Odds and Ends

May 4, 2016

The last few months have been a whirlwind in my personal life, making wording a bit more difficult than I’d like. But! Some fun things have been happening.

StarShipSofa Podcast of “Jump Cut”

One of my favorite stories has been turned into a podcast by the team at StarShipSofa! “Jump Cut” originally appeared in Unlikely Story’s Journal of Unlikely Cryptography last year. The story is wonderfully narrated by Mike Boris and includes an interview with U of Washington professor Ryan Calo on robot law. Check it out!

It’s also cool to see some of the scifi elements I included in the story become closer to reality. Recently, Ars Technica profiled a company called Halo Neuroscience that uses electrical impulses to stimulate parts of athletes’ brains to boost performance. Very similar to the performance-enhancing implants central to my story. To see more how Halo’s technology works, check out the video below:

SF Signal Mindmeld on the best writing advice

I was recently asked “What’s the best writing advice I’ve ever received?” for SF Signal’s Mindmeld feature, a roundtable of SF/F writers. Over the years, different nuggets of writerly wisdom have stayed with me, often as a function of where I am with my craft. Check out the column to see what’s guiding me these days.

There’s also more fantastic advice from Alex Kourvo, Nghi Vo, David D. Levine, Pear Nuallak, Jon McGoran, Janet Harriett, Adrian Van Young, Yolanda Sfetsos, Robert Kroese, Kallen Dewey Kentner, and of course moi.

Reprint of “Forge and Fledge” in Spaceports and Spidersilk

Earlier this year, my story “Forge and Fledge” was included in the January 2016 issue of Spaceports and Spidersilk, a speculative fiction magazine for young adults. It was originally published in the now-defunct but not forgotten Crossed Genres Magazine and focuses on a young teen’s yearning for a better life than a hydrocarbon mining rig floating in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon, Titan. Support the magazine and all the other talented authors in the issue.

Recently, Titan’s been in the news thanks to Cassini spacecraft’s most recent flyby, confirming that methane fills one of the largest hydrocarbon lakes on the moon’s surface. Cool stuff!

Paperback release of The Change anthology

Last but not least, The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, featuring my story “Against the Wind,” is now available in paperback! So get yourself to the bookseller of your choice, and snap up a copy today for a great collection of post-apocalyptic adventure stories.

That’s it for me!

The Drafting and Revision Process with Lori M. Lee – The Infinite Blog Tour

March 16, 2015March 18, 20152 Comments

Today, I’m thrilled to host young adult author Lori M. Lee on her tour for The Infinite, book two in the Gates of Thread and Stone fantasy series from Skyscape. The novels are about a young woman named Kai who can manipulate the threads of time and finds herself at the center of a conflict between the gods. Each volume has a great mix of action, adventure, and romance, not to mention twisty plots that will keep you guessing. Lori is an amazing author and friend, so please welcome her!

Be sure to check out the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

The Drafting and Revision Process for Lori M. Lee

I’m an outliner. I spend a lot of time just preparing to write the book. For one of my books, I have an 8-page glossary and nearly 50 pages of world building. The outline is 24 pages. All that took over a month before I was even ready to put down some words. Some of you are shaking your heads at me and muttering, “Weirdo.” You’d be right 😉

Once I’ve got my outline, I can complete a first draft in four weeks. This is usually a 40k – 50k bare bones draft that needs a lot of fleshing out. This isn’t always the case (The Infinite was a 70k first draft), but it has been for most of my manuscripts. In the second draft, I fix any major plot or pacing issues. I take my time with it. I go through sentence by sentence, rewriting and tweaking every line and bulking it up. I do this a third time if necessary before I feel it’s ready to be seen by my CPs.

Once it’s in my CPs’ hands, I take a break and work on other things or I veg out to Game of Thrones. Then when they return the ms (they are always so fast, I love them <3), I do another round of revisions based on their feedback. Then I either send it back to them for a second read and/or I pass it on to my agent. She always has great things to say, so likely I will do another round or two of revisions with her as well.

Sometimes, she won’t like it and decide I need to start over again. That’s always hard to hear, but also always on point. And sometimes she’ll love it, and we’ll prepare to go on submission 🙂

Hope that was somewhat insightful into my process!

About the Author:

Lori M. Lee is the author of young adult fantasy novels Gates of Thread and Stone and The Infinite. She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pitbull.

Gates of Thread and Stone

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

The Infinite

The walls of Ninurta keep its citizens safe.

Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever.

To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city.

In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known.

IndieBound | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Brilliance Audio

Praise for Gates of Thread and Stone:

“Lori M. Lee excels in building a world of intrigue, oppression, and magic amidst a Labyrinth setting as twisted and winding as the secrets hidden inside her characters’ hearts. Fans of strong heroines who don’t need a boy to hold their hands, action-packed fighting scenes, and whispers of steampunk and mythology, will find themselves wishing they, too, could manipulate the threads of time, if only to stay inside the story a little longer.”

A.G. Howard, New York Times bestselling author of the SPLINTERED series

“A fast-paced, heart-wrenching whirl of a story full of magic, immortals, and a romance that will leave readers gasping for more. I adored the tough, scrappy narrator and fell in love with the boy chasing after her heart. Lori M. Lee introduces us to a fantasy world unlike any other and gives us the first taste of an epic love story in the making. I can’t wait for more!”

Mindee Arnett, THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR series and AVALON series

“Inventive, romantic, and gripping. I was hooked from the first page!”

Amy Tintera, REBOOT and REBEL

“A thrilling adventure in a vivid world, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE is the kind of book you want to read both fast and slow: fast to find out what happens next and slow to savor the journey. I couldn’t put it down.”

Sarah Beth Durst

“Lee has woven a captivating fantasy that will thread its way into your heart and pull you into a world of magic and intrigue.”

Christina Farley, GILDED and SILVERN

And….Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh Hai, 2015!

January 28, 2015January 28, 2015

It’s been a while. 2014 is gone, and much of January for that matter, and 2015 is here to stay. I promised myself I’d start blogging more regularly, but you can see how that’s turned out. Between the holidays, a poorly-timed cold, and tons of writing, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to ring in the New Year properly.

But the writing is going well, even if I don’t have much to show for it. Revisions to two WIPs have commanded most of my attention lately, and my short stories in circulation have dwindled as a result. But luckily I have a bunch of new ideas that I’m looking forward to fleshing out to keep me busy well into 2015.

But there’s more in store for this year!

On March 10, 2015, The Infinite releases from Skyscape, the sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone by my fantastic critique partner Lori M. Lee. This YA fantasy series about a girl who can manipulate the threads of time and finds herself at the center of a conflict between the gods has a great mix of action, adventure, and romance. Add it to you TBR pile!

June 2, The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth releases from Roc and features my story “Against the Wind.” Set in S.M. Stirling’s post-apocalyptic Emberverse, where all electronics, explosives, and internal combustion engines mysteriously cease working and humanity must find a way to survive, this anthology is a great introduction to Steve’s world or fun companion to his novels, and I’m honored to be a part of it!

Finally, this September will see the release of Fran Wilde’s debut fantasy Updraft from Tor, which yours truly had a sneak peek at during its development. Fran’s a wonderful writer and trusted friend, so I hope you’ll check out her story of bone towers, man-made wings, and creatures that roam the clouds!

Hopefully 2015 will have even more amazing things to come. In the meantime, happy writing!

Realizing Representation

October 15, 2014October 14, 20142 Comments

Once you achieve something that you’ve been working toward for a long time, it can take a while for the realization to sink into your bones. You have to keep reminding yourself that you’ve succeeded. That it’s time to look forward to the future, to whatever comes next.

In the last week or so, I’ve had many of those pinch-me-I’m-dreaming moments, usually whenever I get the urge to pull up QueryTracker or the latest post from the Guide to Literary Agents blog that appears in my RSS reader. That’s when I have to tell myself I’m no longer in the market for an agent.

photo courtesy of Bridget Lewis of Flickr

I’m still trying to absorb all the nuances of what’s happened and what’s yet to come. I never would have dreamed my story of “the call” would include three compelling offers and two nerve-wracking weeks of PS3-playing to keep me from checking my email. Or that my love for the manuscript that got me my agent would be eclipsed by my excitement for my current work-in-progress (that I’m very eager to get back to after writing this post).

Within a few short weeks, everything has changed, and yet I’m still me, with the same insecurities, the same hopes and dreams, and the same stories in my head clamoring for attention. But I have an advocate now to make the journey forward a little less fraught. And that is an amazing thing.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled to announce I’m now represented by Lana Popovic of Chalberg and Sussman. I know I’m in good hands for this book, and I hope our partnership flourishes going forward.

I didn’t get to this point alone. Lori M. Lee, Fran Wilde, Christopher East, L. Blankenship, Catherine Schaff-Stump, Laura Snapp, Christopher Cornell, the Critical Mass writing group, and my husband Eric all provided me with support, encouragement, and most importantly feedback, on this winding road.

Hopefully the news will sink in soon. In the meantime, please accept this GIF-free post as testament to the exciting next stage of my writing journey, whatever it brings!

Release Day for Lori M. Lee!

August 5, 2014July 6, 2014

Today is the book birthday for Gates of Thread and Stone the first book in an exciting new series by my critique partner extraordinaire Lori M. Lee!

I had the good fortune of reading and responding to an early version of the book and just know you will love Lori’s blend of fantasy, adventure and romance set in an original and intriguing world. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Check out what other writers are saying about Lori’s debut.

Plus a cover this pretty belongs on your bookshelf: