SFFS Snippet - 7/7/12

A wave of dizziness interrupted the surge of excitement and desire he felt when he thought of the wench. He crawled back into bed and closed his eyes. The image of blue eyes flickered behind his lids, followed by feathers. And tinkling silver leaves.

Then Lazarus remembered her. A dream, he was sure, but the woman in it had seemed so real. If he reached out to grab her, he could pull her right out of the fantasy and into his room.

And the slight warmth that emanated from her--his dreams were always cold, like real life, like the souls he sent off. Everything was cold. Except sex and this strange woman.

From Dead As Dreams, Chapter 2 (novel currently in the revision process)

About Dead As Dreams:

Dreams are in danger and souls are chained to the earth. Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, and Lazarus, a spirit seeker, join forces to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares and life and death. They face a rogue spirit seeker and a manipulator of nightmares--both intent on unhinging the world, but there is yet another pulling the strings.

Please visit Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday (SFFS) to read more great snippets!

NEXT UP: Magic is Reality, Reality is Magic - The Element of Fire

Happy 4th of July! (Belatedly)

My area has currently been under a heat advisory for almost a week now, and yesterday was crazy with no air conditioning by the computers, so I failed to deliver my blog post on time. Sorry about that. Today is supposed to be no better for the heat, but I'll see if I can get the post out I intended to yesterday!

For the 4th, I thought it would be nice to post some pictures my husband and I have taken recently around the United States. I don't like getting gushy, so let's just say I said something teary eyed for the reasons why we should appreciate all that surrounds us.

On our way back from residency, we accidentally went directly through Chicago (oops), so I managed to get a picture of the Sears Tower. It's a side shot, but honestly, it's the only picture from SHU and graduation that seems to have turned out!

This next one is a bit blurry, unfortunately, as aforementioned other pictures from the residency trip didn't turn out. It's a "View from the Hill", Seton Hill to be exact! It's a gorgeous view, and hopefully you can at least see some of that in this shot. We wanted to get a shot of SHU when it was dark out and all lit up, but we didn't get the chance. Maybe next year (maybe I'll have a better camera - sigh).

And finally, the pictures below are some awesome shots I took while hiking at Rocky Arbor State Park a few weeks ago. Got to love nature - so inspiring for writing!

NEXT UP: SFFS Snippet - 7/7/12

Beat the Heat?

It's only the first of July and today's heat does not bode well for the writing days ahead this summer! Good thing I have a laptop and can sit in front of an air conditioner when needed, but trying to sit at my desktop (like right now) is a challenge indeed.

Anyway, as promised, here is my update post for the first of this month. Let's see what odds and ends I need to cover....

First, I'm happy to announce I now officially have my M.F.A. in Writing Popular fiction! I graduated last Sunday, and I am happy to have survived all the coursework, especially from the last six months. There were times I thought I wouldn't make it!

Graduating doesn't mean life will be any less hectic, though. I have tons of writing tasks on my to do list as well as plans to spend much of the summer with my family. At the beginning of August, my husband and I will actually be on our honeymoon (we've been married for over ten years...so we've waited a long time for this - last time we had intended to go, Katrina hit and there went our plans).

Last month I revised my short story "Bound", and it has already received two rejections. It'll be sent out again this week. ;) I revised the first 25 pages of Dead As Dreams again. For my reading at residency, I read part of Chapter 2 and all of Chapter 3 - it was well received!

July will consist of revising/editing one or two more short stories and consistent progress on revising Dead As Dreams. I actually intend to work on a map, timeline, and history for Dreams, along with answering some much needed questions to help me progress (see my last post concerning Donald Maass's presentation for more details on what I'm talking about). Those things may take up most of the month, but in the end they'll help me progress with revisions faster.

I also plan to send out more queries for The Mind Behind the Mind. I did send out four just last week!

Hm, I really should be talking about progress and not goals, no? It seems my brain is already starting to focus on July and forget about June. Oops!

Don't forget to join us at Writing Quest - July if you're interested in working on your monthly goals alongside fellow writers. Happy writing!

NEXT UP: Pictures! Of what? You'll have to come and see. =)