Random Thoughts: For The Love Of Writing

Once upon a time I wrote a story. I did it for the love of writing. It was called Iron Willed and I managed to get to the second book in the series before I finally lost steam and it sort of died in a heap. A lot has happened since I stopped writing that story.
      I rediscovered dystopia thanks to The Hunger Games. I  discovered self publishing and all the trimmings that come with it. Including the one piece of advice that all the advice sites agree on. That self published writers need to write good stories and have them edited to within an inch of their lives.
      Now that I look back on said story I can see how much I've improved as a writer. I'm so glad that all this obsession hasn't been for nothing. And yet a part of me is a little sad because I can also see that all this precision has bled a lot of the love right out of my writing.
      I've always maintained that I'm not really a writer. I'm a storyteller that just happens to express herself through the medium of words. I would love to tell my story through film or art or possibly manga/anime but alas I am so much worse at those than I am at writing. So this is how my stories will be told.
      I am sitting here thinking about what a shame it is that I find myself focusing on the craft rather than the storytelling. I remember how quickly I wrote those books and how much fun they were to write. It was freeing to just let the words flow. The story isn't mind blowing. I'll never get professional accolades for it. In fact, I can see some discerning reviewer (like myself ironically!) who would tear it to shreds. But you know what? This is the one book that I don't think I'd care if a reviewer totally firebombed.
      It's a fun book filled with teenage romanticism, cool powers, impossible world building, a snappy heroine, a non romantic best friend and plenty of stereotypical sidekicks. And I love it. Every single bit of it. So I've decided I'm going to write it. Technicality be damned.

Calling All Would Be Beta Readers

Hey All,
Am suffering from aspiring writer's angst at the moment and second guessing many things about my MS. So I thought I would turn to you guys and ask if anyone would be interested in doing a wee bit of beta reading for me.

You can read as much as you like and if you hate it, I won't mind in the slightest. In fact, if you do hate it, I would love your feedback even more. Here's a bit of a synopsis:


IRON WILLED - YA Sci-fi/Fantasy

For seventeen-year-old Willow Atherton , fight or flight has always been a no brainer. Punch first, then smart ass yourself out of trouble later. Born with an unstable ability to generate electricity and raised on the mean street of City Square, Melbourne, it's little wonder that she could fight before she could read. If the fights happens in the dark however, she's less technokinetic badass and more teenage sobbing mess. 
     When the elite unit of law enforcers Willow works for is disbanded without explanation and forced to join the larger Peacekeeping Academy, Willow and her misfit band of psychic friends are given one directive: Shut up and move on. Willow's no stranger to following orders, sort of, but when they come from the man she believes is responsible for the death of her parents, all bets are off. It's too bad that man happens to be the Minister for Defence.
     Willow can grit her teeth and ignore the hazing of the other officers but it's the dark eyed gaze of her gorgeous new partner and his order for her to stay out of his mind that disturbs her most.
      Then psychics begin disappearing all over the city and a mysterious hooded figure haunts her every move. When the abductions hit too close to home, Willow must learn to control her power at all cost and overcome her debilitating fear of the dark before someone she cares about it killed.

If anyone is interested and would like to earn my eternal gratitude, contact me at lc.novel@gmail.com and I'll send them the first few chapters. 

Thanks All!

Gone Writing!

Hi All!

In my mad quest to try and get my blog to a respectable status, I have sorely neglected my writing. I plan to remedy that this weekend by going into a writing frenzy. My goals are:

1. One last edit before I lay IRON WILLED to rest.
2. Finish my synopsis.
3. Query at least 1 agent.

Considering my severe lack of attention span due to a mysterious cold virus, the above are probably very lofty goals. I will try my best to achieve them nonetheless.

What does this mean for the blog? Not much really, I'll still be around. Stalkers gotta stalk. But as you can see, I am not doing FF this week as it takes up a huge chunk of my weekends.

See you on the other side.

*PS. Some of you may be wondering at the lack of reviews posted lately. It's this darned only reviewing books I finished/liked rule. Books unfinished:

Wither (closed book too many times = not interested enough)
Firelight (Bella flashbacks. May pick it up again)
Gregor the Overlander (tried it for Suzanne Collins but couldn't get into it) and finally:
Reread Vampire Academy for kicks!

Wednesday Writer's Corner - A Novel By Any Other Title

 Image courtesy of Simon Howden

Hello All! A couple of posts ago, I promised you some new personal memes and, by some miracle, I am still on track to deliver on that promise. This meme is based on the Wannabe Writers meme hosted by Confessions of the Un-Published. I will participate in the Wannabe Writers meme from time to time, but mostly, these post will be my outlet to rant   discuss my writing issues. This week's topic: How much do you change your novel, based on the opinions of friends/colleagues/writing groups?
          Let me preface this next section of angst by giving you a bit of background about my novel. It's a YA fantasy/sci-fi novel about a 17-year-old girl with psychic abilities. Her name is Willow. I so cleverly titled the novel Iron Willed. You know, a play on Willow's name and also a bit of a teaser about the subject of the book.
        I was feeling pretty smug about the whole thing until yesterday, when not one but two people told me the title was a dud, despite loving the story itself. One stated that there is also another book by that title but I can't find any reference to it in the web. After my initial meltdown quiet reflection, I am still in two minds about changing the title before I start querying. It took me forever to think up that title and I'm pretty attached to it. Plus, I would rather write another 80,000 word novel than try and think up a new title. Clearly I am horrible at this particular skill. There are such things a working titles right? What to do? I'm throwing the floor open to you guys. What do you think? Like the title? Wanted to throw up when you heard it? Comments please.