#before harley (harley has surpassed her at this point lol)

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Got a blazed cat picture that looks exactly like an ex friends cat and now im missing her cats lol

Not her. I havent missed her at all since that friendship ended. But her cats were fuckin cute.

[falling--in--place]

25 Questions Tag

I was tagged by @sixstepsaway ♥ Thank you darlin! I may have done this before? Idk, I love tag games so I’m doing it anyway!

1. Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

Not exactly? The book I’m working on now is exactly where I want to be with my writing right now. I am holding off on revisiting an old one though. It needs a complete rewrite and re-release. I held myself back so much, but I’m just not sure I should do it. I decided I’m going to though. Just a matter of when the need to do surpasses my hesitation... So, we’ll see! 

2. What work of yours, if any, are you embarrassed about existing? 

The first book I published. Embarrassed probably isn’t the right word though. It isn’t as good as it should be, and it needs sooooo much, but it helped me get to where I am. It was needed, but it is definitely not my best. Hence the rewrite at some point. 

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else? 

Pretty much beginning to end. I format my documents for publication before I even start writing. It gives me an idea of what it looks like and where I am with it. Sometimes a scene will strike me though, and I write it in a separate document to be saved until it is needed. From being on here I have discovered I do things very... strange. But hey, it works for me. 

4. Favorite character you’ve written?

Vanessa. Like, I love her so much. She is my hero. 

5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

Most of them? My characters just sort of show up and tell me stuff. I do my best to write it down. Vanessa is the most vocal, and she isn’t afraid to scoff at me when I do something she doesn’t approve of. 

6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

I don’t think it’s ever really too late. I mean... I have a published book I’m going to pull and rewrite so... 

7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

A little of both, honestly. On here it’s almost exciting to talk about it all, but when in person... It’s the source of a lot anxiety. Especially when it’s someone I know. It’s kind of hard to explain. I need to get better at talking about my books. I self-publish. Self-promotion is all I have lol

8. Favorite genre to write

Fantasy! Urban Fantasy has a special place in my heart, but the WIP I have right now is more in the epic fantasy class, but not fully?

9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Music. All of it. iPhone on shuffle, let all the words happen. I also read a lot. I dissect everything I read into why I like it and why I don’t and try to learn from that. 

10. Write in silence or with background music? Alone or with others?

Music Always with music. When I don’t put my headphones in I get distracted by literally everything around me. 

11. What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

I feel like I’ve gotten better at knowing when to stop. I had always been so “HERE IS ALL THE INFORMATION I EVER FOUND FOR THIS BOOK AND YOU NEED TO KNOW IT ALL RIGHT NOW!” Info dumps in every chapter is not a good quality to have... I kicked that habit for the most part. I think I am much better writer for it!

12. Your weaknesses as an author?

Several? Editing is really hard for me because I get attached (and it takes forever!). Being overly descriptive of characters at first meeting. Fight scenes take a few tries... I usually write it, read it over, flesh it out to be better, then cut a bunch of stuff to add in a bunch of other stuff, and because of my anxiety... all of this has to be done before I can move on in the story.

13. Your strengths as an author?

I think I’m pretty good at setting the scene. 

14. Do you make playlists for your work?

Not really... Some songs tend to stick with a character or an event, but I don’t ever specifically set up playlists for my books.

15. Why did you start writing?

I had stories living in my head, and a need to tell them. 

16. Are there any characters who haunt you?

Of my own? Not really. I guess Harley does a little. Her story will get it’s retelling. 

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Just.. write. Stop worrying about everyone else and their opinions. You can edit and fix later, and not everyone’s opinion needs air time. 

18. Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? What were they?

Jennifer Estep, David Dalglish, Richelle Mead... I could go on, but I don’t think this is supposed to be a novel on it’s own. Estep showed me a smart, beautiful woman that didn’t give a shit about others opinion of her, but she still cared deeply for those around her. She also has a thing for knives which is badass. David Dalgish showed me that research is great, but sometimes you just have to flow and see where it takes you. He also gave me characters that were so fleshed out, real, and raw that I will forever carry them with me. I would love to give a nod to Haern in one of my books but I don’t know how and if that’s a thing I can do. Richelle Mead gave me some of the above, but also a romance that I could truly get behind. One that I could follow and love and cheer for. I’m not much for pure romance, her books aren’t btw, but with her couples... I could read a romance novel about them with pleasure. 

19. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Uh... well... I tend to jot down a lot of notes and do a lot of swearing and scrolling back up to re-read things.

20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Both? Depends on the day and my mood. 

21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

I don’t have a lot of older work saved unfortunately. A lot of my older stuff was in notebooks that have gotten lost through the many moves I’ve had to make. So, the book I’ve mentioned before... It needs a re-write.

22. Are there subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

A lot of them actually... two of my main characters are gay. I was excited about that... then tumblr happened. Omg you guys... all the posts about do’s and don’t’s. and how many posts about insulting things people do with gay characters that they don’t seem to notice and..phew I could go on forever... I am a little terrified right now, but I’m working through it. James is so close to my heart. I’m writing him how I see him, and I’m just hoping no one will take it as offensive or insensitive. 

23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Pft... how long do I have? I live an interesting life. I’ve been through several different kinds of hell. I met an amazing group of people who support me. I am a living incarnate of Murphy’s Law. 

24. Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I wouldn’t say expert.... but I now understand the effects of a point blank gunshot to a bone, marriage rituals from all over the world, and how close you have to be to smell a dead body? 

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of.

Longer than “a short paragraph” but eh, just how I am. I’m not sure why I like this one so much. There are other that I like more, but I’ve posted them all at least once (some of them twice) so here is a new thing!

“Can you take me through it one more time, ma’am?” the officer said to me.

What I wanted to do was use one of the charred desks to kick his ass (literally) out the door. Or grab a roll of tape and cover his mouth with it. Whipping out my magic to boot the enforcement officers out of my place of business probably wouldn’t go over very well. It was tempting though. The story wasn’t that complicated. It happened in all of thirty seconds. This was the third time he’d asked me to run through the story again. Ellie and James weren’t fairing much better. Ms. Claudette was left alone for the most part. All it took was a complaint about her back and needing to check on her cats.

“Ms. Parker?”

“Sorry, it’s just that I’ve taken you through the story three times now. Four seems a touch excessive. There was a grenade, I contained the blast as best I could, you showed up. There it is. Now, if you don’t mind, I have shit to do.”

I spun on my heel and stalked away. Something I didn’t think all the way through since there isn’t much space in the office when it isn’t extra crispy. That didn’t slow me down though. I marched into the back office, yelled for Ellie to join me, now, and slammed the door as soon as she scooted in.

I’m think i’ll tag... @panticwritten, @hawksnbooks, @ava-burton-writing, @crazybunchwriter, @lakeeriesaltmine, @anolivewrites, @forlornraven, @leapwriter, @dantedevereaux, and @authorisada

As always, if you don’t want to be tagged or want to be tagged more often, let me know!