Category Archives: Writing projects

Cover Reveal

From the minds of Writers, Poets, and Deviants, comes the next terrifying anthology — “Creepies 3 – Nightmares on Deviant Street“.

This edition is creepy stories, which is something we do best. I’ve contributed two of my finest new works to this book, and I’m very proud of them. But I’m also eager to read what everyone else dreamt up in their twisted nightmares! If you enjoy the stories I’ve shared from time to time, I anticipate you will like this book a lot.

But stay tuned, publication doesn’t happen instantly and it’s not available quite yet. It will be published sometime early in fall of 2019. Don’t worry — I’ll let you know when and where you can get it.

Reminder – If you need more fresh fiction in your life, you can check out my new series on Patreon under my pen name – http://www.patreon.com/Willa_Greenstone
I’d sure love to have more loyal fans and subscribers – it would move me further toward my eventual goal of being a self-sustaining author – which would mean I’d have more time and resources to create more and better fiction.


Patreon Launch!

Upcoming Character in #HeroesOfDolantia

Exciting news – I’ve launched a new pen-name — Willa Greenstone — and begun posting my new series on Patreon.
www.patreon.com/Willa_Greenstone

Why Patreon, you ask? Well, because it offers me a lot of features that I want, in an easier format for me to use. Which means I get to spend more time creating stories. And you, the fan, get exclusive early access to new stories as they’re being created!

Additionally, subscribers will get all sorts of special features like flash fiction, character sketches, dragon pictures, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of my creative process. So come on past – it doesn’t hurt to look. Stay if you like what you see.

Tales of the Weird

Starting a new short story this month, in hopes of either getting it accepted in the next WPaD anthology (theme: Weird tales), or published somewhere else. It’s called “Collect Lucky Treasure”, and it’s about a game that takes an unusual turn. I’ll give you a hint — there’s a dragon involved. And lots of stinky, nasty goblins!

NaNo ReBel

For those who are not familiar with it, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an activity where people attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Discover more at www.nanowrimo.org.

That said, I’ve been involved in NaNoWriMo for nearly every year since 2009. I like the sense of sharing an adventure with millions of other people working toward the same goal. And I like the incentive to really focus and concentrate on a writing project.

My first year, I started on November 5 with no idea of the story I wanted to tell. All I had was a setting I liked. It was a crazy scramble every day, writing like a maniac, with no idea where I was going. But you know what? I hit 50K words. And it was FUN. At the end, I had a sweet little story that… well. Okay, it needed some major revision. But it was still a great start.

Each year I try to get better at it. I began to plan ahead (although it might be a stretch to call it plotting). Some years I’ve liked what I produced, and other years my efforts were abandoned. But the important thing was, I learned more about the craft of writing, I made fewer mistakes that I’d need to fix later, and I persevered.

That brings me to this year – I had a story idea all waiting to go. I had plot, a world, and characters. Not, perhaps, as well developed as they should have been; but more than I’d started from any other year. (Actually, I suspect I should have done a LOT MORE world building before attempting a science fiction story. Oh well.) But four days and five thousand words in, it just wasn’t jelling. The energy wasn’t there.

Don’t worry – I didn’t give up. I innovated. Spent the month where I needed the effort — in heavy editing. It’s not my traditional way to spend November, but you know what? Editing comes after writing. It’s progress that matters.

 

 

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo

Not like that!

(This is me in Dalaran, posing in my Hallow’s End costume. Scary! Notice the rolling eyeballs in my shoulder armor? Okay, maybe my fashion sense isn’t the best…)

What I meant was, I’m getting ready for NaNoWriMo –figuring out a plot, building a fictional world, auditioning characters, and deciding between first person multiple viewpoint narration, or third. All the little pieces that turn a rough idea into a story.

I’m not really prepared — I haven’t even named half my characters. But then, I rarely am. Only when I spin it out on the page does the story come alive in my mind.

On a good day I’m full of ideas, and the words flow easily. But Nanowrimo isn’t really about that — it’s about writing the words that aren’t easy — writing on the days when you’d rather be doing practically anything else.

And ultimately, that’s what separates a successful writer from the rest of the pack.