I've been linked on Authors Blogs!

My blog has been linked on the website Authors Blogs! woo hoo! I've been trying to get my blog linked on half a dozen different websites for about a fortnight now. This is a great step forward. I'm very happy. Happy New Year everyone!

Marisa's Website of the Month.....is Write Side Out

I spend alot of time on the internet looking at websites for writers. I run my own message board for young writers at

http://wildcity.proboards12.com/index.cgi#Poetry

under the name Secret World. I decided since I visit so many websites for writers that I will do a review for one each month. The first one I am going to do is called Write Side Out:

http://www.writesideout.com/geardesigns.htm

This is a great little website. It is a shop for writers. It sells coffee mugs, posters, teddies, clocks, clothes, tote bags, mugs, throw pillows, boxer shorts, steins, keepsake boxes, infant bodysuits, trucker hats, messenger bags, aprons, notebooks and even thongs. I have the PREDITOR poster, the clock, a notebook, a t shirt and a mug. I've been meaning to go back and buy some more things from there for ages.

In addition to their online shop, Write Side Out also designs book covers, runs writing contests and has a section on their website called 'Fun Stuff' which has a whole heap of free downloads such as mini posters and their hilarious "Warning Signs for Writers" which have been designed in the form of warning signs seen on construction sites. Some of my favourites are "CAUTION: WRITER BURNING WITH GREAT IDEA DO NOT DISTURB!" and "SENSTIVE WRITER MAY EXPLODE UNDER PRESSURE: APPROACH WITH CAUTION" the last one describes me well.

House of Distractions

I haven't gotten much writing done in the past couple of days. Most days, the only real distractions I have at home are my little sister Katie, my dog and three cats. My parents are home at the moment because of xmas so the house has been very loud and crowded. It doesn't help that we're in the middle of summer and my room sits on the side of the house that gets the most sunlight. The curtains my parents picked don't do a very good job at blocking out the sunlight so during the day my room is bright and hot. So as you can imagine I don't like locking myself in there for 8 hours every day to try and write. I have a little blue fan that blows a delightful breeze onto me. I can never feel the air conditioning. For some reason it doesn't work so well in my room. All I get is a hot trickle of air. I was sitting in my room trying to write this afternoon and didn't get much done. My sister Kelly came over to visit with her one year old son Brandon. I love Brandon. He's an adorable little toddler. I'll happily sit down and play with him just not when I'm writing. I was working on a paragraph that had been troubling me all day when my little sister Katie came into the room two times with Brandon, then forgot to shut my door so Brandon wandered a third time, went out, then my Mum brought him in AGAIN. I am such a slow writer. In the past 2 months I've done 9 pages of work. Ooh, wow. Today I did a paragraph! I usually write more. I'm currently stuck in unemployment limbo so I've been a bit bored. I'm hoping I will get a job soon ---any job---- that will pay enough for me to get off frigging centerlink benefits. Maybe once I'm a little happier in life my writing will pick up speed again.

Operating without Underpants

It feels weird calling myself an author. Kinda like operating without underpants. I feel almost stupid, like I'm pretending to be something I'm not. It doesn't help that there are people out there who have a really rotten opinion of e-book and e-zine publishing. I had one person tell me today that alot of publishers and agents consider e-books nothing more then fan fiction. Well that's just great. And then I stumbled across a conversation on another website about short stories. Apparently, according to them, unless you get published in a well known magazine, nothing you sell will be considered a publishing credit. I always assumed if you get paid for something, then its considered published. It was a really depressing conversation. I could understand what they were saying...that doesn't mean I agree with them. Yes, a publishing credit in Writers Digest would be much more impressive then an unknown e-zine. Not everyone can get published in a well known magazine straight away. Some people have to start off small and work their way up, like me. I've just sold an e-book. Its a step. I don't care what others might say about the standards of e-books, I am still thrilled with my achivement. As far as I see it e-books are a great way to build a reader base and get myself noticed. I'm hoping to hear back from the editing department this week. I'll post an update here once I do.

Soul Mate symbols

In my stories the Three Fates, the goddesses of destiny, have the power to grant soul mates to gods and goddesses. They can do this because they have the ability to look into the future. They are able to match soul mates together before either of them are born. The destiny of every man, woman and child, is controlled by the Fates. If a god is born without the mark of a soul mate on their arm it means that their soul mate has not been born yet. The symbol will appear the moment their other half is born. After that its up to the soul mates to use the images on their wrist as a clue to find each other. The symbols contain clues in the form of pictures. I draw them myself. Some are better then others. I'm not a fantastic drawer. I thought I might post a couple of my favourites just for the heck of it.

Tears of a Goddess

Once I finish Echoes in the Wind I might go back and rewrite Tears of a Goddess. When I first wrote this story it clocked it at 15,000 words. I cut it down to 11,000 which puts it smack dab in the middle of the no man's land between short stories and novellas. Its too long to be considered a short story and a teensy bit too short for a novella. So I'm going to go back and rewrite it. Only instead of trying keep the word count short, I'm going to flesh it out and turn it into a nice sized novella, then try and sell it as an e-book. I'll probably rewrite the beginning and the middle and maybe change the ending a bit. Hell, who am I kidding, I'm considering rewriting most of it. I would really like to see it published one day. For the past 12 months I've been focusing mainly on short stories (and enjoying a break from novels) I've been trying to get them published in magazines. I think I might split my efforts between magazines and e-books. Echoes in the Wind is progressing well. I've almost finished the first scene. Once I put the final touches on it I might post it for critique somewhere. I keep wondering how long it is going to take before I get to see the front cover for Whispers in the Dark. To say I'm excited about it is putting it mildly. Once I get to see it I will post it here.

Onto stage two

After some formatting hiccups (stupid inch/metric conversions) Whispers in the Dark has been forwarded to the editing department to be reviewed. Every time I open the file and look at it my inner critic screams at me to delete this...shorten that sentence...remove that description...I have to remind myself that I can't do that anymore. Its been sold. I have to sit back and let others take control of the editing process now. Its going to be scary when I get the file back from the editors and have a look at all the areas they didn't like. I've never been professionally edited before. I sent one of my stories to a book doctor back when I was still in highschool. I'm kinda curious what is going to happen...will Whispers be torn to shreds? will the editors like it? will I have to change much? Who knows. I've entered a scary (and exciting) new world.

Whispers in the Dark is getting published!

Hello. I'm Marisa. This is my first post as an author. I'm 24 years old and have been writing stories almost my entire life. I think the first one I ever wrote was when I was six. It was two pages long and typed out with care on my dad's laptop. It was about talking unicorns. I've been writing novels since I was 12. My first novel was written in coloured texta on blank paper and was about a group of fairies who fought goblins and lived in a castle in the clouds.

After years of work...I've FINALLY sold my first story, Whispers in the Dark. Whispers in the Dark is a short story about Eros, the Greek God of Sexual Desire, who discovers his soul mate is Psyche, a mortal woman who is a descendant of the Gods. It is a rewrite of the greek myth. I love mythologly. As a fantasy writer, the mythologies of the world are like a buffet to me. Everything I could ever want to include in a fantasy story can be found in mythologly. Norse, Greek and Irish are three of the best. They include so many magical creatures. In my current story, Echoes in the Wind, I've included a favourite of mine from Greek myths: the Hamadrayad. A hamadryad is a tree goddess. Picture a tree with the face and arms of a beautiful woman. They are fascinating. I've also included satyrs (fauns) and let me just say mine are not peaceful forest dwellers who dance and get drunk! My satyrs are violent little buggars who hiss like snakes and their eyes turn black when they get mad. They're also the servants of Pan.

Whispers in the Dark is apart of a series of short stories and novels I am writing about gods and goddesses from all over the world struggling to find their soul mates. It is called the Chronicles of the Gods and I'm happy to say Whispers in the Dark is the first story in it to be published. Its not book one, though. Its actually book two. Book one is a story called Deep Embrace. The reason Deep Embrace is book one is because it is set during the early years of the Age of the Titans, long before the birth of Zeus and the Olympians, when Cronus and Rhea ruled, it is set so early, mankind does not exist yet and the world has not developed much animal life.

It was just a fluke that Whispers in the Dark, book two, got published before book one. I'm hopeful that one day it will also get published. But since its been rejected about 8 times it might be time for another rewrite. Whispers in the Dark I am proud to say was rejected only THREE times before getting published.

Let me just say....wow. I've heard stories of writers getting rejected FIVE HUNDRED TIMES before getting published. Its hard to believe I only got rejected three times. Come on now...moi?
Part of me is still in shock that Whispers got accepted at all. I guess deep down a part of me wondered if I would ever do it, if I was good enough.

Writing is a private, personal thing, we pour our hearts and souls into our works, so asking people to critique us is alot like standing naked in the middle of a crowded square and shouting "JUDGE ME!" some people are nice and others...are not. Whispers in the Dark got its fair share of nasty, horrible critques, but it also got good ones.

I'm hoping its publication will open the door to the rest of my stories:

Deep Embrace
Tears of a Goddess
Forever in your Arms
Goddess Awakening
and Echoes in the Wind

to getting published one day. I love writing about gods and goddesses. They are beautiful, arrogant, and all powerful. I hope the reason you've come here is because you love my gods and goddesses as well. I will be posting updates here about Whispers in the Dark and the rest of my stories. See ya next time.