Life has been a bit much recently, I hate to admit it. Don't get me wrong, I know of many people in worse straights. My best friend just lost her husband, my mother-in-law is in the hospital with heart problems. My issues pale in comparison.
It's just handling them is difficult and would be incredibly expensive without the generosity of my sister and her family. Let me back up.
December 23rd, I totaled our family car. If nothing else, it was certainly a bummer, but we were blessed in that no one in the entire five-car-pile-up was injured. While we waited three weeks for our over-worked and under-staffed insurance agency to respond, I had to drive my husband's manual transmission car. Since I have half of an ankle missing, the bone has threatened to break for years and it became increasingly obvious that the stick shift would do the trick if I kept driving it.
It began to look like we'd either have to shell out money for a rental or I'd have to keep going until I couldn't. Quite possibly breaking a bone while behind the wheel. Hence, the generosity of my sister; she loaned me her automatic. My ankle still hurts five weeks after the accident, but it has improved and has not broken for which I'm more grateful than I can express.
Then the much-aligned stick-shift's transmission died and the car with it. It will cost more than it's worth to fix the Honda. We now have no automobile of our own and I'm once again reduced to playing taxi-mom via the borrowed car. This brings me up to today.
Monday morning, I need to somehow find time to take my husband to work, get the pink-eye infected daughter to a clinic or doctor and see a family friend interested in selling me her car. The latter will be a HUGE blessing if it comes to fruition, but I still find myself wondering how I'll make it all happen AND find time to do what I want, which brings me to today's question:
What happens to your writing when you're overwhelmed? Do you still work? Do you somehow click into fifth gear and get more productive, or do you have to set it aside and handle life?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Excerpt Monday: New First Chapter
For those of you who have read my first Excerpt Monday release, this is my newest attempt at a rewrite. I would REALLY love suggestions/critiques.
Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.
And without further delay or procrastination, here are my first five pages:
And just as a reminder, please make sure to sign into the contest I'm sponsoring this month, make a comment and maybe win some cool stuff. If you've already done so, make a comment here and you'll score some extra points.
MOURN THEIR COURAGE
By
VICTORIA DIXON
Xing Dynasty: In the Tenth Year of Rebuilt Tranquility
Chapter One
Liu Jie had known for months that war brewed beneath the surface of his quiet country. And now it has come.
He closed the door of the room he and his family shared. The clamor of voices from the inn's first floor enveloped him in an instant. It was twice as loud as when they'd arrived at the Peach Orchard Inn last night. When he’d read the notice.
Servants took long poles and, from hooks above the railing, lowered paper lanterns. The lanterns were a novelty that had not yet come to Jie’s homeland and he observed with interest as the servants lit the bright yellow globes and rehung them.
The fragile lights swayed as he passed. He stared over the railing at the crowd and grimaced. The room was packed with people vying for space to read the Imperial summons tacked onto the wall behind the bar.
All I wanted was a cup of rice wine and a meal. He sighed and went downstairs.
Farmers and merchants jostled one another in the aisles. Shouted drink orders and clattering dice assaulted his ears. He stepped off the landing, breathing in the smells of heated wine and steamed vegetables.
He desperately wanted to talk and laugh with his oldest brother, Mihei. But Mihei was dead. Killed by raiders when Jie was a child. He shook himself free of his thoughts. Long ago he promised his wife he would leave the past where it lay and not resurrect his lost loved ones. Never an easily kept vow, it seemed more difficult than usual now that he stood on the brink of a war where he might lose more family.
Scores of men gathered at the bar. They noted his rank cap and a few left to make room for him. "It's not necessary," Jie protested. He gestured for them to sit beside him. One of the men glanced again at the colored bands on his Chuntze cap. The hat was black and sported yellow silk bands for nobility, blue for mastery of martial arts. The man bowed, walking backwards into the crowd.
I should have taken the cap off before I came in. Too late now. He caught the innkeeper's attention and ordered his meal. Then he reread in a glance the notice that would change the lives of so many.
"The Son of Heaven requires the aid of all men as sons might come to their father. Yellow Turban rebels assault the people and threaten the capital. All districts report." The crimson ink of the Imperial Chop blazed in a corner.
If he could reach the rebels, and talk to them…. He shook his head. Regardless of how they came to be traitors, he must plan how to stop them.
Jie sat at a small table. A group of boisterous young farmers sat at a nearby table and a game of sixes commenced with a clatter of dice.
Voices and noise blended into a monotonous drone. When the innkeeper brought him warmed rice wine and a plate of dumplings, he barely tasted the food. Instead, he used his chopsticks and wrote plan after plan in the congealing sauce. He abandoned every scheme.
Each strategy required him to send spies out to learn about the Yellow Turbans. Were they merely criminals, stealing food and clothing, or were they traitors raising an army to overthrow the Emperor, Jie’s nephew?
This information seemed necessary to Jie, but gaining it did not respond to his Emperor's summons. Jie might have saved countless people if he had reached his nephew a month ago. Now, the Son of Heaven demanded that Jie attack his countrymen. He committed treason if he acted counter to Imperial commands.
He must either go to the capital and enlist, or gather an army from the countryside and lead men into battle as ordered.
He glared at his useless plans and groaned.
"Why are you sighing?" A meaty hand descended on Jie's shoulder. "You're a martial master. You know how to respond."
Jie took his cap off, turned and looked up. Did this man believe Jie was a warmonger? "My people are on the other side of the Dragon Back Mountains. I can only offer myself."
The warrior scrutinized Jie, then grinned and clapped him on the back. "Perfect. May I join you?"
Jie nodded and the warrior sat opposite him.
The innkeeper brought two large cups filled with wine.
The warrior drank half of his in a gulp. "I am Tong Zhang." He pushed aside Jie’s plate to make room for his cup. "Noticed you were making plans just now. Let's talk war." He pointed at the notice.
Something about Zhang touched a memory. Not his bristling beard or forehead-spanning eyebrow, but his presence. Jie couldn't place it, but the thought soothed like silk and was as hard to break. He pushed it aside.
"I won't ask men to serve while their families lose their lands, but paying farmers to fight will consume my funds. Without extra money, I won't be able to feed them."
"You've got what's required, Chuntze." Zhang pointed to Jie's cap. "You're a strategist. I'm a butcher, so I'll convince the butcher's guild to feed us. I'll destroy things. You plan how I'll do it."
Jie chuckled and nodded at this heaven-sent partner. With Zhang as his support, Jie could command as he wished without enlisting. But was Zhang trustworthy? Was he a leader?
Jie unraveled the skein of thought from moments before. He knew why Zhang made him laugh. Zhang reminded him of his brother, Mihei.
"There is one thing I need to know." Zhang glared at him. "Do you have a problem with lower classes?"
Jie snorted. "You speak the language of your Emperor, you live in his country. You could be my brother." Zhang beamed and Jie sipped his wine. "Tell me, where were you going before this evening?"
"Zufen. Where else should the finest warrior in the land go?" Zhang pounded the table. "Wine! I'm almost dry!"
Links to other Excerpt Monday writers
Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.
And just as a reminder, please make sure to sign into the contest I'm sponsoring this month, make a comment and maybe win some cool stuff. If you've already done so, make a comment here and you'll score some extra points.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Book Review: Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Many thanks to Stephanie Barrows, one of two book winners last year who agreed to review the books they won. Today's review is on "Saving Fish From Drowning" by Amy Tan.
Saving Fish From Drowning was my first novel by Amy Tan. Admittedly, most of my literary brushes with Chinese-American culture have come through either movies (coming of age stories and martial arts fantasies) or historical novels (Snowflower and the Secret Fan).
This novel was an unexpected pleasure because it hosted two aspects I adore about Asian culture: the supernatural in everyday life and the immigration experience. An egocentric art-dealer-turned-murder-victim-then-ghost tells the story of a group of travelers who head to China and disappear.
Throughout the narrative, our guide shows us aspects of her personal story with characteristic eccentricity. When a newspaper reports her murder, she complains about the article and pictures used to display her body. Afterwards, our protagonist’s description of her own funeral and its attendees offered a humorous look into the art world and the personalities that inhabit it.
Saving Fish From Drowning also fed this writer’s appetite for psychological insights through internal dialogue and flashbacks. Ms. Tan’s use of graphic detail in describing the protagonist’s murder, for example, is done with a coroner’s eye and a feminine touch.
In the future, I highly recommend Ms. Tan keep writing novels of this nature. Not only are they entertaining, but their aftertaste of the supernatural mixed with the everyday are enough to bring even a finicky reader back to the literary table.
Saving Fish From Drowning was my first novel by Amy Tan. Admittedly, most of my literary brushes with Chinese-American culture have come through either movies (coming of age stories and martial arts fantasies) or historical novels (Snowflower and the Secret Fan).
This novel was an unexpected pleasure because it hosted two aspects I adore about Asian culture: the supernatural in everyday life and the immigration experience. An egocentric art-dealer-turned-murder-victim-then-ghost tells the story of a group of travelers who head to China and disappear.
Throughout the narrative, our guide shows us aspects of her personal story with characteristic eccentricity. When a newspaper reports her murder, she complains about the article and pictures used to display her body. Afterwards, our protagonist’s description of her own funeral and its attendees offered a humorous look into the art world and the personalities that inhabit it.
Saving Fish From Drowning also fed this writer’s appetite for psychological insights through internal dialogue and flashbacks. Ms. Tan’s use of graphic detail in describing the protagonist’s murder, for example, is done with a coroner’s eye and a feminine touch.
In the future, I highly recommend Ms. Tan keep writing novels of this nature. Not only are they entertaining, but their aftertaste of the supernatural mixed with the everyday are enough to bring even a finicky reader back to the literary table.
Monday, January 17, 2011
One Hundred Followers And Counting
That's why I've planned for months on throwing a party when I reached 100 followers. Party hats, party trivia, and gifts. ;D
I've got LOTS of different giveaways, but there are some rules for winning.
1. You need to be a follower. Yup, since this is a "Thanks for Following Me" party, you need to be a follower. It's only fair. That said, if you've been a follower before today, you'll receive 5 points. If you start following me now, you'll receive 2 points.
2. Commenting will get you an extra point for EACH COMMENT during the course of the contest because lets be honest, blogging just isn't much fun if no one's listening. Also, it's the method you'll need to use to officially enter the contest.
3. If you choose to FB, Tweet or blog about this, that's awesome and I'll give you an extra two points for each effort. I'm going to count on your honesty, though, so just let me know you've given this post a shout out; no links are necessary.
4. This contest will continue until Midnight on the Ides of February. (I've always wanted to use 'Ides' in a sentence! Woo hoo!) The Ides of February is the 13th, in case you wondered. I will announce my winners on the following day.
A. First Fifty Pages Critique
B. Query Letter or Synopsis Critique
C. The wooden box to the right, carved by East Indian artists.
D. A Barnes & Noble Notepad with this beautiful Chinese-style illustration and magnetic closure. (See the picture at the top of this post for the cover and inside illustrations.)
E. Wonton Bath Fizzers. Fill your bathrub with warm water and dissolve the wonton - err, fizzer in it. Kinda cool, huh? (For all those interested, they contain Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Pentasodium Triphosphate, Cellulose Gum, Talc, Sodium Sulfate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Parfume, FD&C Blue #1 Cl42090.)
Now, if a prize winner would like one of the other prizes, (say, my first prize winner does not want a fifty page critique,) I will shuffle the prizes accordingly, but the next person in line will always be offered the biggest kahuna available. LOL
Good luck and many thanks to you all!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Contests for Writing and Books, Oh My!
It's contest season, folks. Let's see what's cooking:
At Margo Berendson's "Writing at High Altitudes" you've got an awesome contest to help push yourself and a fellow author. Margo is offering a commenter a $30 Amazon giftcard for their comment regarding her New Year's resolution word count goal. Read her post, get inspired.
Many of you know I entered and won second place for fantasy in the 2010 Sandy Writer's Competition last year. It's time to send in your chapters for 2011 and I can't recommend doing this enough. Seriously. For $30, you get constructive criticism from three published authors AND if you place in the top three positions, your ms goes before an agent. Ginger Clark was my agent-judge last year and she requested my first 50 pages. Pretty darn cool. Check out the competition's guidelines and get your work in. The deadline is February 13th.
Unless you're dead or uninterested in writing, you're aware the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition opens on January 24th and closes to entries on February 6th OR when they receive 5,000 entries in a given age range (adult or YA). This competition is FREE and as I posted a few days ago, there are communities at the site who will critique your opening chapters for you while you await the judges' decisions. Two years ago they helped me polish my opening and made winning second place in the Sandy possible. This contest is well worth your time and you have nothing to lose.
The annual Chase the Dream contest (for you Romance authors) will be rescheduled this year. Make sure you check their website periodically for more information, but if I hear when it will be, I'll try to post the dates here, too.
Addendum! Maria Zannini was so kind as to let me know about her critique contest! Be sure to go there next for a chance to win a free critique!
Good luck and God bless you all!
At Margo Berendson's "Writing at High Altitudes" you've got an awesome contest to help push yourself and a fellow author. Margo is offering a commenter a $30 Amazon giftcard for their comment regarding her New Year's resolution word count goal. Read her post, get inspired.
Many of you know I entered and won second place for fantasy in the 2010 Sandy Writer's Competition last year. It's time to send in your chapters for 2011 and I can't recommend doing this enough. Seriously. For $30, you get constructive criticism from three published authors AND if you place in the top three positions, your ms goes before an agent. Ginger Clark was my agent-judge last year and she requested my first 50 pages. Pretty darn cool. Check out the competition's guidelines and get your work in. The deadline is February 13th.
Unless you're dead or uninterested in writing, you're aware the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition opens on January 24th and closes to entries on February 6th OR when they receive 5,000 entries in a given age range (adult or YA). This competition is FREE and as I posted a few days ago, there are communities at the site who will critique your opening chapters for you while you await the judges' decisions. Two years ago they helped me polish my opening and made winning second place in the Sandy possible. This contest is well worth your time and you have nothing to lose.
The annual Chase the Dream contest (for you Romance authors) will be rescheduled this year. Make sure you check their website periodically for more information, but if I hear when it will be, I'll try to post the dates here, too.
Addendum! Maria Zannini was so kind as to let me know about her critique contest! Be sure to go there next for a chance to win a free critique!
Good luck and God bless you all!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Chinese New Year Celebration in Kansas City
2011 KC Chinese New Year Celebration
Together for the first time, KCCAA is teaming up with Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, and KU Confucius Institute to jointly host the best-ever “Kansas City Chinese New Year Celebration” on Feb. 5, 2011 Saturday at Johnson County Community College (JCCC).
Click here for Program Highlight.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New Wuxia Market!
This notice comes straight from Rob, the owner of Kung Fu Action Theatre:
Who are we?
Kung Fu Action Theatre is a monthly podcast running since 2006 which has built an audience on telling action-adventure stories. We've been focused on Audio Drama (radioplays), but are now looking to showcase short fiction instead.
What do we want?
Historical adventure stories set in Asia or with an Asian element. Prose only, no scripts or poetry.
What will we do with them?
Read them into a microphone to turn them into audio fiction, and then stick them up in our podcast feed for our audience to enjoy.
Why should you submit your story to us?
We have an average of 7000 people downloading our podcast feed each month, do you want 7000 people to hear your story read and presented in a professional manner and showcased? Plus, we only want one-time audio rights (not print), the story is still yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. And on top of that, you get a Creative Commons licensed mp3 of your story you can do anything with except sell for money, like pass to publishers as a piece of promotional material to help get your work published elsewhere.
What do we get from this?
We like entertaining people and telling stories. It’s that simple. KFAT is non-profit, contains no advertising, and actually runs at a loss with only donations from listeners to help cover the costs. (Which by the way, they don’t. So feel free to donate!) We also want to promote the Asian adventure genres, because that’s what we love to read!
More details here.
Who are we?
Kung Fu Action Theatre is a monthly podcast running since 2006 which has built an audience on telling action-adventure stories. We've been focused on Audio Drama (radioplays), but are now looking to showcase short fiction instead.
What do we want?
Historical adventure stories set in Asia or with an Asian element. Prose only, no scripts or poetry.
What will we do with them?
Read them into a microphone to turn them into audio fiction, and then stick them up in our podcast feed for our audience to enjoy.
Why should you submit your story to us?
We have an average of 7000 people downloading our podcast feed each month, do you want 7000 people to hear your story read and presented in a professional manner and showcased? Plus, we only want one-time audio rights (not print), the story is still yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. And on top of that, you get a Creative Commons licensed mp3 of your story you can do anything with except sell for money, like pass to publishers as a piece of promotional material to help get your work published elsewhere.
What do we get from this?
We like entertaining people and telling stories. It’s that simple. KFAT is non-profit, contains no advertising, and actually runs at a loss with only donations from listeners to help cover the costs. (Which by the way, they don’t. So feel free to donate!) We also want to promote the Asian adventure genres, because that’s what we love to read!
More details here.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Markets, Residencies and Other Opportunities
I've got several different types of markets and opportunities today. I wish I could take credit for them, but oh well. :D
This first one is courtesy of Hope Clark:
This first one is courtesy of Hope Clark:
GLOBAL ARTS VILLAGE - INDIA
http://www.globalartsvillage.org/residencies.htm
---
A residency can provide much needed time away from your normal
environment and routine. You are encouraged to develop your work
based upon your Indian experience and inspiration. The Village
offers residency programs to emerging, mid-career and established
artists. Residencies are offered for all major creative disciplines
(visual, performing, literary, healing arts) and we also welcome
professionals, researchers and scholars. Residents choose from
standard, duplex or accommodations in administrative staff quarters
and are provided with work studio space, three prepared vegetarian
meals per day, laundry service, broadband wi-fi internet access
and airport pick-up. Specific requirements, benefits, conditions
and additional information are outlined within the program and
facility descriptions. India is a land full of contrast, beauty
and surprises. The residencies provide the perfect amount of
time to absorb the Indian experience, create work and allow for
travel time before or after the residency period. Selection
Procedure: Applications are reviewed by a panel and selection
is based upon your current body of work, project description,
and motivation to develop your art, project, and/or work in
India.
I can't take credit for this one, either. It's many thanks to Eve in the Authors of Asian Novels Group.
A new magazine (short story market) is available at http://kunlunjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/welcome-to-kunlun-journal.html. He's especially interested in Wuxia, which is the type of story where you have a wondering warrior. Think "Seven Samurai," "Lone Wolf and Cub," etc.
http://www.globalartsvillage.org/residencies.htm
---
A residency can provide much needed time away from your normal
environment and routine. You are encouraged to develop your work
based upon your Indian experience and inspiration. The Village
offers residency programs to emerging, mid-career and established
artists. Residencies are offered for all major creative disciplines
(visual, performing, literary, healing arts) and we also welcome
professionals, researchers and scholars. Residents choose from
standard, duplex or accommodations in administrative staff quarters
and are provided with work studio space, three prepared vegetarian
meals per day, laundry service, broadband wi-fi internet access
and airport pick-up. Specific requirements, benefits, conditions
and additional information are outlined within the program and
facility descriptions. India is a land full of contrast, beauty
and surprises. The residencies provide the perfect amount of
time to absorb the Indian experience, create work and allow for
travel time before or after the residency period. Selection
Procedure: Applications are reviewed by a panel and selection
is based upon your current body of work, project description,
and motivation to develop your art, project, and/or work in
India.
I can't take credit for this one, either. It's many thanks to Eve in the Authors of Asian Novels Group.
A new magazine (short story market) is available at http://kunlunjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/welcome-to-kunlun-journal.html. He's especially interested in Wuxia, which is the type of story where you have a wondering warrior. Think "Seven Samurai," "Lone Wolf and Cub," etc.
My own story is a member of the Wuxia family as it's based on one of the early Wuxia classics, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms." If you're interested in helping me polish the new opening I've made thanks to Tessa Elwood and Donna Hole (you ladies have my gratitude and a critique coming whenever you need it!), go to Mourn Their Courage and let me know if you have any questions.
Are you aware of any markets I should post about? (I'll give you credit and many thanks.) Do you have a critique concern you'd like to share? Drop me a note and we can brainstorm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)