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.