Tag: writing

At Death’s Door

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

I opened At Death’s Door and discovered that I was almost done with the first round of edits. These were mainly typos, autocorrect issues, and some formatting. The story is now on my phone in pdf form and I’m going to give it a read to check the global edits. This includes adding things that I couldn’t during the initial writing, going back and revisiting all descriptions, and such on and so forth.

I found a premade cover today that I quite like the look of, one from someone Beth has used in the past. They’re even offering to do the wraps now! Beth had to make her own… or maybe Beth didn’t read the entire site like she lectured me on doing several times. She gets like that sometimes.

So I need to rush through and get the edits set up so that I know the approximate length of the print book to get the cover ordered. Once I have the additions to it and the cover on order I’ll run back and start over as if I haven’t done any edits at all.

Which means a read and mark down edits. Then a read to make certain I didn’t create a typo in the mean time, because I do that because I’m stupid. Then through a grammatical editing program which does all right. Then another read to make certain I didn’t make a typo again, because I do that because I’m stupid.

Then I’m going to ask for a beta reader.

While they have the book I’ll read it again in the freaked out way I do. Which is basically as follows:

OH GOD SOMEONE IS READING MY BOOK WHAT ARE THEY READING WHAT DID I DO OH GOD WHY DID I DO THAT THERE’S A COMMA MISSING RIGHT THERE IM STUPID AND SHOULD JUST GIVE UP.

No punctuation whatsoever, just screaming at the top of my lungs inside my head as I start ripping it apart for more errors.

As Beth says, the editor in me hates the writer in me.

The Missing Link

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Or in this case, too many links.

Prototype has been on my work desk, so to speak, since September when it seemed to fight every step of the way. Since then I’ve revisited it in the planning stages several times. Each time I can only shrug and put it back on the shelf, uncertain of what happened.

I think I figured it out. 

I  was walking to the bus stop and thinking about Contract Signed which is m/m. That’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea and Signed would be my first published m/m so those who are not long time readers are not going to be expecting it so much.

Just because I keep talking about it, doesn’t mean people are listening. In fact, for me it almost guarantees that no one who the warnings are for are listening. That’s the way it goes, how it’s always gone.

So, walking to the bus stop, I’m trying to figure out how to word that once the trilogy is complete and ready to go. It kind of comes to me, except inside my head me was all “if you don’t like this, give me about an hour.”

And I went, “What the fuck does that mean? Who can come up with a solution in an hour? This is problem solving time, not fantasy!”

To which the voice inside my head said something very mean.

A few minutes later I was presented with another status update that started with, “and for all you readers, here’s a m/f story.”

To which I did role call to try to put something in that spot.

Prototype is always at the top of role call. Every month I’ve started, or said I was going to start, a new story, Prototype is the first story brought up as a possibility. 

This time the voice didn’t ask. The world was dumped on me and then we proceeded arguing with one another about it being broken and which of us was to blame for it being broken. 

Yes, I talk and argue with myself inside my head. But it’s nice to have a sounding board sometimes. 

At some point the voice in my head started ripping scenes out of Prototype and basically throwing them out as I protested that it couldn’t go. We needed that and that and…

And then it hit me in the face with the pared down version. 

Which had removed the general world building and just focused on the characters.

“It’s a series. There will be plenty of time for world building in books two to sixty.”

Yes! 

I don’t know when I’ll be able to work on it again. Nearly everything but chapter one news to be thrown out. That’s okay though. It’s not the first time I’ve had to start from scratch on a story.

“Don’t Quit Your Day Job”

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

The advice that authors (and artists) are given. Not always in that snotty tone that implies one’s craft sucks and should be given up on, but still. 

Authors and artists do not make it big. I’ve heard a lot of indie authors are funded by the bank of Spouse. Or parents. 

These are the same ones who always seem to be saying: “Just pay for marketing!”

Uhm, with what money? 

So I’ve been told several times that the best advice for an indie author is to not quit their day job. You know, so you can pay your bills and eat and access the Internet you probably need to publish your stories.

Then it’s keep writing. They say that like it’s difficult, but then get irritated when you ask what else. Like they’re hoping after the writing you just go back and struggle at it.

You may, writing may take you a great deal longer than it takes me. I’m classified as an exception to the rule. A full length book every month, or even in eight days, is highly unusual.

But what happens once you get that rhythm down, and you do keep writing? What if writing has never been the problem? Then what’s the advice?

It’s still: don’t quit your day job. 

Unless you’re writing a ten thousand word erotica a week, or more, for publication  and you have a name for yourself, you’re situated, chances are you aren’t going to be quitting your job any time soon.

Beth knows a bit about business and retail. Which is kind of interesting.

“It takes five years to build a business and about four seconds to fucking it up,” she says. “So, Aya, don’t quit your day job.”

Not because she thinks I’ll screw it up, though that is still a distinct possibility, but because she’s trying to look out for me.

My stories are a great deal darker than most I’ve come across. It takes a certain reader to enjoy them, and those readers are out there. Finding them, reaching them, takes a great deal of time.

How dark are my stories? I dunno, but the last time I had a fluff moment and shared it, the reaction was, “Oh God, you’re going to kill them both, light their dog on fire, and steal their house, aren’t you?”

For a fluff moment! 

I didn’t do that, just two weeks of hell, six months of recovery and then about and six more months of stress as they went through a trial.

My day job is paying my way, it’s going into my writing. I don’t get new clothing or expensive Christmas gifts. I cannot afford a new computer, or to go on vacation.

There is no sponsor for me. No Bank of Mom and Dad. Or of Dorian. I think the poor man being a muse is enough.

“You want me to what, with the what, now?”

“Be a little more sadistic, just for tonight.”

“Why?”

“I’m writing another BDSM trilogy.”

“Okay, but this time I want warning if you’re going to show up at my place and make demands while my parents are over.”

“You’re the one who didn’t tell me they were visiting.”

He is quite entertained, I think, by my new pursuits. It eats up my time so I don’t bother him.

But it all winds back to not quiting your day job.

Which is why I’m sitting on a fucking bus at 6am, having gotten up at 4am after working twelve hours yesterday to go back into work to fix the problems someone else caused and continues to cause.

The other option was to continue on as we were, but I was starting to get physically sick from the stress. 

I want to quit my day job.

Two full time jobs for most of the year aren’t really a problem. The past three months though have been terrible for my stress level. This isn’t the way it should be going, I shouldn’t need to alter my schedule to do this, but one bad apple and it’s absolute insanity. 

It’s not training, it’s simple not caring. I also don’t care to attempt to retrain someone who is resolutely refusing to even play nicely with the others and will be leaving us come January. Retraining simply takes far too much energy when you can’t spray a person in the face with a squirting bottle.

And… when you can’t actually say the word “bad.”

When I get this stressed, I like to write. To take my frustrations out on my characters. Which could be why my books have become exceedingly more dangerous for the main characters. Now I have the perfect setup, Nathaniel as slave to his Master, but I can’t write.

Because I had to alter my schedule and work longer hours because someone can’t be bothered to do more than the barest part of her job.

Suppose then, I have two pieces of advice. Don’t quit your day job, and do your day job. 

Though the last portion may be unwarranted as the amount of work necessary to be an indie author tends to mean that we work all day, every day. We are go getters and self-motivated achievers. 

At least writing this post on my commute has let me ignore how tired I am, and how desperately I want wine.

Christmas tradition, don’t drink between Halloween and Christmas. Don’t know how it started, but healthy for you! If you aren’t in a low stress job with a high stress coworker.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Okay. Now I’m really frustrated. 

Nathaniel’s story has changed, which is fine. That’s why I don’t start writing right away. 

The frustrating part is Angel is now put off and I’ve got another book to write before Morgan’s Story. There are not enough hours in my day around the day job for all the things I want to do.

The plus side of that is that I have several books sort of ready to go. I’m going to take the next couple of days or so and plot it all out in my writing app, which creates text based documents for me to transfer if necessary and very easily edit on any computer.

So. 

Nathaniel’s trilogy would be Contracted books 4-6. I swear that’s the end of the world there. Honestly. You can totally trust me when I say I won’t write another book for a world. I’ve never said that and added sixteen more stories, honestly.

Need a sarcasm font…

Contracted 4-6 would be my first published m/m and is very much M/s with BDSM. Anyone who has read Izzy’s Story would probably know that. This series covers Nathaniel and his Master. 

So it’d go:

Signed : Nathaniel and his Master. Not how they met. This begins at the portion where their M/s relationship begins and goes over how in the hell that went. If they could kindly stop throwing sex scenes at me without context, that’d be fabulous.

Sealed : how the community was set up and an introduction to the Sadists. Nathaniel played at being Sadist while still serving his Master. This could also involve the threesome that Nathaniel mentions in Contract Taken as the time line is about right.

Delivered : This may be a two parter (in one book) with the first half dealing with Nathaniel’s time during Contract Broken, including his lessons in there for someone, and the second part would either cover Contract Renewed or would come directly after it and explain a bit about Mr. Wrightworth. The man is never really mentioned “in the future” and it’s creeping me out. 

Since exploring this new trilogy, I’ve been assured that he’s alive and well, but what happens to him keeps changing. I swear my characters are fucking with me. 

One explanation was he landed in jail, another that he didn’t land in jail, he landed in jail bait (yes, that’s the way it was put to me) another that he retired to an island and yet another that he stepped down from the Program and started work as a Contractee representative, living mainly off investments but under a new name.

Make up your mind, you guys. 

He can’t be all of those things.

I think.

Publication Schedule

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Snagged the app for my new phone. I’m quite pleased with this thing.

Any who, with the app and data I can make blog posts again! 

I’m supposed to be writing Death Mask to finish that series off. I’m not certain that I can get the same effect from writing it on the computer as I can on my phone. It’s the focus that the phone draws in because I don’t have so many other things going on. 

My main problem with that at the moment is that my autocorrect is new, and not yet driven insane by my style. I’ll bring it around, though. Soon it will be writing full sentences and actually capitalizing after periods!

You’d think capitalization would come standard.

With Contract Broken launching today at midnight, it’s gotten me thinking about my publication schedule. 

I want to publish often, that was the point of writing a book a month. It’s always been the editing that catches me up. Another problem is that every once in a while, things just stop working. It happens, and it sucks.

The past two and a half months have been an example of that. I’ve written At Death’s Door but that was on my phone during commutes. I might as well have been reading the thing for the first time.

And that’s why I want to continue writing on my phone.

At the same time, nothing got done at home. stuff happens, you end up playing games because the words just don’t come.

So I don’t think I’m going to be able to maintain one book a month. Okay, that’s fine because that’s how that goes. Guess those are now the rules. 

I still want to launch as often as possible. At least I’m writing full novels and not ten thousand word snippets.

Oh, and then there are the snippets, starting to come to me and I may just give in and publish those too.

I like my day job, I’m just tired of getting up at 6am every day and being exhausted and walked all over for a job no one but me even cares about. I’d rather work part-time, and snippets are faster to write and edit.

I’m considering it, is all I’m saying. I definitely would not stop writing the novels. Me? Stop writing novel length works? Ha!

At this point the plan is: 

Masked Intentions – January

At Death’s Door – February

Morgan’s Story? – March

Death Mask – April

Maybe snippets throughout. Maybe Signed in between. 

Signed is a trilogy I’ve been debating writing. It’s basically Nathaniel’s story but is not a complete recounting. The first comes before Izzy, the second during the events of Contract Broken, and the third afterward. I’m just not certain yet if anyone would be interested. 

Oh, and maybe Angel in between or afterward.  I didn’t start it last night, so okay, let’s set this up for me.

I will start working on Angel on December 1st. December is the busiest month of the year for us at the day job, so I’m not expecting to write it in a month. There.

See?

There’s already that tingle down my spine and the whining voices of the muses at the back of my mind. This is what they get for not writing for two months. 

That’ll also give me more time to plan the series out. Which means I could be cast out to May, maybe June if I can get Cheating Death written. 

I was talking to at friend recently who knew I’d be getting into Romance publishing and she inquired so I told her about the next launch.

“Oh? Is that all? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“And another next month, editing one for January, planning the world of another, writing another, have one sitting for editing, oh and the side project.”

“That sounds like you! At least you’re publishing them instead of just writing them and then leaving them on drives laying about my house.”

“Is that like my telling you to stop tearing up your drawings?”

“Shut up, they’re terrible.”

“That’s totally why I’ve got them hanging on my wall.”

…

The long and the short of it is that I have plans for more launches and very soon. Well, soon in publishing. 

Beth publishes one or so books a year. I’ve got three this year and six planned next year. Different genres, though. Different authors too. 

Good luck to me, I feel like I’ll need it.

*Unitalisized titles are working titles.

Updates

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

What have I been up to?

Well, Prototype in a month was a bust. I seem to be missing something to tell the story, even though I know how it all ends. That kind of sucks, but I’ll keep working on it and maybe do a re-write. That seems to work well for me recently.

I’ve almost written another book, At Death’s Door is part of a trilogy called Wraith’s Rebellion. All the writing is done on my phone. Isn’t that a nifty thing? More like crazy as could be, but I have long commutes and haven’t wanted to read anything. It doesn’t even feel like work because it’s doing a great job at distracting me from hours on a bus.

The Contracted trilogy is up for pre-order on Amazon, and I’ve reached out to the cover artist to do the wraps she had promised. Coming up with other options well, I know she’s very busy and might not have the time to put them together.

I’m considering getting Indesign as I’ve heard you can do the ebook formatting on there and have Amazon accept the fonts. I’ll believe it when I see it, but it’s kind of expensive. Its subscription based and would cost me the same to hire out for the work, and that’s a problem. So I’ll keep looking around.

My laptop was failing to the point where it couldn’t work with some web pages, WordPress included. It works on my phone, but I’ve been writing At Death’s Door on there. So that’s kind of why I’ve been absent.

I won’t accept large gifts from people. It’s never ended well for me even to accept gifts in general. Dorian knew that, and one day showed up with his brother’s old computer. He set it up before I arrived and absconded with my laptop. The act of it led to our first fight in months, because there were things on that laptop I needed.

Apparently, his brother upgraded to a full on gaming rig, and Dorian told his brother he’d recycle the old computer. His brother isn’t the sort to ask if Dorian recycled it or not.

So my computer issue was fixed, though the monitor is driving me batty. I may have to save up and buy a new one, but those are a great deal cheaper than getting the entire rig.

I’m thinking about working on an angel and demon story. Woooo scary.

Because it’s just not possible, and I should know better.

But then… I also said no vampires.

My list for October is simple. Finish Prototype, finish At Death’s Door, do the first edit for Masked Intentions, and get the final copies of Contract Broken and Contract Renewed up. Preferably, get the hard copies of the Contracted Trilogy settled so I can do a giveaway.

I am planning on resisting the urge to write. However, as I can now write on my phone, most bets are off.

I also have this nifty world building app, which I put At Death’s Door into before I started writing. It has helped immensely. I barely follow the plot I wrote up, but the few times I’ve gotten stuck, I’ve been able to refer to it. The chapters are broken up, and I’ve found it much easier to dart all over. No extra pulls or anything, all the chapters linked together and at my fingertips.

If there’s mention of Hitler or random insanity that’s inappropriate, that’s because I caught the person sitting beside me reading my screen. Most of them moved pretty quickly.

Except for the one woman, who is on the bus every day with me. The next day she also sat beside me.

People are weird.

Updates

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

My goal over the weekend was to write approximately thirty thousand words, I only made twenty-five thousand. I’m sure that if I wanted to do a dump and run type of publishing, I should be scolding myself, but I made twenty-five thousand words over the course of two days.

Technically over the course of about eight hours.

Saturday I wrote for two hours, then spent six hours running errands an the like. By the time I got back I all but crashed. Later in the evening I did get out another chapter. On Sunday, I wrote for an hour or so and then somehow got distracted.

About eight hours later I had a mailing list set up, though I can’t seem to link it through my blog like I’m supposed to be able to do easily. I haven’t returned to that to play with again, because I’m trying to get as much writing done while I can.

On my commutes I’ve been reading Contract Broken. There seems to be less errors in the book, though the ones that are there are pretty glaring. I don’t know if it’s because I did better at editing, or I’m doing worse at editing this time around.

Last night I contacted my cover designer, haven’t heard back yet. Contract Taken may be ready to go.

The rest of last night, I just crashed. That’s all. Crashed. On the couch, with two cats sleeping on me.

Dorian came over after a social event he had to attend for work. We were supposed to have some fun, but he found me sprawled on my couch, passed out as my streaming services played. He tucked me into bed and I slept until Grover decided to stand on my chest and lick my nose as he drooled.

Apparently I “overslept” and he was hungry.

I tried writing a bit more it hasn’t quite worked. So tired…

Dorian has suggested a day off. I think he’s crazy. I’ve been back at work less than two weeks and had a day off just last week. Pfft, over worked? How is that possible?

As I’m trying to edit Contract Broken, Nathaniel has been talking very loudly, he does that every time I try to touch the book. Probably because he’s barely in it. I now have a basic outline for the way the book goes.

Except he keeps popping in with random scenes he did with his Master and I squeak, hurt myself, or full on stumble in real life.

If the book Nathaniel was dictating didn’t centre around his getting beaten up and forced to submit, I’d alter it just to screw with him for his annoying behaviour. There’s little I could do to him that his Master hasn’t, however.

Shut up and do What I Told you to do!

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

Gah!

Stupid with the stupid and the stupid!

I’ve spent a better part of the morning trying to set up MailChimp. Okay, so the setting up was easy (but do you have to give my address? Really? Ugh) but the trouble is that I can’t get it on WordPress and had difficulty getting it on Facebook. Let alone setting up emails.

See, for some bloody reason it’s no longer about adding html. WordPress has a text widget which is supposed to let you put html onto the widget to create whatever. At least, that’s the way it sounds.

But that’s not the case.

No, that little “add html” widget has never worked for me. I have a brain, I have basic, minor control over html.

Oh, and I literally copy and paste. Copy and paste from there to here.

Beth has her Goodreads Author page linked to her blog. Apparently that’s no longer an option? Because try as we might, we can’t get it to work on mine (set up two years later, give or take a bit).

Don’t even get me started on this other thing I was actually trying to get to work today, which was a way to sell little stories through my blog or website or both. It comes highly recommended, so I figured I’d give it a go. It said to sign up, then download. I do and then nothing happens.

So I look up how to and it takes me to a blank page that… tells me to register and then download.

So frustrating.

And Rachel? My new MC? Stopped working. Why, you might ask, why would a character go off the rails and stop responding?

Because there’s no chance of interacting with Morgan, her male counterpart.

Whining, bratty, stupid, insignificant little…

Sometimes characters go off script. Actually, they go off script all the time with me, but at least they stay within the bounds of the boxes I set up. Rachel is basically sitting in a clothing rack (you know those circular ones?) hiding from the other two she is with because she wants Morgan but isn’t going to tell them she wants him so the chapter isn’t moving because I can’t get her out of the stupid clothing rack!

Because in the chapter, the clothing rack isn’t even mentioned. She’s not supposed to be there, this isn’t supposed to be happening. What is supposed to be happening is stuck in place thanks to her hiding in the damned clothing.

Somehow, I have got to get out of this funk. I need to get moving so that I can finish this chapter and then do the descriptions, then write the next chapter. Etc and on down the line.

Writing, My Dear Friend

Posted on by Aya DeAniege

I’ve missed writing, I really have. Beth warned me that editing was time consuming and I didn’t doubt her. The return to writing is like great sex. 

Due to the throat infection, I have been very slow. Yesterday I actually slept until two in the afternoon, and was exhausted by my usual bedtime. Today my throat doesn’t hurt as much. I don’t sniffle as much.

My legs ache something terrible though. I walked with Beth for over an hour Monday night. We met up at a store and she walked me home before heading for her own. Beth doesn’t exactly set a slow pace, and thanks to a bum leg won’t walk at anyone else’s pace.

Not that I blame her. She simply can’t walk faster and if she walks slower she ends up limping for days. I’m fairly used to her pace, but not with packing around items as I’m going her pace.

She makes me feel like a lazy bum sometimes.

After getting up yesterday, I kind of used my sore legs as an excuse not to do much. I sat picking away at chapter two of D.o.t.A while watching television.

Today I almost did chapter three. The latter two pages were lifted straight from the original, so tomorrow morning I need to work them over while I drink my morning coffee. 

The chapters are longer this time around. Rachel tells a bunch, but I swear it’s all bitter and sarcastic. 

“Well, I wouldn’t be in this position if the Dom hadn’t killed my father. An act that was illegal until twelve years before.” 

I think that ‘ending’ for Morgan’s story wasn’t the end, I think it was the beginning which could be interesting. 

We’ll see. As I write Rachel’s story, Morgan’s will come to me.