#getting caught up on my homemaker writing so I can get back to my novel writing

[lightthewaybackhome]

Favorite Moment from Writing This Morning: Getting to write about romanticizing the ordinary. It's one of my favorite things about being alive.

Favorite Line Crafted: One of my great joys in life is when you read a book that leaves a gossamer blanket of magic over ordinary life. When trees become a little unsafe, white flowers become the graves of ancient kings, and autumn is summoned by the witch of seasons.

@alana-k-asby This is something I love about our book too! It gives life a little twist and shifts the perspective so that apples are more than apples and winter is more than winter, and a small part of my heart waits to catch a glimpse of a white stag through the trees.

[thecloserkin]

book review: K Webster, Hale (2018)

Genre: Romance

Is it the main pairing: Yes

Is it canon: Yes

Is it explicit: Yes, extremely explicit. In fact if this had been published on literotica i would have accounted it a well-above-average story.

Is it endgame: Yes

Is it shippable: Yes

Bottom line: This is the most vanilla thing I have read in a LONG time and if i hadn’t paid $3.99 for it i doubt I would have bothered to finish it

I picked up this title because shipcestuous added it to her to-read shelf on goodreads, and while it’s clear from the editorial copy (“This book is an epic, emotional, raw love story”) that they think something groundbreaking is going on here, I would like to direct these amateurs to the Sibling Incest tag on Ao3. Or the Incest Shipping Yay page on TVtropes. Or Astrid’s now-defunct blog, if tumblr ever sees fit to restore it. Trust me, you do not have to be doing anything experimental or original for me to enjoy your tropetastic incest story. You don’t even have to be good with words. Stephenie Meyer, for instance, is not what anybody would call a first-rate stylist, and yet I’ve never had any trouble finishing any of her books (none of which feature incest, but the point was about writing generally).

Hudson and Rylie Hale lose their parents in a tragic car accident. Their shared grief is the catalyst for the affair that blooms between them, and I will give them this much: these kids at least know better than to leave any incriminating texts or pictures lying around on their phones. Their vigilance in the digital realm is then completely nullified by the way they conduct themselves irl—they’re walked in on by (1) their aunt aka Rylie’s guardian and (2) Hudson’s roommate at college, all within a week of getting together. I know the risk of being caught is part of the allure of incestuous relationships, but these clowns need to learn to keep it in their pants at least until they can find a closet.

In my opinion this story would have benefitted from an Outsider POV or two. Not every story needs one—Cathy Dollanganger’s first-person POV is more than adequate to carry Flowers in the Attic, and speaking of authors who are shoddy stylists, look at how bad V.C. Andrews was, and how little it mattered—but there’s not enough substance to either Hudson or Rylie’s characters for their alternating POVs to keep the reader invested. In brief, Rylie’s clinically depressed, and Hudson’s attending college on a baseball scholarship. There’s a scene where they watch a movie together and end up fucking on the couch, which would usually be my jam (standard sibling interaction leads to white-hot sex), except I was boooooored. There’s a scene where she visits him at school and they go skinny-dipping in a lake with some of his friends, and they both have to fight off the attentions of prospective romantic partners, and it ends with him carrying her to his truck and fucking her in the back off it. Which again in theory sounds amazing. In practice I think the jealousy trope works better if you’re threatened by your partner’s emotional intimacy with somebody else. And what is Rylie worried about? That this girl has porn star tits, where Rylie is much more modestly endowed. Ok you know who else has small tits? Natalie Portman. Keira Knightley. Emma Watson. Physically unprepossessing women the whole lot of them, amirite? Rylie is overcome by the same unwarranted insecurity when it comes to Hudson’s on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend, who is described as having humongous knockers. I understand how this can make Rylie feel inadequate—women are taught to hate their bodies from day one—but this chick also clearly has nothing going on upstairs, and her emotional connection with Hudson is nowhere in Rylie’s league. So Rylie’s jealousy strikes me as unearned and unrealistic.

Hudson and Rylie spend a good chunk of this book struggling against their feelings, berating themselves for being sick and twisted, all of which would normally be my kryptonite since i am on record gushing about the taboo/forbidden angle of incest and how I’m into sneaking around!! And none of it did damn thing for me in this case. The more reviews I read that contain the word “raw” the more I start to wonder if we all read the same book.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

As far as canon incest happy ending goes, the “run away together to where nobody knows you guys” strategy has its drawbacks, namely that it means leaving loved ones behind. I have discussed my preference for Option B before, but that option isn’t on the table for Hudson and Rylie because THEY GOT THEMSELVES CAUGHT IN THE ACT and exposed their relationship to multiple people so they can’t plausibly carry on denying it. Especially when Rylie starts popping out kids. Look, I’m into pregnancy kink as much as the next person but it just seems unearned. As is the fact that Hudson found a good-paying steady job even without the college degree their parents worked so hard to push him to get (he was kicked off the baseball team + lost his scholarship due to a combination of grieving for parents & obsessive infatuation for sister). This is America, where good jobs don’t just fall into high school graduates’ laps (unless you have family connections, which the Hale kids don’t, bc they had to move a thousand miles away to live amongst strangers!). And I can’t write these lapses off to the influence of the genre because I know there can be coherent class discourse in a romance novel.

A professor of mine once gave me a copy of Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature (1984) by Janice Radway, and it remains to this day one of the most transformative nonfiction reading experiences of my entire life. Janice Radway conducts interviews with dozens of mostly-married, mostly-middle-aged women in a midsize midwestern American city, and finds that for them reading romance novels is a form of self-care. They spend the rest of their time supporting and nurturing their families & extended social networks, but with a Harlequin romance in hand, husbands are much less likely to bother them. They can carve out time and space for themselves, they can draw from these escapist fantasies the emotional sustenance that their marriages/children are not providing. They can form friendships with like-minded women who also read a lot of romance. It resonated deeply with me even if I’m not a middle-aged white homemaker in middle America in 1984, because ever since, I’ve been very clear-eyed about why I read romance: To meet my own emotional needs that are for some reason not being met by my existing meatspace relationships. That, to me, is the point of the romance genre, and to hell with character and plot. And that’s why I say Hale let me down, because it didn’t succeed in making me feel anything.

There’s a post floating around that contrasts the way we categorize published fiction (by genre, ie. what happens—wizards or starships? corsets or lawyers?) with fanfiction, which is organized based on how it makes us feel: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, etc. And fic has never let me down in that department, so I guess that’s why romance and fanfic fall under the same mental classification in my head. In this essay I will

[authorcatherinenogle]

Author Question Tag

Decided to procrastinate today for NaNoWriMo as this tag caught my eye. Decided to fill it out, just for fun. 1. Favorite place to write. My favorite place to write is on my couch. It has tables nearby, it’s hella comfy, I have all the pillows I need to nest in, and is close to the kitchen for coffee.

2. Favorite part of writing.For Original Fiction: Outlining. It’s quick, dirty, and I can find out what happens next super fast. For FanFiction: Playing through/re-reading source material to check facts.

3. Least favorite part of writing.For Original Fiction: Editing. I suck at it. For FanFiction: Editing--so I don’t do it. My chapters I post are somewhat edited as I go, but I don’t re-draft my fanfiction.

4. Do you have writing habits or rituals? Cup of coffee, and a cup of water, always. Coffee for fuel, water because otherwise I won’t hydrate myself.

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most. Honestly, I can’t answer this. I genuinely don’t have a favorite author, or a favorite book. I enjoy books plenty when I read them, but they just don’t stick with me that way. What influences my writing is characters that my friends and I have created while playing RPGS, or campaigns I’ve played in or run in the past.

6. Favorite character you ever created. Always and forever will be Abby Arana from a Scion RPG campaign I played in a few years back. She was the child of a war God, (Huitzilopochtli for those of you that are interested) and was all sarcasm, pranks, and badassery. She killed many a villain in the campaign and grew so much as a character that I will always hold her near and dear.

7. Favorite author. Shit. If I have to pick one, Anthony Burgess, simply for A Clockwork Orange. (Viddy well, droogs!)

8. Favorite trope to write. The ‘will they, won’t they’ trope. Mostly for fanfiction.

9. Least favorite trope to write. ‘True love at first kiss’. Because, really, there is a negligible amount of people that will ever experience that (if any), and if your story isn’t believable or relatable, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about. My husband and I have spent time spit balling an idea of his this past week. He wants to do a dystopian war novel, and has some amazing ideas. (Now if I could only get him to write them down….-_-)I know this answer seems like a cop-out, but he is truly the only person I get on well enough with, and are so on the same page that I feel we could actually accomplish finishing a book without murdering each other.

11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish. The only process I have that is tried and true (for me) is for fanfiction. I’m still figuring out this novel thing.

Come up with your twist on the cannon.

Agonize for days over how to make it new and interesting.

Give up and start writing, and self-edit as you go.

Chapters take forever, but it’s better than going back through later.

Laugh at your own dialogue at random and scare your husband.

Finish the chapter, read through for consistency. If that checks out…

IMMEDIATELY post to ff.net and A03.

Wait impatiently for feedback

12. How do you deal with self-doubts? Xanax.

13. How do you deal with writer's block? I do something else creative. I do character sketches, or work my outline, or try writing from another character’s perspective for a while.

14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book? The one I’m writing now will be a hefty amount, but so far, fanfiction wise, probably Abduction. I got the itch to write for MassEffect, but didn’t want to go through the games again for a refresher, so I perused the wiki for a long, long time.

15. Where does your inspiration come from? Mostly, RPGs I’ve played in, and conversations I have with my chosen family. My boys are hilarious and some of their zingers end up giving me dialogue, or some story from their past will create a scene for me.

16. Where do you take your motivation from? From the need to start acting like the adult I’m supposed to be. I’m 27, I’m a homemaker, and deal daily with major depression and anxiety issues. I am currently using my need to help provide for my family to get me through this novel and get published. (Either self, or possibly an agent--not sure yet.) My husband is a great provider, but I want to help and make our lives more comfy. ...and pay back debt.

17. On avarage, how much writing do you get done in a day? Fanfiction wise: I will write all day. Like, maybe a get a coffee, and take the random smoke break, but other than that, ass to cushion until it’s done. I can pound out a thirteen page chapter in an evening if I have a good enough surge of creativity. Original: Before NaNo? I got a good 6k done in two days as I fleshed out the first arc. Now that NaNo has hit, I’m getting maybe 2k a day? It’s only day three, so we’ll see what happens, but I spend a good amount of time building my author platform, doing sketches for the world, world building, and taking care of the house.

18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like? Sporadic at best. When I do my first draft, (or only draft for fanfiction), I self edit as I go for continuity and plot holes, so it's hard sometimes to work in details that should be there, or add in new scenes as it makes major restructuring necessary.

19. First line of a WIP you’re working on.

The ticking of the old hand-me-down cat clock on the wall drilled into my brain with every mechanical swish of its tail. -from Whispers in His Ears

20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on.

As my eyes traveled up it's naked form, I noticed a distended gut, and a hollowed chest. Every bone was visible, and every time it moved, the space around it seemed to shudder, as if the air itself was disturbed by this thing's presence. -from Whispers in His Ears

21. Post the last sentence you wrote in one of your WIP’s.

Not able to spot anything out of the ordinary in the woods, Ray turned back to Samuel and I and just shrugged. -from Whispers in His Ears

22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you? On fanfiction: One usually does it for me. I just want to get content out, and it’s usually edited well enough that I haven’t gotten any real complaints about grammar/spelling. Original fiction: We’ll see. My first chapter is on draft 6. The second is still on one.

23. Single or multi POV, and why? Both have their uses. I have a multi POV I’m working on and it helps me with moving the story forward, and gives good insight into my MC’s.

24. Poetry or prose, and why? Prose. I am shit at poetry.

25. Linear or non-linear, and why? For my WIP, it’s linear, and for most of my back burner projects, they’re linear…nothing against non-linear, but I haven’t felt that the non-linear format would benefit a story I’m telling thus far.

26. Standalone or series, and why? My fanfictions thus far are all standalone stories. None of them connect to any of the others. Different AU’s and all that. My WIP novel for NaNoWriMo, is plotted out for three books, because there was so much more to tell.

27. Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished? I always share with my husband. He beta read Alone Together for me (poor guy), and is always willing to hear a snippet from whatever I’m working on. Anyone else, though...it’s going to be somewhat polished before you read anything.

28. And who do you share them with? The husband. Sometimes my little sister when she has the time.

29. Who do you write for? For me. My depression makes it hard for me to stick with things during the day. I always need to be moving around and am jumping from project to project...but writing? I am wearing so many hats as a writer, and my passion is so great that I just chill. I sit there, and I do my mental gymnastics and get shit done.

30. Favorite line you’ve ever written. Well.. series of lines:

"You drugged your foster mom?" Kerrie raised one of her slender hands and combed her long dirty blond locks from her view.  "It's not a habit," Ray spoke from around my middle where he had begun to lightly tickle my hipbone, causing me to squirm in his firm grip. "This is only the what...third time?" -from Whispers in His Ears

31. Hardest character to write. I’m going to go with Ray from my WIP. He’s a genuinely good kid. He was raised right. He shows respect, and cares for others...trying to have him not come off as a cut out character has been driving me insane. He has flaws for sure, but I’m not sure if they’re substantial enough to offset how good he is.

32. Easiest character to write. Frank, from my WIP. Frank is a family man who served in Desert Storm. He’s Ray’s dad, and is also a genuinely good guy--but he’s seen some shit, and he wouldn’t recommend it. He also swears very creatively, which has been fun. My husband is a vet, and so I just ask him how Frank would say something in ‘drill speak’ and husband translates. He just makes me want to create for him.

33. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? Nope. Can’t--too distracting. I do make playlists of what my characters would listen to and play those while doing character sketches/outlines, though.

34. Handwritten notes or typed notes? Handwritten. I have 2 notebooks dedicated to my WIP and NaNo.

35. Tell some backstory details about one of your characters in your story Whispers in His Ears. Okay, a little bit about Samuel Peppard:

Samuel wanted for nothing as a child, and was very much loved by his mother. However, his mother, Sharyl was only able to give him so much because she had taken out credit cards and a mortgage in her mother’s name and then proceeded to not pay. When Hattie, Samuel’s grandmother sued the shit out of Sharyl and took custody of Samuel when he was 10 years old. He has special permission to live in the 55+ active living community where Hattie lives.

36. A spoiler for story Whispers in His Ears. One of the major characters gets partially decapitated.

37. Most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you. “The First Draft of Anything is Shit.” Wait...didn’t I just admit to posing first drafts?.....shiiiiit...

38. Have you shared your outline of your story Whispers in His Ears with someone? If so, what did they think of it? Shared it with the husband, and he’s real with me. He doesn’t blow rainbows up my ass, so when he told me it was a good, tight, sound plot--and then asked about a sequel, I knew I had something good.

39. Do you base your characters of real people or not? If so, tell us about one. Yes. I do base some aspects of my characters on real people. Example: Kerrie’s moral compass is based off my little Sister’s, as well as her body type.

40. Original Fiction or Fanfiction, and why? Both! I got my start writing in fanfiction, so I have a soft spot for it. Really, though, I think it’s beautiful that artists can create something people love so much that they feel the need to expand on the world, and the characters and make it new, fresh, and exercise their own creative muscle.

41. How many stories do you work on at one time? Fanfiction wise: I alternate writing chapters between four separate stories I have going on.Now that I’m delving into original fiction, however, I’m putting my fanfiction on hold to put my full attentions on WIHE and make it the best it can be.

42. How do you figure out your characters looks, personality, etc.

Step 1: I pick a name that I like (or surname) and start there. Step 2: I write in Bibisco (freeware, it’s amazing) and it has a really great character section. There are different sections with interview style questions so you can thoroughly plan your character, AND there’s a space for images. Seriously, it’s amazing. Step 2.5: I sit and think long and hard (lol) about what my story needs, and how this character can fulfill that need in full or part. They need a purpose to be in my story. Once they have their purpose, I think of quirks to individualize them and make them more real. Step 3: Google models/actors for a GENERAL idea of your character, or in some cases, roll through your facebook for someone you feel fits the character--I do this to help with general descriptions.

43. Are you an avid reader? Sadly, no. I have issues sticking with things...so I try to read, but after maybe ten minutes or so, I’m bouncing off to go do something else. I am hoping to change that, though.

44. Best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten.

“Okay so it's 3000% bullshit that this doesn't have any other comments, so because of that I'm gonna comment the fuck out of this fic because it's phenomenal.You're writing is so good, like the figurative language alone is amazing. Even tho I'm a writer and I want everyone to read every word I've written I'm also shitty person and I like to skim fics when I only wanna read smut. But not this fic. I started skimming and was like oh no wait, this is like actually legit good writing and I went back to start it over, and then stayed after the smut was over.” -a review on my fanfiction Between Love and Hate (Stardew Valley)

45. Worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten .It sounds stupid, and like I’m low key patting myself on the back, but I looked through reviews on work I’ve posted and I didn’t really find anything negative other than comments about minor grammar and spelling issues. I’ll get some negative feedback soon, it’s bound to happen.

46. What would your story Whispers in His Ears look like as a tv show or movie? It would do better as a TV show, I think, due to length and depth of the mythos. It would probably be compared to Stranger Things due to the age of the MC and her friends.

47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story? Plot. Always plot.

48. Favorite genre to write in. The spoopy ones!

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end? The beginning. I put so much pressure on myself to set the story up right so the  reader will continue on.

50. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had. For the life of me, I have no idea. I’m primarily into fanfiction, so that's easy. WIHE is my first foray into original fiction. 

[tdowning79]

Full Speed Ahead Richard and I always know when Caleb is about to enter a room. We can hear the rapid movements of his little feet as he travels across the floor. It doesn't matter if he is on his way to greet us in the morning, coming to the breakfast table, or helping fetch a ball for his brother Clay, he always travels at the same quick speed. Caleb races after life with enthusiasm and joy. He believes nothing will stand in his way. He truly lives life to the fullest. God desires all of his children to live an abundant life. Unfortunately, if you are like me, you get too caught up in your normal day-to-day "mommy duties" to think about the additional plans God has for you. You don't really race after life. You move about on auto pilot. You are happy and content, but there is something inside of you saying, "Am I doing everything God is calling me to do?" It doesn't matter if you are a homemaker or if you work outside the home, God may have a special project or opportunity waiting for you, but you haven't allowed yourself to see it. Take a moment and ask yourself the following questions. What, apart from your family, brings you joy and happiness? What do you get excited about? What do you dream about? Maybe you have dreamt of writing a novel or painting a picture or continuing your education. Maybe you wanted to learn how to sew or play the piano. Have you taken the time to go after your dreams? What is holding you back? Is it guilt? Is it fear? It is uncertainty? We are so blessed God desires an abundant life for his children. God wants to help us realize our dreams. As long as you keep God first and your family second, you should feel secure about reaching toward what God has prepared for you to accomplish. Spend time with the Lord today. Take your dreams and desires straight to him. Ask God to show you his will. Ask him to remove any obstacles standing in the way. It is time to turn off the cruise control button. Travel like my little boy Caleb, full speed ahead, into the wonderful plans God has for you. What are you waiting for? #morningdevotional #youversion #aminuteformommy https://www.instagram.com/p/BxhWPJwHMTY/?igshid=dsebx3qnoq07