The Not So Simple Q and A Book Project

I’m deep in the second draft of 101 Acting Questions Answered! Nelly, my writing partner for the book, has been sending sections of it out to her actor friends to read through and so far the notes have been really helpful. It is awesome of them to take time to do it. I am so grateful.

I’m already starting to look back at this project and think about what I would do differently for the next. I learned that everything takes longer than you’d expect. Next time I schedule out a project I’m going to add 20% to 30% more time than I think I’ll need for each stage of the project.

Check out our website: 101 Acting Questions

The Tribe v. Individuals

I’m diving back in to my novel, Ravening. I got kind of lost in the plotting when I was working on it.  My outline had a lot of holes that really came back to bite me when I decided to try to write around them. I ended up putting it aside in favor of a much more linear non-fiction project.

It took me a long time to figure out what the story was really about. To me, the main theme is belonging. How does some one find their tribe?

I come from an immigrant background. I was born in Panama, my parents brought me to the US when I was a little girl. The funny thing is, that looking back in my own family history, we seem to have been on a generations long journey. My grandparents on both sides immigrated to Panama from other places. Then, a generation later, my parents came to the US.

The search for belonging forces us to make choices. There’s always pressure to join or reject the various tribes that we meet in order to define ourselves. We are all members of multiple tribes, some are more hermetic than others, but all tribes have initiations, markings, and codes of conduct for their members.

Tribes can be based on ethnicity, occupation, religion, location, or any combination of arbitrary criteria we can come up with. The power of the tribe, I think, is their ability to control the behavior of the membership.

 Although most of us try to fit into our tribes as best we can, there are always those who, for what ever reason, never quite fit in. I’ve always been fascinated by the outsiders. Outsiders shake up the established order and by their very existence threaten the power of tribes. If the tribe maintains that their way of life is the only valid one then how do outsiders not just survive, but go on to live long and happy lives.

I think that’s the root of why some groups are so tightly closed against outsiders. They worry that some of their members will see others living just fine and abandon the tribe. That threatens the power structure and that is not allowed.

Furthermore, I think we tend to have the sneaking suspicion that if a loner can survive without the tribe they must have some secret source of power they can tap into, a notion  that makes every levels of the hierarchy uneasy.


Tribes have the power to banish non-conformists or deny membership altogether. Some tribes demand absolute conformity in nearly every aspect of the lives of their members. Others seem to tolerate more individuality on the surface, but will crack down if the power structure is threatened.

What would happen if no one feared banishment from their tribe. I think most tribes would evaporate rather quickly. The power of tribes over people is an idea that’s just nagging me right now.

If you listen to all the doom criers 2012 is supposed to be the end of time. I’m taking the optimistic view that life as we know will continue by putting my writing goals out there for all to see. 

• Publish Ravening: I stopped working on my novel when I took on a nonfiction project. Ravening will be available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords in June 2012.
• Complete 2nd Novel: I’m nervous about this one, but if I keep to my schedule. I should be able to get through a first and second draft.

• Weekly Blog Posts: that’s a tough one. I know, that’s pretty ambitious for someone who struggles with once a month. Aim high I always say.
• Publish 101 Acting Questions, Answered!: That’s my non-fiction book project. It’s in the second draft stage now and I can see the end in sight.
• The Knitter’s Life List Project: I got the book, The Knitter’s Life List, by Gwen W. Steege, for Christmas. The book is a wonderful collection of suggestions of skills knitters can acquire over a lifetime of knitting compiled in one place. Ms. Steege’s lists inspired me so much that I’m going to do one item each week of the year. I’ll really build my knitting skills and have a lot of fun along the way.
• Publish 12 Short Stories: I didn’t succeed at this goal last year. I’m going to try it again. Last year I planned on getting 6 stories out because I started late and I actually did 2. I think I’m a little better organized for task this year. I’m ready in 2012.
• Start a Website: I’m really excited about getting a website going I’m working on ideas for my content already. The site will be part of the foundation of my platform.
• Enter 2 Writing Competitions: Contest season is gearing up and I’m looking to find two competitions that are appropriate for what I write. More platform building for me.
• Attend 1 Local Writer’s Conference: I want to meet my peers and introduce myself to the writing community.

 

That’s my plan for 2012. I'd love to hear about your plans for 2012. Cheers!

Our Mysterious Archipelago--New York City

                  It always seems funny to me that New Yorkers don’t see themselves as islanders. When in reality, except for Bronx residents, most people who live in the five boroughs live on islands. New York city is part of an archipelago that contains hundreds of islands, some very small, most uninhabited.

Each Island has it’s own unique history. Last year I was inspired by Gardener’s Island, owned by the same family for the last 450 years, the island a largely undeveloped private estate ruled by what may be the United States’ only titled family, the Lyons. The head of the family actually bears the title “Lord of the Manor.” How cool is that?

The island’s unique history inspired the setting of my shape shifter stories. For me, shape shifting predator’s need room to roam. Besides, I wanted my shifters to build their own society and live by their own rules. They wouldn’t be able to do that while still maintaining a human masquerade in a city or even a small town living side by side with humans.

Last week I learned about Execution Rocks Island, with a name like that how could I resist digging a little deeper? This eerie little island in Long Island Sound is home to Execution Rocks Lighthouse and a couple of grisly tales. According to local legend, British soldiers may have moved executions to this island to avoid further inflaming the populace. They were said to have chained the condemned to the rocks and let the tide drown them, even going so far as to leave the bodies so that the next batch of unfortunates could see their fate before it was their turn. A more likely story is that the rocks and nearby reef were a shipping hazard and “executed” a number of ships?

There’s even a serial killer associated with Execution Rocks Island. In 1928, Carl Panzram, admitted to having killed 21 people, although more victims were attributed to his killing spree. He used the island as a dumping ground.

Fictional Lowell Island is nestled among the many islands dotted around Long Island sound. I think there might be several preternatural communities hidden in the reaches of Long Island Sound.

NY Comic Con 2011-Get Your Geek On!

Comic Con, four days of intense geekery, in other words—heaven. First, the haul I got a gorgeous feathered hair clip from Rock Love Jewelry. 

I"m pretty flamboyant, but even I wouldn't wear this to the office. I have a party coming up at the end of the week, I might debut it then.


The first thing I actually bought was The World’s Greatest Search and Discover Poster, a 3 foot by 6 foot feast for the eyes and imagination. WGSD is like the ultimate “Where’s Waldo” type puzzle there are dozens of items to find hidden in hundreds of images.

Ostensibly, I got it for my niece to play with when she visits, but I’m already planning to hang it in my writing space for those times when I need a little distraction. My two-year-old nice, came over last week and I broke out the poster. Searching for the items she picked in The World's Greatest Search and Discover Poster held her attention for a good 10 minutes. That's like an hour for a two-year-old. 

The best con swag I got was the 21, yep 21, free books I collected from publisher’s row. The major publishing houses all had booths and part of the attraction was hourly signings and book giveaways. Thanks big six, my reading list is full three months or so. I can’t wait to dive in.

The book haul:

• Pariah, Bob Fingerman
• Gardens of the Moon, Steven Erikson
• Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi
• Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi
• Gossip Girl Psycho Killer, Cecily Von Ziegesar
• Awakenings, Edward Lazellari
• The Iron Hunt, Marjorie M. Liu
• Shadow Ops: Control Point, Myke Cole
• Across The Universe, Beth Revis
• All Men of Genius, Lev AC Rosen
• Halo Evolutions Essential Tales of the Halo Universe Vol 1
• Into the Storm, Taylor Anderson
• Planet Tad, Tim Carvell
• The Lost Fleet Dauntless, Jack Campbell
• Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
• The Warded Man, Peter V. Brett
• Working Stiff, Rachel Caine
• The Demon Lover, Juliet Dark
• Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs
• Lady Lazarus, Michele Lang
• Ripper, Stefan Petrucha

On the work side, I handed out flyers about Spirit Wolf to let people know it’s out there and let them know that Ravening, the novel that continues the story is coming soon. I gave out about 340 of them myself. I had my sister and a couple of costumed adventurers, I met in the line, helping me at various times to give out the other 500 plus. I was nervous at first, but after a while engaging the people became a game. I never knew who would stop and take one of my flyers. I can’t wait to see how many of them take the next step and download Spirit Wolf.

I learned some lessons about working conventions and doing my marketing in general. I had a lot of lead time to get ready for Comic Con. I didn’t use it to my best advantage. I procrastinated, so of course I ended up working down to the wire.

Also, it turned out that I was not able to offer Spirit Wolf for free on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I didn’t know that until I’d printed my free download cards. I scrapped the cards. Stressed, but undaunted I designed a flyer and had it reproduced just before leaving for Comic Con.

Despite, my rocky start, being in the creative soup that was NY Comic Con was exciting, inspiring, and quirky as hell. Artists are out there making everything imaginable, and don’t sleep on the fans. Folks use a writer’s world as a jumping off point for their own creative expression. The weekend left me so energized, I’m already looking ahead to projects for next year.

Shapeshifter v. Werewolf

I have a little bit of a pet peeve about the blurring of the lines between werewolves and shapeshifters, just because a shifter takes the shape of a wolf that doesn’t mean he or she is a werewolf.

Let’s look at werewolves first. Werewolves are cursed creatures. They’re people who, under the influence of a curse, are forced into the shape of a wolf during the full moon. They don’t have any control over the change or over their actions while in wolf form. Finally, the “curse” can be transmitted through blood or body fluid contact.

A lot of the werewolves we see in fiction now are not, at least by that definition, werewolves. They are shapeshifters who take the form of a wolf. For the most part, they seem to retain their human intelligence and personality while in wolf form. Therefore, if the person is a killer the wolf will also kill humans. If the person is not a killer then the wolf is, for the most part, not a danger to humans.

I read a lot of paranormal romance and that issue bugs me. The werewolf is the hero so he can’t be entirely a werewolf otherwise it’s tough to make him sympathetic. So most of them are shapeshifters with werewolfy tendencies. They shift usually around the full moon, but they can shift at other times. Their shifting seems more connected to their emotional state than to the phase of the moon.

When I imagined the wolves of Lowell island, I called them werewoves at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to see that they weren’t really werewolves. They maintain human intelligence, they shift at will, they don’t stress about their loss of humanity. The shapeshifters of Lowell island, don’t consider themselves human at all. They don’t do  it often, but they are not averse to eating humans.

Oops, I almost called them werewolves again, the shapeshifters, or the changing kind of Lowell Island featured in my short story Spirit Wolf, are neither wolf nor man they are another species  that happens to share the world with humans. Usually, we put ourselves at the top of the food chain, but what if that’s an illusion. We look into the night and see only the lights and sounds of the city. What if there are things walking in the darkness, just beyond our sight, that watch and wait for  one of us to stray from path.  I think that is the ingredient I’ve been missing that I want in my own work. I want to take that journey into the shadows.

Destiny's Childe Cover Preview

I finished my first stab at making a cover for my upcoming short story, Destiny's Child, today. I might make another version or two just to try out some other ideas, but so far this one's not bad. The story is about a prescient boy who tries to change the future for someone he loves.