The Blue Night Blog – Page 44

October 20, 2012 by Filigree

‘No Pouting’ Party, day three: character interview, R rating for sexual content

(I loaded these snippets as part of a four-day online celebration in tandem with the GayRomLit 2012 retreat. Now that the conference is over, the Moro snippets are going back into the outtake vault.) If a blank space bothers you, imagine daffodils:

October 19, 2012 by Filigree

“No Pouting’ Party Day 2: Attack of the Snippets

(Now that GayRomLit is over, these snippets are going back in the outtake vault, where they may or may not show up in finished manuscripts.) If a blank space bothers you, imagine lilies:

October 18, 2012 by Filigree 2 comments

‘No Pouting’ Party, day 1, artwork

I am not a brilliant artist. I’m a 20 year veteran of commercial art and decor, so I know some insider tips and tricks that make my attempts look better than they should. But like many writers, I want to know what my characters look like, even if it’s just for my own sanity. Sometimes…

October 17, 2012 by Filigree 5 comments

Revving up for the ‘No Pouting’ Party

The 2012 ‘No Pouting’ Party begins tonight at 12:00 am, Pacific Standard Time in the U.S. Most of the action will be centered around Selena Illyria’s Offerings Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/cal There will be over 100 authors participating, with dozens of amazing prizes and exclusives. To celebrate with other authors who could not get to GayRomLit in…

October 17, 2012 by Filigree 2 comments

some good news shared

Peter Salomon and the ever-wonderful, ever-incognito Authoress just sent me word that they mentioned me on Authoress’ blog ‘Miss Snark’s First Victim’. I’d written to the blog in July, just before Moro’s Price was published, thanking Authoress for indirectly helping me to refinine my loglines and query letters. I’d built the original story around a…

October 15, 2012 by Filigree

“No Pouting Party” @ Selena Illyria’s Offerings Yahoo Group

Courtesy of Missy Welsh and Selena Illyria, an online party for writers of LGBT fiction. I’ll be posting excerpts from the editing room floor, links to artwork, and a chance to win a free e-book copy of MORO’S PRICE as well as a beaded necklace made by yours truly. I’ve pasted in the original message…

October 11, 2012 by Filigree 2 comments

geek culture touchstones

Certain movies, TV shows, books, and bands are deeply-held secrets between true fans. Sure, these secrets might be largely mocked and/or misunderstood outside of geekdom, but we don’t care. We have our own fan groups, our own hidden languages, our own shared recognition of something amazing. For the longest time, J.R.R.Tolkien was one of those…

October 10, 2012 by Filigree 1 comment

Maps and world building

(Stands up, taps microphone, and says “Hi, I’m Crane Hana, and I’m addicted to world building.” Nine or ten other frazzled patients respond, “Hi, Crane.”) Now that I’ve got that out of the way, here’s why I am addicted. First off, maps. Maps are wicked cool. They’ve had a bad rap in fantasy publishing recently,…

October 9, 2012 by Filigree

soundtracks

Once upon a time, music was a crutch I needed before I could write at all. Like good chocolate and tea, or the perfect writing environment, the right music was part of many little rituals to activate my reluctant muses. I don’t write to music very much these days. The muses and I have reached…

October 4, 2012 by Filigree

October 4 updates

‘Maestro’ complete at 2800 words. Revisions on ‘The Black Wave’. Refined first two chapters of MORO’S SHIELD, sent rough synopsis to editor. Research Russian resort cities for COLD COMFORT. Epiphany on BLOODSHADOW: a way to cut another 5K off this 122K behemoth, and start the story faster. Character and plot outlines for an untitled fantasy…

September 30, 2012 by Filigree

Review links

Some review links for MORO’S PRICE: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/381595991 https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-moro039sprice-891333-145.html http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/moros-price-by-mc-hana-2/ http://www.loose-id.com/moro-s-price.html#product_tabs_reviews As I said earlier, a good mix of different ranks with some very clear positive and negative comments. In other news, I’ll be featuring my original character sketch for MP (done back in summer 2011), in late October. I’ll be part of a blog hop…

September 27, 2012 by Filigree

September 27 updates

Works in Progress: ‘Maestro’: contemporary erotica short story for a charity anthology: 700 words, researching subways and violins. MORO’S SHIELD: m/m/f erotic romance sci fi, 9K first draft out of projected 70K. MORO’S CROWN: m/m/f erotic romance sci fi, plotting series closure. BLOODSHADOW: high fantasy, in revision, 118K. LEOPARD’S LEAP: plotted, outlined, waiting on Mixed…

September 23, 2012 by Filigree

When a bad review is good

There’s been a lot of heated discussion on other online forums about reviews. I’m new to being reviewed, so I find the process fascinating. Yes, the negative reviews sting a bit. But I went into publishing knowing I wasn’t going to reach every single reader, just as my art isn’t for every viewer. When I…

September 20, 2012 by Filigree 1 comment

aw, you shouldn’t have

A knock-off clothing shill just gave me a wonderful piece of random-generated text. I can’t release it, due to my listed guidelines for this blog. Though I fully intend to adapt it, typeset it, print it out on lovely paper or fabric, and turn it into a piece of art. Which I will then sell.…

Aside

A hint, O Wise and Beloved Readers: while I love comments, I’m hoping to see cogent ones. Patchwork comments with no clear relevance will not be posted, no matter how entertainingly insulting. Likewise, if your email addy leads me to believe you’re pitching knockoff fashion items.

If you cannot pass a college-level Turing test, your post will not be seen on this site.

Added note: If you’re just doing SEO tricks to drive traffic to your commercial site, you will send vague messages with content lifted from online sources. When you use content lifted from online sources, and your email sig comes from ANY kind of obviously commercial site, my spambots will probably squash your message without me ever seeing them. Don’t let your real messages be squashed. Be coherent, be literate, be appropriate to the topics at hand. Convince me and my bots you’re a human. ∞

September 16, 2012 by Filigree

Vera Nazarian’s COBWEB BRIDE Kickstarter

I honestly don’t know if this post will get noticed by anyone but spammers, but why not try? A friend of mine is rounding up support for self-publishing a great new book. Most of the time, when I get news like this I either yawn or cringe. Let’s face it, self-publishing is a quagmire of…

September 13, 2012 by Filigree

Anthology contributor’s copies

THRONES OF DESIRE is loosely inspired by George R. R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’ novels, but consisting of 14 original stories by various erotica authors. The e-book version went live on the 11th, and the trade paperback will be available on the 18th. I have a story in this one: ‘Saints and Heroes’, about a…

September 8, 2012 by Filigree

Why I wrote fanfic, an explanation in verse

Say not that I have stolen them. No more honor has a jeweler for a gem, Than I for these lovely gentlemen. Yet like gems prized from battered crown Or corroded ring and set again, more – Or less – tinselly glittering, They beg new voices to frame or refine Such traits their true authors…

September 4, 2012 by Filigree 2 comments

Fun with spam

In my other life I am an artist working in a relatively unknown medium, but I’ve still managed to gain a following among collectors. In that other life, I get to use my writing skills in another way, by creating text-based art from original prose, poetry, out-of-copyright material, and ‘found’ material. One of my greatest…

September 2, 2012 by Filigree

September 2 updates

COLD COMFORT: still researching the Tam Lin legend and its variants for my story rebuild. Watching ‘Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex’ for inspiration/ world building in the late 21st Century. Listening to Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ and Duran Duran’s ‘Lonely In Your Nightmare’, as I did when I wrote the initial…