Dipping my toe in the water

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Feb 242011
 

The rights to my three novels have reverted. I plan on producing electronic and POD versions of all of them.

In order to learn the skills required to do this, I’ve started uploading some of my backlist of short fiction to Smashwords. Here are the first three.

Cover for Cold Comfort by Leah Cutter

What if the northern lights casts dreams into the ice, that are then mined by those who dare and sold to shape the future of children?

Originally published by SDO magazine, then republished in The Best of SDO.

Available on Smashwords

 

Gulkhanam by Leah R Cutter

Based on my favorite Kasmiri fairy tale, The Flower Princess. What happens when the prince, after he is cut in two, is buried in earth that has a bloodlust?

Originally published in Talebones magazine, #16.

Available on Smashwords

 

Power of Preserving Pictures by Leah R Cutter

Paints that are magic? Nonsense, Ikuno maintains. Until the things he paints start dying.

Originally published in the Dark Arts anthology, produced by the Horror Writers of America.

Available on Smashwords

 Posted by leah at 8:08 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Expanding ever outward

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Feb 212011
 

I tried to finish the first chapter of the novel this weekend. I didn’t succeed. I wrote between 8-9000 words this week, and I’m going to need at least another 1000 to finish off this chapter.

The good news is that stuff keeps happening. In the novel as well as in my life. There were supposed to be three different things that occurred in this chapter. I am maybe, maybe going to finish off one of them (long-ass chapter if I do — both first and second chapters finishing at about 5000 words.)

Which means the other two plot points have been pushed to later chapters. Which is a GOOD thing. This is the thing that should have happened with the other novel and didn’t. Plus, this very, very small, one-line kind of throw away thing from the synopsis is now turning into a minor subplot that curtails nicely with the major plot and it’s so satisfying I can’t even tell you.

This is what it feels like to grow a story.

Some spoilers for this novel as well as rambling about the previous

 Posted by leah at 9:08 pm  Tagged with: , ,

That most fragile time

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Feb 132011
 

I’ve started the new novel, Siren’s Call. Wrote about 1500 words today — possibly more, as I kept thinking of things I’d missed and adding notes to the pages.

While I’ll be keeping track of the word count myself, I’m probably not going to post it. I found myself getting too frustrated with it with the last novel. Just superstition, really. I didn’t write the last novel well, and I’d just as soon not repeat the process.

Siren’s Call is set in New Orleans, and the city is kind of a character. Clockwork Kingdom had a very fast pace. Zydeco Queen had rich description, but the pace was lacking. Siren’s Call needs to have both rich description as well as a fast pace.

I recently finished How to Write a Damn Good Thriller as research, figuring I could use some of the techniques for thrillers in this novel, to help with the pace. So that’s the challenge for myself, to learn and practice this novel — both pace and description. Atmosphere and page turning.

Some more rambling thoughts, spoilers for the novel

 Posted by leah at 1:33 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

So about that thing

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Feb 052011
 

I know this isn’t the first time I’ve been sick since last year’s pneumonia. I had a cold at some point last year. But this is the first time I’ve been moderate-to-very sick. It started with a sore throat on Monday, and for the first 24 hours could barely manage a whisper. Then it moved into my chest, and now it’s moved into my head.

Part of the problem is that I haven’t taken any time off from the day job to rest and re-cooperate. I’ve worked every day that I’ve been sick, and as a result, I’m still sick. Tomorrow I’m flying to SF for the day job as well, so no rest. Maybe next weekend.

This means I’m at least a week behind on the new book. I was able to start thinking about it today — a true sign that I’m getting better, finally. Hopefully this week while I’m in SF I’ll be able to do more plotting, so I can start writing the week after. I want to start writing this book. It’s what drew me here to NOLA.

 Posted by leah at 4:26 pm  Tagged with: ,
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