Monthly Review and Weekly Words: N.K. Jemisin’s The World We Make

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Happy Last Friday in February!

I've felt both conflicted and free since getting rid of my rotating schedule. A Weekly Words on the FOURTH FRIDAY, WHAT!? I suppose it's because I've been blogging for so long and had built this little system that worked for a while, getting rid of it comes with some weird sense of guilt as though they have their own feelings. I'm killing my blog-darlings, and as a writer that's hard.

But to the trash with that! The freedom means I don't have to wait until X Week to tell you all about something, and that's a good thing! It should lead to less unplanned breaks because I have nothing to say on a particular topic.

So on that note, this week I applied for an LCCN for Fractured Princess. That's exciting, because that gives it a better chance at being available in libraries. Once I receive a number, I'll be able to set up the Kindle edition for pre-sale! May will be here before I know it. 

I've also written a few more words in the new draft of Divided Princess. I do think this restart is going to help me get to the end of the book. It's on my mind more and more now that FP is on the move again.

My reading is also on the move again! I've been beta reading a friend's work the past few weeks, but this week, I was able to start N.K. Jemisin’s next book in her Great Cities series: The World We Make!

All is not well in the city that never sleeps. Even though the avatars of New York City have temporarily managed to stop the Woman in White from invading—and destroying the entire universe in the process—the mysterious capital "E" Enemy has more subtle powers at her disposal. A new candidate for mayor wielding the populist rhetoric of gentrification, xenophobia, and "law and order" may have what it takes to change the very nature of New York itself and take it down from the inside. 

In order to defeat him, and the Enemy who holds his purse strings, the avatars will have to join together with the other Great Cities of the world in order to bring her down for good and protect their world from complete destruction.

I'm almost 100 pages in, and I'm already stressed out! The action in the first book was amazing, so seeing even more magical city avatar action almost right out of the gate again is exciting! I'm sad that this will be the last book, but I can dee how weaving current events into a world of magical realism could get exhausting. I wish I loved Delaware enough to write a love letter book to it hahaha.

See you in March!

Another Writing Update: The Dreaded BLOCK

Happy rainy Friday! Well, at least in the mid- Atlantic.

While I'm preparing for the big re-release of Fractured Princess, I also realized that I hit a big roadblock in writing its sequel. One I couldn't figure my way out of. Sometimes, my writer's block is because I'm hesitant to write the next scene or can't figure out how to get a scene down the road. This time, I realized what I was writing wasn't connecting.

And since I figured out some of the biggest pieces of the puzzle, I realized a couple things:

1) I needed to start from the beginning, from scratch; and

2) I needed to *gasp* plot it out. 

I've been a pantser my entire life, just writing things how they came to me, even if they came out of order. This was especially how I wrote FP, but also, I never planned on writing a sequel. FP was going to be a standalone book, albeit with a bittersweet ending. I don't even remember preparing for a sequel when I decided to self-publish.

But then, ideas came, and damn them, I liked them! And unfortunately, creating a sequel means figuring out how to connect it to the first book and make sense, so of course I need a plan. It's just aaarrrgggh.

I will say, though, that I like the first paragraphs I've written. I plan on repurposing some of the scenes from the first version, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose a lot of them. *sob* I was about halfway done the first draft.

I can't be too upset, though, because this will most likely mean a better story overall! I certainly hope so.

Lastly, if all goes well, pre-ordering of the Kindle edition will be available mid-March/early April! Stay tuned for more news!

Black Author Spotlight: K. Valerice

 

Welcome to the Black Author Spotlight!

This is Black History Month, and so I didn't want to wait until March for the next post! The goal of this segment is to highlight black authors who are often marginalized and ignored in the publishing industry. Black writers usually turn to self-publishing--an already densely populated industry--to have their stories seen, and it is said that we have to work twice as hard to get half of what our white counterparts have. Hopefully, shining a little light on these authors will help to signal boost the work they are putting out there.

This week, I am highlighting K. Valerice.

K. is a poet and short story author. She uses music and art to inspire her pieces, and she also does her own book artwork!

Heals, Feels & Pills, her collection of poetry, short stories, and musings, is available on Amazon. I'm patiently awaiting for it to appear in my mailbox! You can also purchase the book at Barnes & Noble and blurb.com.

You can follow K. on Instagram: @k.valerice.

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If you are a Black author who would like to be in the spotlight, email me the following information at debreneebyrd@gmail.com

Name or Pen Name

Genre

Website/Blog

Social Media handles

Book (if any) and where to buy

Permission to use photos

Black Author Spotlight: K.R.S. McEntire

 

Welcome to the Black Author Spotlight!

This is Black History Month, and so I didn't want to wait until March for the next post! The goal of this segment is to highlight black authors who are often marginalized and ignored in the publishing industry. Black writers usually turn to self-publishing--an already densely populated industry--to have their stories seen, and it is said that we have to work twice as hard to get half of what our white counterparts have. Hopefully, shining a little light on these authors will help to signal boost the work they are putting out there.

This week, I am highlighting K.R.S. McEntire.

K.R.S. is a YA speculative fiction author, specifically dystopian, fantasy, and sci-fi. Here is more from her website/blog at https://krsmcentire.wordpress.com/:

K. R. S. McEntire lives on a healthy diet of fiction and tea. She loves art, photography and travel because, like books, they allow her to explore new worlds. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and runs the Facebook page Diverse Books With Magic, where she shares book recommendations with other bibliophiles.

You can also learn more about and purchase her post-apocalyptic dystopian Eden Series, as well as her other works, via her website. I've been a member of her Facebook group for a couple of years, and I remember when she asked for everyone's opinions on the new cover. It's so cool to see what she ended up with. The juxtaposition of the colors under the ivy and green words is gorgeous! I can't wait to start these.

Here is the blurb for Saving Eden:

Sixteen-year-old Angela and her father are the last survivors on earth. She dreams of adventure and romance but only finds it in books. In the confines of her garden paradise, she’s untouched by contaminants that caused the rest of humanity to mutate into murderous beasts or die. But staying in the garden sure gets lonely.

When a seventeen-year-old boy stumbles upon Angela’s home with news about a thriving community, his presence upheavals everything she knew about the world. She dares to leave her garden for the first time to find a better home.

In the authoritarian society that she finds the line between man and mutant is murkier than she expected. Her father is danger, and the men tasked with protecting the settlement are extremely fond of murder. With their lives on the line, can Angela create one last happy ending in a hopeless world?

Follow K.R.S. McEntire on Facebook and Instagram: @krsmcentire

________________________________________________________________________________

If you are a Black author who would like to be in the spotlight, email me the following information at debreneebyrd@gmail.com

Name or Pen Name

Genre

Website/Blog

Social Media handles

Book (if any) and where to buy

Permission to use photos

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Happy Black History Month!

Please support black authors not just in February, but every month.

We exist 365 days of the year.

It's the first Wednesday in February, so it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group's first post of the year. Please visit the website and our great founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, as well as the co-hosts for the month, which can be found on Alex's website.

This month's optional question for IWSG: Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

There are people whose blogs I visit every month, but I don't think I've made friends through blogging. I don't frequent the blogosphere like I used to, and I'm an introvert so it's not something that really crosses my mind.

In other news, I've slowly started getting back into reading, and I did a pre-edit of Fractured Princess's second edition with some tips my editor's already given me, so I won't have to rush through fixing things when she finally gets to my book. I'm happy with the changes, none super big, but certainly an improvement, in my opinion.

I hope you all have a great day! See you around the blogosphere.

Monthly Review

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IT IS THE END OF FEBRUARY! That's crazy. That also means it's time for my monthly review, so here we go!

Most of the good things have happened in the past week. I wrote about 1400 more words in Divided Princess since last Wednesday. I'm really moving on that, and I'm excited. I think I've also figured out a piece of the reason for the plot that's been missing, so fleshing that out will be fun. I might actually do a brainstorming session on that.

That said, my church had their Black History Month program last Saturday, which included an exhibition, so I had my first author table!

It was so exciting. All but 2 books were sold; I donated one to a free library outside of the church; and someone may buy the other Sunday. I definitely kept my name tag and ripped the one on the wall off when I left. I have to buy more business cards! I'm so happy. I created two recipes from the story, so I passed those out as well. I'm in the process of getting the key ingredients so I can actually make them myself. My sister gave me ground deer meat, and she's ordering goat's milk for me. That's as close to elk and sheep's milk as I can get.

Health-wise, I'm fat, haha (only to me, I know), but my pulmonary function test went well this past Monday. My last PET scan showed I was responding well to chemo, so things are looking on the up and up! My hair is getting a little thin in the front, so we'll see if I have to shave my head. I wear wigs sometimes anyway, so if so, I'm ready; not emotionally, but provisionally anyway. They gave me a new medicine to combat nausea because the original one wasn't working. Big difference in how I feel afterwards now. I did a lot more than I usually do the days after treatment, so that's really good. Chemotherapy has come a long way from even when my pop-pop was sick 20 years ago. If anyone of you gets sick with a specific cancer, I recommend going to a place like Fox Chase, which is where I'm going. I have a doctor who specializes in Hodgkin's lymphoma, and that makes all the difference than what my local hospitals have.

Work is going well, too. We have a few job duty shifts to ease the load of our Admin II; and I don't mind a couple more tasks. We're also interviewing, and I'll be on my first interview panel! Fortunately, the questions are already laid out. I'll probably feel as nervous as the interviewees. Wish my luck! haha

I started Door Dashing this week to make a few extra dollars on days I'm free and feeling well. Hopefully that helps ease some of the costs I have. Last year I tried transcription work, which is okay if you have the time, and I just don't, not the kind that transcription takes up anyway. You spend half the time just looking for audio with good sound quality, and you don't get paid for that! The money I did make certainly came in handy, though. So if you do want to try it, Rev.com is the place to go.

(All this free advertising. *shaking my head*)

I hope you had a great February. If you participate in Lent, which starts today, I hope you get something spiritually fulfilling out of this season. I will see you all in MARCH.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

It's really the first Wednesday in February already! That means it's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Visit him and the main IWSG Website to join us in the fun.

The optional question for this month is: Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?

I haven't had a photo or work of art inspire a whole story, but I have used art as inspiration for characters, monsters, etc. Most prominent is the design of the iron giants in Fractured Princess, which I modeled after Umberto Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space."

My version isn't as scary as Boccioni's, but I meant for it to be. D'ah well.

What about you all?

Monthly Review: February 2019

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February remains the shortest month of the year, so it feels like it's flown by! We're already at my monthly review, which occurs on the 4th Wednesday of the month. Looking back at my January post, I feel extremely accomplished and excited.

My Kickstarter campaign is currently 108% funded! When I announced on Facebook that I only had $88 left to go, while I was texting with one of my friends, she sent me a screenshot from one of our other friends because he put in that $88. I teared up a little, can't lie. That means I'm going to get the cover for my book! I contacted the artist, and she let me know that she will still be available when the campaign closes, so now I'm just enjoying the moment. Two others pledged after I reached 100%! That's just as special, because that means they saw it was fully funded and still wanted to contribute. My heart is filled.

Work is a little slow, so I did finish reading Tash Hearts Tolstoy at work. It wasn't as good as I expected it to be, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I might pick up L.L. McKinney's A Blade So Black next. I'm not a big Alice in Wonderland fan, but I've been anticipating this book for a couple of years now, and L.L. might make me a convert.

On a serious note, I have some family matters that will be at the forefront for at least a few months. If you can or do, please say a prayer for me; it will really help.

Thanks a bunch! See you in March!