my novel's journey: Discovery: Conclusions on the manuscript

On Saturday, June 18, I finished my analysis of Discovery. It was in all about a 20-30 hour project, depending on whether you count the first day of reading, and the imagining, or not. I thought I'd give you the summary, so you can see why this book has been evading me for the past three years:

Theme: The wounds we hold in our souls can be our making or our undoing.

Main idea: The crew of the Edwina Thomas discover an alien device that can show you the hidden parts of your soul; how each reacts to this knowledge will make their lives better--or destroy them all.

Subplots: 11 Total No spoilers, but there are two romantic situations, a couple of lost sheep, a murder in the making, attempted sabotage, daring rescue attempts and of course exploring the ship itself.

Main Characters: 12 (Yes, twelve)
1. Sister Ann: a genius nun with a penchant of speaking in quotes and technical manuals. She understands the device, but cannot make others understand
2. Sister Rita: she joined the Order of Our Lady of the Rescue to escape Earth and the temptation of a romance, but she's still haunted by doubts.
3. James Smith: left priesthood because he thought he was in love with Rita; returned to find her gone. Three years later, they meet again on the Edwina Thomas.
4. William Thoren: power-craving mission commander and head researcher. He sees the Rescue Sisters as a threat to his power base
5. Chris David: PhD candidate who discovered the alien ship by accident. Lives in Thoren's shadow, until he falls in love with Andi
6. "Andi" Andromeda deChavez: commander of the miners in charge of extracting the alien ship. Loves Chris, but his weakness and lack of confidence put her off.
7. Ian Hu: Derive systems specialist with a terrible guilt; had habit of washing hads.
8. Jason Larache: mechanical engineer with a horrifying secret; likes to say he can either laugh or cry. Ann thinks he should have cried more.
9. Merl Prithard: Evangelical type with a lot of fear and a drive to "save" everybody, whether they want to be saved his way or not.
10: Kelli Riggens: a pagan who battles with feelings of rejection
11: OvLandra: a zerog, a race genetically engineered to live in space with a strict racial purity policy
12: Cay Littlefield: a troubled miner with undiagnosed xenophobia

Other Important Characters: 31 named characters in all--here are the top five
1. Sister Thomas "Tommie": pilot of the Rescue Sisters' shuttle. Ex-military who found peace in her calling
2. Captain Jamal Addiman: Captain of the Edwina Thomas
3. Galen Keegan: pilor of the Rockhopper, the miners' ship; Chris's roomie
4. George Powers: a loud mouthed miner; good for saying what needs to be said
5. Zabrina Muha: xenobiologist (microbiology); freaks when sees a real alien

So, as you can see this is not my usual stuff--it's far more complex, and enters territory I've never uncovered, from Church policies on genetic manipulations to planetary astrophysics. Last night, I realized I'm not writing a story; I'm writing an epic science fiction that examines issues of space colonization, religion, and the resilience of our souls. No wonder I've felt intimidated.

But what have I said is the cure for intimidation? Write! So here I go!

my novel's journey: Discovery: Analyzing the manuscript that doesn't work

Last week, I talked about analyzing the story by mind mapping. This is also a terrific brainstorming tool if you want to plot your story out in general terms without a chronological outline. However, in my case, I had a full manuscript of words--just not all the right words--which was already ordered by time.

So in order to figure out what was wrong with the manuscript itself, I started outlining the text itself.

First thing I did was go back to my mind map and give each character a color. I did this so I could see at a relative glance whether the characters were getting enough facetime and if that time was evenly spread or clumped together. Ideally, we'd be learning a bit about the characters as we went along, according to their importance.

Then I started reading and outlining. Now the outline was very general--the chapter, the main ideas as they applied to the conflicts in the mind map. If a detail was important for later, I sometimes noted it as well. I'd run a colored line through a given statement for each character it affects. So, if Sister Ann says something important about Chris to Andi, that statement gets three colored lines.

While I did this, I was also making my list of major and minor characters and some brief notes on them. I had about a dozen half-lists of my characters. As I went along, I could see where I might start combining people and roles to simplify my cast, which is the biggest I've ever worked with. I also started taking notes on things I needed to insert, delete or change, sometimes by page number; sometimes by "before chapter 16, James must do X."

I also started figuring out where the plot holes were. Sometimes, I knew exactly how to plug them; and I'd write NEED THIS SCENE HERE. When I didn't know, I'd write: NEED SOMETHING TO DO X and jot some ideas down.

Whenever any note affected a specific character, it got a line or a star in that character's color.

In my mind-mapping, I already identified a couple of subplots I don't need, so I deleted them, but I saved the text in the comments section in case I wanted bits of it elsewhere.

I spent about seven hours doing the mind-mapping and outlining the first day, and got to page 103 of 198. I had several scenes imagined though not written down. I got through the rest on the second day--about 12 hours total.

my novel's journey: Discovery: Analyzing the story that doesn't work

Sometimes, I know intuitively where a story is failing--or I can show it to my best friend, Ann Lewis, and she can pinpoint the problem like a Great Detective she's written about. In fact, she did that once with Discovery by helping me realize that the plot was too small and--when I complained I felt like I was writing "Love Boat" in space, she made me see I had underutilized my alien ship. In 2009, that made all the difference in the world.

However, in 2011, I have a bigger plot and a great angle on the ship, but it still doesn't work. This time the mess is in the details, and, with 98,000 words written, it's not intuitively obvious. This time, I need to be the investigator.

I've never had to work this hard on a novel, and truth to tell, I've started this process and put it aside several times, trying to jump ahead to intuition. However, it's not worked, so today, I grabbed a stack of paper, colored pens and the computer.

I started just by scanning the entire manuscript. This helped me get back into the mind of the characters and get the gist of the plot. I could already see places I wanted to make changes; however, I refrained from anything but the most minor of edits. I did make some comments in the margins, though.

Now that I had the story fresh, I started mind mapping. Mind Mapping is really the new term for bubble brainstorming: put the main idea in the center bubble, put related idead in connecting bubbles around, and connect until you get the whole. It can look like this (when neatly done):


Step one is to find THE main idea. Holly Lisle says if you can't tell the theme in a single sentence (a simple one at that), then you don't understand your book. I realize now, it's taken three years for me to understand Discovery, but what a revelation now that I do!

I finally understood my main idea: An alien device enables people to see the damaged parts of their souls. Everything will relate to that. So that was my central circle. From there, it was easy--I made circles for the folks who experienced the device and what their damage was. From those circles, I drew causes, effects, others that they influence or are influenced by.

This gave me my cast of major characters and main subplots. After that, I did the same kind of mind mapping for each character and their particular weakness.

Wow, did this work! Now only was I able to clearly define my story, but I also determined who is an important character and who is secondary (which means I can kill some off), but I also discovered some of the holes in the plots I needed to fill and better yet HOW and WHY they needed filling. If I had wanted to, I could have started from scratch with those ten sheets and written the entire book.

But I had 98,000 words already written! Most of it is really good, too. So rather than start over, I now went to analyze the manuscript itself.

My Novel's Journey: Back to Discovery

Neeta Lyffe II is on hold until I can hash out some details with my subject matter expert (on oil refineries, not zombies), and since, I am tired of this monkey on my back, I am determined to finish DISCOVERY this month or early next.

For those who are not familiar, I have had a three year, tragic love affair with this book. It started as a NaNo project and after letting it rest, I found I really liked the characters and wanted to finish it. But it would not finish! I let it sit, shared it with friends, mulled and imagined. In October 2009, I knew what it needed: a bigger and more SF plot. I started again and realized one character was far more interesting than the original duo. For November, I was doing fabulous.

Then the computer died and took all my work--including backups to the external drive--with it. After that, I was writing Neeta Lyffe, and Why God Matters and doing all the marketing for them and ISIG II and... However, Discovery always stayed in my mind...taunting me.

What's worse is that the publisher I hope to sell it to has heard me talk about this book for three conventions, yet I never produce. How embarrassing!

That's it: This year, I make good on my words. I am embarking on my most extensive revision yet. Once again, I will be hacking scenes and killing characters, but this time, I am dealing with an incohesive manuscript, so there will be much to add and knit together as well. Since I plan to immerse myself and get this done quickly, I'm going to devote my blog to the process and progress. Check Thursday for my autopsy of Discovery.

Summer and best laid plans for writing goals.

Remember what I said about 3000 words a day?

Forget it. Summer has intervened. Plus, waiting on information--CHUCK, CALL ME!!--and teaching classes and a book that got moved up a month in launch date (Mind Over Mind comes out in August!)...

I'm not giving up on my goal, mind you, just being more forgiving of myself if I don't meet it. However, having had the goal has helped me in a couple of ways:

1. I know I can meet it. I have done it. I can do it again.
2. Just trying to meet the goal has increased my productivity. I think I average about 1500 words a day.
3. I know a little more about what I need to meet such a goal in terms of preparation and environment. I can better apply that when the school year starts again and I have more quiet time.
4. I am able to handle more than one project at a time when so inclined. I'd been kind of monofocused of late, but this month, I was not able to do that and achieve anywhere near my goal for reasons beyond control of the story.

So, I've not met my writing goals, but I did learn a few interesting things about my writing and myself.

And now, I'm going to get to my writing. I might not make 3000, but I can certainly try!

My Novel's Journey: Neeta Lyffe II: Cut that subplot!

Usually when I write, I tend to turn off the internal editor and go with where the characters lead. More often than not, they know the best ways to go.

However, the past couple of weeks in Neeta Lyffe II, that backfired.

I had originally anticipated two big zombie confrontations--one at a casino and one at the nearby oil refinery. The ideas came from talking with my sister and brother in law about the Richmond area. I thought the casino idea was going to be a big hit--lots of potential for fun--like a one-armed bandit now sporting an extra arm. Then Roscoe's lost love, Cameron, showed up as the cross dressing torch singer. Or is Cam the cross-dressing Master of Ceremonies? Even I didn't know. Either way, Cam is a dear and has stolen the show in a couple of scenes.

However, once I got to about 50,000 words and heading to the dual finales, the casino idea became more of an obstacle than an enhancement. There wasn't enough time in Neeta's world to handle both and still make an impact, and the whole juxtaposition of the casino and refinery was taking away from the fun of the refinery. After some deliberation, I took the casino out.

Still it's a fun subplot, so I'm thinking about making it the plot of Neeta III, and since we're going to Reno in August, I'll do research.

Clearing away the subplot--and Cameron with it--created holes, and I spent most of the week filling and revising. On the down side, I'm idling at 52,000 words as I clean this up. On the bright side, Gary Opkast and Sheila (soon to be Opkast) have come in to fill Cameron's place, as has a timid waitress who will find courage when defending her customers against the zombie hoard. It's also given me room to examine the zombie invasion of the refinery. Need a reason, right? How about radical environmentalist zombie terrorism?

Chatterday closing

I'm not getting a lot of comments on chatterday, so rather than use the time trying to come up with topics to post, I'm going to devote it to other things. It was an interesting experiment. Thanks to those who did reply.

I'm a Broad!

This week, I decided to join BroadUniverse.

Broad Universe is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres. I'd seen them in some of the conventions I'd been to, and it looked like an interesting group that was also interested in book promotion. Then I met author and member Jaleta Clegg, author of Nexus Point and knitter of C'thulu toilet paper roll covers, and I knew this would be a fun group as well.

First thing I did once joining was to go to the member bennie section and sign up for some for the bennies. I still need to check out this page, and flag it to check weekly, I think, because they have stuff like venues for news announcements, etc. They also have a facebook page and Yahoo group for keeping in touch.

I've already had some fun posting on Facebook, and found a few friends from other groups. I'm hoping I can do a rapid fire reading and participate in the BroadUniverse booth at Renovation. I'd also like to set up a Broad Coffee or something. Haven't asked the folks about that yet.

Anyway, I'm kind of excited about my new group, and thought I'd share. I'll give you an update in a few weeks about how it's going for me as a member.

Information: Reuse, Recycle, but Don't Reduce!

On Sunday, the Catholic Writers' Guild meets in a chat room to talk about writing or faith or whatever. Last Sunday, we actually got to talking about what we were working on, and John Desjarlais, author of the very good mysteries Bleeder and Viper, told us that he was researching life insurance for his next mystery. However, he's found an interesting angle. Did you know that companies can buy out your policy, much like mortgage companies buy out other banks' mortgages? Their payout comes if you die within two years of their having purchased your policy. How bizarre is that?

I'm sure you can see the implications for a murder mystery, but never underestimate the power of good information.

The following Tuesday, I was thinking about Neeta Lyffe: I Left My Brains in San Francisco. I have a sporting event that takes place on an unfinished bridge, and a comment Carole Nelson Douglas made on a panel gave me an idea. One of her books has a CSI-type show, except that people can audition their own deaths. So, thinking along such macabre lines, I decided that there should be a prize for the most flamboyant death in my bridge jumping contest. Then I thought that life insurance should be part of the entry fee.

...and as long as I have life insurance, why not have someone buy out the insurance policies, betting that at least one of the contestants will die? Right now, I'm thinking the City of San Francisco will do it, hoping, perhaps, to raise money to build a bridge they can finish themselves.

Caped CONduit round up with video

Well, I tried to upload the videos from my Streak, but it's not working at the moment. I'll try a different method, and spread out my report over the week instead. So today, let me just give you a little about Caped CONduit.

This is the longest running SFF convention in Salt Lake, and apparently there are a LOT of genre fiction conventions and writers who live in the area. Who'd have thought Utah would be a breeding ground for sci-fi, fantasy and horror? Yet another reason to wish to retire here.

I signed up and on a whim, decided to get a dealer's booth. My daughter, Amber, wants to be an artist (right now, she's leaning toward animation/character development, but she's also thought manga and anime), so she wanted to join us. The dealer's room came with 2 tickets to the con.

I also signed up to be on some panels, although none of my ideas were chosen and I have to maneuver a bit to get on some. I ended up on the Doctor Who panel (as a last-minute add-in when two folks dropped out), Humor in Horror, Mystery in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Building Your Audience. I was tempted to drop out of that one, incidentally, since I'm feeling a little down on marketing, but I'm glad I didn't as there were only three of us (one person had a severe allergic reaction to something in the hotel and had to go home.)

We bought tickets for all the kids, but in the end, only Alex went more than the mandatory first day. Fortunately, they had a D&D game going the first day, so Steven and Liam weren't too terribly disappointed. They just weren't into the stuff that the con offered.

If I can get the video and photos up, I'll spend the rest of the week telling you the things about the con, but here's a sneak peek:

* Good things come to those who wait
* How to get interviews at a con
* See my brain get splattered on the ceiling, scraped, poked and otherwise abused
* Anime eyes and funny faces

Sadly, all my interviews did not turn out well. My Dell Streak's mike is not good. Wah. Tech fail. Next time, I bring my video camera or actual computer. Was hoping the pad would do the job. Figures.

Chatterday: Market hard or "Feed the Beast"?

One of my groups on Linked In is discussing whether it's wiser to market your books hard or keep "Feeding the Beast" by putting your time into writing. I've seen arguments for both, and sometimes it depends on the situation. Traditionally published authors, like Dean Wesley Smith, say "Marketing is not my job." Self-publishers, of course, have no choice but to market themselves and hard. But what about us small press authors?

I'll be honest: I'm entering the "feed the beast" camp. I've been marketing hard for years now, but while I have a few loyal fans, my results in no way justify the amount of time and effort I put into it. Meanwhile, I have stories languishing because I'm putting so much time and mental energy into marketing. I burned myself out in April, and near as I can tell the results are on par with having done nothing.

I won't give up promotions altogether. I can't. However, I feel it's time to put it in its proper perspective. I also need to do some research and reflection on what will be most effective for me. Most of you know me well enough to realize that I know WHAT to do, but somewhere, my execution falls short.

So, what about you? Share your frustrations, your successes, your opinions. Come on! Let's help each other out.

"Perfect Ten" is here!

When Sheila Mars lands a bind date, she knows she's found a "Perfect Ten"--but on what scale?

I originally wrote this for an anthology called "Anonymous Dates, Inc." whic Lea Schizas was compiling. The premise was a woman gets set up on a first date, which starts out great, but ends in a disaster. What could be more promising--and disastrous--and a first date with Coyote the Trickster God?

Unfortunately, the anthology didn't pan out, so Lea gave me the rights to the story back. Several years later, however, she started her own publishing company, MuseItUp, which also takes short stories. I think it's wonderful that she's publishing the story she helped found in the first place!

For my "Vern fans": This is the Coyote from my DragonEye, PI world. It takes place in Vegas, so you won't see Vern, but Sister Grace makes an appearance--but not until Coyote has a good long time to show is true self!

Also for "Vern fans": MuseItUp will be publishing Vern and Grace's next adventure, Live and Let Fly, in April 2012!

Here's an excerpt:

Well, he’s not so bad. Definitely dark and handsome, Sheila thought as she sat perched on the edge of the chair, clutching her phone tightly in case another decision needed to be made.

“He” was one Kyle Loaty: Emigrated to America from Faerie last year and had spent most of his time on a reservation in Montana, where he “lived off the land” and worked “helping the Sioux relearn the ancient legends.” 5’11”, Native American ancestry--if such a thing existed in Faerie--well muscled. Health Risk Assessment 5.2 at first blush, her assessor brain whispered. And there was something about him that made Sheila blush.

Nonetheless, she hadn’t gotten a good look at his face. He kept focused on someone off-stage (Martha, she realized), and his shiny, long black hair obscured his profile.
As if on cue, Martha’s voice urged, “Kyle, dear, please talk to the camera.”

“How can I talk to that machine when there is so much woman I can look at instead.”

Martha tittered, then cleared her throat. “But the women who want to meet you will watch the tape. Can’t you act as if the camera were one of them?”

“Oh!” he said earnestly. “Oh, I’m very good at playing pretend.”

He turned and gave the camera a smoldering stare.

Sheila dropped her phone.



Or, if you prefer Amazon: CLICK HERE

Press Release: Zombies: National Disaster, or Local Pest?

Since the CDC has issues a warning to prepare for the zombie apocalypse, I just had to issue a statement of my own. Feel free to repost on your blogs or wherever! CDC article is here: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/cdc-warns-public-prepare-zombie-apocalypse/?test=latestnews

PRESS RELEASE

Karina Fabian Kim Richards, Publisher, Damnation Books

2712W 1475N PO Box 3931

Layton, UT 84041 Santa Rose, CA 95402

801-593-0531 707-595-4738

karina@fabianspace.com kim@damnationbooks.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Zombies: National Disaster, or Local Pest?

Layton, UT: When it comes to handling the zombie apocalypse, author Karina Fabian has a little more faith in the government than its own Center for Diseases Control. While the CDC assumes an overwhelming contagion of Zombieland proportions, Fabian's book, Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, postulates a country where private and government resources rally to tackle the problem.

"Look at how we handled H1N1. As soon as we recognized the problem, we mobilized. From public service announcements to vaccinations, we were on the problem like ugly on the undead," Fabian said.

In Fabian's zombie-infested world, thirty years in our future, zombies had gone from international threat to local pest. How? Federally mandated spine severing to prevent the reawakened brain from making the body move and private- and government-funded research institutes to not only seek a cure, but find more effective ways of battling the shambling undead. (Incidentally, "undead" becomes the official legal moniker for zombies, and the government issues professionals licenses to "re-kill.") Also in the private sector, extermination companies have found a new niche market: zombie extermination.

Of course, Fabian notes that she put in a few parameters to control the spread of zombie-ism.

"I didn't have a widespread sweeping contagion that took everyone at once," she said. "It didn't make sense to me. For the most part, diseases don't work like that, anymore, thanks to human knowledge and intervention. Also, my zombies have a few unusual characteristics that make them easier to manage. They aren't just brain sucking monsters. They have just enough brain function to retain bad habits. A smoker in life will take a pack of cigarettes over brains. TV will distract most zombies. Cleaning products repel them. It's ridiculous, I know, but so are zombies."

Fabian extends that "ridiculous" to include the world's reaction to zombies: zombie rights activists; conspiracy theorists, self-help videos ("You CAN Survive the Zombie Apocalypse!") and the reality TV show, Zombie Death Extreme. (Check out the website at http://zombiedeathextreme.com)

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, published in December 2010 by Damnation Books, stars Neeta Lyffe in the first season of Zombie Death Extreme as she deals with maniacal directors, bickering trainees, lawyers out for blood, and zombies out for brains. She's working on the second book, I Left my Brains in San Francisco.

Fabian said she realizes the CDC issued its release as a fun way to draw attention to disaster preparedness. "It's an important subject, especially with all the extreme weather we've been having. However, my vision of a 'zombie apocalypse' is just a bit different--and a lot more fun."

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, is available in print or electronic formats.

* * *

Photos, press packages, and more available upon request.

My Novel's Journey: Mind Over Mind cover art

I had a blog post written for today, but it was whiny and I debated using it. Then Gwen Gades, publisher of DragonMoon Books, made the decision for me by sending me the awesome cover of awesome!

Behold...MIND over MIND!

(Note: back cover blurb not added yet, but Gwen said I could post.)

Charles Bernard (www.onlineartacademy.com) does cover art for the big traditionals, too, so this is the one cover I had little say in. Rather, he came up with four concept sketches and I was allowed input on which I liked best and to make MINIMAL change suggestions. All of them were so amazing that I got chills, but I kept coming back to this one. I love the impact it has and the expression on Deryl's face and how he's stuck between two worlds, neither of which is very appealing. (That's a mental institution in the background.) Also, it had the fewest conflicts with the worldbuilding aspects (most of which we'll see in the next book, Mind over Psyche.) Fortunately, the folks at DragonMoon agreed with me.

Got a not-so-secret secret to share. A week or so ago, I went back to the website where the concept sketches were, just wanting to geek out again, and I found that he'd replaced them with color renditions of the cover and the lettering. I flipped--it was so good. I showed it to my kids and husband only, and we discussed which lettering we liked best, etc. None, however, were the lettering you see here, and this lettering has so much more impact.

The back cover blurb, etc. are still to come, and I'll be sure to post. However, let me just say that once again, I hit the jackpot with covers. Thanks Charles and Gwen!

The Small Press Author Blues

Been a long time since I've been inspired to bad song lyrics, but Friday night, I was tuning my harp while bemoaning my marketing successes (or relative lack of success when you consider work vs. results), and I came up with this. BTW, I did not put it to the harp--harps are not well known for the blues. Imagine a harmonica doing the the bada-ba da Dum!


bada-ba da Dum Wrote me a book
bada-ba da Dum But it don't sell well
bada-ba da Dum Though I've been marketing
bada-ba da Dum Like a bat outta hell
bada-ba da Dum The bookstores won't take it
bada-ba da Dum 'Cause the press is too small
bada-ba da Dum Each store had a new excuse and I have heard them all!

Oh, I got the blues!
The small press author blues
Wish I were in Stephanie Meyers' shoes
I'd kick those small press author blues.

bada-ba da Dum Now I love my publishers
bada-ba da Dum So don't get me wrong
bada-ba da Dum They all do their best
bada-ba da Dum They deserve this song
bada-ba da Dum 'Cause the industry screws them
bada-ba da Dum And bookstores do, too
bada-ba da Dum Makes them pay for the returns and rips the covers off them, too!

Oh, we got the blues!
The small press business blues
If we could just wear Amazon's shoes
We'd kick those small press business blues.

bada-ba da Dum Now some folks are sayin'
bada-ba da Dum Self-publishing's king
bada-ba da Dum I can put my book on Kindle
bada-ba da Dum It don't mean a thing
bada-ba da Dum A billion books on Kindle
bada-ba da Dum How do I make the scene?
bada-ba da Dum When even with small press I don't get folks to notice me?

Oh, I got the blues!
The small press author blues
Wish I were in JA Konrath's shoes
I'd kick those small press author blues.

bada-ba da Dum That's it; I'm done!
bada-ba da Dum I'm in this for fun
bada-ba da Dum Got so many stories
bada-ba da Dum And I love every one
bada-ba da Dum So I'll write my stories
bada-ba da Dum And I'll find them good homes
bada-ba da Dum Because my life is better when my imagination roams

Oh, who cares about the blues?
The small press author blues
I'm comfy in my shoes
My bunny slippered, funny flippered, what no author can do without
To kick those small press author blues.

Chatterday: Anybody reading this?

I missed Thursday, but I'm making progress on my goal of building up to 3000 words a day. In the meantime, I have to wonder--does anyone read this? Or better yet, what would make you read this more often?

So far, chatterday has been kind of a flop. I'm willing to take topics for discussion.

Re-Upholstering Chairs

Sorry this took so long to post--I never downloaded the photos!

I have a beautiful dining room set that I bought from my neighbor in California. I adore the rich color of the wood and the intricate carvings on the back. It's nice and big and even came with a glass top. However, the seats were a problem. They were a washed out goldish color, and the cushions were thin--so thin in some places, that when you saw you were poked with the screws that held them on!



My parents gave us some money for Christmas, and we decided to put it into upholsetring the chairs. My mom is terrific at recovering furniture, so she offered to help out when they came to visit, which was the first week of February.

Here's the fabric I found. I loved the deep, rich colors, and the red was just enough to complement the color of the chair itself. Even better, it was on sale at Hancock Fabric: $13 a yard! Because of the design, we ended up buying 10 yards, about a yard a chair, and we had a lot left over. That's not a problem for creative people like us, though!



The cushions were a little tougher. When I took apart one chair, I realized I could not recreate the shaping. So I decided to just buy high density 2-inch foam to put under the original foam instead. I also did not want to risk getting stabbed with screws anymore, so I decided to use 3 1/2-inc bolts with washers and nuts to lock them in place. That meant we had to drill holes in the wood bottom of the seat and in the chair. One lesson we learned quickly: the screws had been put in at angles, so sometimes, we had to drill an entire new set of holes in the wood seat to match the holes in the chair itself. Next we threaded the bolts with washers through the holes in the seat so that the bolt heads are on top--ie, they would be covered by the cushions.




I marked the centers of the top, bottom and sides of the seat so I could line up the fabric. I set the fabric, wrong side up, then the original cushion on it, the new cushion on the old, then the seat on the cushion, bolt heads down.



After that, I stapled the upholstery fabric on. First, I only did the four centers, then flipped it to be sure the pattern was right. How excited I was when I saw how good the first one looked! Then I went back and did the sides, then did the four corners. I had to hammer the staples down because the thick cushion absorbed some of the force of the staplegun. Then I trimmed the extra upholstery, put the liner back on the bottom of the seat and stapled that into place.


Finally, I threaded the bolts through the holes in the chair and put on the washers and nuts. Voila! they are beautiful and so comfy!



When we had removed the old upholstery fabric, we found the original gold cotton fabric covers were on it. So we washed these swatches and cut them into squares, then sewed up the edges for napkins.


We had a lot of excess material, so my mom made a huge table runner and a valance. We also recovered a couple of old ugly hot pads. Here's the final result. I LOVE IT! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

My Novel's Journey: Focus and Word Count

The thing about being an accomplished writer isn't so much about being able to write huge amounts of text, but about being consistent.

My first novel, which will be published in September as Mind Over Mind, was written with a single vow: one sentence before bed each day. Sometimes, I got on a roll and did a few paragraphs, rarely more than a page. However, most of the time, I only got that sentence done--and since I was homeschooling two kids and had a toddler and a baby, it was a sentence done half-asleep at that.

Now, of course, the kids are all in public school, and I have several hours to myself, so I am managing, I'd guess, probably 8,000-10,000 words a day. Trouble is, those words aren't all toward my books. I write blogs, facebook posts, e-mails, and waaaay too much marketing stuff. Before that, I did a lot of posts on Yahoo groups. I also write things for the Catholic Writers' Guild and various websites.

Lately, I've been re-evaluating my writing, and have come to the conclusion that a lot of the writing I'm doing isn't giving me the joy I am working toward. Thus, I need to refocus on what I really want. Which is to write stories.

In order to do that, I'm resetting my goals, and building up. Last week, the goal was 1000 words a day, five days a week, just on the novel. The plan is to work to 3000 a day. To accomplish this, I need to set a few things aside, or to give them their rightful place--break times and after the main writing is done.

What's helping me to do that? I post my writing word accomplishment on Facebook. Yeah, it's kind of a silly "Look at me!" thing, but it helps me feel accountable. Second, I have a new writing buddy. Nancy needed someone to be accountable to as well, so she and I meet on IM in the mornings and keep each other on track. Finally, I simply discipline myself. Some days that means turning off my internet access, less I be tempted.

This week's goal is 1200 words a day, five days a week. I'm certain I can make that, and that by the end of the year, I'll be going strong at 3K a day. If Life doesn't toss a curveball at me.

BTW, one thing I plan to do to minimize my marketing efforts is concentrate on my newsletter. I invite bloggers as well as readers to join in. Each time a book comes out, I'll be sending information that you are welcome to post. Register here.

War of Attrition--Review and Interview with Frank Creed

Summary: (From Amazon):

Set in 2037, Calamity Kid and his muscle cell are targeted by the One State's Federal Bureau of Terrorism and must survive alone in Chicago's Underground. At one-half its usual might, the cell encounters traps and snares set by a faceless opponent-and question the suspicious arrival of a bio-engineered One State traitor. Blamed by the media for the very violence they're trying to contain, CK and his fellow saints race for their lives to avoid the high-tech crosshairs aimed into the underground. War of Attrition, Book Two of the UNDERGROUND, is the sequel to Frank Creed's award-winning Christian sci-fi/ cyberpunk novel, Flashpoint.

Mini Review: Once again, Frank Creed spins another exciting tale of a cyberpunk Chicago in an Apocalyptic world. I love his imaginative use of technology to enhance the gifts of the Holy Spirit--and the really cool Matrix-style skills with a new (pardon the pun) twist. I enjoyed the chemistry between Calamity and Lethe--hope to see more of their relationship in Book Three. The only thing I didn't like was the way it just seemed to end. Really, I was roaring along on the El of adventure--and suddenly the track ended! I wondered where the rest of the book had gone. Of course, if the worst you can say about a book is that it ended too soon, well--bring on the next!

Note: This is unapologetically Christian speculative fiction. Much quoting of the Bible, some moral discussions from a very Christian perspective, and of course the Christian underground is the good guys. That said, I think this book is a lot of fun for readers of any denomination, and even for those who do not necessarily ascribe to a particular religion, as long as you understand the characters are talking to each other and not that the author is trying to preach to you. It's not that kind of book, really.

Interview with Frank Creed:

1. What’s different in War of Attrition from Flashpoint?

Our heroes get some upgraded tech capabilities. They get uploaded with a mindware update that has advantages, like using their mindware abilities without being detected. Also, Calamity Kid gets some electromagnetic swords.

Another change is a new player in the power struggle. If a One State bully pokes you every day, you assume that when you get poked it must be the bully. What if you get poked and the bully is not there? A third party enters the fray, and shocks Calamity Kid.

Also, our main characters’ Mommy and Daddy are not around. Calamity Kid and e-girl have grown up.

2. What do you love best about War of Attrition?

Easy question. The new characters that were not in Flashpoint.

Lethe is someone Calamity Kid knew from online gaming. Back then, she ran under the name Heartbreaker, but she hates that name. Heartbreaker was a One State experiment who got away. She seems to be fleeing her former masters, but can she be trusted, and will she break Calamity Kid’s heart?

Barren is CK’s new partner. We learn early that Barren’s whole family has been killed by the One State. He has little to live for and looks forward to seeing his family in Heaven. How does Calamity Kid deal with such a man?

Vex also came from the One State. He worked with the peacekeepers as a sniper. Vex came from Mexico, fled his duty in Vancouver, and wound up joining the underground in Chicago. How will his skills fit with CK’s needs?

3. What lessons did you learn from Flashpoint that you applied to War of Attrition?

Not a fair question with my brain injury—I learn so many nit-picky details about writing that would bore readers . . . here’s an easy one though. Flashpoint’s ending was too long. War of Attrition has a final scene that satisfies without boring.

4. How’s the role playing game coming?

Slowly. Copies of Join the Underground, by Mike Roop, are just not selling. I had hoped that there would be a great crossover between Christian cyberpunk readers and Christian gamers, but we have not been able to effectively reach the gamer market. It is sad because a lot of effort went into developing the gaming system and even though it only uses normal easy-to-find six-sided-die, nobody is enjoying it.

5. Got more Underground books coming?

Yes! I’m currently writing Devil’s Hit List, Book Three of the Underground. All your favorite characters are back, doing what they do best. This time the saints are trying to stop a diabolical technology, Virtual-e, before it can be offered to the public. I will say that Calamity Kid is running out of friends!

Book Four of the Underground will be co-authored with an author friend of mine from New Zealand—Grace Bridges.

Buy it on Amazon!

Chatterday: Do you pay attention to blog reviews

This week's questions are pretty simple: Do you read book reviews on blogs? If so, when do they influence you? If not, why not?

I'm asking because I send out a lot of copies of my books to blogger for review, but I wonder if they are effective.