I’m not even sure what’s blooming out there that’s causing me to get all sniffly and headachey, but it hit me over the weekend and I’m still feeling it. Not exactly exhausted, but not up to speed either. I have just enough energy to get some revision done, but that’s about it.
Hopefully I’ll feel a bit better later in the week!
For those familiar with the British mystery show Midsomer Murders, the always enjoyable series loves to occasionally set its whodunit episode at a church fair, a festival, or some kind of social gathering — one of my favorite episodes takes place at what is essentially a comic con. So of course when we drove up to Petaluma north of San Francisco, we drove past a few lots that have turned into pumpkin patches, complete with bouncy castles, haystack mazes, game stalls and all that fun autumnal stuff.
And of course, being who we are, I posited the question: okay, say that pumpkin patch was on Midsomer Murders. Which turned into a fun conversation about a farm owner down on their luck needing to run the patch to make extra money, the ne’er-do-well brother that hates that the owner is selling out, the inevitable death in the first act, and Barnaby (Tom or John, whichever one you choose) brought in to solve the case. [A little later on I switched it up by asking a follow-up: okay, say that pumpkin patch was teh setting for a romcom. Which went off in yet another fun direction.]
This is of course one of the most fun parts of being a writer, I’ll admit — taking something mundane in your surroundings and placing it in a different universe, just to see where it takes you. Sometimes it’ll be a simple trope story like that cozy mystery or romcom, other times it’ll just take off all on its own and drag you with it. Either way, it’s one of my favorite things to do when I can get away with it!
…most of which I won’t go into as it’s something that should stay personal, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s doing its best to derail me from my nightly writing sessions. The most I can say is that I’m doing my best to keep that from happening. I just need to balance it all out and keep moving forward.
Meanwhile, I’ve been doing a lot of manga reading lately, though this time via Hoopla and more often on the K Manga app that’s run by Kodansha. One title in particular that I’ve come to currently obsess over is The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (aka Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku). It’s a YA story about two teens from opposite social circles (in this case, a boy from a school full of losers and a girl from an elite academy whose buildings are next door to each other) that fall in love against all odds. It’s quite lovely and heartfelt without being schmaltzy or too slight. It’s a high school story where there’s conflict that doesn’t necessarily have to be dialed up to eleven unless it needs it, and I’ve really come to appreciate that kind of Zen-like style of storytelling. I’ve also learned that Netflix released a thirteen-episode season just recently, which I’m yet to watch in its entirety.
It’s well worth checking out, I highly recommend it.
I’ve also been reading a few other titles both on the K Manga app and elsewhere online. There’s the competitive hip-hop dancing manga Wandance featuring a lonely teen boy with a stutter who meets a girl who inspires him to join the dance club at their high school. There’s the hilariously quirky Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, centering on an exhausted salaryman who befriends a snarky checkout girl…who happens to also be the amazingly adorable ringer that makes his heart beat. Then there’s the light and enjoyable Laid Back Camp about a group of high school girls who learn the ins and outs (and the hidden joys) of outdoor camping and all it brings. There’s You Can’t Live All On Your Own! about four young women living together in a shared apartment and dealing with the joys and frustrations of post-school adulthood.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been falling behind on my other reading (current book: The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim, the second Fate’s Thread book after The God and the Gumiho) so once I’m caught up with this manga binge-read, I’ll finally get back to my To Be Read pile.
Though I will say all this manga is inspiring me with some new story ideas…
I’ve been thinking over the last few days that while Theadia focuses on a set number of main characters, the world building has grown enough that I can definitely see some minor side stories cropping up over time. And given that Theadia is about protest and rebellion of different sorts and flavors, writing short fiction about those affected by the events within the novel sounds like a lot of fun.
One, of course, came to mind: a young teenager hearing the sounds of rebellion for the first time. What if their reaction to hearing that sort of thing was a parallel to, say, me discovering college radio in the mid 80s? Two different levels of mental and emotional awakening, sure, but it’s hard to resist when the outcome is the same: getting your mind blown for the first time by the idea that there’s a much bigger and better universe out there than what you’ve experienced in your own small regimented world. And that someone’s out there, boldly telling you that you’re not bound by the rules that stifle you — be that rebel if you have to be.
There’s more ideas out there, sure. After all, a lot of this novel is inspired partly by what’s going on in the real world here and now, and how it’s being handled (or not handled) (or handled terribly) by certain people. Everyone’s got that kind of story out there, waiting to be told. And I’d like to know what some of them are.
I think it’s time to start writing again. The itch to do so has been constant lately.
Even though I’m working on Theadia (and doing a soft-start for the remaster of The Persistence of Memories), I’ve been itching to just write something new. I’m not sure what just yet, and I’m not going to force it. That, and I’ve sort of resurrected some of my writing habits again — noting word count in the small black moleskine calendar notebook, for instance. I’m not doing it every day of course, I’m merely entering it every now and again when the thought and the temptation strikes.
I know I talk about this here every now and again, and I admit sometimes I’m like a broken record (a skipping cd? a corrupted FLAC?) but it’s been an ongoing process that needs constant adjustment and tweaking. We writers sometimes get all meta about our process and it’s usually because we’re trying to figure out why our processes are the way they are, why they sometimes no longer work, and what we need to do to change them. That kind of thing never ends, I’m afraid, but it’s something I’m used to at this point.
As always, it’s just a matter of doing it. Once I start, the rest comes easier.
I’ve finally gotten the ARC (or what I’m calling such) of the remastered edition of A Division of Souls and it looks PHENOMENAL. I’m quite happy to say that Draft2Digital does an amazing job of helping authors with the layout, complete with little flourishes like capitalized first lines (and dropped first letters if you so wish), scene break art and other things like that, but unlike Createspace (at least when I used it back in the day), it made acquiring separate ISBNs for each format a lot easier and less confusing.
At this point I’m going to be giving it one final once-over to see if anything needs fixing, then release it out into the world! I’ll let you know as soon as it’s available!
It’s been a bit over three months since we moved into our New Digs, and things are finally settling and falling back into place. I might still have to remind myself that those month-end payments aren’t for rent anymore but mortgage, but other than that I’m happy that we’re here. We might be slightly further away from the shopping corridors but we’re two blocks from our community garden plot, a block away from a major bus route as well as a very large public park, and the neighborhood is thankfully much more peaceful. (Yes, even during recess for the kidlets at the school across the way.)
This is good timing, as it’s that time of year where I feel the need to change things up. And you know how I am in autumn: excited about the new music releases and contemplative about where I am and where I want to be. I’ve already made a lot of positive changes over the last few months — with room for improvement, of course — so it’s really just a matter of doing it at this point. Or not doing, depending on the situation. Some habits I find I just do not need nor want anymore. Some habits I’d like to revisit once more.
And what about writing? Well, the remaster of A Division of Souls is out and away, and I’m thinking of starting in on the remaster of The Persistence of Memories pretty soon. I’m also focusing on Theadia and it’s still looking good and on schedule for release sometime next year. But I can’t help but think: I’ve got a journal and a notebook gathering dust in my satchel right now, and my 750Words sign-in remains woefully ignored. I mean, I’ve worked on multiple stories at that same time before, so this is nothing new. I can certainly play around with writing extremely rough drafts of new ideas while spending most of my creative energies on the two main projects. And in the process, probably disconnect from a few IRL things that I don’t need to hyperfocus on.
And what better time to do it than during the season that works best for me?
Okay, so what I really need to do, now that the trilogy remaster is underway, is to start selling it. I’ll be honest, I’ve been a bit lazy in that respect over the last couple of titles, but it’s clearly obvious that run it up the flagpole and see who salutes follows with but no one ever does.
When I first released A Division of Souls in 2015, I went the extra mile and found myself a few avenues to self-promote, and it did reasonably well for a little while. In this case, I have a few ideas that might work, or at least might push the novel where it needs to go to be seen. Perhaps utilizing Publisher’s Weekly‘s ‘Booklife’ section which focuses on self-published titles, for instance.
I suppose the worry is how much it’ll cost, but if I play my cards right and understand what avenues I’m working with, I can definitely pull of a least a small percentage of wider attention and keep it within a modest budget. Considering I’m doing this all DIY, I’ve always kept in mind that if I can take care of certain parts on my own (such as the cover layout and whatnot), then I’ll do it to save money.
In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing who enjoys the new and updated version!
And it has a cleaner and nicer cover as well! The more I sat with the cover I posted last week, the more I thought I could still do better. While the font I’d used wasn’t all that bad, it didn’t quite sit right with me, so I played around with it for a few days until I came up with something simpler yet classier. I feel this one stands out a lot better, as does the title which stands out a lot more.
So anyway: the new remaster is available for preorder at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and of course Smashwords, and will be available elsewhere hopefully very soon, for only $2.99!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! I will also be making this book available in physical form via POD on Draft2Digital, most likely within the next few weeks! All I’m waiting on is a copy of the proof so I can see how it looks before I sign off on it. [The physical book price will be somewhere in the area of $22.99, I believe.] I’ll keep y’all posted!
The tenth anniversary ‘remastered’ edition of A Division of Souls will be hitting Smashwords in just a few weeks! The newly revised edition will be available on 3 September and will also include extras and a new afterword!
See you then!
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