Goals for 2015

I love setting goals. Like, I love it a stupid amount. Big goals that break down into little goals with smaller steps that have little check-boxes next to them. I'm a To Do List junkie--the type of person who spends probably a little too much time scheduling and creating those pretty little check boxes (which I still draw in proper kanji stroke-order, because Japan). I browsed amazon for the perfect day planner (it has a to-do list section) and I have a gigantic desk calendar to help me keep track of important dates and monthly goals at a glance.

That said, I'm not that great at sticking to these schedules, but I like to have them anyway. They remind me where I'm going and give me something to set my sights on in the distance. They're my way of dreaming about the future, of showing myself that dreams are within walking distance if you're willing to take the steps, even if you take them slowly, or out of order.

2014 was an interesting year. I remember telling Abbie at our writing retreat in March what I hoped to have done by the next retreat: SONG OF THE HERETIC drafted, the second Millroad Academy book drafted, and a good start on my next novel-length work.

I'm about 20 scenes from the end of SONG OF THE HERETIC, which is, surprise-surprise, about the length of two books, and while I have the next Millroad Academy Exorcists novella outlined, plus two other novel-length works outlined, I haven't started writing anything else. I have had about three more novel ideas, though. Someone stop me.

Writing isn't the only thing I've been up to, though. This year's goals have several categories, so I'm going to do what I do best. I'mma make a list.

Writing Goals for 2015

• Finish SONG OF THE HERETIC's rough draft
• Edit SONG OF THE HERETIC
• Query SONG OF THE HERETIC
• Write rough draft of Millroad Academy Exorcists, novella 2
• Edit and release the second MAE novella
• Write rough draft of HELLHOUND
• Release Case of the Copper Condor on Tales from the Archives
• Don't suck as an Assistant Editor

School Goals for 2015

• Get an A in Anatomy & Physiology
• Don't fail Statistics
• Don't fail Conceptual Physics
• Get into Echocardiography program
• Don't fail at Echocardiography program
• Study regularly
• Find the awesome

Narration Goals for 2015

• THE BEST KIND OF THIEF by Amy Sparling
• THE BEST KIND OF PROM DATE by Amy Sparling
• SHADOWS ON SNOW by Starla Huchton
• MAE book 2
• [redacted] for Abigail Hilton

 

Personal Goals for 2015

• Continue journey for optimum health
  • Paleo diet
  • Exercise regularly
  • Chill
• Make an effort to go more places and see more people
• Remind self that dates are not a totaly waste of time
• D&D/Pathfinder
• Be more awesome

I think that covers it. Notice that "blog regularly" wasn't in there. Hah. I know better.

What are your goals for 2015? If you had goals last year, how did you do? Did you achieve them? Leave a comment below!

2015 Updates and BIG NEWS!

Last year kicked off with the inaugural seven-day Smoky Writers Retreat at the end of January and ended with a nearly finished fantasy manuscript, a short story, and a whole bunch of audiobook contracts. I also went back to school for another degree. This year is either going to be awesome or make me cry. Possibly both.

Though the second Smoky Writers retreat isn't until February this year, 2015 started with some really awesome news. Are you ready for it?

Are you sure?

As of this week, I'm the newest assistant editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show Magazine!

Get it, boys.

I've been writing "Lady Lauren's Panacea", the magazine's fantasy book review column for the past year and a half, and I received the offer in the midst of my promotion for EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN's KDP Select Free days. For the foreseeable future, I will try to do both.

So what's this Smoky Writers Retreat?

So glad I manufactured that question! It's a retreat started by Alex White, author and podcaster extraordinaire, which takes place in the Smoky Mountains and was created for us to have several days of focused writing time, broken only by several delicious meals that we don't have to cook. The evening holds readings from that day's work, followed by games, drinks, and long soaks in the hot tub.

It's like being a writer and a rockstar at the same time. Is it February yet?

Back in School

Yeah, so living with mom and dad is more and more acceptable for millennials like me, and when you've got an English degree and no desire to go back to answering phones, you're basically stuck with Starbucks and house rules. To be fair, the house rules include wine o'clock and no rent, so I'm okay with them.

So I'm back in school for a degree in Echocardiography, which is ultrasound on the heart. THAT'S RIGHT, I'MMA MAKE THE BIG MONEY. Or at least enough to get my own place and, like, feed myself properly.

Anyway, I'll finish by Summer 2016. Then I'll be singing that Roxette song nonstop. "Listen to your hea~rt..."

Meanwhile, Back in the Jungle

I bit the bullet, folks. I'm back in school.

I'm still slinging espresso for the morning crowd at my local corporate java joint, but in the afternoons, I'm balancing my time between writing, narration, and 9-12 course hours worth of classes. If that sounds like a lot, it is. Don't worry, though, I'm now at nearly 120k for the rough draft of SONG OF THE HERETIC, which isn't anywhere near as close to being done as I had hoped for that sort of word count, but I'm hoping to finish by the end of the year.

"But, Lauren! What are you studying?"

Oh, fine, I'll tell you. (These conversations with myself make me feel so important).

I'm going into a field called Echocardiography, which is at its most basic, ultrasound for the heart. It's an interesting field and there are jobs in it everywhere around the US. Half the people I know have had echocardiographs done. In that line of work, never want for a job.

The coursework itself starts this coming fall, but I have a few prerequisites to fulfill, since the course requires a Bachelors degree. While I have the former, my English/Classics double major didn't require me to take college algebra, conceptual physics, or A&P, so I will be taking those in the spring.

JOY.

If you had told me in undergrad that I would be taking A&P, Math, and a Physics course with a lab all in the same semester, I probably would have lit myself on fire. Strangely enough, I feel pretty good about it--mostly because the physics classes are conceptual. What changed?

I realized that, if I'm going to support myself while writing, I need a career.

I quit my job last year so I could get my head on straight, and I'm glad to report that my Jedi Training has been going well. (For those not keeping up, "Jedi Training" is code for my battle with anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.) In fact, it's been going well enough that I feel open to a lot of things I've not felt open to for a long time. I'm going out. I'm writing consistently. I'm dating again. I'm gearing up to build a lightsaber...

No, I am actually going to build a lightsaber. (Who else saw the trailer for Episode VII? DAT X-WING SCENE.)

I feel at peace with myself enough to admit I need a career to support my writing, not just a part-time barista gig or a soul-sucking phone center job. I need something I can do for the rest of my life that affords me the lifestyle and experiences I want in life, but that leaves me the time and energy for writing and a life beyond.

Wookie balls, that was hard to admit. It took my parents voicing their worry that I won't be able to support myself when they're gone for me to really step back and think about a career in addition to writing or narration.

The biggest road block was my own belief that I wasn't good at anything else.

I can't say how long I've felt this way, but it's so deeply internalized that I had trouble figuring it out. Once I did, it sort of pissed me off. I was putting up roadblocks for myself because past experience had me believing I couldn't apply myself consistently enough to do well in math or science. But all that was before my Jedi Training. All that was before I even really learned to apply myself to writing, and you know what?

Writing taught me discipline that I have been able to apply in other areas of my life.

But in chair; hands on keys; words on page. It's the mantra of writers. It means you have to do the work if you want to be good. After realizing that talent and youth alone wouldn't get me published, I spent years learning craft. I'm still learning craft. I don't think I'll ever stop learning it. That was my weakness in writing, and did I put up a roadblock because past experience told me my books were too long and my pacing was problematic? Hell no! I applied butt to chair and brain to book. I studied.

And so it has proved this past semester with Medical Terminology and Psychology. I'm doing very well in both, and I'm actually looking at the upcoming classes as a challenge rather than something to fear. I'm not going to let my own past experiences hold me back.

Besides, I'm visualizing all the awesome things I can do with an actual grown-up salary.

Like visit Prague or Scotland or Greece. Like rent a Winnebago with Abbie and spend a month traveling around the US, writing, eating, and podcasting. We could call it Tales from the Winnebago. I could afford to get my kitty all his shots. I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could afford to go to conventions.

But I don't plan on working 9-5.

That's never been me. I don't think it will ever be me. Some hospitals will actually me longer shifts on fewer days--10 hours 4 days a week. That's a whole extra day of writing per week. Which means I can guiltlessly take one of those days off to relax, which is something I don't really do at the moment.

Life's not scary anymore. The fact that I have a goal, a concrete job ahead of me, has given me the sort of peace of mind I never really expected to have. Knowing I will have the safety of a career to keep me afloat has taken the pressure off me to make money from writing. At least, for the moment.

---

Skrybbi and I have assumed the names of our cats and started a new podcast called Fandom PhD! You can listen to episode one below or find us at fandomphd.com!

The Guilt-Rebellion Cycle

We creative types have this fun habit of pressuring ourselves far too hard to be creative, of letting the anxieties we feel about our work and our worth pile up like bricks to block us from our goals. There's a concept I like to call a Guilt-Rebellion cycle, which I first remember encountering described when my best friend's dad talked about how he felt too ashamed to return to his local church precisely because he'd not been for so long. Sometimes, showing up to the page is like that. We haven't shown up for days, weeks or months or years even, and the mere act of showing up forces us to face our failures to show up in the past.

I used to have this habit whenever I started going to the gym. I would go very consistently for a few weeks, and then I would miss a day. After I missed that day, I wouldn't beat myself up about it, because I'd been doing really well in general, and one day wouldn't be too bad. As long as I didn't miss another day, everything was fine. Of course, if I did happen to miss another day, the self-flagellation began and I returned to the gym with diminished spirit.

Sometimes that was enough to spark me back into consistency. Sometimes, though, the self-flagellation would spark a sort of inner rebellion or despair, sometimes both, and I would skip another few days. Of course, I would feel secretly guilty for skipping those days, and that guilt would drive me deeper into the hole, where either the rebellion or despair would see me reaching for the car keys because, dammit, I was too tired to cook and I felt sad and even though I secretly knew having a chicken club, fries, coke, and vanilla cone from MacDonald's would drive me deeper into the clutches of guilt, it also felt like a treat. Also, for whatever reason, it felt easier than microwaving a bowl of soup.

I'd let this guilt-rebellion cycle compound until, eventually, returning to the gym felt like a walk of shame. Walking through those glass doors became so much harder than just driving down the street, pulling on cross-trainers, and hitting the machines.

I'm still an inconsistent exerciser, but I am trying not to be an inconsistent creative. I'm trying to show up at the page, if not every day, than at least half the days of the week. I'm managing it, though it is sometimes hard to avoid distraction. The key is avoiding the guilt-rebellion cycle.

This is what one of my guilt-rebellion cycles looks like on any given day:

• I fail to write on a day when I'd meant to
• I feel that failure as disappointment or guilt
• Negativity activates the instinct to armor myself
• Defensiveness appears in the form of rebellion
• I play Candy Crush
• I feel ashamed of playing Candy Crush instead of writing
• I feel too tired from the shame to write
• I rebell
• I play more Candy Crush
• I am ashamed
• I am a worthless millennial
• I will never be prolific again
• I run out of lives in Candy Crush
• My life has no meaning and there's work tomorrow and I am in despair and have had too many cans of Vanilla Coke Zero to sleep.
• Bubble Witch looks interesting...

It is a vicious cycle. So how do we avoid that first step onto the spiral slide? I definitely don't always succeed, particularly on days when I've already had to work, but I've found it easier to at least show up to the page by keeping my goals clear and focusing on progress rather than perfection, and always making certain to observe my habits without judgement and adjust the time constraints on my goals accordingly.

Over the next few posts, whenever those might be, I hope to talk about some of the tools I've found useful in beating this Guilt-Rebellion Cycle, setting goals, and staying on track.

Note: Above all, this year has taught me that taking care of myself is paramount in keeping my creativity at its peak. Getting control over my anxiety and, more recently, identifying and taking steps to correct endocrinological imbalances that affected my energy level, have been instrumental steps toward giving me the extra energy I need to be creative.

A Friend in Both Camps

It's really cool to know other writers. It's really, really cool to know writers who are good enough friends for me to visit, or invite to stay at my home. This month, I did both!

Pee and Tip!

(Two things that happen after too much Viking's Blöd.)

At the beginning of April, I visited Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences), friends I made through podcasting. In addition to being successful podiobook authors (indeed, Tee helped create podiobooks.com and had one of the first podiobooks out there), they then published with a small press (Dragonmoon Press), and are now traditionally published by an imprint of the Big Five.

They have the agent, the book deals, the awards. And they still have a foot in the DIY camp.

On their podcast, The Shared Desk, they talk about writing, their projects, and general tomfoolery, and they run short stories written by fellow authors they've invited to share in their traditionally-published story-world on their Tales from the Archives podcast. Think of it as a "Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina" for their own series.

It was really cool to stay with them and get a glimpse into the lifestyle of not one, but two career writers, and also be around for their new book's Facebook launch party.

Annual Harris/Hilton (Roach Toaster Tour - 2014)

After coming home from Tee and Pip's, I had a couple days to catch up on writing and...er...clean the house before my friend Abigail Hilton (The Prophet of Panamindorah; The Guild of the Cowry Catchers) arrived for our annual retreat. Last year, I visited her in Florida, which was fantastic. This year, she came to visit me!   (Listen on the right.)

Abbie and I also met through the podcasting community. Like Pip and Tee, she has a few podiobooks out, the second set of which is a five book full cast labor of love that aired its final episode while she was here! Guild of the Cowry Catchers was actually how I found out (and became a fan of) Abbie.

Funny thing is, Abbie started out trying to traditionally publish Cowry Catchers, but never really found a home for it. I guess when you write 250,000 word novels about anthropomorphised gay pirate animals fighting oppressive dragon priestesses, it's a little hard for publishers to figure out where to shelve you (I am oversimplifying the story, obviously, for the sake of the lulz, but you can get the first book on the right for FREE).

So Abbie self-published her work as a full-cast podiobook and, like, actually paid people. As a traveling nurse anaesthetist, she also had the means to commission beautiful illustrations for her books.

She showed me her excel spreadsheet and explained how she keeps track of her expenses and gains (which was all very businessy and intimidating-looking because, as we see from my blogging schedule, I am not consistent).

What was evident, however, is that between Cowry Catchers and her other self-published works, she's making enough per month to perk up my ears. Of course, with the amount of money she's thrown at the books' illustrations (which even she says are probably unnecessary), she's just starting to break even on the Cowry Catchers books.

Still, after self-publishing, Abbie doesn't seem likely to look back at traditional publishing, and she was actually one of the folks responsible for my decision to self publish my novella EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN.

Ultimately, my goal is different from Abbie's--she is happier having a job that can support her, and writing during her breaks between work. She likes the stability of that, and never intends to make writing her primary paycheck-bringer.

I, on the other hand, want to be able to support myself (at least mostly) on my writing, which is getting harder and harder for strictly-traditionally published authors to do.

Learning from Both Camps

Tee and Pip entered the business a couple of years ago and have been building their audiences through both traditional and independent venues for more than five years. Hard times or good, they are examples of the kind of author I want to be--capable of both being traditionally published and still having fingers in the DIY scene, splitting their time between writing and having a blast as a family.

I'm entering the publishing game in the middle of a shifting of rules, and what hanging out with them taught me is that I still believe in traditional publishing and want that to be my primary form of publication.

What hanging out with (the far more organized and practical INTJ) Abbie taught me is that I need not only look at self publishing as a plan B, but do that while putting a time limit on my submission of novel-length work to agents and editors. That way, I won't be letting work I'm proud of founder if the traditional folks don't think it's right for the market.

A few times, Abbie told me, "If you keep knocking on [the publishing house's] door, they will eventually let you in." Which is what I'd like to believe as well. All the same, she's convinced me to start building a summer home in indie publishing.

WIP STATS

PROJECT: SONG OF THE HERETIC
WORDCOUNT: 47k (ish)
FEELING: Still excited. It's getting easier to write the scenes at a good pace.
PROJECTED COMPLETION: July

$7.19

By Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

“Does Gollum have any dependents? YES: PRECIOUS.””

— Gollum (Lauren) - Click above to listen

By Abigail Hilton

"Abbie taught me is that I need not only look at self publishing as a plan B, but do that while putting a time limit on my submission of novel-length work to agents and editors."

“We’re about to sexually harass some podcasters via phone. It’s going to be awesome.”

— Lauren (click above to listen)

Abbie, Dave Robeson, and Bryan Lincoln

---

Slinking Back After Blogging Hiatus

Since my last update, a metric hella-ton has happened. Hence the lack of updates.

The first thing...

was the November 24, 2013 release of the audiobook, HAVEN: A STRANGER MAGIC by D.C. Akers, narrated by me. If you're looking for a serialized middle grade fantasy, check it out!

The second thing...

was Smoky Writers 2014, which was the writing retreat in January, planned by Alex White (author of The Gearheart). I wanted to use the trip to get momentum back on SONG OF THE HERETIC, which I had not managed to get much done on during NaNoWriMo, and the trip absolutely surpassed my expectations. Hands down, it was the best trip I have ever taken. I've never felt so productive, so accepted, nor so well-fed. And the company could hardly be beaten (except, possibly, by the expanded lineup for next year).

We recapped on Episode #28 of The Shared Desk podcast (click below to listen - explicit language alert).

TL;DL? Let me tell you just a bit about it:

Eight writers and two cooks venture into the Smoky Mountains for five days. Our mantra?

FOOD. BOOZE. WORDS.

We had a couple of ground rules:

#1 - You MUST write.

#2 - Quiet Time until 5PM.

#3 - At 5PM, each person reads up to 10min of their day's writing. No critiques.

The schedule was... 

8:00 - breakfast

9:00 - writing

12:00 - lunch

1:00 - writing

5:30 - readings

7:00 - dinner

8:00 - hot-tub/games/shenanigans.

When I tell you that I gained 5lbs on that trip, it's because I couldn't stop eating. Five days worth of amazing meals courtesy our two chefs. It was like being royalty...

On the way home, my friend Bryan Lincoln and I got caught in a snowstorm that caused us to take nearly 11 hours for what had been a 6-hour drive there. His flight got cancelled, and I ended up dragging him back to the farm with me.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT TWO WRITERS IN A CAR FOR 11 HOURS, THEN GIVE THEM THREE DAYS TO HANG OUT?

They brainstorm and outline a pair of interlocking, independent stories about Steampunk Artificial Intelligence. (Listen to the madness and hilarity below).

So, after the retreat and subsequent mini-retreat, it was back to work.

The third thing...

was the change I felt to myself. Something shifted at that retreat--clicked in a way it never had before. Maybe it was realizing that I could be accepted in a group of other writers I like and respect, and treated as an equal and not as the impostor I feared. Maybe it was getting back into the swing of my writing and realizing I wasn't as tired, that I really could get back into the game.

Somehow, I knew after coming home from the retreat that 2014 was going to be my year, because I had decided to make it my year.

Some background...

Last year, 2013, was really hard. I quit my job, moved back in with my parents, and was (finally) diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder I'd been battling since high school. I started medication, started a new job at Starbucks, and tried to reassemble the pieces of a life I'd felt had all but fallen apart.

Somewhere in there, I recorded two audiobooks, edited, formatted, and released EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN, outlined SONG OF THE HERETIC, and finally put THE MARK OF FLIGHT into a drawer indefinitely (ouch). By the time NaNoWriMo rolled around, I was exhausted, and then it was Christmas season at work.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, we welcomed my niece Peyton into the world - the first of a big string of great things to come.

A New Year...

Luckily, the medication was doing wonders for me. It really feels like night and day, comparing how I felt before to how I feel now. Suddenly, the person that's been lurking beneath that constant sense of dread and stress has come to the surface. I used to cry whenever I talked about anything even vaguely serious (even if it wasn't something I thought merited tears, I couldn't stop them). Now, tears are confined for really serious things. Like tornadoes and laughing while moving boxes up three flights of stairs in the rain and getting that first picture of my niece.

After the retreat, I knew I needed to continue with all the good the medication was doing. Luckily enough, I wasn't expending all my energy in incessant fight-or-flight. I had the mental and emotional capacity to take a good look at myself and realize that there were other factors in my life keeping me from being fully committed to my writing.

I wasn't healthy. I'm nearly 5'3" and, at roughly 157lbs, heavier than I'd ever been. I was really athletic in high school, and during my early 20s, fluctuated in weight quite a bit. My healthy weight--when I'm active and muscular and fit--is generally between 115 and 125, and while I wasn't expecting to get back to that, I set my initial goal to get past the 147lb-barrier I hadn't been able to break for over two years.

I'm up all night to get healthy...

J/k! I'm trying to get adequate sleep. That, and change my diet. I think changing how I ate was the most important step in losing weight. For four weeks, I didn't really work out that much, but my mother and I did the SUPER SHRED diet, and both of us dropped 10lbs. I moved on to the sustainable basic SHRED diet and started following Cassey Ho's workout calendar on Blogilates. I dropped another 5lbs, which I've gained back in muscle, and a total of 2.5" off my waist. The best part is that it hasn't been too difficult.

I also started running, which I used to think I'd only do in the event of a zombie apocalypse...

Progress on the book!

In addition to getting my life in order emotionally and physically, I'm getting my work-ethic together mentally. I'm up to about 40k on SONG OF THE HERETIC, a lot of which is hand-written draft at this point because my left wrist is sprained and--yes--I'm typing all of this with my right hand, which is cramping. Anyway, I'm trying not to worry too much about length (that's what she said?) and just letting the draft come out as it will.

Luckily, I've had excellent feedback from my alpha-reader Adryn.

I wrote two books before this one, and rewrote each of them at least once. I have to hope the fifth time's the charm. But I'm not hoping, because I'm hurling myself at this book with all the ferocity I have, because I believe in it. I think it's good. It's exactly the kind of thing I want to be writing, and I think there's a place in the market for it.

2014 is going to be my year, because I'm going to make it my year. SONG OF THE HERETIC is going to be the book, because I'm going to make it the book.

50 Shades of NaNoWriMo

It's that time again. Time to bust out the notecards, stock up on coffee and Jameson, and warn those who usually share your physical space that things are 'bout to get weird between you and your word processor. Bolt down the restraints, set out the typo blindfold, and get used to calling your capricious muse "Sir" (or "ma'am" or "Master Hiddleston", you know, whatever), because you are about to enter the role of literary masochist.

National Novel Writing Month is here.

 Overwrought metaphor aside, are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Add me!

Exclusive Comic

Rough draft of page one of my comic about the Bishop.

A few weeks ago, I polled the folks on my Facebook Fan Page about which Millroad Academy character you'd like to see a 5-10 page comic on and the results went something like this:

• Georgia: 1
• Amanda Barnes: 1
• Hiroki: 3
• The Bishop: 4

I was a little surprised by the Amanda Barnes write-in, but she does actually have a fairly well-developed back story. I actually thought that Hiroki was going to win, but the Bishop one-upped him. Well, I guess he'll be glad to have won something. (Too soon?)

If you haven't read Exorcising Aaron Nguyen yet, the comic will contain some spoilers. Luckily, the book is on Smashwords right now for $0.99! I've informed Amazon, but as of right now, the price there is still $2.99. I'll keep you posted over the next few days. The sale ends Sunday, so BUY, YOU FOOLS /gandalf.

I've decided to make this comic an exclusive freebie for folks who subscribe to my new releases mailing list, which you can sign up for below. I only send out mail when I've got something new out, or something free to give you, like the comic or a short story.

In other exciting news:

1. I got a part-time job at Starbucks! Yay, money and free coffee and still enough time to write and do audio.
2. I finished the final edits on my second audiobook for Audible.com today, called HAVEN: A STRANGER MAGIC, which should be out in a few weeks. 
3. I'm training for a 5k? No really. I hate running, but I think this mini marathon called "Run or Dye" looks like fun, so tomorrow is Week 1, Day 2 of my training with the "Couch to 5k"  app.
4. I started a low-cholesterol diet with my parents, because my mom's cholesterol levels shocked us at her last checkup. Cutting out as much saturated fat and cholesterol as possible. Seirously? Today I said "hold the bacon" for, like, the first time in my life.

Have you started anything new recently? Which of your characters would you create a comic for? Do you like running? 

A Beachin' Wedding

This past weekend I watched my second youngest cousin, Caroline, get married. It was a fantastic ceremony, with one of the most memorable father-daughter dances I've ever seen. She's basically a Disney Princess, so when they started out waltzing to a song called "Cinderella", I wasn't shocked (except that her dad, who has two left feet, wasn't tripping over her massive dress). Her hairdresser handed me tissues and we both sniffled together. Just as the song seemed to reach it's tearful climax, it stopped.

 ...and dropped the beat. "Brick House" started playing, and my Uncle was doing the Robot while Caroline busted out her best dance and cheerleading moves.

Epic.

The best thing about the wedding besides the part where Caroline got married (and maybe Uncle Doug's sweet new moves) was being in a beach house with my extended family. My dad's side of the family is huge: he is the eldest of four siblings, and though many of my cousins were not in attendance, there were still between 13 and 18 people coming in and out of this massive three-story house.

For me, I learned that my problems with Darth Metus are not unique to me. It seems this Sith Lord has plagued the women in my family from my grandmother, Nana Jean, down the line to me. My aunts, my female cousins - almost all of us have had to deal with the Dark Side, and the encouraging thing is knowing they faced down the Sith and won.

NEMESIS Blog Tour - Interview with Starla Huchton

Earlier this year, I posted the cover reveal for Starla Huchton's wonderful New Adult science fiction romance, MAVEN, and this week I'm proud to announce the release of the second book in the Endure Series, NEMESIS. Here's a little about the book, plus an interview with the author and a GREAT giveaway.

In case you missed it, here's where you can find Book I of the Endure Series, MAVEN:

Maven (The Endure series, book 1)

By S.A. Huchton

Genre: New Adult Sci-Fi Romance

Available Now:Amazon | Goodreads |Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Synopsis

How far would you go for love?

Since losing her parents at 14, young prodigy Dr. Lydia Ashley has focused on one thing: an appointment on the Deep Water Research Command Endure. Now 21, she’s about to realize that dream, but nothing is how she imagined it would be. Her transitional sponsor forgets her, her new lab is in complete chaos, and, as if that weren’t enough, she’s about to discover something so horrific it could potentially destroy all life on the planet.

Daniel Brewer, a noted playboy and genius in his own right, may be exactly what she needs… Or he may make everything worse.

Has she finally found a puzzle she can’t solve?

Nemesis (The Endure series, book 2)

by S. A. Huchton

Genre: Science Fiction Romance (New Adult)

Available Now:Goodreads

Book Description:

Tech genius Daniel Brewer isn't the only one with a romantic history. Already weighed down with the impossible problem of the Maven Initiative's plans for world domination and disaster, Dr. Lydia Ashley is finding it more and more difficult to keep things in balance. With an old flame reappearing and the schemes of a vindictive new rival thrown into the mix, her hopes for a life with Daniel may be on the brink of annihilation. 

When Lydia's past is brought to light, one big secret could destroy everything.

NEMESIS EXCERPT

At 1045, there was a quiet rapping at her door. Lydia turned to see Dr. Corvis standing there, smiling politely. It was like watching a shark circling for an attack.

"Do you need something, Dr. Corvis?" Lydia said.

"Dr. Miller and I have worked out a possible sequence of alterations for one of the bacteria. Care to take a look?" 

Sure she was walking into a trap, Lydia agreed anyway. One of the work stations had been arranged with four different devices: an electron microscope, a centrifuge, a chromosome splitter more compact than any she had seen before, and a rotating rack for petri dishes.

"Where did that come from?" She indicated the splitter. The display screen on the top showed a squirming object, pinned in place by the microlasers hovering above the sample tray. The controls hummed, waiting for their next command.

"My own personal stash," Nick said, coming up behind her. He was closer than she would've liked, but given the confines of the area there wasn't anything for it.

Lydia was stunned. "You own a chromosome splitter? How did you afford that?"

Nick shrugged. "It was a gift from Dr. DeBeauvoir."

"He's as generous as he is brilliant," Dr. Corvis gushed. 

"Uh huh." Lydia gave her a sidelong glance. "So what have you been working on?"

Dr. Corvis answered for him. "Dr. Miller had some amazing insights on how to achieve the necessary virulence while maintaining its water-borne nature."  

"You figured that out? That was the one thing I was dreading the most. I had hoped to find a workaround so I wouldn't mess with bacteria's environmental needs." What Lydia hadn't said was that she was terrified of creating some super bug that would become airborne and infect everyone on the station.

Nick moved over to the electron microscope and looked into the eyepiece, adjusting the focus. "If you take a look here, you can see the segment of the chromosome we're targeting."

He took a step back and she positioned herself in front of the device. "What am I looking at, exactly?"

Nick leaned against the table, closing the distance between them some. He was close enough that she caught the scent of sandalwood from the soap he'd used since she'd known him at Stanford. Focus, she reminded herself.

"These base pairs are responsible for virulence and environment adaptation. They're right beside one another so it can be difficult to separate them. You have to know exactly what you're doing or you could wind up with something really nasty."

Lydia looked up from the eyepiece and was startled to find his face less than a foot away from her own. 

"Good thing you're here to make sure we don't do that then, I guess." She sounded like an idiot. His proximity was flustering her.

"I was about to make the first cut with the splitter, but I wanted to show you one other thing first." Nick slid up to the microscope and she skittered away, as though he might burn her if they touched.

If he noticed, he didn't show it. He made another slight adjustment to the eyepiece. "Here." They traded places again. "This is the chromosome segment responsible for host selection. According to Anna, this was being altered to make it viable on multiple cellular types. What this basically means is that the cell wall degradation mechanism will be much more powerful and adapted to both rigid cells from plants and softer cells from animals. Really wicked stuff." 

He was calling her Anna already? Damn. That woman worked fast. She pushed it aside. Lydia focused on what was important: a bacterium that could attack both flora and fauna. Something that strong could be devastating. "So it feeds off of organic material then, but doesn't discriminate in regards to the source? The environmental impact that will have..." Lydia rubbed her forehead. "Not only on human life. Anything within the release area will be obliterated."

"It's designed to only work for a certain period of time, within a certain range, remember," Dr. Corvis offered. Was she really defending the Maven Initiative? "The nanotags will ensure self-destruction of any infected phytoplankton outside that."

Lydia gaped at her. "And so that makes it okay?"

She shrugged. "To them, it was acceptable."

Unbelievable. 

"Now I'll show you how to split the base pairs and graft the new ones," Nick said. Her spine went rigid as his hand touched the small of her back, ushering her towards the other piece of equipment. Fortunately, there wasn't far to go and the contact was brief.

Nick's hand grasped the controls, strong and steady. He talked her through the operation, explaining where the precise cuts needed to be made and directing the microlasers expertly.

"Did you do a lot of this with Dr. DeBeauvoir?" she asked.

"Not at first," he said, keeping his eyes on the screen. "But the last two years I was in the lab almost exclusively. I got a lot of practice with this thing. They were upgrading the equipment when I left so that's why I didn't feel guilty when they sent me away with this baby. We have spent many an hour together, Sheila and I."

She tried not to laugh, but couldn't help herself. "You named the splitter Sheila?"

"I thought about calling it Lydia, but that seemed inappropriate given the circumstances."

Her face burned as Dr. Corvis giggled. She actually giggled. Lydia was mortified, and Nick didn't so much as crack a smile. He couldn't be serious.

"There." He finished the cut and turned back to her. "Want to give it a try?"

Reining in her embarrassment, she nodded and stepped up to the controls. Nick loaded up another sample. He reached in front of her and punched in the autofocus on the sample camera. Another hit of sandalwood drifted up to her, scattering her thoughts. 

"You're looking for the eighteenth base pair," he said, directing her where to shift the sample plate. "Stop."

She had to remind herself to breathe. With the way her entire body was shaking, she would probably wind up creating a highly virulent super bacterium.

"Good, now lock in the sample position."

Lydia flipped a switch and six microlasers pinned the sample in place.

"This is the tricky part," Nick said. "You have to have the right touch."

Every nerve in her body electrified as Nick slid behind her and wrapped his hands around hers. If she wasn't seven shades of scarlet before, she absolutely was now. This was not happening. No way was this professional by any stretch of the imagination.

"Slowly... slowly... now cut."

Her thumbs pressed down on the buttons to fire the incision lasers, and she was careful not to jerk away as soon as it was done.

"Perfect," he said, leaning over her shoulder to smile at her.

Right on cue, a throat cleared and she jumped, pushing away from both the machine and Dr. Miller. 

Daniel was standing not ten feet away, looking none too happy about what he'd walked in on.

"We're dicing bacterial DNA," she blurted. "Dr. Miller was demonstrating how his equipment worked."

His eyebrow twitched and somewhere behind her, Dr. Corvis coughed to hide her laughter. Maybe her word choice had been a little questionable, but her brain was scrambled.

"Daniel Brewer, right?" Nick strode forward, hand extended. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. Nick Miller."

Daniel was not impressed.

Lydia hurried forward, cutting Nick off before he got any closer and all but pushed Daniel toward the door. "Time for lunch? Great! I'm famished. Let's go."

She was pretty sure Dr. Harpy was still laughing when they left the lab. Apparently, she'd decided on a new plan of attack.

Print and ebook copies of MAVEN and NEMESIS

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1.We've talked a bit about writing in general in the past, but tell me a little about your writing process. Do you have a routine?

LOL. Routine. That’s hilarious. I have three kids and a deployed husband. It’s all about grabbing whatever time I can.

My process itself varies from book to book. The first novel I wrote, The Dreamer’s Thread, was totally by the seat of my pants and I had very little idea what I was doing. The second was very, very different. Master of Myth is Steampunk and marks my first time doing any real research for my fiction (this isn’t out anywhere yet, so you won’t find it anywhere outside of the first 20 pages on my blog). Also with the second book was the introduction of a whole slew of passes from this thing called “beta readers”. While I did have a select few people read The Dreamer’s Thread, there wasn’t much in the way of editing done on it, and, unfortunately, that shows.

My process with the Endure series (Maven and now Nemesis as well), evolved significantly after discovering a new love for research and getting my facts right. I didn’t have to do too much of that for The Dreamer’s Thread, as it was a fantasy book, but the switch from SciFi really made a huge difference here. There was a lot of stopping and starting as I wrote Maven when I had to research things, or think about certain plot elements and how they corresponded to the science. I asked a lot of different people a lot of different questions and read a whole mess of really boring research papers just to get a sentence or two of the story. There’s no “waving the magic wand” in SciFi. In order to make it plausible, you gotta have your facts straight.

2.What was the biggest difference between writing the MAVEN/NEMESIS books and writing THE DREAMER’S THREAD?

I touched on this a little already, but one of the biggest differences was definitely the research involved. Another is the amount of time that it took me to write these books. The Dreamer’s Thread was spread out over a year between two National Novel Writing Months and sporadic plugging away in the months in between. Maven was very different. I spewed out the first 68,000 words in under six weeks, shelved it for a year when some stuff happened with other projects, then went back to it and finished it up in about a week. Maybe if I’d have known I was that close to the end I would have stuck with it, hmm? LOL. Anyway, immediately after finishing it, I jumped straight in to book two and cranked it out in under two months while beta readers did their passes and I sent out some queries. I barely stopped to take a breath before starting in on book 3, which will be out in November. That’s another difference here. The Dreamer’s Thread was a standalone, although it could have seen more books in that world had I wanted to go there. While the idea for Maven was originally a one-of, it became very clear to me about halfway in that in no way, shape, form, or fashion was this idea any smaller than two books. Somewhere into book 2, I realized it was four. That realization was a little overwhelming at the time, and I’m still wondering if maybe I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. Due to the complexity of the plot, I’m having to actually (*choke*) outline book 4 to make sure I tie up every loose end. Although, I’m not going to lie, there will definitely be the possibility for more books in this series, but probably not focused on this couple. They will get their Happily Ever After in the end. Well, mostly. Life happens and I don’t think fictional characters are immune to that. Anyway, SPOILERS. LOL

3.What was the most challenging aspect of writing Nemesis? Are your challenges for new books usually similar, or does each book present a new one?

Each book inevitably presents its own challenges. This one had everything to do with the science. I went in with a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but, you know how stories like to throw curveballs? Yep. Very much that. The more I explored some of the how’s of the Nemesis plot, the more confusing the why’s got. This made for a real challenge in book 3 where I explain in greater detail some of what’s gone on. Book 4 is going to be really difficult to wrap it all up. Thanks, book 2. *facepalm*

And we’re not even going to talk about the characters. I’m actually a little nervous about how some of the new additions are going to be received, and on top of the ending for Nemesis… I’m half expecting hate mail.

4.Coffee, Tea, or something stronger?

If it’s before 5 pm, coffee. My brain runs on caffeine. After that, I switch over to tea.

Some nights, however, call for something stronger. Pass the cherry vodka this way, please.

5.On your blog, you said you were new to writing in both romance and science fiction. What inspired you to tackle them both at once?

It wasn’t so much a conscious decision on my part. My stories define what they’re going to be without consulting me. I’d actually been hanging on to the idea of Lydia and Daniel’s story since high school, but it was only recently that I felt ready to write it. This was accompanied by a wave of WTF HAVE I DONE when I finished it, as I didn’t even have a clue that Science Fiction Romance was a thing until I started to research the market viability of the project. I’ve spoken out a lot on the battle trying to convince SF readers that the romance aspect isn’t a deterrent to the story, and, conversely, convincing Romance readers that the SF elements don’t detract from the relationship. Really, the two are so intertwined they’re impossible to separate, although that won’t be 100% obvious until the third book. It’s not an either/or situation. For this series, I absolutely, unquestionably had to have both.

6.What has the experience of being a science fiction author been like for you?

It’s… well, it’s really wild, actually. I never considered myself a huge science geek by any stretch until a few years ago. Fascinated by, yes, but not passionate about it to do anything with it. Due to the nature of the Endure series, and what I’ve exposed my non-SFR author friends to in the process, a few of them have started coming to me with questions about all of this stuff! Can I just say how crazy that is? Apparently, I have a knack for retaining weird facts and explaining complex topics in easy to understand ways. Sooooo not what I expected to come out of all this. When a friend calls me up on the phone and asks for some guidance regarding the relationship between space and time… oh yes. That’s very weird. Especially considering my books aren’t space related. LOL. But, because of some of the folks I’ve gotten to know, like Phil Plait and Pamela Gay, I get a constant stream of all kinds of amazing information. It’s incredibly cool that I can pass this on to others and that they consider me a resource of sorts for this stuff. I don’t consider myself anything close to an expert in much of anything, but I know enough to be dangerous. Or to put them on the right path for research, anyway. I think it’s pretty awesome I can talk about some of it with actual confidence in my words. Knowledge is so empowering!

7.For THE DREAMER’S THREAD, you did a wonderful podcast version. Are you planning to release audio versions of this series?

At this time, no. I don’t have any plans for an audio version, and I know that’s disappointing to some people. There are a few reasons for this. One is because of the adult content in the stories and I’m a big chicken. Anyone that saw me at Balticon this year got to experience the eighty shades of red I turn reading certain, uh, scenes aloud. I haven’t quite gotten to the point where I’m comfortable narrating this sort of material. Maybe someday, but not yet.

The second reason is that I’m finding my time is really limited these days. I have to pick and choose my projects very carefully and pour my energy into what I’m really passionate about. This is the downside to working in several creative areas. Between book covers, writing, and audiobook narration, coupled with the demands of being a temporary single parent, something had to give. Unfortunately, narration is something that’s had to fall by the wayside. Maybe when I have all three kids in school I can pick it up again, but with a three-year-old running circles around me and two preteens bringing the drama, yeah. I’m having to hit pause there.

Thank you for the wonderful questions! I hope people find my answers helpful and/or interesting!

ABOUT STARLA

Starla Huchton released her first novel, The Dreamer's Thread, as a full cast podcast production beginning in August 2009. Her first foray went on to become a double-nominee and finalist for the 2010 Parsec Awards.

Since her debut, Starla's voice has appeared in other podcasts including The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, The Drabblecast, and Erotica a la Carte. She is also a voice talent for Darkfire Productions, and narrates several of their projects, including The Emperor's Edge series, This Path We Share, and others.

Her writing has appeared in the Erotica a la Carte podcast, an episode of the Tales from the Archives podcast (the companion to Tee Morris and Philippa Balantine's Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series), which garnered her a second finalist badge from the 2012 Parsec Awards, and a short story for The Gearheart (earning her a third Parsec finalist badge). Her second novel, a Steampunk adventure entitled Master of Myth, was the first place winner in the Fantasy/Science Fiction category of The Sandy Writing Contest held annually by the Crested Butte Writers Conference. Maven was her third completed novel and the first in a planned series of four, being released under the name S. A. Huchton. Nemesis is the second in the Endure series.

After completing her degree in Graphic Arts, Starla opened up shop as a freelance graphic designer focusing on creating beautiful book covers for independent authors and publishers. She currently lives in Virginia where she trains her three Minions and military husband.

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And remember to get your copies of MAVEN (Endure Series, Book I) and NEMESIS (Endure Series, Book II)