Happy Hump Day!

Wishin'... and Hopin'... and Thinkin'...

Right now I have that song in my head... but somehow I'm quite sure Ms. Dusty Springfield never meant them in the context that I'm using them. I'm still waiting to hear if my Cowboy story has been accepted. But until then, my writing life goes on.

Lately, I've been editing my "Appearances" story (which probably won't stay titled that... it's just how I first thought of it, lol). And I'm finding certain characters are coming up so much clearer than they originally did. They're growing and evolving in ways I am constantly surprised by. I wrote this one at the same time that Mysti wrote her Shut Up and Kiss Me when we did it as sort of a writing challenge. We were trying to get the ball rolling and get something done... anything done. Mysti popped up in my IM window and said, "I have an idea" which usually makes me cringe... some of her ideas are a bit out there. Like yanno... "I have an idea... we should write erotic romance!" :-D

So, Mysti had an idea... we needed to just make it a challenge. We had two days (might have been three...) to write a story that was approximately 7500 words. She finished hers long before I did, but I have a very hard time making my stories shorter... I want to share the information and more of the story. Anyway, the end result was my Cowboy story that originally ended at almost 13,000 words. But I wrote it within the time limit we'd set. I can remember thinking that I liked this story, but feeling pressed to finish in the alloted time. And I'm sure that showed in the first draft.

As so often happens with a story, it started out one way, and it quickly jumped over into a different direction than I had originally planned. Once I hit save that last time I popped up in her window... "Done!" At which point she demanded I send it to her immediately. Ugh, I really hate sending anyone a first draft... I know there are mistakes in there, I know that I've twisted the plot and left out the conflict. And while I do better with criticisms than I do with praise (go figure) I always feel a little sick to my stomach when I first open up a document that has been looked over by a crit partner and see all those crossed out lines and comments along the side. Each time I think, "That's an awful lot of red!"

Mysti looked at it and sent me her comments and edits. And my first thought? "WOW, that's an awful lot of red!" LOL. Then, after taking a deep breath, I read through all the comments and edits and then closed it and set it aside. I'm not a person who can do the first or second round of edits on my stories immediately. I have to read every comment that was made, and then let it germinate. Let it sit and let my subconscious brain pick it apart and put it back together again. Besides, I was in the middle of second or third round of edits on my Cowboy, so I continued to work on those.

Now, Cowboy is off, and waiting in someone else's hands and Appearances can take center stage. As I go through and add words... or change words that I apparently love too much (clenched anyone?)... I am once again amazed at the way a story can change and evolve and grow. Characters that may have been a bit bland can take on a whole new appearance. They can steal a scene, or in some cases an entire book. They can go from whiney and not all that admirable to bitchy but lovable. I love the journey I go on each time I step into the worlds in my head. I love how I can see, taste and touch what I'm trying to get down on the screen. I absolutely adore the voices in my head (yes, even when they are screaming at me that I'm not getting their stories down fast enough). Basically, I pretty much love everything about writing... okay, I could do without the emotional angst as I wait for a response to my inquiry... but nobody's perfect, lol. Maybe if I can keep my mind on editing Appearances and writing some more I won't go as crazy... then again, maybe not. Guess we'll all have to wait and see, lol.

Author Interview ~ Sandra Stixrude

Hey all, I’m glad you could drop in and see who we have on the couch today. Let’s all give a warm Menagerie welcome to Sandra Stixrude.

Hi Sandra, so glad you could join us on the couch today. Make yourself comfy and grab a drink… or tell one of the Boys what you’d like and they’ll make every effort to see that you’re… happy.

Let’s go ahead and get started: Where are you from?

Delaware, (Delawhere?) Yes, that cute little state stuffed between New Jersey and Maryland. I’ve lived here all my life and with family here, I most likely always will. It may not be a glamorous state but it’s close to everything on the East Coast.

And honestly glamorous only lasts so long before it just plain wears you out. It’s better to have family around. How about your latest news?

Marya, the first novel in the Anchorage series, released at Red Rose Publishing, March 4, 2010. Woohoo! Anchorage, my Science Fiction series, currently has seven books contracted, with the second, Romenel: Voyage into Twilight, set to release in the second half of 2010.

That is indeed awesome news! And WOW, seven contracted books. I’m amazed… and a tad jealous, lol. How much of the book is realistic?

Hmm…alien planet, strange life forms, telepathic leemacats, what would you think? Seriously, though, I do try to keep the action and the details as realistic as possible for the setting. I don’t break the laws of physics (or chemistry) and I do try to present character interactions in a realistic way.

LOL, I can understand how you’d think with all that it couldn’t be realistic, but see… you knew what I meant. What are your current projects?

The Anchorage series will most likely take up the lion’s share of my time in the upcoming year. The series, which takes place on a planet far from normal shipping routes, where thousands of years after landing, the human colonists have forgotten their origins.

This series spans approximately eighteen years in the life of Marya Intalva, her family, friends, associates, and enemies. Gotta have antagonists. While each story is, in true SF tradition, a cautionary tale of one sort or another, these are character driven stories where the characters are forced to think outside of their normal, comfortable life patterns and challenged in ways they never imagined.

I’ll bet it’s very interesting. I’ve always loved sci-fi. Can you share a little of your current work with us?

But of course. Here’s the blurb for Marya:

Know he will succeed when all others fail you… so reads the fateful letter of introduction that heralds the beginning of Marya’s desperate journey.

When the Ktar chooses Marya to watch over the heir on his confirmation journey, she has no illusions about a pleasant trip. A prophecy concerning the heir’s death, ominous dreams of a mysterious city, and the certainty one of the heir’s companions will betray him all weigh heavily on her.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the assassin in their midst is only the beginning. His menace pales in comparison to the ancient evil lurking in the mountain city. When Marya and her party are trapped and the men with her enslaved, she is forced into a battle of wills and hearts with two remaining choices: give in to the alien being who offers her power and prestige, or join forces with the same handsome assassin she sought to thwart. Lives are at stake and so are her heart and her honor – how can she choose?

And a little excerpt from the first chapter:

Marya stopped to let her eyes adjust and to collect herself. On either side of the staircase stood the statues of Alia and Liut. Alia held a book in one hand and a trowel in the other, her feet planted on the ground. Carved of bright alabaster and worked in gold, she represented all that was gi: stability, order, law, civilization, light, creation, and learning. Her dark husband, Liut, stood on the left. Made of black, polished stone, he was lost in his wild dance, feet stamping out a rhythm only he could hear. His five hands held fire, the moons, and a sword. Alia’s essential other half, the second of the two sacred, inseparable essences that made up the world, he represented everything that was ro: change, chaos, madness, wilderness, shadow, and destruction.

Marya bowed to both in turn and spoke each name with reverence and Sabiana followed her example. As a Mother Priestess, she had done this many times, but visits to the oracle were still unnerving and Marya needed the moment of ceremony to gather her courage. She took Sabiana’s hand to guide her, the girl’s eyes huge with anxiety.

They had taken a dozen steps from the stairs when out of the darkness came an eerie, hollow voice, “Who approaches to disturb the silence?”

The shape and size of the chamber contributed to the strange, chilling sound of the oracle’s voice, but the oracles were also a breed apart, more in tune with the holy essences than other mortals. No one but the Mother Prelate knew how many oracles served now or how long they held office or if they ever saw the light of day.

Marya straightened her shoulders and gave the expected response. “I am Marya Intalva, Mother Priestess and Healer of the Essensate. I seek the guidance of prophecy, for good or ill.”

The oracle hesitated, the silence closing about them in the dark and Marya heard Sabiana’s breathing accelerate.

“Inquire carefully and be prepared to hear that which you most dread.”

The response was traditional, but the oracle’s hesitation had put Marya on edge. What did it mean? Was the oracle reluctant to give this prophecy today? She asked in the most general way about the heir’s upcoming journey.

In a singsong chant, the oracle cried out:

“Black moon, black sky, black star,
Sunlit towers hidden by storm and cloud,
Trust obscures the assassin’s blade,
The self-styled god consumes despair,
The ruler’s child plunged into darkness,
Honor lost, there is howling at the walls.”

Wow, looks like a good read! Who designed the covers?

Marya’s cover is a Missy Lyons design. She’s done some of my all-time favorite covers (check out the one for Finn.) The planet with the three moons, the mountain scenery, the gorgeous couple, all these things she melded together beautifully to please an overexcited and art-challenged author.

LOL, that’s a great description “art-challenged author.” And it is a gorgeous cover. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Yes – I’m going to paraphrase Miss Snark here. Get the first draft down; dump your ideas onto the page. Then the actual writing begins. Don’t fear revision. It’s necessary, it’s inevitable, and the process will help you grow as a writer. Only Mozart could draft things in a perfect form the first time through (OK, he used notes rather than words, but the process is much the same.) Unless you’re that sort of genius savant, (sorry, most of us aren’t) revision drives the work.

Very good advice, and I kind of like the revision part. I know, I’m a bit odd… What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Think about writing? Seriously, I have a day job, so leisure time is sparse and precious. I love to travel—we’ve been to Canada, to Europe, to Hawaii, and China in the past few years. (That’s what happens when you don’t spend all your money on cosmetics and shoes, ladies, you have money left over to play, lol.)

I honestly don’t know if I’d know what to do with leisure time, lol. I’m rather jealous of your traveling credits. I’d be happy just to make it to Ireland someday. What does your family think of your writing?

My son is thrilled, my hubby somewhat bemused, and my parents pleased as punch to see me published. Everyone has been enormously supportive over the years, even when I was at my lowest points. While hubby asked at one point why I write ‘those kinds of books’ (meaning stories not based in reality) he still understands the need to do so.

LOL, it’s great to have that kind of support. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I know this might sound as if you’ve heard it before, but the shock for many fiction writers comes when they realize characters take on a life of their own. There’s most likely a convoluted psychological process going on, with the author managing a distance from his or her own normal thought processes, but I’m at a loss how to explain it properly.

Well-developed characters know what they want and how they want to go about things. They tell you and even berate you when they feel you have it wrong.

Writing a novel seems to be the only time society permits you to have voices in your head.

It’s an ongoing joke among us ladies here at the Menagerie and other auhors I know that every writer is a bit schitzophrenic… I’ve even said we need t-shirts: “I write what the voices in my head tell me to.” How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written seven SF novels, a short chapbook, several erotic works under a different name (Angel Martinez), and a young adult fantasy that will most likely never see the light of day. Asking an author to pick a favorite is like asking a devoted mother to pick a favorite among her children. She may feel more disposed to one or the other at any given moment, but she doesn’t truly have a favorite.

I will always love Marya, because I love beginnings. But I adore Romenel as a hero, I loved the challenge of writing Pelinas, and I think I had the most fun of my life writing the two halves of the Emily story. So I’ve answered the question…by not answering the question.

Very well said. And now for our “absolutely-nothing-to-do-with-writing” questions: Do you hate how you look in pictures? Why or why not?

I hate having my picture taken. I freeze up and make the oddest faces. The lighting is always bad and half the time I end up looking demented. Maybe I always look a little demented…

LOL, that might be, but somehow I doubt it. What is your strangest habit?

I hum to myself whenever I’m working on anything, which includes washing the dishes and such. This in itself is not so odd, but I’m usually not aware I’m doing it. If someone stops me and asks ‘what’s that song you’re humming?’ I often find I’ve no idea.

Well, at least you do something happy… that’s gotta be better than pulling out your hair. Have you ever eaten a crayon?

I have never eaten an entire crayon. However, I have sampled a few. Burnt Sienna. Brick Red. They don’t taste good, but boy do they ever look inviting.

LOL, I keep thinking the sour apple one should taste that way… and they never do. What is your heritage?

All American mutt. My mother is from Germany. My father is half-Norwegian, and hence my last name is as well. The rest is a largely indeterminate mix of French and British Isles with who knows what else thrown in.

With the Nordic/Germanic parts, you’re probably thinking ‘blonde, blue-eyed, tall’. Give me a moment here while I try to stop laughing. No, those genes all passed me by. I’m short; the hair was once near-black before it started to silver, the eyes, coffee-dark.

Well, sometimes the genetics make no sense in how they’re distributed… I’m the shortest member of my family… my entire family by at least three inches. :-D Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?

Yes.

Oh, you want specifics. I cry at just about anything during a movie. I cried at the beginning of Up when the old man’s wife dies. I cried as if my own beloved had died at the end of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I’m not certain if that was because Prince Vlad dies or because Mina had to go back to that bland, expressionless husband of hers.

Hey, I cried during Up too… I don’t see anything wrong with that. Do you like thunderstorms?

I love storms. I love the shape and color of them. They’re like live things, each with their own unique feel. Lightning cracking across the sky has fascinated me from childhood. Exhilarating, exciting, with a strange anticipatory mix of awe and dread, I find my heart pounding just watching.

If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?

Time. The right sort of time. I need more in certain places and less in others. A sewing kit for time, that’s what I’d wish for, so I could cut and re-fashion, resize and re-shape stretches of time into what I need.

LOL, I think we all wish that.

Well, Sandra, that brings us to the end of our interview. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. Go ahead and hang out, make yourself at home.

Perhaps 5'3" on a good day, Sandra has always found the world an amazing (and often large) place. She's always lived in northern Delaware, travels a good deal and loves every locale she's visited. One son, one husband, two cats, and a day job –the writing keeps her mostly sane.

You can find out more information about her and her work at the following places:

Official Site: http://www.freewebs.com/sandrastixrude

Marya by Sandra Stixrude

Know he will succeed when all others fail you…so reads the fateful letter of introduction which heralds the beginning of Marya's desperate journey.

When the Ktar chooses Marya to watch over the heir on his confirmation journey, she has no illusions about a pleasant trip. A prophecy concerning the heir's death, ominous dreams of a mysterious city, and the certainty one of the heir's companions will betray him all weigh heavily on her.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the assassin in their midst is only the beginning. His menace pales in comparison to the ancient evil lurking in the mountain city. When Marya and her party are trapped and the men with her enslaved, she is forced into a battle of wills and hearts with two remaining choices: give in to the alien being who offers her power and prestige, or join forces with the same handsome assassin she sought to thwart. Lives are at stake and so are her heart and her honor - how can she choose?

Book Commercial ~ Marya: Anchorage Series Book 1 by Sandra Stixrude

Marya: Anchorage Series Book 1 by Sandra Stixrude

Know he will succeed when all others fail you…so reads the fateful letter of introduction which heralds the beginning of Marya's desperate journey.

When the Ktar chooses Marya to watch over the heir on his confirmation journey, she has no illusions about a pleasant trip. A prophecy concerning the heir's death, ominous dreams of a mysterious city, and the certainty one of the heir's companions will betray him all weigh heavily on her.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the assassin in their midst is only the beginning. His menace pales in comparison to the ancient evil lurking in the mountain city. When Marya and her party are trapped and the men with her enslaved, she is forced into a battle of wills and hearts with two remaining choices: give in to the alien being who offers her power and prestige, or join forces with the same handsome assassin she sought to thwart. Lives are at stake and so are her heart and her honor - how can she choose?

****************************

Want to see your book commercial here? Email us at menagerieauthors@gmail.com to find out how!

What Do You Think?

My pal Wendi asked me what I thought of as my perfect version of a hero.

Tough question.

That's like asking a painter what's his perfect subject or a musician his favorite piece. I'm not totally sure. Well, comes down to this: should a hero be a fantasy man or a regular guy. What do you think?

For me? I want a guy who is sexy. Does that mean he has to be a rock star or a secret agent? It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't hinder either. Now I'm not big into country music, but, from the little I've paid attention to, girls love guys in camo pants, southern drawls, and such. So a guy whose down on the farm should make a great hero.

Now what is my ideal hero? Well, look at my cabana boys and you'll get the picture. Gerard and Jeremy are fine specimens of vampire cabananess. And no I won't tell you what they do during their spare time.

So what do you think? Does a hero have to be a sweeping Scotsman? Or a flashy actor? What about a single dad who works at a factory? Maybe I'm going on too long about this, but I go back to my writing and think about my heroes and wonder. Yanno?

But I need to get back to my boys.

Ta.

Happy Hump Day!

Family, Feelings and Funny Happenings

I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to write about today. And honestly nothing was coming to me. Still no news on my Cowboy story that I sent off to another publisher. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I can't stay in a state of constant... freaking out, lol. So, I check my emails a little less... hmmm... neurotically, and I hope for the best and work on my other stuff.

This week I have had family in town. And while I love and adore my family, they are a loud, rambunctious group of emotional vampires. I love being around them, but by the time I get home... I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Now imagine doing that over and over again for an entire week and then having the spector of the in-laws coming into town for a big birthday for one of my children and you'll see what my life is right now.

Among the chaos, there is fun and laughter and downright silliness... especially when you get members of my rather large Irish/German family (on my mother's side) in one house. It blows people's minds when they see all of us together, but they soon start to believe me when I say, "I'm the quiet one." No, really, I AM the quiet one. Those of you who know me are rolling your eyes, "Uh huh.... suuuuuuure you are, Kealie!" But once you see my entire family in action... it starts to make sense.

The night before last we had about 25 family members (Yes, they were ALL related to me in one way or another) gathered in my parents' house. We honestly don't need a reason, but add the fact that my sister who doesn't live here came down for a visit with her husband and children, and we have ample reason to gather and wreak havoc.

This time, there seemed to be a bit of a... passing of the flame if you will. For years my family has played a game called May I. It's a... "bastardized version" of Gin Rummy (according to my sister). We've been playing this card game for as long as I can remember. As children we watched our parents and listened to them howl and holler at each other when someone took a card they wanted or skunked the whole table by going out and leaving the others with hundreds of points in their hands. As we got older we were slowly taught the game and after the first hand you won... you were on your own. As each of us has grown into adulthood, we've progressed and excelled at the game until we had to have our own table of cards away from the adults.

At this family get-together, only the younger generation played the game, while the older generation stood by and commented or talked amongst themselves. So, me, my one cousin, my other cousin's fiance, my sister, her husband and the baby of the family, my youngest cousin who just turned 18 last month set about playing our own game of May I. Slowly, the volume grew (nothing new in a large family) and the older generation started to make some... complaints. "You're getting too loud over there!" Which would set the rest of us at the table off into paroxisms of laughing... remembering some of the more heated games of recent memory between those same people.

We did our best, but really, we're family and we enjoy poking fun at each other. My brother introduced us to his pregnant wife that night (no I had never met her before, and no we weren't invited to the wedding... things were a bit strained at first). And then convinced her that she needed to join in the game. Since the girl comes from a family of six, where she was the only girl, we figured she could handle us. At one point, she looked at the other five of us at the table and asked, "Are you sure you aren't siblings?" Considering that she was married to one of my siblings and one of my other siblings was at the table with her husband we were a bit confused. "Who?" And she pointed between me and my cousins. We had to laugh... "Well, we might as well be. We were raised more as siblings than as cousins." And that explains it all. We were raised more as siblings, we were there for every major event, we were there every month for the family get together, we were there for weddings, birthdays and baptisms... and even though there are times when I want to bang my head against the wall... I wouldn't trade that for anything in the whole entire world.

Now you're wondering what in the world this has to do with writing... nothing... and everything. My family is the reason I believe in Happy-Ever-After. I saw on a daily basis parents and aunts and uncles who shared their love with the rest of us. I watched my mother and father kiss in public and hold hands and have seen the same from my aunts and uncles. It taught me the kind of love I deserved, and I refused to settle for less. My family is the reason I can look at my cousin who has yet to find a man willing to take on a single mother with some issues and think, "Someday, I'll write her story." Because I love her, and want her happy, I will be there when she does find her One and I will share in her joy.

When a character pops into my head, I can honestly say that they have quite a bit of my family in them... whether it's a stubborn determination to refuse to settle... or a spunky heroine who feels no shame in the shape of her body because she had a family of big beautiful, women with curves. Our life experiences mold our writing. They speak to us, and through us, and go out into the world as an example of who you are and what you believe. I hope that I can make a reader laugh the way my family makes me laugh... I hope that I can put forth that emotion that I learned at the feet of the women in my family who never gave up and never took no for an answer, and in the process they raised some pretty spectacular friends that I am lucky enough to call family. That's the feeling I want to put in my stories. I'm sure you'll let me know if I fail at that, lol. :-D

Anyway, everyone have a beautiful Tuesday. I'll be hiking Valley of Fire with my family and storing away more memories to bring out and look over again... but not until it quiets down a bit around here. LOL