Adventures in Crafting with Words

One of my friends was gifted this awesome 400 writing prompts book for Christmas.  Naturally, I needed it. So his wife told me where I got it and I went to my local branch and looked all over the story for that book of 400 writing prompts.  I'd even settle for the book of 300 writing prompts. But nope.  I had to settle for this one... Whatever.  *shrugs shoulder* 'But,' the little voice in the back of my head challenged me, 'what if you use this book to help you with the plethora of stories you are struggling with?' 'And,' another voice agreed, 'you use them for your writing prompt blog posts... The catch with these prompts:  there is only one page to write and there are a handful of words that must be added into the scene.   For this scene I brought in Winnie from Half-Moon Manor.  I've been pondering her story for a while now, and she volunteered for the prompt.  And now... Magic in Everyday Occurrences Winnie closed...

I know, you are probably waiting with baited breath, or at least pretending to, on information about that cryptic NaNoWriMo project.  Surprisingly, I haven't finished yet.  I don't have a title.  Or a cover - because of lack of title mostly.  So that reveal will have to wait. Some of you might even be waiting for an announcement about The Trouble With Chasing Aileen - The Hastings Sisters number 2.  - Soon.  I promise.  Final rewrites and Beta reads got caught in the middle of finals (for the Beta) and NaNoWriMo (me).  Now, to the point of the blog - Betas.  What are they good for.  (Absolutely nothing!) Joking.  Joking.  That's a dig at my current Beta who is only still around because she's my best friend and she's in college while dealing with a four year old.  Betas aren't perfect, after all.  They can't spend all their time reading over your manuscript.  Why?  It's my livelihood isn't it? ...

Every day that I pull out my notebook or laptop I don't plan what goes down on the paper.  I don't know quite where my characters want to lead me yet. Sometimes it's a matter of going back and seeing, 'Oh, I'm missing this...' or 'I need to add a scene to link these chapters together. Sometimes the plot bunnies invade and I have to write a scene for a part of the story not yet started. But every day I hit my NaNoWriMo daily goal, or personal goal, or even get words down on the page, is one more day I can feel good about working on this rough draft. Today I reached the halfway mark - 25,000 words.  I have more words to add.  I have more story to develop.  I have more ideas, plot bunnies, and writing prompts to work with. And then, once this rough draft is finished, I'll introduce this new story to my beloved readers (and the world). Then the real work begins.  Editing and polishing and titling and all that. Stay tuned. Alicia

It's quickly approaching and I had to pick just one project to work on.  Do I finish the second Enchanted Forest?  The third Hastings?  The College Edition of Bookworm Next Door that is taking me forever? Do I tackle one of the other five project ideas that have appeared to me? Or the non-young adult romance that has been floating around in my cluttered brain? One particular project is prodding at me, telling me to write this one.   Character names. Plot line issues.  Motivations.  Pretty much falling into place with some exceptions. This particular project has a friend prodding me as well, but that's beside the point. So... what will the NaNoWriMo2107 project be? You'll just have to wait and see. However, want to tackle a 50,000 word lightening manuscript in a month? A month with Thanksgiving in it! Know your story.  Prep. Plot. Know your characters.  The journey might change, but regardless... Be Prepared.  And most i...

You never know where it will take you. Growing up I wanted to be Sarah Dessen.  She tackled the 'issues' - as I call them - without being overwhelming about them. I've found myself doing that at least twice.  In Keeping Secrets Gwen deals with the murder of her father, Mitchell deals with an abusive father, and Rilla with an emotional drain. In my NaNoWriMo project I've found myself with an emotionally abusive and controlling character that I never expected.  I started off dealing with toxic friends and ended up with a toxic relationship. Here's the thing, folks, writing will take you and your characters in directions that you never expect. Alicia

Around October 30th or 31st I "finished" the manuscript for the mash up that I've been working on since August 2014.  The idea came to me while I was teaching Biology - interim position - and had some spare time.  I adore fairy tales.  Simply adore them and discovering their various variations.  Even the original tales have minor nuances that create five different tales from the same origin.  This was before I'd discovered Heather Lyon's The Collector's Society Series.  (Go, read the books. The last one comes out Nov. 7th!  I can't wait!)  So... what happens when a descendant of Alice finds herself in a strange land?  A land where fairy tales and children's stories were real?  Where a magic council can freeze the story's tales in a loop or allow them to continue on for generations?  I don't have the synopsis yet.  I don't even have the manuscript completely edited.  Only 54 pages.  But that will take a ha...

I am absolutely horrible about posting updates.  There is seriously 4 books on my blog list and I keep adding to it.  I have no excuses. I spend half my day tackling Etsy shop business (marketing, orders, etc)  www.abookwormcreates.com btw I spend the other half of my day writing and editing.  Add to this mix NaNoWriMo I think my head is about to spin around.  However... my next post will be about ITEF... Alicia

Sometimes you sit down and realize something. Okay.  I sat down and realized something as I was writing Jennifer's part of the Bookworm story. The Bookworm Next Door wasn't finished when I self-published it.  It's a disturbing reality that faced me with two difficult decisions.  I could close the door on The Bookworm Next Door and leave it imperfect or I could rewrite it and make it perfect. I decided to do exactly that.  Perfect is better. So then I was faced with the daunting task of piecing everything together exactly the way it needed. There was also the fact that I was faced with continuity issues with some of the characters names.   Last night I finished The Bookworm Next Door.  It has all of the short stories combined.  It has new material.  It has a never before seen ending that only I knew was going to happen. Is The Bookworm Stories Series over?  No.  There's still Aimee Kirkland's story.  Grace and Kyle....

*Warning: Contains a free write that is basically a stream of conscious jumble of verbal diarrhea. Yes. Writer's block. A freeze on words that are necessary for forming the next story in the Bookworm Stories series. I have my base. I already know the major event that is going to happen during the prom chapters. I've already referenced it. I'm working my way towards it. But what about what happens before this event? After? It's been 12 years since I went to my own prom. Even then I went stag because I was too shy to ask any off the guys - including the track team member I had a crush on, or the baseball player I had a crush on. That was an interesting semester... It's not like I was Miss Popularity. I was Miss Bookworm. Miss Awkward. Miss Socially Awkward. I'd rather be on the track running in circles and trying to improve my personal best times instead of dealing with the boys at my high school. (No offense, guys, if any of you are actual...

Sometimes the hardest things to write are unexpected.  I had no problem writing 5 pages of a troubling scene in Aimee's story.  I channeled a friend and several psychology classes I'd taken. I'd channeled what I thought I'd do in that situation.   I channeled my imagination. When Aimee's story comes out you'll know exactly what I'm referring to.  I'm trying to keep down on spoilers. But with Jennifer's story, a story mostly dealing with prom... . . . I can't figure out how her prom date asks her.  Although, I did get to look at prom dresses.  For research purposes of course. Still, not the oddest thing I've done writing research on.  That honor belongs to an outline for something that I'll never release.  Unless the person I gave a copy to randomly gives me permission. Or I ask if it's okay.  It's complicated.   And yet how Jennifer's prom date asks her is still more difficult to write than that 'silly stupid...

Is that even possible?  Can Aimee Kirkland from the Bookworm Stories Series be redeemed?  She isn't supposed to be a likable character.  She's one of the mean girls that everybody sees in real life.  That girl that believes that she deserves it all.  Did she learn anything from The Bookworm Next Door ?  Did everybody rallying around Gloria in Along the Road teach her anything about her actions?  But as I released Along the Road and got started on my next installment - what is supposed to be Jennifer's story - I started my outlines and plotting... but Aimee kept popping up.  And then her unnamed sister - now named Amanda.  So, when the Bookworm Series moves out of the high school area and into the college arena we'll see more about Aimee and Amanda and how these sisters deal with their mother's influence in their lives.  Can Aimee be redeemed?  What is going to happen to be the catalyst for this redemption?  I don't k...

That is the question... Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous word count expectations Or to take my pen against a sea of manuscript pages And by opposing NaNoWriMo edit them. Okay, seriously.  I have one manuscript that is in the second draft/revisions/editing stage.  It doesn’t even have 50,000 words at the moment.  Not even 48,000 words.  It is, however, the longest manuscript that I have written and it took combining a planned trilogy to get it that long.  Book one was about 30,000 words and books 2 and 3 a combined 17,000+.  I started Keeping Secrets in 2009... What does this mean? I'm not a 40,000+ writer.  I hate adding in additional action just to further a plot and add fluff just to pad a word count. Not everyone can be novel writers.  I'm not. I'm a short story and novella writer.  That also means very few of my books will be more that $4.99 an ebook.  (Print versions via c...

Coming to a kindle nearst you, hopefully - the still untitled Prequel Short Story about Brady and Gloria. It just needs a beta read a title...that's the tricky part. I received my first goodreads review the other day.  Not an actual review, just the stars, but I'm good with that.   3 stars. Not great, but not bad for showing something started 8 years ago.  I can honestly say my writing style has changed since then.  I can see it from what I'm writing on now.  But it got me thinking, as a reader how would I rate my own story?  I submitted it knowing there were issues that I would not be able to fix without whole rewrites of sections that had already been rewritten so many times.  My characters, I believe, were spot on. Each had a psychological reason for acting the way they acted. Behaviors met personalities. Personalities met character traits and circumstances. If I had added the material in the shorts into the story it would have been chunk...

Last night I crafted several steampunk inspired necklaces for the untitled steampunk/fantasy project. Did I get a single word written?  Yes, only about fifty words.  But I made pretty necklaces that are available in my (unrelated) Etsy shop. So, what do you think oh silent readers?  Steampunk?  More Steampunk Inspired? The Swarovski crystals are wrapped on gears.  My favorite is the utmost right necklace. Anyway, I was sitting there staring at my document the other day, doing Steampunk research on Pinterest and stumbled on the wrapping technique.  Ending up doing a few that I already had the supplies for and ended up going and buying more supplies yesterday.  I'm on Pinterest now btw www.pinterest.com/ajdarcywrites So...then I decided I need book boards.  Why not show what I imaged my characters as, or what they would wear (the untitled Steampunk project for example. I may have spent an hour looking at pictures. Sometimes...

I'm working on a few projects and it is making my head spin.  Either I'm stretching myself too far or my brain is staying, 'You worked so hard on completing The Bookworm Next Door. Take a break.' I still find myself going through all of my writing folders looking to see what items of potential I have already scribbled down. I have MANY writing folders. Some empty (yes, I clean them out). Some jumbled together. Some pieces are just so bad that I feel like I should just delete them, even as I can remember where and why I wrote them.  How can you just delete a part of your history like that?  I can't.  So I'm focusing on 3 things. 1. The Girl Next Door Prequel Shorts. Gloria and Brady are next in line and while I know where I'm going, getting there might be the issue.  This one is slightly more complicated than The Bookworm's Make Over; I can't just write it out in two days and send it to a beta. Brady has a complex back story thanks to Kelly. 2....