Finally got everything to where I could launch the website this afternoon. Now I'll be tweaking forever, but at least I'm up and running. :) I'd love some feedback, but please keep in mind that this is a work in progress (and my first attempt at something like this--*bites nails).
http://www.devonrhodes.com
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Changing Gears Mid-Story
Made a big decision today that has been weighing on me all week. I had known when I wrote RR that I would eventually put Andy into a story of his own. Separately, I had conceived of an idea for a holiday-themed story, Silver and Gold, and at the time, the two characters were random.
Then I had the thought that Andy was my "Gold" for the story, and I took off with the story on that premise, writing the first two chapters, and then pausing. I then wrote an alternate first chapter, then stopped again. Put all the stuff I had written into some semblance of order, and just as I was getting to the point where the characters from RR would be brought into the story, I stopped. Full stop.
I really like Andy, and I think the biggest stumbling blocks to his being my "Gold" are the time and space constraints. Time because as it's a "holiday" story, there isn't enough time wrap up any kind of relationship in a couple weeks to a month. And I'd like Andy to have a relationship, not just an encounter. The other problem is the word count restrictions. A maximum of 18K doesn't allow for much development, and also doesn't leave much space for me to check in with Chaz and Justin to see how things are progressing there.
So tonight, amidst a long, rambling chat with another author (thanks Shawn), I decided that I'd be better off giving Silver and Gold to a couple as of yet unknown heros, and waiting to give Andy the kind of story he deserves when there aren't limits to be observed. I must say, I feel lighter for having made the decision, and if it weren't so late, I'd be pulling up the file and working. As it stands, I think I'll take a hot bath and think up the names and backstories for my two new guys. They have a busy day tomorrow, so I want to make sure we're on a first-name basis!
Edited to add: Shawn took this thought and ran with it in her blog post today...check out http://smlgr8.blogspot.com/ . Thanks Shawn, D.
Then I had the thought that Andy was my "Gold" for the story, and I took off with the story on that premise, writing the first two chapters, and then pausing. I then wrote an alternate first chapter, then stopped again. Put all the stuff I had written into some semblance of order, and just as I was getting to the point where the characters from RR would be brought into the story, I stopped. Full stop.
I really like Andy, and I think the biggest stumbling blocks to his being my "Gold" are the time and space constraints. Time because as it's a "holiday" story, there isn't enough time wrap up any kind of relationship in a couple weeks to a month. And I'd like Andy to have a relationship, not just an encounter. The other problem is the word count restrictions. A maximum of 18K doesn't allow for much development, and also doesn't leave much space for me to check in with Chaz and Justin to see how things are progressing there.
So tonight, amidst a long, rambling chat with another author (thanks Shawn), I decided that I'd be better off giving Silver and Gold to a couple as of yet unknown heros, and waiting to give Andy the kind of story he deserves when there aren't limits to be observed. I must say, I feel lighter for having made the decision, and if it weren't so late, I'd be pulling up the file and working. As it stands, I think I'll take a hot bath and think up the names and backstories for my two new guys. They have a busy day tomorrow, so I want to make sure we're on a first-name basis!
Edited to add: Shawn took this thought and ran with it in her blog post today...check out http://smlgr8.blogspot.com/ . Thanks Shawn, D.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Laid Up...So Why Not Build A Website?
Got injured again last Wednesday, I know some of you probably are beginning to think I'm accident prone! Anyway, it was very painful yesterday, and since it needed to be done anyway, I spent a good portion of the day working on building my new website from scratch.
Let me just say that this is the first time I've attempted anything like this! I probably would have been better off using a template, but I have a pretty definite sense of style as far as what I like, and couldn't find the right look already out there, hence the building part.
I ended up finishing a mock-up with either 5 or 6 pages, and am testing it right now. Hopefully it will be online soon. I will make sure to have a big grand opening!! :)
I did some shopping for some decorations for my site, here is one of my shiny, new purchases for you to enjoy!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Blurbs
Blurbs, I have lots of blurbs, but it's a tease, since I'm not posting them yet. No, this is about writing them. I was happily working on paperwork for the new TEB contracted story, A Pint Light, when to my horror, I realized that part of what they needed today was a hook line and a blurb.
Now, that doesn't seem too tough. I'm sitting here in my jammies in the middle of the afternoon while the kids play. I should be able to come up with a one-sentence teaser and a coherent two to three paragraph summation. After all, I wrote the whole 40 page story in two nights. Piece of cake. Right? (wish you could hear the huge sigh)
It was TOUGH to write this blurb. You have to introduce your characters, make them interesting, give some background to set the stage, present the conflict that they will face, draw the reader in and give the reader hope for the resolution...all without being too wordy, corny, or giving away too much of the plot. I just about wore out my backspace key as I went over and over what I was trying to get across. Whew. Of course, now that it's in, someone else will be looking at it and deciding if it will work. Blurbs get edited, just like everything else.
Ironically enough, just as I sent over my final effort to TEB for A Pint Light, I got another e-mail from DSP with a revised blurb for Remarkable Restraint to approve. Slightly different submission process, DSP has you write the blurb as part of the submission, while TEB asked for it after offering the contract. So that one was already written long ago as part of the cover letter for my submission inquiry. I looked back to compare the two, and actually they were fairly kind, only making a few small changes and keeping it mostly as originally written.
Apparently I was slightly more inspired on that day. Either that or after writing the synopsis concurrently, I was already in the zone.Either way, by the time you write the manuscript, the synopsis and the blurb (and in some cases the hook line), it feels like you've flayed your idea to the bone. And that's pretty much how I'm feeling at the moment as well!
I'd love to hear from some other writers about how they feel about blurbs and whether it's as difficult for you to write them!
Now, that doesn't seem too tough. I'm sitting here in my jammies in the middle of the afternoon while the kids play. I should be able to come up with a one-sentence teaser and a coherent two to three paragraph summation. After all, I wrote the whole 40 page story in two nights. Piece of cake. Right? (wish you could hear the huge sigh)
It was TOUGH to write this blurb. You have to introduce your characters, make them interesting, give some background to set the stage, present the conflict that they will face, draw the reader in and give the reader hope for the resolution...all without being too wordy, corny, or giving away too much of the plot. I just about wore out my backspace key as I went over and over what I was trying to get across. Whew. Of course, now that it's in, someone else will be looking at it and deciding if it will work. Blurbs get edited, just like everything else.
Ironically enough, just as I sent over my final effort to TEB for A Pint Light, I got another e-mail from DSP with a revised blurb for Remarkable Restraint to approve. Slightly different submission process, DSP has you write the blurb as part of the submission, while TEB asked for it after offering the contract. So that one was already written long ago as part of the cover letter for my submission inquiry. I looked back to compare the two, and actually they were fairly kind, only making a few small changes and keeping it mostly as originally written.
Apparently I was slightly more inspired on that day. Either that or after writing the synopsis concurrently, I was already in the zone.Either way, by the time you write the manuscript, the synopsis and the blurb (and in some cases the hook line), it feels like you've flayed your idea to the bone. And that's pretty much how I'm feeling at the moment as well!
I'd love to hear from some other writers about how they feel about blurbs and whether it's as difficult for you to write them!
My First Edits for RR
I was chatting with my editor at DSP when I opened the manuscript, and oh, the sea of red! She assured me (while laughing, I'm sure) that it wasn't the worst she'd seen. And it was mostly formatting changes. Still, looked at first like a paintball casualty! All in all, it is very interesting to see how different publishers edit (I proof for another publisher).
Turns out there weren't that many changes, just a lot of little tweaks. Many good suggestions. A couple things that I caught that slipped past them, but nothing major. And only one or two corrections that I wasn't excited by. All in all, a pretty painless process so far. I think all the proofing I've been doing has prepared me for the reality of the edit process, and I can definitely empathize even more now with the authors I'm proofing for! Glad that I was raised right and am polite about the suggestions..will continue to be even more so!
So now Remarkable Restraint is back in to my editor, and I'm thrilled and confident that my baby is in good hands.
Turns out there weren't that many changes, just a lot of little tweaks. Many good suggestions. A couple things that I caught that slipped past them, but nothing major. And only one or two corrections that I wasn't excited by. All in all, a pretty painless process so far. I think all the proofing I've been doing has prepared me for the reality of the edit process, and I can definitely empathize even more now with the authors I'm proofing for! Glad that I was raised right and am polite about the suggestions..will continue to be even more so!
So now Remarkable Restraint is back in to my editor, and I'm thrilled and confident that my baby is in good hands.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Banner Week! Another Story Sold...
What an amazing and gratifying week this has been. This one is my vamp short story, A Pint Light, that took a bare two nights to write right before my big trip...my relentless muse kept me up until 3am two nights straight until it was done. More details to follow, I'm two for two on fantastic Sunday e-mails from editors.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Busy Day
It's been super busy, all in a good way. My eyes are crossing from all the time spent on the laptop today going back and forth between Google, GoDaddy, and all the major e-mail servers trying to narrow down my pen name. It was a tougher decision than I had imagined, between domain availability, names already used by others, and just plain sounding good! I finally chose the name I did because both parts of the name have sentimental meaning to me, and those lucky people who I managed to track down mid-day unanimously voted for it! Thanks for all your help!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I Got A Contract!!
For my m/m short story, Remarkable Restraint, with Dreamspinner Press in the Games In The Dark anthology coming out this fall!! I almost fainted, I was so excited when the e-mail came from the editor. I am simply over the moon, and ironically at a loss for words right now. I'll need to write more later when I've had time to process. But I am absolutely thrilled that my guys will be out there for the public to meet!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Submissions IN
Managed to get my quickie, A Pint Light, wrapped up, synopsis written, and submitted to TEB while on the road last weekend from the hotel room. That left Remarkable Restraint sitting there looking at me to write the synopsis and get it in to Dreamspinner already.
Coming up hard on the August 10th deadline, it finally hit me today that I will be heading to Mom's tomorrow for the next week. And while I can access e-mail on her old desktop, I won't have wi-fi for my laptop, hence wouldn't be able to produce and e-mail anything. SO sat down to write the synopsis today and it took forever to get it going.
Good news is that I finally got it done, typed up my e-mail, attached and hit send. So another baby out there in cyberspace, looking for approval. Only 2am in my current time zone, ha! Geez I need to get to bed!
Coming up hard on the August 10th deadline, it finally hit me today that I will be heading to Mom's tomorrow for the next week. And while I can access e-mail on her old desktop, I won't have wi-fi for my laptop, hence wouldn't be able to produce and e-mail anything. SO sat down to write the synopsis today and it took forever to get it going.
Good news is that I finally got it done, typed up my e-mail, attached and hit send. So another baby out there in cyberspace, looking for approval. Only 2am in my current time zone, ha! Geez I need to get to bed!
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