Category: Writing

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Not sure if I like the update

I finally updated the look of the blog. Not sure if I care for it. I still have to do some tweaks and we’ll see. I’ll have to pay if I want to change more colors than just the background and I don’t know how to feel about that. The link colors kind of match the site anyway, even though those wouldn’t be the colors I picked.

I’ll probably improve the header. By the time I figured out what I wanted, it was late and, believe it or not, I needed sleep.

I have a few posts in my drafts that I need to work on. To keep updated, be sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Minds.

 

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AI Art

craiyon art

I’ve signed up to the DALL-E waiting list, but I haven’t gotten an email back yet. It’s been so long, I’m not even sure what email address I used. So to pass the time, I’ve been using Craiyon to come up with interesting art concepts.

Don’t worry, artists, AI has a long way to go.

I decided to use Craiyon to make some reference images. Taking one of six squares (shown above) and expanding it to the size I need, I can trace it and create my own spaceships for some world-building artwork.

One of these might be on a cover, or rather, my version might end up on a cover.

 Hidden City

Speaking of which – I have to get back to my current WIP.

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The next Projects, Coming Soon

Pictured: The next series that comes after Elizabeth – in the bare bones, generalized plotting stages. No real editing except for spelling errors. It’ll be a couple of months before I start the actual stories.

I also realized that I’m using the wrong outline. EvaDeverell’s outline (in the picture) works well for fantasy (I’m using it for “Hidden city”), but I’m writing short stories. I’ll be writing the first one, which will be roughly 10-20k, with the “Save the Cat Outline” and a basic short story outline for the rest.

Short Story Outline
I found this with a Google search

I’m also working on “Hidden City” which I hope to have ready for a beta-read in a month.

Then there’s Zherosha: Contact. That’s something I should get started on… that’s its own post in the near future.

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CLOSAT and 7-point Short Story Structure

Image with CLOSAT Cards

I’ve finally got to do another round of CLOSAT. If you want to see what it’s about, check out this post. Use the suggestions however you want. You don’t even have to link back to this page or give me any credit. That said, feel free to comment the link to what you wrote below.

In case you can’t see the image:

Character: A tall slender woman who loves to write

Location: An Apartment Complex

Object: A pack of Cocaine

Situation: Mounting Debt with no end in sight

Action: Searching for Ideas on the Internet

Theme: Desire to escape

 

The 7-point Short Story Structure:

  1. A Character
  2. Is in a situation
  3. With a problem
  4. They try to solve the problem
  5. But fail, making it worse
  6. They make a final attempt to solve it which may succeed or fail
  7. The consequence is not as expected.
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May Character Month 18-23th

May is Character Month

18: Elizabeth has some pride in talking herself out of a situation, only to second guess herself later. She is proud of her kids, but she doesn’t talk about them much, because that might mean admitting the possibility that they were casualties of the Third wave pandemic or the riots.

19: Elizabeth is older, so she mellowed out some, but her #1 deadly sin is wrath. It still crops up once in a while, but thanks to her self-defense training, she’s learned to have some control.

20: Not a character quote per se, but a scene…

     “It’s not a big deal…” I paused, realizing the habitual phrase was far from the truth. “Actually, it is a big deal. I mean, two weeks ago, I was just Elizabeth Weinstein; Sub-par author, conspiracy theorist, defunct YouTuber, crunching numbers so that I can expand my properties, and arguing logistics with my rivals. Yet…” My voice trailed off, and I waited until my mind could catch up. “All of that… Everything I thought was important pales in comparison to what I have to do.” My eyes met Roger’s, and I shook my head. “Something important, and I have no clue what it is yet!” I tossed my bag into the trunk of the car and slammed the hood shut, only to realize that too late, my phone was still in my pack.

     “You won’t need it.” Josias circled around me, grabbed my shoulders, and glanced around before looking in into my eyes. “You’re right. You do have something important to do.”

– from: Elizabeth: Kidnapped

21: Elizabeth does like to be alone and until she meets the others, she actively avoids people unless it’s business.

22: Elizabeth thought it was talking herself out of trouble, but then she met the others – and found out she can look into the beyond and see a few seconds of the timeline.

23: She can make friends easily. It’s keeping them through initiating contact that’s hard.

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May Character 14th-17th

May is Character Month

We are doing a character profile of Elizabeth this month.

14: Not a quote, but a scene:

     The anger that came from Charlie made me wish I didn’t have that telepathic connection with him. “It doesn’t matter. He’s been missing for so long, he’s probably dead anyway.”

     Remorse filtered into the place of the anger.

     I shrunk into my seat. “I want to go home and wake up from this nightmare. I’ll wake up, go to the meeting, we’ll have an argument about logistics, again. You can tell me off for paying off another client’s debt and all the interest you lost, and I will call you a heartless bastard.” I sucked air through my nose and let it out slowly. “And everything will be the way it’s supposed to be. Everything would be okay.” –Elizabeth: Family Ties

15: She dreamt of killing her brother once. It’s why she convinced her husband to move far away from her family.

16: After her husband’s death, she would escape to her house in Perdita, away from the city. In the evening, she would sit at an old fire pit to watch the sunset.

17: She actually mentions it in Transformation: Place in this World by Michael W. Smith.

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May is Character Month – 9th-13th

May is Character Month

How quickly time flies. This is why I try not to make promises. Things happen, and I can’t seem to keep up at times. We are still talking about Elizabeth Weinstein of the Elizabeth Series.

9: Elizabeth will not stick around if someone verbally cuts her down. Belittling or name calling is not the same as telling someone that did something wrong or giving some constructive criticism, helping someone to improve. This goes for all relationships.

10: She won’t start a confrontation and when she ends up in one, she tries to talk her way out first. This includes stroking someone’s ego, if necessary.

11: Her mother was abusive, and it took a while before she saw it, even acting as a “flying monkey” when her sister stopped contact. It wasn’t until later she realized what she did.

12: In some ways, Elizabeth believes in fate, but for the most part, she thinks that most life’s events are due to “dumb luck.”

13: She died once already (Heritage Journey). She no longer fears it.

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May Character – 5th, 6th,7th and 8th.

May is Character Month

It’s been crazy the past few months, but I’m also finding easier to do these in “bulk” or at least, a few at a time.

 

5th – Character’s greatest fear is making the wrong choice that negatively affects a large group of people

6th – Elizabeth’s weakness is also her strength. She’s pretty good at talking herself out of trouble. It certainly came in handy several times in the Elizabeth series, as she promised the giant to not use her abilities to fight.

7th- Eh, I couldn’t come up with just a single quote, so here’s a brief scene from Heritage (just before someone gets shot):

     As we walked in, I saw another car pull in and park by the gas pump, and I made a beeline for the cold coffee beverages. Jamie joined me with a few bags of chips and a “Mega-Party Sack” of candy-coated “Chocolate Bits.”

     “Chocolate Bits?” I laughed. “They couldn’t come up with a better name for a knock-off?”

     “But it’s only a dollar!”

     “It’s mostly sugar with maybe some chocolate flavored powder.”

     “Perfect!” He shook the bag with glee.

8th- sort of. She still believes in Christ, but she’s far removed from the narcissistic version of the “religion” her mother tried to instill in her. She questions her faith even more when she finds out who she really is.

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May Character – 4th

May is Character Month

Growing up with a toxic family, Elizabeth learned how to talk her way out of trouble.

In Heritage, she has to confront a creepy stalker and a bank robber. Unfortunately, talking the would-be-robber out of the bank robbery got her in even more trouble with Nevil Kipp, the self-aggrandizing officer of a secret society known as “The New Wave group.”

She never thought it would lead to her getting shot and finding her biological family, or at least what’s left of them.