Nomination Time: Love In the Time of Dust and Venom

Posted on March 9, 2015 by SharonJoss

LOVE IN THE TIME OFDUSTANDVENOM2lores

 

I’m not one to do a lot of self promotion, but my short story from last year, Love in the Time of Dust and Venom makes me eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

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Tending the Garden

Posted on March 1, 2015 by SharonJoss

springGot my taxes done last week.

The good news is I actually had royalties to report ($88! Yippee!), on 36 sales. Right now, I’ve got 4 novels, 15 short stories, and 3 short story collections available; all of which are published by Aja Publishing and currently available just about anywhere you buy books (Bookstores, Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, and Smashwords). I did sell 3 stories last year to pro markets, but they won’t be published until this year, so I won’t be paid for them until later this year.

I admit I am less than impressed with those results, even as I celebrate each and every sale. Last year was my most productive year ever, but seeing the fruits of my hard labors yield such small fruit make me wonder if my little garden is in need of tending. I know it takes time, but the publishing industry is moving at light-speed these days, so I took another look at the market.

The prices for print books are driven by the cost to produce them, but there is more flexibility in e-book pricing. For the last 18 months, my e-book pricing has been set at $2.99 for anything over 4K words, and $1.99 for shorter works, but everyone I know who is selling more than one or two copes of their short stories a month is telling me my prices are too high and they’ve got theirs priced much lower: $0.99 (or free). So I’m going to trim back my prices too. Now, all my e-book short stories are the same price, and all of them are priced at $0.99.

I’ve also taken a good look at the genres for my four novels, and have trimmed my prices there as well, reducing the prices from $5.99 to between $2.99 (for Destiny Blues and Aurum) and $3.99 (for Legacy Soul, Brothers of the Fang, and the short story collections). It’s a big savings for people who might have been on the fence about trying a book an unknown author.

It’s spring, after all.  Time to tend the garden.

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Judgement Day

Posted on February 24, 2015 by SharonJoss

Jury service day, actually. My first call to jury duty since I moved back to Oregon. I was a little nervous about it, and arrived well before the 7:45am start time, only to stand outside in the freezing (yes, it was 32 degrees in Hillsboro this morning) cold, because the courthouse doesn’t open until 7:45am. Brrr.
I had plenty of company.

But once we finally got through security (a more rigorous inspection than you would expect at an airport), we were led to the basement for our orientation and assignment to our courtrooms for the day. While this was not my first jury rodeo, it was the first time I’d been part of the pool for a criminal offense (DUI). Surprisingly, only six jurors were selected for this trial (I always thought the number was 12). I was not one of the selected few.

I was glad to be excused early, but at the same time, disappointed. I found the process of voir dire fascinating, and I kinda wanted to see it through.  I’m certain that the fellow sitting at the defendant’s table got a fair and impartial jury. The experience renewed my appreciation for the American justice system, and the fact that jury duty is one way we all make it work.

Glad to be of service.

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Get Your Gumbo On, Fat Tuesday is Coming…

Posted on February 15, 2015 by SharonJoss

 

It happens every February: there’s a respite in the weather, the sun comes out, and (like today) the temps climb into the 60s. The crocus and daffodils start blooming, and the pussywillows start appearing. Is it heaven? Nope, it’s Mardi Gras; that fabulous pre-spring time of year when the jazz radio station starts playing the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, and songs like Rump Steak Marinade and Iko Iko.

Although I’m not the religious sort (and I’m not trying to offend anyone who is), but I think Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday as a sort of a fantastic well of inspiration for fiction writers– especially fantasy.  All the costumes and masks and secret societies and rituals and pagan roots; it all comes together into a delicious melange that almost begs to be a story setting.

 

And then there’s the food.

It’s not quite warm enough for shrimp on the barbie, but perfect for shrimp in the gumbo with all the trimmings, ice cold beer (or a hurricane), and a good movie– like Angel Heart, The Big Easy, or Live and Let Die.

Mmmm. Let the good times roll.

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Jupiter Ascending: Yes, I liked it.

Posted on February 6, 2015 by SharonJoss

JUPITERMaybe I’m just easier to please than the average movie reviewer.

Yes, it starts out a little slow/hokey, has some pretty obvious plot holes, and I didn’t buy a major portion of the premise, but the set design was (to my mind) much richer and cooler than some of the space epics I’ve seen recently. I thought the cast was excellent and the chemistry between them real and believable. There were some clever bits about the dinosaurs and gene splicing, and once the story got going, I enjoyed it. A real popcorn movie.

Oh, and the absolute BEST killer winged lizards I’ve ever seen. Worth the price of the movie right there.

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Reboot

Posted on January 26, 2015 by SharonJoss

I’m baaack (well, getting there).
Been down and out for a while. Two weeks ago one of my sisters came for a visit, and the day after she left I got blindsided by a nasty case of bronchitis. I don’t get sick often, and the dog was completely freaked out by all the coughing–I think she was actually afraid of me.

Or maybe it was the smell of vapo-rub.

Anyway, the antibiotics have done most of the heavy lifting, and now I’m reporting (back) for duty. I did almost no writing at all last week, and was too sick to even care, really.
But this morning, the idea of getting back in the saddle seems pretty daunting. I’ve written less than 10K words this month and the month is nearly over. There’s been a lot of talk on the writers forums about productivity lately, and my plan for this year was to exceed what I did last year. But I was supposed to have finished the outline for my next novel by now and be writing it already. So much to do this year and I’m behind schedule and it’s only January and cripes I hate that!

So I’ve decided to reboot.

I’m tagging up and starting over. There’s a lot to be said for slow and steady. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. A few words today, a few more tomorrow. The words will come, they always do. Rather than stress about what I didn’t do this month, I’m retting the clock and starting over.

February is the new January.

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In the Mood? A Question of Atmosphere

Posted on January 15, 2015 by SharonJoss

It’s dark and dreak and dreary outside–rainy, foggy, damp; you get the idea. After all, it’s January in Oregon. It’s supposed to be grey and gloomy this time of year.

My current work in progress has a similar sort of somber and atmospheric tone going on in it too–think gloomy and dangerous marshes at dusk; that sort of thing.

So I’m all into it, editing my little heart out and here comes an anthology editor coming back with edits on another story, with a completely different kind of mood. Something more arid, dry, and big sky. And since the anthology story has a deadline, I’ve got to put down the misty haunt and re-prioritize.

I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty difficult to work on two different projects at the same time, and I finished this story in May of 2014. So how to change gears? Of course, reading through the story is part of it, and this editor had some brilliant insights that got me all excited about the story again; but I keep catching myself putting darker tones in my edits, tones that are too heavy. Ack!

I finally sat down and read the story aloud. That really got me into the protagonist’s head, and by the time I finished it, I was firmly back in her universe. From there, the edits came fast and I think the story is stronger for them.

So am I the only one? Tell me, what do you do when you’re working on two different works at the same time? How to you preserve or regain consistency of tone between the two?

Inquiring minds want to know.

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