OH NO!! A New LOOK!

Posted on November 3, 2013 by SharonJoss

dreamstime_xs_13755752Yes, I know it looks different.

I liked the look of the old theme template better, but frankly, it wasn’t flexible enough for my needs.  It only had one page and limited customization, and I wanted multiple pages, with a lot more flexibility.  This theme allows me to blog on my home page, and allow visitors (and more importantly, me), to look at the other pages as they like, without having to scroll too far to find it.

So now, I my dogs have their own page again, I’ve got a link page for my favorite websites, links, and authors, events, publications, and a whole lot more.  Additionally, I’m hoping that the new format will be less cluttered and attract new readers.

Let me know what you think!

Posted in 2013, blog, blog roll, blog traffic, blogger, dogs, love my blog, slogging the blog, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Happy Halloween from the Lizard King!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by SharonJoss

LORETTA-AND-THE-LIZARD-KING

 

Okay, please forgive the blatant advertisement, but I’ve got a new short horror story due out today in e-book, Loretta and the Lizard King.  This is the first of my vintage 2013 short stories to be published, and I must say the timing (Halloween) is perfect, and I love the cover art.

$2.99  Available wherever e-books are sold.
Kobo Amazon  Nook Smashwords

Posted in 2013, celebrate the small stuff, halloween, happy dance, horror, humor, short story, speculative fiction, urban fantasy, Whimsy | Leave a comment

Writing at the Coast

Posted on October 29, 2013 by SharonJoss

lincoln-cityI’m baaack.

From a nine-day sojourn to Lincoln City for an intensive Science Fiction writing workshop, taught by award-winning author and editor, Kristine Rusch.  Wrote four shorts and a little a technique exercise that mutated into a flash fiction piece.  Read three anthologies and a couple of dozen short stories before the class, and another 80 excellent stories written by my classmates during the week.  This is my third workshop on the coast, and each time I go, it’s a life-changing experience.  I got some nice shiny-new tools for my craft toolbox, and a new appreciation for short stories, and the Science Fiction genre in particular.  Not to mention meeting 18 other fantastic writers and learning from a master writer/editor who can also teach (a rare combination, in my experience).

And then there’s the whole Hemmingway-ish environment of The Historic Anchor Inn, which seems to me the most creative spot on the planet.  Every morning, we stagger into the dining room for a group breakfast, bleary-eyed with lack of sleep, and they feed us the most fantastic breakfasts.  There must be something ‘special’ in the food, because by the time we’re done eating, each of us has that inner fire in our eyes, and we’re raring to get back to work.

Every time I go, my writing takes a big jump forward.

I can’t wait to go back.

Posted in Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Rusch, making stuff up, networking, Oregon, science fiction, short story, workshop, write every day, write every day; writers write, writers, writers write, writing, Writing, writing business | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fall Colors Pictorial

Posted on October 14, 2013 by SharonJoss

Fall2101413

The newspaper says we’re not going to see peak fall colors in Portland for another week or ten days, but leaves are already drifting down and filling up the streets.  Here in Aloha, we’re a mite chillier than downtown Portland; last night we had our first frost warning of the year.  Weatherman says we’re in for spectacular weather all week, so on my walk with the dogs this afternoon, I decided to bring along the camera and record my first October living La Vida ‘Loha.

BurningBush101413Fall3101413

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Fall4101413

Posted in La Vida 'Loha, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Joy of Having Written

Posted on October 8, 2013 by SharonJoss

AURUM2-Celebrate-100813I finished editing the final six chapters on AURUM today.  I’m done.  Finished, Finito.

This is my fourth completed novel.  The joy and lightness of spirit that comes with having written is a high I’ve now experienced four times, but it doesn’t get old.  If anything it just keeps getting sweeter.

AURUM took me ten months to complete.  I started brainstorming ideas on the 16th of December, wrote the first sentence of the initial draft on March 4th, and the last on July 4th.  I worked on some other projects for a month while I let the story ‘cool off’, and began revisions on August 8th.  I completed four drafts over those two months I spent editing.  In all, I wrote more than 175K words on this novel, although the final version is about half of that.

I feel good.  Real good.  I bought a little single-glass sized bottle of champagne and some good chocolate to celebrate.

Tomorrow I start the next one.

Posted in 2013, ambition, author, award-winning author, best seller, Best Sellers, butt in chair, celebrate, don't give up, editing, Favorite New Author, Joseph Campell, Larry Brooks, learning the craft, manuscript, more problems than the average bear, novel, novels, opening scene, prosperity, published, query, Research, revising, revisions, Robert McKee, Save the Cat, scene, science fiction, Sharon Joss, short story, speculative fiction, story structure, story worthy problem, write, write every day, writer, writers write, writing business | Leave a comment

Fungus Among Us

Posted on October 1, 2013 by SharonJoss

Fungus2 The Pacific Northwest took a glancing blow this weekend from the remains of a Typhoon.  You may have seen it on the news; but I must say, we got pounded.  At  June Lake, near Mount St. Helens, they got 15 inches between Friday at 10am and Monday, 8am.  The Portland area only saw a paltry 3.45 inches.  I thought it would be more, but that was plenty.  It was too wet even to take the dogs out.

Fungus1Today, however, the clouds and rain are clearing, and the sun has come out; revealing a collection of alien fungus, which seem to have sprouted and grown to astonishing sizes and plentitudes overnight.  I don’t know if they’re poisonous or not,  but they certainly are impressive.   I bet the slugs are happy…

Posted in La Vida 'Loha | Leave a comment

Growing Pains

Posted on September 25, 2013 by SharonJoss

Air-RoundaboutI’ve been on a bit of a high since making my first professional sale in May and seeing my short story published in August.  Recently, I’ve begin to experience the letdown that comes with a return to regularly scheduled programming. I’m talking about rejections.  Quite a lot of them, actually.

A writer I much admire talks about the point in an author’s career where the mindset flips from praying for a sale to expecting a sale.  And after that first sale, I thought I understood what he meant.  But one sale does not a career make.  I’m writing and submitting more than I ever have, but with my one sale as the sole exception, the results remain the same.

Today I received a very polite refusal from a neo-pro writers group I hoped to join.  My writing is not yet at the level of the other members of the group, as indicated by my single publication.  I personally know several of the writers in this group, and had considered myself to be a peer, but was forced to accept the fact that they all have several professional sales while I do not. Bummer.

This morning, when I sat down to work on the edits of my latest WIP, my eyes were drawn to the note I posted (four years ago) to the frame of my computer monitor, so I would never forget it:

THE WRITING SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Like it or not, that phrase is the truth a writer lives by.  I still haven’t figured out how to make my writing speak consistently, but I’m working on it.

Posted in bad hair days, belief systems, butt in chair, don't give up, editing, edits, frustrations, good writing, Perseverance, rejection, writer, writers, writers workshop, writing | Tagged | Leave a comment