our busiest time of year. Makes me want to throw my hands in the air and quit because people are narcissistic and self-absorbed.

I guess that just lights a fire under me. But I don’t think I could ever write a book that gets five hundred reviews on Amazon, let alone one that has so many good ones.

Lined his cock up with her entrance, what is he, an airplane?

Guh.

I went searching for another, but couldn’t bring myself to read another so soon. I want something to clean the feel of it off me.

Harlequin makes me choke on sappy and cliche, but that makes me choke on… well, on cock and not in a fun way. There has got to be a happy medium out there that’s not my own writing.

I mean, I know the books exist as I’ve read a couple but finding them is hard. And I know there’s readers for that but they’re the minority.

They’re the ones who remain seated during a strip show as the others stand and howl like banshees, grabbing and groping the dancers.

Do you know how awkward and disgusted you can feel when you’re one of those ones sitting? To be called a prude because you don’t want to grab a stranger by his ass or cock?

I guess the long and the short of it is: if I want erotica, I’ll have to write it for myself.

Or pray it falls into my lap.

Twelve Books in Twelve Months

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

It’s been a year since my first book was published. That’s right, Contract Taken has been available for an entire year! And I’ve only wanted to gank it down and burn it four times.

As the anniversary was coming up, I found myself looking back over the previous year at what I’ve gotten done.

Seven and a half books published (a half because the eighth is up, but not live yet) and written seven books.

Earlier today, I had somehow counted eight books. The first Contracted trilogy was written before Contract Taken had published. I have two books written and not yet published, another almost written, a fourth half-written, another three chapters into it and then NaNoWriMo is coming up.

I have all these books and no plan to actually get it done. I write a book, then immediately launch into the editing and publishing of the book.

Today at my day job, it dawned on me.

Goals are very important, without a goal you won’t achieve much. Or, you’ll have a goal, but no way to make that goal because you need little goals to get to the big goal.

I think I’m trying to quote my grade three teacher.

I’m tired and quite drained.

So, the basic gist of it is that I’ve been looking over the past year and then looking at the next year and wondering what to do with myself. I plan to keep writing and publishing, but how I could I build on what I’ve got now?

About an hour after it occurred to me that I should have a goal, like honestly sit down and decide something about the next year before I just decide to do whatever and only get a book or two written.

I am going to try to write twelve books in the next twelve months, starting with Contract Claimed during NaNoWriMo.

Seed, which is almost done, is not going to be completed in this number. I’m actually hoping to have the remaining chapters written before November 1st. Hopefully…

This doesn’t mean that I’ll be publishing a book every month. It only means that I’ll be writing a book a month. I may stick to the two month publishing routine that I’ve been doing, but then at least the books are written and ready to go. I’ve been able to relax with Fragments and I’m not quite so stressed about everything that’s going on with the book already written.

So… twelve books in twelve months. What are the books? Well, they’re up in the air basically, but my tentative plan is as follows:

Contract Claimed – November

His Wings – December

Crop – December/January

His Halo – January

Harvest – January/February

And that’s where things get weird. Crop and Harvest are being written on my phone, and could very well be the last books written on my phone, as next April I’m moving. The move will change a great deal, and I will no longer have a commute, which means I might no longer employ the use of my phone in writing.

I also come to a stand still on my plans. Those books have kind of been planned out. The plot for Crop and Harvest is complete and simply awaiting my completion of books that come before them. So is His Wings. They all go along together and are part of series and such that are already up and active.

After those are written, the rest are planned in no particular order:

Contract Sealed

Contract Delivered

Prototype

Sugar and Spice

The Visitors

Of course, this is a tentative schedule and there are months still to go. I could get to January and just drop everything for some kind of other hybrid. I’m really great at creating worlds, but not always completing them. Which is kind of the point of this exercise.

Besides, you know, writing a bunch of books that will get edited and published eventually…

Writing Marathon

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Writing sprint just doesn’t cut it for what I plan to do…

Okay, so I have some time off work next week and can’t afford to go anywhere, can’t afford to do much either. At least, not until I get paid.

I’ve been planning on writing Fragments for the past nine months. D.o.t.A. needs its next installment, and it needs it before I turn fifty.

I’m not near fifty, it’s a joke.

Anyhow, I had planned on writing Fragments over that six day period, so August 15th to 20th with a couple ‘free’ days afterward between it and a base edit to catch up if necessary. You know, if I don’t make it.

Yesterday on my lunch break, I tried to do marketing but my computer had some kind of a weird malfunction and wouldn’t connect to the internet, then spent the half hour restarting. Note: this is my new computer, not a work computer of any sort.

So, one, it should have worked, and two, I am not using company time or resources for my writing. Just, you know, you’d be surprised who gets in a tizzy over the mere implication of that.

Anywho.

While the computer was doing its thing, I had a paper I had started that morning with sites I had already applied to. Fifteen and counting, none of them are likely to market me but it’s that slim chance I put in the effort for.

I flipped the paper over and started doing some math, because I was in work mode and wanted to do something with my time besides stare at a wall, or at my phone.

I broke down Seed, it may be possible to finish it by Sept 7th. I will try my best. His Grace is already done. Two projects laid out for both writing and editing.

Next week is Fragments. I fully intend to try to write this entire book in a week. So, ninety thousand words all told.

Broken down, I gave myself Monday as well. I’m working Monday but that’s never stopped me from writing. Aside from ritualistic things once I get off work, I’m good to go by about 5pm. Normally that time is 8, so even better.

Each day I need to write approximately 12,837 words, I belive it was. That’s about 8hrs of work (taking into account that I can write 3k words in two hours on my commutes) a day. Still leaving theoretical time to do other things.

Which is good, because I’ve got a vet appointment one day, and a social outing planned another day.

I’ve written a book in a week before. Locked up in my little apartment, playing Sims and writing. No TV, this was before Netflix and my internet sucked. Not that I had any websites to visit back then.

I know in theory this can work. But theory doesn’t always work. With my luck, the landlord will spray for pests and somehow light the apartment on fire and then a flaming raccoon will leap from the roof onto my head.

Oh, yeah, there are raccoons living in my ceiling. They’re bringing bedbugs in with them and I’ve filed yet another complaint about the raccoons, adding in their infested ways.

So, my possible worse situation isn’t entirely impossible.

I have no idea what my plot is, it’s supposed to be a lot smuttier than Masked Intentions, but it’s too late to choose another, as I have absolutely no plans for anything but Seed.

Wish me luck.

His Grace

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Per everything I do, here is the first chapter of His Grace, unedited like most of my excerpts because plot and description sometimes changes, such on and so forth.

The Angel series takes place in a world where the most effective way to exorcise a demon is sex. And poor Grace is the victim of targeted demonic attacks, no one can figure out why.

While this series is supposed to have a lot of sex in it, it’s also supposed to explore a romantic sort of relationship. Sam doesn’t just throw Grace down and has his way with her.

Comments, complaints, or hopes for the series? Leave a note.

This does not end in a cliffhanger, it ends in a happy-for-now style.

Continue reading “His Grace” →

Angels

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

So this weekend I want to take a break from the eight freaking weeks I’m behind. It’s stressing me out, and when I get stressed out, I stop writing. A weekend off is just what I need.

Except it’s not exactly off…

I will be working the weekend through on a new series, whose only title is Angels so far. The series title will come to me. The titles for each of the books has come to me, which is fabulous.

These books will be more along the lines of the Contracted series than of D.o.t.A or Wraith’s Rebellion. Meaning, more erotica, less adventure and such. While writing up the plot I got the base down and then stopped, looked at it and went, “how many places can I add sex without it seeming too much?”

The first book (His Grace) is an introduction to the Angelica brothers: Sam, Gabe, Ralph, and Mike. We start off with Grace at a bar, running into Gabe and er… getting to know one another… and then going from there through her introduction to Sam.

This is a world where the quickest, and least lethal, way of exorcising a demon or saving a soul from evil spells is having sex with them. Basically, sex is like the turning it off, then turning it back on again of the soul and Grace has an error on her hard drive that needs to be fixed.

Demons keep latching onto Grace’s mind and trying to locate her in a bustling city, it’s Sam’s job to figure out why the cute, innocent, young woman is being hunted by demons when she presents with none of the signs of a supernatural creature. She’s just a human who likes helping other humans. As far as demonic hosts go, she’s about as far as a human can be.

He was just supposed to save her soul, but the more time Sam spends with Grace, the more he thinks about her, craving the taste of her lips and the warmth of her skin under his fingertips.

Second Round of Edits

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

At Death’s Door is going through another round of edits. I just finished the read through and I can see the spots and holes and problems. Then I can see things that are nagging as you read, like, you know… that’s not what he said before.

The timeline is definitely all over the place.

Here’s the thing, I’ve got two options. Do things and fix all the things, or use those slip ups to my advantage. Some of them may not have been slip ups, they could have been Quin losing track of time, or mixing up memories. I believe he says as much.

He also says a couple of times that they were instructed not to scare the delicate little mortals.

Then there were some nagging bits bothering me so I went to the character causing them and handed them to her and we looked at one another for a time. She considered not telling me, I could see it in her eyes. She’s not a character whose head I ride inside of, sometimes they surprise me.

In the end she told me.

There are nagging bits and burrs and seeing the end of the trilogy, I just kind of sat there for a minute, then started shouting at the characters.

Ah well.

Knowing that ending allows me to alter a few things. It kind of explains a few things, why things sat the way they did. Why that one was just like that, why that person was just so. I can smooth a few things over or rough them up in a few other places.

There were bits and pieces that I absolutely loved, but then the voice changed. So I need to go back and recreate that voice through the entire thing.

I’m on chapter two of that re-write (sure, let’s just call it a re-write instead of an edit) and I’m having difficulty moving forward.

I don’t want to do this again.

Quin’s is a story of abuse that spans centuries. It’s the kind of abuse that people normally give flowery names to. If he had been born a girl, he might have even been called a “child bride” instead of facing the truth.

And he’s completely unapologetic about it. You asked what happened, this is what happened, don’t get weepy or bristled about it, it didn’t happen to you. Unless it did, then respect that this is how he has come to terms with what was done to him.

He’s also at a critical stage of his growth. He hadn’t quite shrugged off his abuser, but he’s about to face the man for the first time in centuries. It could go either way. He could fall into that trap again, or make the next step and defy, finally coming to terms with the fact that he is in control, he can take control of his abuser.

Because this is a vampire, after that step he could, in theory, become the abuser. He could exact every revenge fantasy of every body in the world.

But I don’t think Quin’s like that. He’s thought of ending it all, but never torment or revenge.

He just wants it to end.

And I don’t want to go through his life story again, adding in more details as he dictates them.

But I will.

Because he asked me to.

If what he was asking me to add would alter that voice that dragged me into the narration, I would say no to him. There’d be no point otherwise. I’m all for a whipping boy, but even I can only take a character being subjected to so much.

Like pretty well all my stories, there’s probably a light at the end of the mine shaft I dropped them down. Things probably work out in the end. But that doesn’t change the fact that Quin spent fifteen hundred years, his entire life, in an abusive relationship because he didn’t have the support he needed to get free.

Not until Helen walked in, called him Mr. Fedora, and asked him why?