Since I’m in Seattle from June 17th to July 31st to attend Clarion West, I’ve written a number of blog posts beforehand to post while I’m gone. I’ll be keeping an eye on the comments, but might take a while to respond.

More on Showcasing Shinies.

---

My very last Showcasing Shinies post. Phew! I really hope you’ve enjoyed looking at the pretty art, being able to put a face to the characters I mention on occasion, and have maybe even contacted some of these artists about commissions. They more than deserve it, and you’ll have something pretty to show off!

Anyway, I already showcased my character Yunupaya twice earlier; I’d like you to meet her delightfully scrappy, loud, and occasionally violent sister Len.

Who is slightly lacking in fingers. What is it with me and scarring my poor characters?

Len
by Diana Mallery

Len
by Tien Hee

Since I’m in Seattle from June 17th to July 31st to attend Clarion West, I’ve written a number of blog posts beforehand to post while I’m gone. I’ll be keeping an eye on the comments, but might take a while to respond.

More on Showcasing Shinies.

---

Showing off the rest of Yunupaya’s pictures:

Yunupaya
by Diana Mallery

Yunupaya
by Shaun O’Neil

Since I’m in Seattle from June 17th to July 31st to attend Clarion West, I’ve written a number of blog posts beforehand to post while I’m gone. I’ll be keeping an eye on the comments, but might take a while to respond.

More on Showcasing Shinies.

---

Yunupaya, the main character’s name, is just a working title for this book; I’ve rotated through a number of other titles, most notably Stranger, from when I started writing the book a couple of years ago during NaNoWriMo. Since then, I’ve overhauled my plans a dozen times — adding and removing PoV characters, combining characters, rethinking the plot, stretching it into a trilogy, etc.

Because of all those changes I’m still nowhere near ready to actually write the book, but I somehow still ended up with a good collection of art done of these characters. Here’s a couple of the aforementioned Yunupaya, with others to follow next week:

Yunupaya
by Niccolo Balce

Yunupaya
by Hugh Freeman

While I’m aware that I have some very legitimate attention span problems, I’m sure this dilemma is one that every author in the world is familiar with: what the heck do I work on next?

In my case, I have several novel-length projects clamoring for my attention Right! This! Instant! Normally, I would simply finish one project (in this case, Heirs) and then figure out what needs to happen next, but this post by Rachel Aaron made me want to take a step back and consider my options.

1. Heirs: This draft is about 20k away from being done, and I hate leaving projects unfinished. It’s the first in a YA urban fantasy trilogy, and I think the different perspective of the MC – he was forced out of the demon-slaying biz after he became deaf but desperately wants back in – might just pique agents’ attention. Plus, trilogies are hot. Which leads me to…
2. Yunupaya. Or Stranger. Or the half-dozen other crappy titles I came up with for this as-of-yet-unwritten YA sci-fi trilogy which I’ve been playing with for over a year. I’m super excited about it; I think it hits a good mix of original and commercial. This was supposed to be the project I’d start on after Heirs.
3. The Newest and Shiniest of All Projects: This one only popped into my head this week, and it’s taking over the neighborhood. I can’t say too much about it yet, but it’s a standalone YA paranormal/fantasy which is a bit more real-world-based than most of my other fantasy projects. It’s also currently bouncing up and down going “I’m THE ONE! WRITE ME. WRITE ME NOW.” Every book does that in the beginning… but every time it feels right. And I really think this could garner a lot of interest.
4. The Hands of Cally Wu: Did I mention I hate leaving projects unfinished? I was supposed to edit this in November. I, uh, didn’t. Basically, I do really love this book and want to mold it into something better than the pathetic excuse of a first draft it is now… but it’s not my regular genre/style, and I worry that I’d be wasting time I could be spending on other books that are in my genre, which would be more useful to my career in both the short and long term.
5. Always Read the Fae Print. Yes, okay, so I just turned down an agent offer. Yes, I’ve queried more agents with this than I care to admit. Yes, I’d pretty much given up on this book… but I really think it could work as a YA. I’ve had that thought for months and months. It means rewriting the whole darned thing, but it’d open up a lot of other avenues. I don’t want to rework a project to death; I know how important it is to move on to the next book. At the same time, there’s life in this project, and I don’t want to give up if it still has a chance.

As you might’ve noticed, I’m trying to take a very objective, commercial view of these projects. Let’s be honest here, my current number one priority is getting an agent.

I’m not selling out: whatever choice I’ll make, I’ll be writing a book that I love and want to write. It’s just that, well, this one is more commercial, and that one’s more interesting, and this one is so close to being done, and this one is more in my regular style, and this one could be The One but it’s kinda different from what I usually write so what if people wouldn’t like my regular work…

… Yeah, this is why getting an agent is so important to me. I always struggle to know what the best course of action is, and it would be such a huge help to have someone else to discuss that with.

Basically, I need a goal. I don’t work well without one. And right now, I’m floundering.

So how do you decide what to work on next? If you’ve got any pointers, I’m all ears!

This is going to be one of those self-absorbed posts about feeeelings. Be warned, all ye who enter here.

So, I’m a big proponent of Doing What It Takes To Get Stuff Done. This actually doesn’t turn me into a complete drill sergeant. It does the exact opposite: I try to be relaxed, zen, accept my shortcomings, and not force myself into doing something when my body or brain say it’s wrong.

I know, it’s amazing how I get anything done at all.

The thing is, I’ve got this annoying brain that doesn’t work like most people’s, and when I try to fight against it, bad things tend to happen. The worst time in my life can be traced right back to that. When I started to accept my limits, life got better. I got things done, and actually felt like a human being in the process. Score!

What this means is that after any major project, I need to rest a while. Sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks. I’ve had to account for this when planning my schedule. (Yes, I plan my writing schedule months in advance.) I rarely let myself take more than a month off, and I usually do get things done during that time – they’re just small things. A sketch here. Editing a short story there. Brainstorming. Editing for other people. When I try to do more than what I’m capable of, my brain lets me know, and I shut down. If I keep pushing myself, Bad Things Happen. I can do it when a deadline is looming, but I pay the price later, with long stretches ofhighly frustrating inactivity.

Anyway, When I’m up to writing or revising again, I get antsy. My brain won’t shut up about this or that book, and I know it’s time to get back to work. I’m pretty much in that state right now – the only problem is, I’ve already got work to do. August was reserved to work on The Audio File – the graphic novel project I’m doing in collaboration with K.V. Taylor. I’m excited about it, it looks fun and challenging, and I’m making good headway on drawing the first page.

Brain sez: not enough. It’s already been eagerly plotting the YA sci-fi I’ve mentioned here and there, which I started in November ’09 and subsequently scrapped. Some brainstorming with Jodi Meadows helped me put some things together, reading The Hunger Games got me extra excited to be digging into the YA game and helped me rethink my main character’s motivation, and I’ve been scribbling notebooks full of plotting.

I told my brain, all right, I can keep plotting eagerly, so I can start writing this book when I return from my September vacation. (I’m going to Australia for like a month. How awesome is that?)

But no. Yesterday evening, the brain decided that if it can’t write the YA sci-fi yet, maybe shifting gears to editing The Hands of Cally Wu would help. After all, the writing style can work, but needs a lot of polishing, and I still need to work on the pacing and introduce some plot points earlier on, and -

No, I chastised the brain. August is for Audio File. Besides, if I take on any other major projects, I’ll just need to put it on hold during Australia (!!!) and pausing a project midway is the fastest route to doubting yourself and wanting to give up.

The brain grumped. The brain went to sleep. The brain woke up after an hour of sleep and said, “You know, that urban fantasy trilogy you’ve been brainstorming for the past year and a half? It could work as a YA.”

I laughed, turned over to get back to sleep – and realized it was right. Sleep-deprived Tweeting from my cellphone ensued.

The thing is – this solves so many of the problems I’ve been having with the book. It introduces some others, but those are easily solved. It changes the tone, but that’s not necessarily bad. The characters are younger, and therefore different, but it just makes them more interesting/deliciously angsty. There’s more conflict. And more importantly/annoyingly, since I’ve already done a lot of plotting for this book, it’s just about ready to be written now. (I mean, several hours of non-stop brainstorming will help you convert a book to YA in no time flat.)

So when I’m normally cursing my brain because it’s not letting me be productive – sometimes it it does the opposite.

And at the least opportune time, too. Is anyone surprised?

The good news is that Milla is responding to the medication (which is intended to keep more fluid from building up in her lungs) excellently. Looking at her now, you’d barely notice anything was wrong. She’s eating well, she’s begging for attention, and rolling around in the backyard in the cutest possible ways.

No, seriously:

Not bad for a cat whose lungs, just a few days ago, looked like this:

All that white stuff on the left is fluid. The black triangle in the middle was all she had left to breathe with.

Poor kitten.

The bad news is that her improvement doesn’t mean there’s no more room for concern. We’re just fighting the symptoms here, and whatever caused this is still there. She has an echocardiogram scheduled for tomorrow morning. Hopefully that’ll shed some light on what’s going on. (Even more hopefully, it’ll be fixable.)

The last few days have consisted of:
a) worrying over Milla
b) spoiling Milla silly
c) beta reading

With a hint of TV and FreeCell thrown in for good measure. And some messing around online. Check out the ladies who’ve been occupying my headspace of late:

From left to right, that’s Lillian, whose book I’m querying; Cally, whose book I just finished; Mona, whose story I ought to be working on; and Yunupaya, whose book I am working on. When I really shouldn’t be. How did she get so loud all of a sudden?

Anyhow, these cute avatar things were made with this Portrait Illustration Maker at Abi-Station. And yes, that’s absolutely an invitation for y’all to get distracted as well. I’m nothing if not a fan of procrastination. (Shh, don’t tell anyone.) 

Well, it’s apparently LGBTQ Pride Month.

I… haven’t got much to say! Except that I’d really like my books published, please, so I can flood the market with more rampantly queer characters. Rock on.

With that out of the way, I figured I’d toss in a few relevant links–

By Malinda Lo, a series on LGBTQ Stereotypes in YA Fiction:
1: Major LGBTQ Stereotypes
2: Gender
3: Words to watch out for
4: Secondary characters and gay jokes
5: Resources

By Neo_Prodigy: Queer Tropes and The Privilege of Visibility.

And, of course, a few words by the splendiferous K.V. Taylor.

I’ll leave you with another song from the Hands of Cally Wu soundtrack; it’s another one by the Guano Apes, this time a track called Scapegoat.

This book had me pondering the following issues:
* How many times you can stab a person in the eye in one book without it getting old?
* What are the various ways of destroying someone’s brain?
* What’s the approximate suicide rate in small US towns?
* Are you still allowed to drive with a broken hand?
* Three dead people in three consecutive scenes: too much?

I think it’s safe to say I’m quite eager to put this book behind me and get back to flying doormats, cute gay werewolves, and totally ridiculous Germanic gods.

Or, you know, something else. I’m thinking I might overhaul Stranger, the 2009 NaNo project I wrote 19k-ish words on, into a proper YA. High school and all. Hmm…

No updates for a while, I know.

In part, this is because I’ve given up on NaNo (mental health stuff, long story) and haven’t particularly felt like admitting this publicly. You understand, I’m sure – the undying shame is a bit much. I made it to 18.7k, and am undecided on whether to finish it at some point or not. For now, I’m leaning towards yes, and am tentatively brainstorming plot fixes.

In part, it’s because my cat Shady, who’d been with me for nineteen years, recently died, which has been hard on me. I didn’t feel like I could do a blog post without mentioning that, and wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, so, er, I guess this is it. I’d go into it more, but I’m not exactly sure what to say, so, y’know. I won’t.

In part, it’s because I’m terribly, terribly lazy.

In short – I managed to complete enough work to submit to the exposition, and over the course of the next month or so will be doing a bunch of posts where I show off my process. It’s not a particularly exciting process, involving a lot of pastel dust and tea, but I have to have something to fill up this blog with, right?

So let’s get to it. Drawing number one, also known as “Nekkid #1″ and “Boobies!” and a variety of other names, none of which are suitable for the actual exposition.

My set-up. Lots and lots of soft pastels and pastel pencils, a fancy easel, and a computer to have the reference photo on. (I hear it’s a good multi-tasker, too. It might even be able to use Twitter and check your e-mail while you’re drawing. Just sayin’.)

As far as the drawing goes – this is 50x65cm drawing paper, 200 grams per square meter. Initially I sketched the drawing – including the shading outlines – with a brown pencil, which you should be able to see if you full-view, then went over it with a darker pencil. When I was happy with the basic shape and proportions, I started sketching in the darkest parts.

(This photo was taken on Wednesday, November 4th, 8.56 PM.)

Introduced two new colours. (Photo taken: 9.09 PM.)

… and a couple more, eventually layering them. (Photos taken: 9.17 PM, 9.34 PM, 9.59 PM.)

More colours and more layering. It’s starting to take shape, especially when looked at from a distance. (10.37 PM.)

Adding in a background. In this case, because the focus is on the body, there doesn’t need to be much detail. The darkness is essential, though – both because the intense shadows on the body indicate dark surroundings, and to make the light pop more. With the shape basically there, the trick now is to get the colours to look right, and for them to blend well. This includes an awful lot of layering and blending – which I do with my fingers, which is something nearly every professional will tell you not to do. I’m a rebel, I guess.

Because of the way the light changes between photos – day, night, lamps, flash or no flash, etc. – the colours look very different between shots. In this case, the photo on the right is closest to reality. (Photos taken: Tuesday, November 4th, 11.05 PM; Wednesday, November 5th, 1.40 PM. I’m a late sleeper.)

It seems a bit ridiculous to update photos with so little changes between them, but I decided to go ahead anyway, because… that’s kind of the point. As the times I keep mentioning indicate, I draw fast. The basic set-up is usually done in a matter of hours. Actually finishing it is a matter of days of continuous work. You might not be able to see it, but it’s there, and it’s an equally important part of the process. (2.00 PM.)

And on the topic of silly details… Here’s some other parts of the process. Smudging by hand has its side effects, and working with pastels this intensively causes huge amount of pastel dust build-up. You should be able to see a bunch inbetween the pastel sticks, as well as gravity-defying lines on the paper.

It is generally a good idea to draw/colour all parts of the body at the same time – that way you don’t have to look around to see what colours you used, you don’t suddenly realise you forgot about [x], et cetera.

As a rule, I don’t have good ideas, and will save the face for last. (Thursday, November 5th, 11.57PM; Friday, November 6th, 12.10 AM & 12.22 AM.)

More ridiculous detail work. Spot the differences! (Friday, November 6th, 2.29 PM & 3.11 PM.)

… and then we come to something resembling an end. I’m sure I made more changes after this – among other things, I extended the background on the right – but you get the point. (Photo taken: Saturday, November 7, 11.22 PM. As you can imagine, I skipped a ton of shots inbetween.)

A note on all the times listed: I am an awful procrastinator, and there’s a good chance I did things like check my e-mail, chat online, Twitter, watch TV, eat lunch, pet my cat, and stare off into nothingness in-between shots. This makes those times totally unreliable, but hey, it’s better than nothing.

Also, none of these photos were edited in any way. They’re straight from the camera.

I hope this was somewhat interesting/informative to those of you interested in art – or at least my art, because lord knows this is hardly a how-to guide. If you’ve got any questions, holler, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

And check back in on some day that’s not Wednesday for progress shot on another drawing. Next up: charcoal. My favourite

14972 / 50000 words. 30% done!

Note to self: getting work done on both writing and art, but not as much as you would have had you just been focusing on one or the other, actually feels amazingly unsatisfying.

But progress is progress, and I’m fairly happy with how the first of the drawings is going. It’s kind of funny how every time I start working with soft pastels, I panic because I don’t know how to use them – and every time it turns out just fine.

And no, telling myself that doesn’t help one bit with the initial panic.

This time, I took photos of how it looks in the early stages, so there’s probably another WIP Thursday in the future where I’ll lay them all out and describe the process, and you can share my early moments of “WTF am I making!?”

It’ll be fun. Promise.

On the writing front, I got one chapter done, as well as a bit of plotting. Having an ending is great, but inevitably followed up by realising all the problems that come with said ending.

But now I’ve got a list of issues to iron out, so I’ll have something to think about when drawing. (Something other than “boobies!” or “this is NEVER going to work” or “I wonder what I’ll have for dinner today”, anyway.)

On the Face Your Manga front:

On the left: Lillian, my main character from Always Read the Fae Print. Don’t be fooled by that innocent facade. She’s cray-zee – but hopefully in a most enjoyable way. Oh, I’m already aching to start editing this book…

She’s actually got a highly visible scar on her neck, but oddly enough, that wasn’t an option in the program.

On the right, my perky goth character Merel, the previously mentioned female version of Leonard. She doesn’t actually have that tattoo on her face, but it suits her perfectly.

This one cracks me up. It’s so much like her. She’s another character from Always Read the Fae Print. Disturbingly, she’s probably the sanest of the lot.

… that should tell you a lot about this book.

Anyhow, it’s off to bed with me. Gotta be up nice and early to take care of this mess of a house and then get it filthy with pastel dust again. Mmm, art.

13197 / 50000 words. 26% done!

The world is giving me conflicting messages.

First, Changelings You Should Know About blows up in my face, prompting me to work on Stranger instead; I figure I’ll give it a few days to see if it works out, and if not, I’ll go focus on editing Always Read the Fae Print. To my surprise, Stranger chugs along nicely, ending every day with a word count well ahead of schedule. There’s minor panic, because I have no ending, and no outline–until it gives me an ending and an outline.

Huzzah.

I’m optimistic. Happy to be writing a rough draft again, happy to be making progress, happy to have a freakin’ ending.

And then the world decides to be a jerk and sends me an invitation to a fancy art exposition–which would be fabulous, except I have to submit my art by November 20th.

SIGH.

So NaNo’s getting put on halt while I try to dash out four exposition-worthy pieces of art in record time. After that, I’ll have another ten days to try to finish the book in.

I can do that, right? I wrote a whole 70k in ten days last year. How hard can this be?

Gulp.

To spare you my OVERWHELMING PANIC, here’s your daily Face Your Manga dose.

Here’s two characters from Wielders, a book that’s technically shelved–but its characters won’t get out of my head. You know how it goes. On the left, Emily, who actually sports a dashing ‘fro, but the avatar maker didn’t sport that option. Not cool. Anyway, she’s an living breathing emo train, but the cutest one you ever did see.

On the right, Nicholas, the self-centered jerk every book truly needs.

… I have no cutesy anecdotes. He’s just a jerk. Sorry, Nicholas.

Anyway, I need to get back to drawing nekkid people, lest I get behind. (Did I mention this exposition has a theme? ‘Cause it does: nekkid people. How many people have a job that forces them to study nekkid people all day long? Seriously.)