Sci-Fi epic completed!

Okay, so I finished my book awhile ago. I just didn't have time to post about it because I have been crazy busy with the DS thing. Now that is slowing down, damn it! Anyway, the book is finished. But I have a new problem, (which doesn't even involve the massive edits I have to do to it!) the book needs a title. I can usual come up with a title as I'm writing, but this time I've been completely blank. I was thinking of something like "The Pale Horse's Rider" as an omage to "The King of Elfland's Daughter," but I don't know. There are already a lot of books with Pale Rider refs. I guess I'll just have to keep thinking about it. . . .

How to write How to articles. . . .

I know. I know. I've been really lazy when it comes to updating this blog thing. Not that anyone cares, but whatever.

So, I got a new job writing How to articles for Demand Media and it's going pretty well. Here's a page to my articles if you want to learn how to do some stuff.

And here is the link to an essay about Crime and Punishment I just got published. I wrote it in college. Not my best, but I got paid for it!

Otherwise, I'm still plugging toward the end of my book. Soon. Soon!

Oh, and here's another eHow account I have. It is not associated with Demand Media, but I wanted to see how much money I could make through their writer's comp program. See? I'm an expert at Zelda!! How cool is that?

Just. A little. Farther. . . .

Okay, so it's been a while. Been busy, you know. But I'm getting close to the end of my WIP. So close I can taste the bittersweet ending practically melting on my tongue, and yet I can't seem to get there. I'm like Winner, crippled and crawling across the floor. I've never had the ending of a story take this long. Usually I can pop out an ending within a week. Now it's like my story is moving in slow motion while the world around me is sped up. Weird.

This story is longer *cough* 100,000+ *cough* than anything else I've written,so maybe that's why. Plus, there is a hell of a lot more explaining to do. And Winner has a much bigger choice to make than any of my previous MC's. But still. . . .

I just want to get it over with so I can start editing it in earnest and, you know, title the damn thing!

So there was this flying hippo with a machine gun and then . . .

So I'm watching an episode of Eureka right now about dreams, and it got me thinking about the weird dreams I've been having lately. Now, I'm not one of those people who use dreams as ideas for my writing (yet) or I'd write really weird books. Okay, weirder than they already are. But why do we dream what we dream?

I know dreams are supposed to be a way of dealing with the days events, but sometimes they don't make sense to a point where I'm wondering 'what kind of crazy day did I have anyway?'

I used dreams as a major plot point in The White City. Lock's dreams are prophetic because of his unprotected jaunts into the astral world. While I don't think my dreams are prophetic (although that would be cool) I have had déjà vu dreams. It's always disconcerting to have something happen that I've done in a dream. What does that mean?

I wish I knew.

It's not called 'The Happy Rainbow Knight,' now is it?

So, like the rest of the world, I saw 'The Dark Knight.' I'm not going to gush about how much I loved Health Ledger as the Joker (although I really did!). I want to tell all of those people out there who think the movie is too violent and should be rated R to protect the kiddies to shut up.

Yes. I told you to shut up. If you don't think it ought to be rated R, I probably like you.

Okay, the movie is rated PG-13. That means it is suitable for anyone over the age of (drum roll please) 13! Do not take a 7-year-old to this movie! It is not meant for kids. The film was never marketed towards kids, so I'm not sure where parents got the idea it would be okay for them to see it. Watch the trailer, then tell me if that's a kids movie. Is it? No. Now stop complaining.



Batman is a vigilante. In the original comics he kills people and feels virtually no remorse. The Joker is a psychopath. That's who these characters are. If you want to expose your children to this, go ahead. Just don't complain after the fact. It's not Hollywood's fault for making the film. It's your fault for taking your damn kid to see it in the first place.

Okay, now I can go back to day dreaming about making pencils disappear. . . .

Dr. Horrible Musical! Just watch it!

Did you like Firefly? Of course you did. If not, get the hell out of my blog!

Good, now that they're gone we can continue.

There is something of equal awesomeness available for one week only (and totally free and legal) here! Joss Whedon has done it again. A musical about a supervillain (yes it's as cool as it sounds). Go watch now! Then spread the word! The world must know!

*begins designing freeze ray*

Ever wonder where your creativity comes from? I have, and I think I know the answer. My mom. She's not your typical creative type, I guess. No writing or drawing or anything like that. She's a teacher which requires creativity of a different kind. Planning lessons and stuff like that is hard work. And I think my creativity came from her because she never squashed my ideas. Instead, she was the fertile ground in which they could take root in and grow. You see, my mom loves to make things up, and I just carried it to a new level. She likes to play practical jokes on people and see what she can get them to believe (I do too), but I also create worlds brimming with characters (hopefully believable) and situations that unfold. Stories both, in their own ways. Who knows what I'd be without my mom's encouragement. An account? Eek! I'm going to go thank her now. . .

I'm not going to change my mind.

Usually, I like to keep my work and politics separate Lately, that hasn't been the case. I got a new job posting about politics and society as a citizen journalist on Instablogs. It's been harder than I thought it would be. Not only do I have to write meaningful posts about our world and society, but I have to defend my POV to naysayers who don't agree with me. I really don't care if they don't agree or not. They get to say their piece and I get to say mine. I just hate when I get lectured for being a liberal Obama supporter. I don't give McCain supporters crap, and I expect the same respect. I guess it's too much to ask for from some people.

So, I thought I'd post this because it's funny and I'm a little annoyed right now. Watch it and learn, my friends.

Outline? What Outline?

I'm not too keen on outlines. Sure I like to have an idea of what is going to happen in my WIP, but never too much of an idea. I'll start with a paragraph description of the main characters (that I know of), a brief list of major scenes, a little history about the world, a dash of back story and I'm set to write. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But one thing I know doesn't work for me is too much of an outline. I've tried it. Didn't like it.

You see, with an outline I feel like I'm being boxed in. Like the story has no room to grow and spread its wings. I don't want to know everything that's going to happen before I write it. I don't want to know all about my characters. I want them to come alive on the page. Surprise me. Challenge me.

I'm a pantser, and proud of it. All you other pantsers out there represent!

Although, if I did outline, I won't be in the mess I am right now with my WIP. Oh well. I'm having fun writing it. I'll see where it takes me, then edit the hell out of it to put it back in its place.

After all, that's what pantsing is all about.

This is so fun it should be illegal: Character Torture.

Why is torturing characters necessary in fiction? Why can't we (writers) just have a nice story in which the characters are happy, nothing that bad happens to them, and the ending is blissful? I'll tell you why, hold on while I yawn. Yep, that's right. It's boring. A story in which the stakes aren't high, the tension isn't mounting, there isn't something of extreme importance at risk, are big fat yawnfests (I'm trademarking that). At least, in genre fiction that's true. Literary is a beast I'm not even going to get started on. Um, a quiet, character-driven beast.

Conflict is good. Tension is good. And I think character torture is an offshoot of that. The characters have to go through hell. The reader has to feel invested enough to keep reading. Now, I'm going to assume this is probably different for other genres. I mean, I don't think a romance novel is going to have someone getting their hand chopped off, but those authors probably torture their characters in their own way too.

Character torture isn't always a physical thing. In my WIP Winner got crippled (his own damn fault, btw), but in The White City Lock doesn't get any physical damage, but in a way his torture is worse. It's all internal. He loses nearly everything he gained during the book, and the one thing he wanted the most is almost meaningless because of it. It takes him the whole second book just to recover!

Now, I don't find any sick pleasure out of destroying characters lives just to see how far I can push them before they break. I mean, who do you think I am?

Now, I'm off to play with Winner. Where is he? Hiding, no doubt. He does that. Strange, I wonder why. . . .

Writer's Clique?

I decided to be less of an anti-social writer and went to a local writer's group meeting today. It was okay. The speaker was very interesting and the people were nice, but it seemed geared toward beginners. I know I haven't been published and I don't have an agent, but I don't think I'm a beginner. I've been writing seriously for over five years, and I'm working on my sixth book! I have some idea of what I'm doing. I'm just too lazy to write new queries and send them.

I did met a woman with a critique group that I think I might join. It depends on how good the critiques are, I guess. I am looking forward to it. And I think I will go to the next meeting for the talk about view points. I hope it tells me something I don't already know.

And that gets me to my point, the writer clique. Are writer's cliquey? I think so. And I think published authors flock toward other published authors, while unpubs flock toward the pubs too. Pubs=published, not a real pub! I'm not complaining. It makes sense. You want to talk to people whom you have stuff in common with, right? If I get published I wonder if I'll do that too? I'll have to wait and find out.

Oh, but I did win something. I got an audio book written and performed by my dreamy Stephen Colbert. *sigh* I hope it's funny!

How weird is too weird?

My WIP is kinda weird.

Chorus: How weird is it?

Hollan: Pretty weird.

Moving on. It's strange. My beta has said so, though made no complaints. I mean, I like weird. I'm weird so weird must be good. But does weird sell? That's the question, right? You can write whatever you want but can you get it published? Will other people actually want to read it? I sure hope so. If not, you'd better tell Diana Wynn Jones and China Mieville, because they've been doing weird for years and selling like hotcakes with wings and tails that happen to be related to King Arthur. So, yeah, I think weird sells. Weird is hot right now. How weird? Pretty weird. I hope my MS is weird enough.

My hands hurt.

Too much writing makes Hollan a tired girl. Really. My wrists are killing me. I need to take a break for a couple of days, maybe. But I did post a link to a writing sample of mine from my YA fantasy novel "The White City." I know you want to check it out here! Enjoy ^_^

Make up your minds!

My characters drive me crazy. Many will claim I was crazy before, and they're partially right. In that case, my characters make me more crazy. They won't do what I want them too. They have minds of their own. With ideas of their own. And they talk to me. Tell me what they want. What they think. Now they want to fly around the galaxy making out with each other and doing what they please.

However, I have the ultimate authority. They can make out all they want, but I can delete it. Go ahead, Winner and Keane! Have your fun now, while you can. Soon you'll be in too much trouble to make out. Trouble you've created for yourselves, by the way. Trouble you'll have to find a way out of, and if you think I'm going to help you're wrong. I'll just write down what I see (or hear or whatever) and you'll have to manage on your own! We'll see who's laughing then! Oh yes! Hahahahaha!

Winner: Um, we're not laughing.

Keane: She did say she was crazy. Want to make out?

Winner: Sure.

Hollan: Damn it! Not another one. Quit it you two! I'm going to delete this later!

Keep Your Hands to Yourself!

They did it. Nothing I could do would stop them. So, I lit the candles and put on the Luther Vandross and watched the magic happen. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the scene. It's only a first draft, after all. But I'll know what happened, and so will they. I wonder what kind of effect this will have on their relationship. I sure hope it makes the writing easier on me tomorrow. They put me through the wringer with all of their BS. Man!

*goes and makes a gin and tonic*

Oh Behave! Seriously. Behave.

Generally, I don't like to hurt myself but *bangs head into wall* It's one of those days. You know which one I'm talking about. The days when nothing seems to go right with whatever you're trying to do.

There I was, trying to get my 2000 words in on my WIP, and I couldn't do it. It was like trying to claw my way out of an iron box. Or trying to watch MTV. Yeah, that painful.

No matter how I try to deny it, I can't help but feel like I know what's wrong. My MC (Winner, for future reference) and his friend (Keane) want to be more than just friends. That's right. They want to get all freaky in my MS! The nerve! It's science fantasy not romance, and here they want to be all gay and wonderful? I didn't have any of this planned! Okay, I don't really outline, but still. Sure they're supposed to like each other, but this is going too far.

What to do, what to do? Let them at each other and see how it goes? Keep writing with all that delicious sexual tension building until it bursts? Or ignore it? I don't know!

*deep breath* Okay, tomorrow's another day. Maybe it will be easier. Or they'll be less horny.

Winner: Don't bet on it.

Hollan: Shut up, you!

What do you mean my character is flawed? Oh, that's a good thing.

There was a recent post on AW about character flaws. That got me thinking about my own character's flaws. They are seriously screwed up! Here are a few examples:

Lock - vain, power hungry, naive, vengeful. Uses dark magic. Tries to kill a dragon. Enslaves a soul in a globe for his own good.

Dionysos - angry, vengeful, murderer. Kills without mercy.

Winner - anti-social, paranoid, selfish, assassin. Kills who he's told to without questioning if they deserve it or not. Betrays the organization who created him. Kills people he's not ordered to.

There you have it! Three of my favorite main characters, and by reading that they all sound like sociopaths or psychopaths, but they're not. My point is that if you just write down someone's flaws they'll sound like someone you'd never want to met. If I write down all of my flaws (yes, I do have them) I sound pretty bad too. But a person isn't made up of their flaws, nor should a character be. Balance is the important thing when giving a character flaws. Sure, make them murder their entire family (Itachi), but give them a heart! And yes, I like Naruto ^_^

I'm a Deviant, how about you?

Here's my new page on DeviantArt! Check it out to see my pictures of Japan and the other places I've been. I'll be posting some of my comics soon too. Enjoy!

What do your characters want?

Are you drowning in incomplete manuscripts? Are you stuck in a rut, wondering why you can't finish the story you started? Do you want to do something about it? If you answered yes to any of these questions then I've got the plan for you!

I too have many incomplete manuscripts, and it was driving me bonkers! Then one day I realized I needed to do something about it. What was so different about the manuscripts I'd finished and the ones I hadn't? After a lot of pondering I found the answer. It all lies in my main character's desire for something. Now I have hope, and I want to pass that hope on to others! If you follow my simple instructions I guarantee* you to can finish those pesky incomplete manuscripts too!

It's easy, just follow these simple steps:

Step one: Establish a main character.
Step two: Find out what the main character wants more than anything in the world (can be more than one thing).
Step three: Make sure everything the main character does is in accordance with that goal.

If you follow my three easy steps you'll have a plot in no time and another complete manuscript under your belt! Just read this praise from our satisfied customer:

Hollan: Seriously, I recently figured this out. Maybe I'm retarded or something, but when it clicked I felt like I'd discovered the holy grail of writing. Now I know, and I'll never have an incomplete manuscript again. Thanks!

What have you got to lose? Try it today!

*Not an actual guarantee.

Squidoo or don't?

Hooray! I made a Squidoo lens about my time living and working in Japan. Check it out here and let me know what you think.

Being a writer (albeit unpublished)

Here's my first post. High five! Okay, now that that's out of the way, time to move on to more important matters. I'm a writer. I know you probably already know that, considering the title of my post and that you're reading this blog. But it's important nonetheless. It took me a long time to admit that. Longer than it did to write my first two books, actually. I didn't start telling people I was a writer until the past year, and I've been writing with the hopes of getting published since I was a teenager . So why was it so difficult to tell anyone what I did and wanted to eventually do? I don't know, but I'm going to venture a guess.

I think for some people there's a stigma attached to calling yourself a writer. Expectations that must be met. And those expectations aren't just having written some kind of story or poem etc. but having said story or poem etc. published. Now, I don't prescribe to this particular school of thought, but I fell victim to its supporters. Fellow writers/artists know of whom I speak. Those people, sometimes fellow writers/artists (whom I will refer to as turnpens hence forth), who when you tell them shyly "oh, I write," automatically want to know if you've gotten anything published. Then, when they learn you haven't (in my case it's only a few poems when I was younger) they began the "it is an incredibly difficult career to pursue and you probably won't make it so you should do something that you will actually make money and succeed at" speech. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this speech, in all its ugly faces. And I hate it. Partially because I'm stubborn and as soon as someone tells me I can't do something I want to prove them wrong, and partially because I don't know where other people get off telling me I'm not going to succeed when they know nothing about my abilities. Also, I hate being talked down to. I know getting published isn't easy. I know most of what I've written in the past is crap that doesn't deserve to see the light of day. I've done my homework. I know what I'm getting myself into, and you know what? I still want to play, so give me the ball.

Well, it took me a while. Several stiff drinks and peep talks in the bathroom mirror, but now I can say it with pride. I'm a writer. I'm not published yet, but someday I will be. And someday you'll buy my books and like them, because I'm pretty good. And I'll keep getting better and write and publish more books. And if, for some reason that doesn't happen, I'm still a writer. Nothing you can say will change that. I'm going to shout it from the rooftops. Or not. Actually, I think I'm just going to work on my WIP, or maybe I'll send a query. And I urge all of you writers out there to do the same. Viva la revolucion! But with a pen, of course.