Category: My Books

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My Books Poetry Writing

Songs from the Small Hours is LIVE!

I remember the Hale-Bopp comet. I don’t really know why. I wasn’t even three yet in Spring of ‘97. But I remember Mom picking me up and pointing it out through the bathroom window facing west. It was surreal, even to my very young mind—like a shooting star that had been stopped.

We haven’t had a comet like Hale-Bopp since. I’ve spent most of my life anticipating the next “Great Comet.” We’re overdue for one. So, in 201X, I was paying close attention when I found out a massive comet called Ison was passing the orbit of Jupiter, inbound.

Ison was predicted to be “the Comet of the Century.” But there was a certain degree of uncertainty. It didn’t take too long for scientists to recognize Ison as both a highly unstable body and what they call a sundiver—perhaps a self-explanatory term.

You may or may not remember how the story ended, but I think it was on Thanksgiving night Earth got word that Ison was a goner. I saw the time-lapse on TV. It swung around the far-side of Sol and a brilliant spray of vaporized material spewed out the other side. The nucleus was gone.

But that was after I wrote the poem “I Dreamed of Ison.” I mixed the metaphors of the grandiose promises of comet Ison with the quiet childhood story of a stray cat, “Comet” who eventually disappeared again. It’s kind of odd reading it in retrospect knowing the details of Ison’s star-crossed meeting with the sun.

“I Dreamed of Ison” is one of the 31 poems included in my long-in-coming poetry book Songs from the Small Hours. The illustrated chapbook is finally available to the public via Amazon. (And via me, personally, shortly. I just ordered a box of 50 of those things to hand-sell.)

One thing though. I haven’t released it as an ebook. I just thought I should say that before you asked. I might or might not later, but I personally think it lends itself to paperback quite a bit more, and you would be cheating yourself buying it in electronic format—I might change my mind later. Depends on how many people yell at me that they would get it if it were an ebook, but have no interest in paperback, and throw smoke-bombs through my windows.

Honestly, I don’t know how many people actually read poetry—I mean once they get out of school. But if you’re one of those rare people, or would like to be, you can read my book. Here’s the link for it. You might enjoy it. There are poems about insomnia and butterflies and graffiti and windchimes and things like that.

You can buy Songs from the Small Hours here.

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Dronefall giveaway My Books

Happy New Year! Goals, giveaways, etc.

Well, here it is. I can’t believe we’re now in the last year before the 20’s roar back around. It’s going to get weird, you know. We have such strong images of what the 20’s 30’s 40’s etc. represent that I don’t think anybody alive is really ready to adjust to the new millennium and a whole new round of decades by the same names. Or am I the only one who freaks out about things like that?

But anyway. This is going to be kind of a quick mishmash post. I’m just typing it up after work here at the library. Might as well. I’ve got a giveaway to publicize and I thought I might announce some semi-formal-ish reading and writing goals for 2019.

My artistic goals are really ambitious and I’m not going to write them all out here. Crazy stuff even outside of my writing life. Things involving producing two or three tin whistle CDs and learning digital art. I’ll be pretty excited if I even get half of this stuff done.

But first off…

Reading goals:

  •  Read 50 books. I didn’t set a number last year, and I ended up kind of wishing I would have. I got kind of lazy. But 50 sounds doable this year…provided I read some fiction and shorter books now and then. *rents a 550 page biography of Einstein from the library*
  • At least 12 books on astronomy/cosmology/astrophysics/space exploration. This shouldn’t be hard for me. That’s my second language. I’m a major space nerd. Also, this biography totally counts.
  • At least 8 books on the craft of writing. I don’t intend to stop growing, and writing and reading about writing are some of the best ways to do that.
  • read certain classics that have been on my to-read list for way too long. Yeah. Got to do that eventually.
  • Read some non-fiction on subjects I’ve never read about before. I love exploring new fields and I’m going to make that a priority this year.
  • And fiction is apparently also a thing. So I’m aiming to try some novels. Maybe some mystery, maybe some sci-fi, maybe some dystopia…maybe even…*shudders*…some YA.
And…
Writing Goals:
  • PUBLISH SONGS FROM THE SMALL HOURS! Literally any day now. Just waiting on my final page proof. 
  • PUBLISH LIGHTWASTE! Also very soon. I promise. 
  • Edit and publish Dronefall Three, Rainchill. The first draft is complete. (It was my NaNoWriMo project.) It’s going to come out this Spring. I won’t make you wait.
  • Write, edit and publish Dronefall Four. I’m really excited to get the book four. The plot isn’t on paper yet, but I’ve got a cool and slightly creepy concept ready, and there are dual storylines…it’s gonna be fun.
  • Write and edit Dronefall Five. Yes, I actually intend to finish the Dronefall quintet this year. Kind of crazy. I highly doubt that Five will hit the press until 2020, though. I won’t push it that hard.
  • Publish a collection of short-stories. I’ve written several short stories and short story ideas breed like tribbles in my head. I might as well do it.
  • Publish a second book of poetry in the Fall. Are you counting? Yeah, I want to publish five books this year. Told you I was going crazy. 
Anyway. I’m sure you’re exhausted just reading all this. Don’t get too tired. You’ve got a lot to d yourself this year and we’ve only just started. What better way to start than to enter a book giveaway? I mean, getting more books is prerequisite to reading more books, right? So, I just thought I’d like you to the giveaway celebrating the launch of Reveries Co., which includes a paperback copy of Dronefall among the loot. 
Here it is. To The Giveaway! Happy 2019! 
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My Books

Everything I Can Tell You About Lightwaste

Allow me to encourage you with the rather hollow words that the publication of Lightwaste is just around the corner.  But it really is. All I’ve got left to tackle is a formatting issue that I can’t seem to solve. Once I get over that last of about a million speed-bumps, you will have Dronefall Two.

But while I continue to wrestle with that, let me tell you everything you get to know about Lightwaste right now. First off, it does have a cover.

And a back-cover copy.

The strongest lies are invisible.

Halcyon Slavic wanted to disappear. That was why she ran away from society in the first place. She could slip under the radar, do what she believed was right, be whoever she wanted to be. In her smothered world, these simple desires all require some degree of anonymity.

Yet when she accidentally discovers that she has in fact, no legal identity on the world-wide database, something changes. Apparently, the facts of her own identity are being hidden, but why? In a fevered search for the answer, Halcyon leaves the shadows of District Three Point five and returns to the exposure and control of the world she was raised in—a world that dangles by a fragile string of well-told lies.

She’s come to get the answers. She’s come to pull the mask off. And she’s come to wreck the equilibrium in ways she never thought she could.

It’s a bit longer than book one, which will likely be the trend throughout the series. It’s also strongly Halcyon-centric, which has its pros and cons. First off, you learn some stuff about Halcyon, and hopefully get a chance to connect with her more than you did in book one. Halcyon can be a strange person to work with. She pushes and pulls a lot while I write. In this book she’s really trying to get her footing and decide what she’s willing to fight for. She knows how to keep her head down, which she’s done for most of her life, but she’s starting to question if its really possible, or even right to keep hiding.

Lightwaste is kind of a product of my college years, actually. I found myself confronted with some of the same kinds of opposition Halcyon faces in returning to her own school campus in search of records about her own identity. I think a lot of college-age Christians are going to recognize what they read here—and probably younger ones too.

The Advocates for Education and Social Development—which is a massive international organization that controls education and media in the Dronefall universe—is really the biggest influence on the society Halcyon lives in. She finds herself sort of accidentally taking on this cultural behemoth all by her lone in Lightwaste. And the fight is anything but fair.

So, the focus of Lightwaste is a little different from Dronefall. It’s going to feel a bit more political than the other books in the series—though I deliberately avoid the details of politics in the Dronefall Series in favor of underlying issues. But it sets the stage and really defines the opposition for the last three books and I expect is going to feel very real for people who have been paying attention to current events.

Also, you get Zoltan Sycora’s backstory. Can I tempt you with that? I thought maybe I could.

P.S.: In anticipation of Lightwaste’s release, book one, Dronefall, is only 99c on Kindle. If you haven’t started the series yet, and would like to, here’s your chance. Thanks for having the patience to read to the bottom of this post.

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100k in 40d My Books NaNoWriMo

I’ve Got an Even Worse Idea Than Usual

Well, time to shoot the moon again.

For those of you who don’t know me as well, I have a reputation for taking on projects that may or may not be possible and driving myself crazy. It’s funny because when I have some practical task to undertake, I prefer to find some clever way to shirk it. I’m not a deadlines person. I’m not a checklist person. But I like to prove things to myself now and then.

And it’s just about that time of year.

In November of 2016, I was in the first semester of my senior year of college. It wasn’t an ideal time to attack my first National Novel Writing Month marathon. But, you know, I didn’t relish college life and I took the opportunity to distract myself. I kept my grades up, but otherwise…well, it went better than I expected. I exceeded the 50,000 word goal of NaNoWriMo, and passed all my classes.

So, basically, I’ve decided that was too easy and have built on to the 50k words in 30-days challenge. I’ve given myself a timeframe and a wordcount. 100k words in 40 days.

The project begins 10/22/18

The manuscript will be the complete first draft of Dronefall III, entitled Rainchill. My daily minimum wordcount will need to be 2,500. Slightly more demanding than the traditional NaNoWrimo itinerary of 1,666.666666666667 words….

Shout-out to the crazy people who actually know how to write .666666666667 of a word.

I invite you to gawk at my bizarre antics throughout this 40-day period through the window of Stardrift Nights. Hopefully about twice a week I will be logging my progress and increasing panic here on my blog. I’ll be keeping you updated on total wordcount, where I am in my plot (sans any spoilers), challenges I’ve tackled, weird typos, snippets, records and anything else broken.

I wish you all the very best of luck on your own NaNoWriMo challenges this year. And whenever you need to assure yourself someone is suffering more than you are, feel free to come over to Stardrift Nights.  

The race is on.

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Dronefall My Books

A Long-Expected Surprise

Guys! Guys! I have an announcement to make. Some of you might be able to guess it, but some of you won’t, so you’ll have to read on.

But not very far, because I’ll get right to the point. Dronefall is at last and finally available on Kindle. I caved and got professional formatting help, and Victoria Lynn did very well for a very reasonable price. I know a lot of people are hesitant to buy paperbacks. Even avid readers. Maybe even especially avid readers. Book-money is scarce, shelf-space is precious real estate and to almost everyone, I’m an unknown author. But a lot of risk just got removed.

It’s going for 99c right now. So, if you’re curious at all, you might want to swipe it while it’s cheaper than practically everything. If you’re ready to grab it right now, here’s the link. Not ready yet? Okay…here’s the link again. 

Alright, I’ll stop. But the fact that you are now able to hit a button and in seconds drop into a world I have been isolated in for uncounted hours is very exciting. Though I don’t have every scene planned from here to the end of book five, I have quite a map laid out, and my head is spinning with thrilling plot-developments. Well, they sound thrilling in my head, at least.

Anyhow, the first book of the Dronefall series with its colorful cast, non-stop mystery, unique setting and slow-burn suspense is waiting for you on Kindle. If you’re the kind of fangirl or fanboy that loves a complex story-world, quirky characters and a lot (and I mean a whole lot) of raw material for fan-theories, I promise you will have fun.

So, thank you for reading this post. I know it was kind of dumb and not very meaty. The meat’s in the book. And it’s currently 99c.Oh, and here’s the link..

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Character Interview Dronefall My Books

Halcyon Speaks Part Two


Welcome to part two of our interview with Halcyon Slavic, the main character of my most recent novel “Dronefall.” In this interview we will get a glimpse of the story-world through her eyes. So, with no further introduction, we’ll get back into it.
Exactly what is the role and function of the drone surveillance in your city?

Budapest has an enormous system of surveillance drones that persistently combs the city with cameras and tracking technology that lets them gather information from people’s phones and wearable devices. There’s a huge grid system that crisscrosses over most of the city, and I think that’s entirely owned by the police. Supposedly this massive amount of data-gathering is keeping a lot of crime off the streets that would otherwise be there. But of course, only a small percentage of the data relates to any crime whatsoever. All this information is always readily available to government officials, the police, and anybody who knows how to hack in and get it.   

And how does the public feel about this?

I don’t really think they think much of anything about it on a day-to-day basis. Most people will scoff at you for raising an eyebrow about it. They argue that the system has saved—however many lives, it varies by who you talk to. They say it’s all actually very secure, and if you are bothered by police watching you, you must have something to hide.

Honestly, I think it bothers more people than are openly saying so. Nobody wants to look paranoid. You can get a lot of harassment if somebody says you’re afraid of the government. It looks pretty backward to some people.

You grew up in an Advocates for Education and Social Development school. Who is AESD, and what was your experience like?

AESD is an international machine that has more or less monopolized school systems in the west. They’re kind of their own government—though their funded by the actual governments of all the countries that they work in. I don’t even know how they started, but they were set up to reshape civilization according to a brilliant agenda that’s going to save us all from ourselves.

I’m starting to suspect one of their main goals is to extinguish Christianity in the next generation, but I know better than to say that. It would get me laughed off—loudly.

Just going on my experience though, the notion isn’t particularly laughable. I wouldn’t say the quality of my education was particularly good, but one thing they certainly did was start teaching children to be revolted by religion—and one religion in particular—at an early age. They used a lot of films and VR in teaching. And a lot of shock factor. 

How would you describe attitudes toward Christianity among educators, students and the general public?

AESD teachers set themselves up as champions of acceptance. If you suggest that they have something against Christianity they will quickly deny it. And then they’ll go on to tell you what an oppressive, hateful, superstitious old religion it is and why it’s responsible for all society’s ills. To them, the thought of any rational moral person believing the bible is inconceivable.

Students are an odd lot. It’s hard to put them all in the same category. Most of them just follow along. They’ll believe or pretend to believe whatever they have to to get good marks and graduate. It’s a wonder any of them have opinions of their own by then. There’s so much opinion-sculpting that goes on in school. Some are just rebelling against their Christian parents—others might just be rebelling against their anti-Christian teachers. That’s how I started out.

There are still real Christians among the general public. But they tend to be bullied into silence by the rest. It’s definitely popular to have no respect at all for it. I’ve heard of a lot of people getting treated badly for voicing certain convictions, and when they reach out for more decent people to stop the unfairness, they are often met with silence. Decent people don’t want to look like they affirm Christianity.  

What do you think it would take to change people’s minds about Christianity?

I have no idea. I don’t even know if it’s possible. They’d rather blatantly lie to themselves than consider it. At this point, all I want is to get away from them. They hate the one thing that’s important to me—the one thing that gives me hope and peace. I don’t know what we could ever do for them, now.

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Character Interview Dronefall My Books

Halcyon Speaks

The next two blog posts will be a two-part interview with none other than the main character of the Dronefall series, Halcyon Slavic. Today’s post focuses mainly on Halcyon herself, giving you a chance to meet her if you haven’t yet, and learn more about her if you have read Dronefall.

Tell us three things about yourself.
1) The first time I jumped off a train, I was seventeen. My technique was so bad, it was a miracle I didn’t break anything. 2) My favorite book of the Bible is probably Revelation. 3) I like to feed pigeons, and it makes me unreasonably resentful when people try to enforce rules against it.

Did you have friends growing up?
They would draw names at random and herd us into new “socialization groups” every week at school. This clever strategy almost destroyed any opportunity to make any friends at all, especially as we got older and slower at connecting. I hardly remember the names of any of the kids I grew up with.

Have you ever played any sports?
I played chess. Not that I was particularly good at that, either.

Can you play any musical instruments?
A rather plunky bit of piano. Music wasn’t emphasized in our educational programs, and I didn’t have the drive to become good. I can sing some, but I have kind of a rough voice.

What was your strongest school subject?
I did well in science, especially chemistry. Biology disappointed me, because we never actually got to dissect anything. I didn’t love math, but I could make it work.

Tell us three things you’re good at and three things you don’t do well.
I’m kind of good at criticizing myself—but then again, I don’t think I try hard enough. Anyway, I think I’m pretty good at holding my ground once I’ve got something figured out. I’m good at resisting peer pressure. I also have a knack for avoiding people I don’t like.
I’m kind of bad at finalizing things. I get overwhelmed with options and possibilities. I can kind of ruin my resolve by looking at situations from too many perspectives—which kind of cancels out my ground-holding skills sometimes. I can’t talk very well. I think that part of my brain must be slow. And I also can’t do anything with my own hair. My braids are terrible, and I end up with a frizzy, knotted mess if I try anything new.

Who’s your best friend?
Reveille Jacobs. She introduced me to train jumping and drone-tracking and Jesus Christ. In other words, she ruined my chances to live a normal life. I appreciated that. I might be stuck in mundanity without her influence.

Describe your relationship with God.
It’s there. Sometimes I question it, but it doesn’t disappear. It’s a quiet relationship. Nothing’s dramatic. Everything grows slowly. I get impatient sometimes, but I don’t know what more I’m expecting, when I think about it. He’s never asked me to do anything crazy, and I find that a little disconcerting, maybe.
Stay tuned for part two, in which Halcyon discusses her upbringing, her culture, and the powers under the surface of 2040’s Budapest.

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My Books

Dronefall Now Available on Amazon!


I thought Dronefall would be published by the end of Janduary of ’17.

When January passed, I thought it would be February, then March…then April.

Sixteen months later, or World Book Day, Dronefall went live on Amazon. A lot happened in all that waiting time. In retrospect, I’m glad for it. I got a lot of very positive work done on the manuscript, and I’m satisfied with what I can finally present. It seemed like at every opportunity, there was some kind of a hurdle, but the good thing is, I’m getting good at hurdles.

And now, DRONEFALL! I really hope you enjoy this series. I’ve put a crazy amount of thought into it already, and it gets more fun with every development. But honestly, the whole time I’ve been preparing it, and even as I write now, I have no idea what kind of a weirdo is going to get hooked on this series.

Christian dystopia is a small enough genre right now that every book I come across is drastically different. We haven’t built up a lot of repeats yet. But for that reason, I wonder if the Christian dystopian readership has trouble finding what they appreciate. I can’t recommend Dronefall to you based on any other Christian dystopia I’ve read or heard about, because none of them are in the same category. It’s a good thing, but it’s also a strange place to be.

So, you’ve read the description. You’ve seen the cover. Maybe you’ve even been diligent enough to seek out some of my other writing to see what it’s like. But you still don’t know for certain if you want to invest time and money in jumping into this new world. Will you enjoy it? If enough of the following statements are true for you, there’s a good chance that you might.

·         I’m strongly Christian and I know, though Christians aren’t openly persecuted in my culture, that it’s not always easy.

·         I kind of need a break from insta-love and love-triangles and main characters who all the other characters fall in love with. Maybe a story where romance isn’t the point?

·         I like stories that make me think and have an eye for detail. I love trying to predict plot-twists and hunting for Easter-eggs.

·         I find it more satisfying when things build up slowly. I don’t need constant drama to keep my attention. Subtle suspense is underrated.

·         I don’t mind a little wordiness if it creates atmosphere. Being able to picture settings and characters in my mind is important to me.

·         I love quirky characters who are sarcastic and imperfect. I like characters I can look up to, but who tend to do the right thing in ways that surprise me.

·         I like surprises in general. And explosions. 

I imagined my audience was probably older teens through college-age Christians of both genders, but who knows?

Give it a try if the above list doesn’t totally turn you off. It’s currently only available in paperback on Amazon. It’s only $10.99 here at the beginning. The eBook is on the way, so stay tuned.

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My Books

First Draft of Dronefall II, Lightwaste—Complete!

I won’t pretend it doesn’t feel a little weird, finishing the second book before the first is out. But progress is progress, and it probably won’t hurt me (or readers) to shorten that gap between the publication of the first and second books.

  Nine days ago, I was spinning my wheels a bit and decided to set a ten-day deadline for myself. It worked, since I ended up finishing last night at the eight-day mark. It took a lot of tea, but the first draft is now weighing in at 89,000 words exactly. And though I’m already starting a list of things I need to fix and change, I’m fairly happy right now.

  I’ve restrained myself fairly well, I think from talking about Dronefall here on this blog ad nauseum. I like to think that there might be some readers who are curious about it by now. Don’t worry, I’ll be interviewing my own characters and overloading you with obscure facts once things get going after publication day.

  What you need to know right now is that I’m getting closer with Dronefall—you know. Closer every day. Always uh, moving forward. Just now publication date on the calendar yet. I’ll get there, I promise! There’s no way you’re as desperate as I am about it right now.

  The last book I published came out when I was nineteen. Now I’m twenty-three and there were five whole unpublished manuscripts between. This has been a while building up. I can’t wait to officially invite you into the world of Dronefall.

  Just hang tight. I’ve got a bit of editing to do first.

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Fiction Writers' Advice My Books NaNoWriMo

Seven things I learned from NaNoWriMo

 

This year was my first attempting National Novel Writing Month’s great 50k words in 30 days challenge. I’ve been hanging around on the sidelines wondering if I have what it takes for several years now, and abruptly—here in the middle of my senior year of college—I decided it was my time.

  And I did it. I actually surpassed 52k on November 30th, claiming my official win plus. My odds actually hadn’t been that great. If I was like a lot of participants, attempting their first novel, I doubt that I could have done it. But even if I hadn’t been able to pull it off, I think it would have been well worth the try, because doing something that extreme teaches you things.

  So, without further ado, here’s what I learned on the front lines of NaNoWriMo.

1.    I learned how to save images I edited in Photoshop so that the internet would acknowledge their existence. Big revelation. I figured out how to do this when saving my cover image for my NaNo novel. You “save for the web.” Never would have thought of that. Ha. I’m so techno-savvy.  But I’m glad I got this figured out, so now I can edit title images for this blog, and stick them on Pinterest and stuff. Better late than never.

 

2.    Better late than never. That’s something else I learned. I was 10k words behind up until Thanksgiving break. I kept seeing people on the forums freaking out over being 2k behind, or so. I gritted my teeth and caught up suddenly in the home stretch. It was totally possible!

 

3.    Along the same lines, I discovered the hidden true moral of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” We were supposed to win NaNo by way of the tortoise’s strategy. Just one foot in front of the other, 1,667 words a day. But if you look at my chart of daily word count throughout the month, you see that’s not what I did at all. There were about ten days where I hit and exceeded the target word-count. I worked in hare-like sprints. Guys, the only reason the hare lost the race was because he fell asleep. Therefore, the true moral of the story was: no sleeping.

 

4.    Stopwatches are better than timers.This is a crazy fact that I discovered, and it may quite possibly be only true for me. When I set a thirty-minute timer, I was lucky to get 500 words down in that time. I thought that was my limit. Then I set a stopwatch. When I hit 500 words, I stopped it–always between 15 and 12 minutes. Crazy.

 

5.    All dialogue should be argumentative underneath. This keeps it from getting boring and loosing connection with the plot. If there’s always some sort of conflict of interests underneath the conversation, it becomes a lot more logical, and easier to know what the character should say next. Even if the conflict is very small and petty, it’s going to help.

 

6.    Collapsing bridges and crashing helicopters are good things. I think this is self-explanatory. I mean, everybody knows this, right?

 

7.    And lastly, writing is not supposed to be as serious as we try to make it all the time. I wrote this novel to prove that to myself once and for all. We novelists spend so much time agonizing over unattainable perfection. I’m done trying to take myself so seriously. We have one of the most fun occupations in the world. It’s time to cut loose and enjoy it.

 

 

One more thing before I go. Here is the cover of my NaNo project. It’s never going to be published. I mean, it’s written from the perspective of my childhood imaginary enemy. I’m in it as a character and mentioned by name, and portrayed in a rather negative light, I must say. I needed to write a piece of literature with absolutely no pressure hanging over it, so that’s what I did.

  But now, back to reality. I’ve got to try to attain perfection with the draft of a dystopian novel I’ve got scheduled for release in February 2017.

  Serious business. 

 

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