I'm trying to write a bio for QueeredFiction. I don't know why I feel the need to provide a new one when there's a perfectly serviceable one on my website already, but I do. Possibly this is displacement activity, since if I'm writing a bio, I'm not doing Day Job Stuff. Always a good thing. The problem is, I can't think of anything to say about myself except "Naomi has a deep and unholy fascination with cephalopods, werewolves, and cocktails." Maybe that will do? Maybe I should make up a bunch of lies, like "Naomi travels in a pimped-out Mustang and always keeps a bottle of brandy and a flamethrower close at hand."

Anyway.

(I just copied and pasted the bio from my website, thinking I'd modify it accordingly, and have just deleted everything except the first line. Sigh).

Anyway.

I've also been pondering some more on the zombie/military UF. My ex-military heroine now has a name and a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (got to keep everything clean when you're a plague-bearer, you know). I really, really want to write this book. I just need to settle on a title. I fancied Living Dead Girl, until I read Elizabeth Scott's book of the same name (it's an awesome, heart-wrenching book, you should all read it), and now I feel I can't use that title. Then I thought of Better Off Dead, but that's a bit too generically UF. So, I'm pondering more. I plan to start work properly once the Institute closes for Christmas (other projects allowing), so I'm sure the perfect title will hit me by then. If not, I'll just call it The Incredible and True Tale of the Zombie Plague Bearer and Her Brave Struggle with Hair Loss and leave it at that

I'm deep into the edits on AFTERLIFE now (I know! Time is a-wasting, but they insist on keeping me trapped in this insidious day-job!) and I'm realising a few things.

Firstly, I'm very lucky in that the majority of the edits are format changes. Changing UK spellings to US, for example, or altering punctuation. Quick and simple.

Secondly, it pays to turn in a clean manuscript the first time round. The first draft of AFTERLIFE was about 7k shorter than the finished version, was missing a plot thread or two, and had lots of logical errors. How glad am I that I fixed all that before submitting to Damnation Books? Extremely. Leaving aside the fact that the original draft probably wouldn't have been picked up in the first place, having dealt with all these big issues early means I'm only dealing with little issues now - rephrasing, polishing up sentence structure, etc.

Thirdly, you never know it all. I'm amazed at how many passive sentences Kim Richards (my superstar editor) has picked up in the manuscript. I'm amazed that I didn't notice them myself, as I'm very quick to jump on other people for passive constructions (as laburton could tell you). It's brilliant how much difference tiny little adjustments to a sentence can make to a whole scene, how much stronger they can make your characters' voices.

Fourthly, writing is not all wild parties and cocktails. I mean, don't get me wrong. I feel incredibly lucky to have made such massive leaps forward with my writing career this year. I'm in a place now I didn't think I'd ever get to this time last year, and I can (hopefully) only go forwards from here. But there is a lot of minutiae and nit-picking work that goes into producing a finished book, which I hadn't fully appreciated before. I knew on an intellectual level, but now I know first-hand, and I'm absolutely in awe of the work that goes on that we as readers never see.

Fifthly (sp? Is there such a word? See, you never know it all), you're never finished. As soon as the edits for AFTERLIFE are done, I'll be working on SILVER KISS. Yes, there's lots going on there that I'm not yet at liberty to discuss. I've got to put together a blurb and an author bio before anything else, and there will soon be edits, marketing, and promotions galore to deal with. That's before I even think about any forthcoming edits for MOTHS, writing the sequel to AFTERLIFE, not to mention writing the sequels to SILVER KISS. Seriously.

But I love it.

I'm back at work after my glorious, fun-filled, productive, Baileys-soaked week off. Sigh. I got loads done last week. I finished rewriting Wild and emailed it to an interested editor (fingers crossed, but shall not think about that too much). I made a start on the synopsis so I can sub it elsewhere too. I got cracking on the edits for AFTERLIFE. I had a short story accepted for an upcoming QueeredFiction anthology (okay, that wasn't exactly me being productive as all I had to do was read the email saying it had been accepted, but it counts, dammit). I went to a few local bookshops to ask about getting AFTERLIFE in stock, and now have some people to call regarding that.

I also managed to be fairly social - visited my parents and my grandparents, and spent Thursday night getting utterly and complete drunk with Kyle and chaostheory , which was fun and necessary.

All of which just reminded me once more that I want to be a full-time writer. Soon. (Not the family-visiting and the drinking. That was awesome, but doesn't contribute to my writing scheme). So yeah, back at work today, already missing the carefree days of yore when I could stay up until 5am playing Super Mario 3 and then sleep in until 12 noon and spend the day watching reruns of Mock the Week and Come Dine With Me write all day. I have hypernostalgia for last week.

QueeredFiction have accepted my short story, Moths, for their Queer Gothic anthology. Yay! I'm so excited - I really wasn't sure about this story when I submitted it, so it's nice to be validated, lol.

A pretty big opportunity has come my way. I don't want to say much because it's all very much a long shot, but it means I need to whip Wild into shape, fast. For those who don't follow my obsessions religiously (you should, I'm fascinating), Wild is my epic tale of heroin addiction and werewolves in Liverpool. Or rather, it is now. Back in 2007 when I started writing it, it was an epic tale of heroin addiction and werewolves in America. I finished the first draft sometime in late '07/early '08, I think. It was a particulary difficult book to write because A) it's one of these gritty labours of love that breaks you in half and B) I was with The Ninja at the time, who you might remember as the clingy boyfriend who refused to believe I'd broken up with him and started hanging around my house in the middle of the night talking about the Mafia. Being with him was not conduicive to writing. At all.

So, once I'd finished the first draft (finally! After all the blood, sweat, and tears it bloody took), I emailed it, full of hope, to my now Ex-Agent. She was... lukewarm about it. Liked the writing, thought the plot was lacking. So I immediately began ripping the plot apart, throwing in some werewolf gang warfare and LSD-abuse for good measure. Then I grew incredibly disenchanted with my agent, my writing, and myself, decided I hated Wild and everything to do with it and never wanted to look at it again. So I wrote the first half of AFTERLIFE instead and pushed my junkie werewolves to one side.

And then I got my writers' group to look at it. They suggested I move the story to Liverpool and keep trying with it. So I started rewriting it again, got half way through, decided I hated it, everything to do with it and never wanted to look at it again, again. Then I finished writing AFTERLIFE, left my agent, decided my writing career was over anyway and seriously contemplated never writing anything ever again.

Then in 2009 some other stuff happened, like WOLF STRAP selling to QueeredFiction, and them contracting me for SILVER KISS and its sequels, and AFTERLIFE selling to Damnation Books, and suddenly I was feeling like, man! I'm not going to let Wild beat me! It may be the literary equivalent of a puddle of vomit that makes my headache just to think of it, but seriously! I'm going to damn well finish that book.

And then I didn't because some other stuff happened.

And then something else happened. Something I can't go into details about, but something with potential. Nothing I want to put too much hope in, but something that's sent me back to Wild like a ... I don't know, demented writing junkie masochist of some kind. Because I need to finish rewriting this book and making it as good as it can possibly be. This is always a problem for me - I never believe anything I do is good enough, but with Wild I want to try and do the story and characters justice. And I want to do it before next Monday.

I've got roughly 100 pages to go. Half the book is still set in America rather than Liverpool, and the first half of the plot has nothing to do with the second. One character is called Grady for 200 pages and Lennon for the next 100 or so. One character is a witch for the first twenty chapters and a werewolf for the next ten. It's a great, nasty sprawling mess. But I will tame it. Oh yes, I will tame it.

Breaking away from SILVER KISS revisions and AFTERLIFE promotion to let you know that QUEER WOLF, featuring my short story, WOLF STRAP is up for an award! All the details are here at elisa_rolle's livejournal.

Stop everything! Seriously, stop. Listen to me.

I'm beyond excited to announce that QueeredFiction have contracted me for two more Ayla/Shannon novels to follow up SILVER KISS!

You heard me right - that's three Ayla/Shannon novels altogether, to be published over 2010 and 2011. That ringing you hear in your ears is the fading echoes of my thrilled screams of joy :D

I honestly can't tell you how pleased and proud I am. I loved writing SILVER KISS and exploring the characters and world more, I love writing about werewolves, and I love that I've now got the chance to write even more.

All I need now is a series title. Suggestions on a postcard, please...

Why yes, that is my contract for SILVER KISS, along with a bunch of goodies that I shall be taking to the RNA conference tomorrow ^-^

Okay, so we all know I had a short story published in QueeredFiction's Queer Wolf anthology, right?

And we all know Wolf Strap has been getting some pretty good reviews, right?

And we all know I've been working on a novel-length follow-up to Wolf Strap called Silver Kiss, right?

Well, I am thrilled (and a little bit nervous) to announce that SILVER KISS HAS BEEN CONTRACTED BY QUEEREDFICTION! Which means I'm going to have a novel published! A whole, full, genuine novel all by myself etc!

Details are tentative at this point, but we're hoping SILVER KISS (yes, I will henceforth capitalise it all the time, sorry) will be released in early 2010.

This is by far the most exciting thing that has happened to me since I started writing, and I'm over the moon to have the opportunity to do this. So, virtual party at my place! Bring cocktails!

June 7th is a Hot Moon!

Queer Wolf, the first anthology from QueeredFiction is released in trade paperback. It's already available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and if you love me, you'll totally buy a copy, because Wolf Strap is the opening story and rumour has it that it rocks.

But you can also win a copy direct from QueeredFiction just by going to www.queeredfiction.com/competition.htm and signing up for their newsletter. I know! It's so easy! Sign up before June 7th and you're in the drawing. Come on. You know you want to.

And just to tempt you, here's what people are saying:

 “The debut anthology from James EM Rasmussen's QueeredFiction is an entertaining
   and varied collection, boasting such talents as Charlie Cochrane and Ginn Hale. Lovers
   of the lycan will find much to slaver over here: from the werewolf wanabee to the
   lovers-through-time, to waifs and strays. From the carnal to the violent to the passionate,
   this anthology will wag your tail, I guarantee it.”
  Erastes author of Standish

  

( More reviews )

1. Finish first draft of the gothic horror short story. (It took a wrong turn and became a gothic romance, which has set its progress back somewhat).

2. Get the lawn mowed. Sounds simple, but the grass is knee high at the moment, so I'm drafting in my parents and Holly to help. Because cocker spaniels are awesome at gardening.

3. Get some serious work done on planning Silver Kiss, the Ayla and Shannon piece.

4. Ponder some more on Lone Wolf. I'm leaning towards rabies and super volcanoes at the moment.

5. Resolve all my personal problems in one fell swoop. (This probably won't happen. But you've got to aim high, right?)

I'm so happy to see reviews for Queer Wolf still rolling in. Smexy Books had this to say about the anthology as a whole:

Queer Wolf does a terrific job of gathering suspenseful, romantic, and smart stories ... I must say all were unique and kept my interest. I highly recommend this collection.

And this to say about Wolf Strap in particular:

This story pulled me in immediately. I like a good murder mystery and this one worked very well in the short story setting. If you are looking for hot, steamy romance, this story does lack that, however, Ayla and Shannon's love has a very sweet and laid back tone. Their relationship is already well developed at the time the story takes place, which is a nice change instead of the usual "will they get together" storyline a lot of books have. Ayla is one of those"kick-ass" heroines - she loves her super-strength as a wolf (although keeps it in check around Shannon) and rolls her eyes when someone considers her more a human girl than a strong wolf. Shannon plays off her well, she can hold her own ground when the situation warrants, yet keeps a light teasing nature with Ayla. Naomi Clark is a new author to me and I would love to read more of the world she has developed.

Go me! And thanks, Mandi, for a lovely review ^-^

Groan. I always eat too much when I spend the weekend at my parents'. I try to balance it out by going for long walks with Holly, but there's only so much damage I can undo. I got through a whole bag of Kettle Chips with Mum on Saturday night while we watched The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas. (The film isn't as good as the book, although bonus points for David Thewlis!) And then today there was cake and ice cream. Like, a lot of cake and ice cream. Good thing I didn't buy a whole load of new clothes last weekend ... Oh no, wait. I did.

On the plus side, I added 1000 words to the short I'm working on for Queered Fiction's gothic anthology. I've no idea if it's gothic enough, but it has a ghost and an all-girl boarding school and a chapel that was destroyed by fire in the 18th century, so... Another 1000 words or so should wrap up the first draft. And I spent a lot of time thinking about a shapeshifter novel that's been swimming around my head for the past week or so. I'd like to start working on it, if I wasn't already working on two other novels and if I wasn't planning to redraft Wild. What I really need is a sabbatical from work so I can put some real hours into all these projects.

Hmm, probably not about to happen. In the mean time, I have Friday 13th part 8 playing too loudly, so all is well.

ETA: Damn, apparently Victorian girls didn't go to boarding school. Why can't history just bend itself to my will?

Since I'm currently at work explaining to idiots why fire regulations mean we can't cram 200 people into a 160 person-capacity room, I thought I'd try and do something constructive. Here are some more reviews for Queer Wolf and Wolf Strap (available now!)

Well Read Reviews - "Honorable mentions ... Wolf Strap by Naomi Clark - whose author had deft touch with description."

Jessewave - "Queer Wolf is, I think, a credit to this first-time publisher."

Amberkatze - "The first story was for me the best out of the bunch but I think each reader will find different favourites." (And yes, Wolf Strap" is the first story :D )

Genre Reviews - "The broad variety ensures pretty much everyone will find at least a couple stories they'll enjoy, and werewolf fanatics should consider the collection a must-read"

The Queer Wolf anthology is now available as an ebook and features my story Wolf Strap. If you love me, you'll buy a copy. If you don't love me, you should buy a copy anyway because it's awesome!

AVAILABLE NOW: eBook

"The debut anthology from James EM Rasmussen's QueeredFiction is an entertaining and varied collection, boasting such talents as Charlie Cochrane and Ginn Hale. Lovers of the lycan will find much to slaver over here: from the werewolf wanabee to the lovers-through-time, to waifs and strays. From the carnal to the violent to the passionate, this anthology will wag your tail, I guarantee it." Erastes author of Standish

"Overall, I enjoyed reading this anthology. There were a good range of stories from authors who mostly did interesting things with what many people are calling a tired genre. It was refreshing to see f/f stories amongst the m/m, and even more refreshing was the consistently high quality of the writing from all the authors - even if some worked better than others. I may have had some quibbles with plotting, but the writing itself was excellent. I'm going to give this anthology a grade of 'Very Good' as I will definitely be reading many of these stories again when I'm in the mood for something with a bit of bite." Well Read

QUEEREDFICTION - out between the pages
www.queeredfiction.com

*puns always intended

I got my edits for Wolf Strap today, along with a lovely email from the editor of the anthology, James, saying mine was one of the easiest stories to say "yes" to, and therefore edits are pretty minimal. Huzzahs! I could get used to this. I was supposed to be going to a production of Hamlet featuring a water tank and a 50ft puppet ghost tonight, but I've struck down by the plague, so will head straight home to edit instead.

I also have to come up with a brief blurb for the story, which I'm really struggling with. All I can think of so far is something along the lines of "werewolf returns home to find cousin murdered. Chaos ensues. Also, a drag queen." Doesn't really seem right to me.