Tag Archives: proofreading

Shoving dirt: Friday Update

16 Friday Aug 2024

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Series, Thorns, Writing

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News:

Nothing this week.

Works in Progress:

Proofreading Crooked House (Thorns 5) took longer than anticipated, because for the life of me, I could not focus for long stretches of time. However, I got it done, and it’s now with my formatter. I’ll have to get the cover updated after that, but then it should be good to go.

It’s a soft ending for the series, with more books to come, but it’s wild that I’ve managed to get this far and that scenes that have been with me since the beginning have been put to the page. I’ve spent so much time with these characters that they’ve become like friends, and I’m looking forward to having more adventures with them.

I also just finished a first-chapter edit for Book & Candle (Meridian 5) so it can be included as a preview in Avarice & Creed (Meridian 4), coming out in October. (Preorder here.)

I’m going to take a short break to wallow in self-pity and get through the worst of my period. On the other side of it, I’ll work on a body horror novelette that I’ve had on my to-write list for over ten years, tentatively titled Ooze for now.

Things I’m Reading:

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
Why Didn’t You Just Leave edited by Nadia Bulkin and Julia Rios

Things I’m Listening To:

Thorns playlists
Snow White & the Huntsman soundtrack
The Huntsman: Winter’s War soundtrack
The Village soundtrack

Things I’m Watching:

Truth or Die
Supercell
Not Dead Yet series (finished)
Abbott Elementary series
Resident Alien series (seriously, some of the best comedy on TV right now)
S.W.A.T. series
Grey’s Anatomy series
Kitchen Nightmares series
America’s Got Talent series
Murder, She Wrote series

Poem of the Week:

if it does not
consume me
from toes
to teeth

let it starve
beneath my
bed sheets

we will not
be alone
at least

Expected inquisition: Friday Update

09 Friday Aug 2024

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News:

I had an interview with the Merry Writer Podcast yesterday. I think it went really well and lasted longer than I thought it would. We covered the writing process, the benefits of self-publishing vs. traditional publishing, long form vs. short form, and how horror movies address and face emotional distress. It won’t be available for a while (April 2025), but it was a lot of fun! I don’t usually like talking about process, but since I’ve had some changes, it’s a little more interesting than before.

Of course, thanks to social anxiety, I was completely useless until the interview happened, but I got back on the proofreading horse afterward.

Works in Progress:

I finished the double edit of Book & Candle (Meridian 5) and started on the proofreading of Crooked House (Thorns 5). It’s going slower than I’d like because I’m having trouble focusing. When I can keep my attention, it moves so fast, though. I think I just need to put my computer on airplane mode and force the focus.

After the proofreading and the Olympics, I’m taking a pity party. I’ve been feeling in need of one. Still getting a plethora of rejections, and they don’t bother me on an individual basis, but when I think about all of them sitting there clustered in my rejection folder… Just makes me feel heavy and tired. I just want to lie down, watch The Day After Tomorrow, and catastrophize and get angry at my brain and body for not doing what I want it to do.

Things I’m Reading:

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
Why Didn’t You Just Leave edited by Nadia Bulkin and Julia Rios

Things I’m Listening To:

American Idol singles
Amidst the Chaos by Sara Bareilles
Amidst the Chaos: Live From the Hollywood Bowl by Sara Bareilles
Anastasia soundtrack
And So Much More by Linda Eder
Thorns playlists

Things I’m Watching:

Tarot
The Outwaters
Horsemen
Young Sheldon series (finished)
Not Dead Yet series
S.W.A.T. series
Grey’s Anatomy series
Kitchen Nightmares series
America’s Got Talent series
CSI: Miami series
Murder, She Wrote series

Poem of the Week:

staggering through the crooked mile
with all my things strewn behind me
roadkill broken smashed discarded
on the hissing simmering asphalt
i am unladen more burdened than ever
soles worn through with no finish
line in my squinting sunburnt sight

Crushed Dreams: Friday Update

22 Friday Sep 2023

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Series, Thorns, Writing

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News:

Still not much to report, although I had several short stories to edit and approve, and I received several rejections.

If you’d like to hear me read an excerpt from “Blackberry Wine” from the Wicked Fae Crow’s Quill issue, go here. It’s very strange hearing my voice, and this was one of my later takes. If I thought my voice could hold out, I would love to go into narration, because I learned to love reading out loud from my parents. They’d read to me and my brother when we were young, and as we got older, my brother and I would read aloud during car trips.

I got my MRI report back, and it doesn’t sound too terrible, but I still need to wait for my doctor to talk with me about it to determine what it means, what questions it answers, and where we go from here. Cross your fingers for no surgery.

Last update, I’d watched Avengers: Infinity War, and as of this update, I’ve finished Phase 3 of the MCU with Avengers: Endgame. It was a serious time commitment, but it was also a great deal of fun. It’s a bit of a relief to have Phase 4 unlocked, at least until I realize they’re starting Phase 5…

Works in Progress:

I’m over halfway through the proofreading pass of Puppeteer (Thorns 4). I’m hoping to finish it by the end of the weekend. Even after all the times I’ve already read it, I’m still finding places to laugh, which is such a genuine delight. I hope my readers enjoy the humor, especially in the darkest of the Thorns novels so far.

After Puppeteer, I’ll send it off to my formatter, then start on the double edit of a Meridian novel from under my other name (erotic horror romance, if you’re looking for even spicier fare, good for Halloween). After I send that off to my editor, I have a choice between two pet projects to write. Either one should be a joy.

Books I’m Reading:

IT by Stephen King
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard (finished)
Pornography for the End of the World by Brendon Vidito (finished)

Music I’m Listening To:

Halloween playlist
Arcanium playlists
Ambient Halloween music

Things I’m Watching:

Evil Dead
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The Grudge (2020)
Captain Marvel
The Avengers: Endgame
Halloween Wars series
Halloween Baking Championships series
America’s Got Talent series
Dr. Pimple Popper series (caught up)
CSI series
CSI:Miami series
Murder, She Wrote series
Locke & Key series (finished)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series

Poem of the Week:

i don’t understand how a
devil so destructive and wild
could be my sweet obedient child
you couldn’t be more
egregiously wrong
my child skipping merrily along
couldn’t have done
this dastardly deed
like some curly-headed bad seed
take care before you slander
my only daughter
or it’ll be your child next
to the rumor-mill slaughter