Leather and Oil and Learning When to Let Go

Hey now, Fifty Shades, this isn't that kind of blog post... go take a cold shower and come back. As some of you may know, in addition to writing, I am also an equestrian. I have a horse that I'm training, and as we speak I've just finished cleaning his saddle and bridle. My bedroom is filled with the lovely scent of leather and saddle oil (which by the way is AWESOME for the hands), and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself.

I've had these two passions since I was a kid. Like, five years old. I loved horses and I loved books, and I would write stories about horses. And then later stories that mimicked the high fantasy I grew up on (Tolkien, Dragon Lance, Tad Williams, Tamora Pierce, etc.). I've gone through stages with both where I took a break for a while, but they've always been woven into the fabric of my being and always will be. I consider myself very lucky to have such unshakable direction in my life.

For the last five years, writing took the main stage, and while I had horses, I was terribly remiss in doing anything with them other than keep them as fancy lawn ornaments. My current horse, Max, was born at my house and so for many years was too young to ride. And then he got old enough and I procrastinated. But last year I got a divorce and moved into an apartment with no room for an equine, so I had to start boarding him at a farm about 20 minutes away. Over the last year, I've made more progress with him than I have in the last five. Funny how things work out that way. I think what I missed was a support system of other horse friends, and I needed to regain my mojo. I had a totally untrained horse on my hands who has a pretty dominant personality, and I'd lost a lot of my own boss-mare attitude. So, I've been finding it again and Max and I are doing awesome. 

On the other hand, my writing in the last year has been fairly slim. I've played around with a bunch of different projects, and nothing has quite grabbed me. I'm very Type A about certain things, and am used to slamming out full novels in 6-12 weeks, so this was very disconcerting to me. But then I had an epiphany the other day: it's okay to let go sometimes. I know I can make deadlines. I've written four complete novels. Last year was a year of transition and finding a new balance. And it's okay to slow my pace a bit.

Do you balance more than one passion in life? What are your thoughts on the ebb and flow of your focus and inspiration? 

A Moody and Introspective Post About the Future

Moody and introspective? I must be a writer or something...

I'm in kind of a funky place with my writing. Simultaneously, I feel like I have a lot going on, and nothing going on. I was a finalist in GUTGAA, I've submitted Martinis with the Devil to Harper Collins' unagented contest, and I may or may not also be a finalist in another anonymous writing contest at the moment. I'm almost done writing a fantastic middle grade book that is incredibly unique and luscious and beautiful and fun. I alternate between feeling stuck in a rut and being on the perfect path. Not sure if it's because I turned 30 a couple months ago, or just that my overachiever self is feeling a lion's roar of impatience, but I just want something to happen! Now, please!

After writing throughout my teens, I took about eight years off for, you know, LIFE and stuff. In 2009 I wiggled back into the waters of my lifelong passion for writing, and in 2010 I dove down deep and have been immersed ever since. I know I'll be writing my whole life, and that my stories are my humble offering to the world. I know that I have three great stories under my belt that will someday be published. I also know that it's super hard to get an agent, and that getting my work turned down doesn't mean it's not good or marketable, but that the business is incredibly subjective and hard to break into.

So now I am obsessively editing my latest book, the unique, luscious, beautiful, fun one. I will be querying it by the end of the year. And if I get yet another round of rejections, I think it's time I explore getting my foot in the door another way. I absolutely will be published by one of the Big 6 one day. It's my ultimate goal. But I'm fine with taking some intermediate steps to get there. I think I'd look at small and medium presses first, and also trying to get some short stories published in anthologies or reputable sci-fi/fantasy lit magazines. Something to give me credentials and get me on the way to connecting with my readers, sharing my stories.

Anyways, that's where I'm at right now. Feeling the waves of change and transformation pulling at my toes, calling me into new waters. Where will they lead me? Not sure. But something is going to happen.

What about you?

Come into my web said the writer to the... other writers

I was originally going to blog just about Pinterest, and the fun inspiration boards I have for each of my books. But then I realized there are probably plenty of you I haven't connected with on Twitter and/or Goodreads, too! I sure am spread all over the tinterwebs like jam on bread (blackberry jam, in case you're wondering).

So, here's a brief description of why I love each of these internet playgrounds and my linkage for each:

Pinterest!

A lot of people wonder what the heck Pinterest is all about. I think of it as a place to collect shiny, pretty things, like a raven's nest. Except organized. It's basically a huge collection of pictures, many of which have links to recipes, workout routines, and other cool stuff. You "pin" the pictures on pinboards you can name however you wish. Warning: it is insanely amazing and thus a dangerous time suck.

Land Without Dreams inspiration board (my MG fantasy)

Martinis with the Devil (nickname: Noir - adult urban fantasy)

Countless (adult urban fantasy)

I have a bunch of other boards, too, but those are my book boards.

Twitter!

Twitter is the perfect place to post random stuff in between blog posts. And I love random. You can have fun little conversations with people. And it's kind of liberating and challenging to have to limit each tweet to 140 characters.

Click here for my Twitter profile

Goodreads!

I used to get overwhelmed trying to remember all the books I wanted to buy. And then came Goodreads! Now when I see an awesome book whilst not in the bookstore, or having already depleted my readerly funds, I just add it to my Goodreads list. I also had great fun initially setting it up and trying to remember all the influential books I've read throughout my life.

Click here for my Goodreads profile

So, how about you? Let me know what you're into other than blogging so I can hit you up.

Tagged!

I've been tagged to answer 11 questions by Colleen Chen and Sarah who are both in Rachel's campaign. I hope these questions will be fun for my blog friends both within and without of the campaign. Is it weird that I like talking about myself? Us writers are supposed to be narcissists, right?

Colleen's questions for me:

1. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?

Maybe Victoria or Aurora? I like my name a lot though...

2. Which Greek or Roman (or other culture's mythological) deity would you be (either who you'd like to be or who you most resemble)?

Didn't the Romans just copy the Greek's deities and change the names? Anyways... who's the chic with the owl? Athena? Okay, just Googled it, and it is Athena. So, Athena is the goddess of wisdom and the arts... I'm not always so wise, but writing is an art. And I heart owls, so there you have it.

3. Would you like to marry a Vulcan?

Well, in the new Star Trek movie, the guy that plays Spock is pretty cute. But I'm extremely emotional, so I don't think I could cope with someone who rarely shows emotion at all. I can see myself totally freaking out at someone who kept it so bottled up.

4. Would you choose immortal life with the elves, or a human, mortal life with the one you love and a child-to-be?

Well, I have a child (He turned 10 today! Holy cow!), so I certainly wouldn't choose an immortal life if he couldn't also.

5. If you had to write fan fiction, what fictional world would you choose to write in?

Oooh, tough. Harry Potter maybe? Or True Blood? Probably the latter.

6. Do you believe in any conspiracy theories?

I have no doubt the gov does all kinds of crazy shit we have no idea about. I believe all the Area 51 stuff.

7. What do you consider your best quality?

My creativity.

8. What do you consider your worst quality?

I tend to overanalyze.

9. Do you ever feel over-exposed on your blog?

Nah. I'm a pretty open book, both on the net and face-to-face. If I don't want to share something I don't. It is interesting when you realize that anybody could be reading your blog at any time, people you don't even know.

10. If you were to reincarnate, what would you like to be?

A witch. I actually wrote a book about a witch who reincarnates :)

11. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Slow drivers? I know I have more, but I'm blanking.

Sarah's questions for me:

1. What setting best describes you?

I'd like to say the beach, because the beach is my fave. But mountains probably describe me best. Mountains have a calm, reserved side, and a wild, free side. That describes my weird ying-yang personality pretty perfectly.

2. What was your favorite childhood book?

The Hobbit. Read it probably a couple dozen times.

3. What genre(s) do you write?

Fantasy - magic is a necessity in anything I write. I mostly focus on adult urban fantasy, but in some of my books for middle grade and young adult, it is more general fantasy.

4. Besides reading and writing what are at least two of your favorite pastimes?

I love horses, and movies, and am a total foodie. I really enjoy anything in the arts - music, painting, etc., though writing is the only thing I can do myself. Oh, and traveling. I can't get enough of the world.

5. What is the coolest/strangest thing you've ever done?

Ready for this? Firewalking. Not joking. My mom is into about every spiritual/metaphysical thing you can imagine, and when I was twelve we went to California, where she actually got certified to lead firewalk seminars. Over the next couple of years we did several, and I walked over a bed of hot coals two or three different times.

Other cool stuff? Ate at the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. Rode in a training clinic with a British Olympic equestrian medalist. I'm also a certified equine massage therapist, though I haven't practiced in years.

6. Whose writing inspires you the most and why?

Oh, Neil Gaiman. I confess I only recently started reading his stuff, but I have fallen head over heels for his writing. His writing is always unique, and contains that element of magic that I have to have. And he just writes beautifully. And he's a creative genius.

7. If any character from any book could be your best friend, who would it be?

Another tough one. Hermione? Or Alanna from the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce? I devoured this series in my early teens. Of course, I love the MCs from my books, Eva from Countless and Zyan from Noir.

8. What is your favorite book/author/tv show?

I simply can't pick one favorite book. The Hobbit used to be. But I love so many others, sometimes very different books for very different reasons. Author is Neil Gaiman at the moment. TV show - True Blood for sure. God, I love it :)

9. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?

How intriguing. Hmmm. Okay, so I just spent several minutes contemplating this. You read the above part about overanalyzing? So, I wanted to come up with something profound and impactful, but I couldn't think of anything that could realistically be accomplished in one day (without more planning and overanalyzing, that is). Here are a few of the things I considered (some of them selfish and not profound): Somehow getting inside info on the stock market to pad my bank account. Some sort of cure for world hunger. Whispering words of encouragement to people who looked like they needed it (though sort of creepy since of course they can't see you). Spying on people close to me just for funsies to see what they do when I'm not around.

10. What famous person (dead or alive) do you consider a role model for your own aspirations?

I'm going to sound like a broken record here: Neil Gaiman. I want to be as imaginative and amazing as he is.

11. Is there anything else we should know about you?

I love chocolate and wine. I very badly want to travel around the world for a couple years and have adventures.

Alright! That's it. Hope you enjoyed it. So, I'm tagging some campaign peeps and some non-campaign peeps:

A.E. Martin (previous blog friend and fellow urban fantasy campaigner)

Tina Moss (fellow urban fantasy campaigner)

Stephany Simmons (fellow urban fantasy campaigner)

Beth Sanderson (blog friend)

Jennifer Hillier (blog friend)

Meredith Moore (blog friend)

Tag, you're it! Here are the 11 questions:

1. What setting best describes you?

2. What was your favorite childhood book?

3. Besides reading and writing what are at least two of your favorite pastimes?

4. What is the coolest/strangest thing you've ever done?

5. If any character from any book could be your best friend, who would it be?

6. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?

7. What famous person (dead or alive) do you consider a role model for your own aspirations?

8. Which Greek or Roman (or other culture's mythological) deity would you be (either who you'd like to be or who you most resemble)?

9. Would you like to marry a Vulcan?

10. Do you believe in any conspiracy theories?

11. If you were to reincarnate, what would you like to be?

Oh, and I didn't mention above, but eleven is my favorite number, so I'm loving that. Have fun tagged-ones!