goals

I want to finish Taerith in a week.

I'm crazy.

I'd say "wish me luck," but I don't believe in luck, so...

Wish me discipline, creativity, and success!

EDIT: One chapter finished! Yes! A whole bunch more to go...

Taerith updated: Chapter Twenty-Four

The current WIP slogs along :). For those who don't know, Taerith is my contribution to the The Romany Epistles, a nine-author fantasy project. In simpler terms, it's the story of a banished young man with the heart of a true hero and the family of outcasts he takes under his wings.

I do love the story, and I love the characters, but writing is hard work at the moment! I feel like I'm fighting for every sentence, and then I don't like them when they're written. Ach weel. On we go.

The chapter is here, along with links to the rest of the book. Comments are always welcome.


P.S.

If you noticed the silence around here, be it known that I was away for three weeks. Ottawa, Toronto, Fort Erie. I love this country. I'm home now.

alpha seeks beta

I read this article on critique group dependency at the Charis Connection and thought, "Yeah, that's one reason I haven't joined one," even though these days most writers are encouraged to do so.

I do belong to a wonderful little writer's group called The Wayside Inn Writer's Society; we're currently writing The Romany Epistles together. But we're not really a critique group. We're a bunch of friends who love to write and enjoy reading each other's stuff. We encourage and sometimes pitch in with brainstorming and advice, but we don't really critique.

However, lately I've been thinking about asking a small handful of people to be my regular beta readers--people who will read through a manuscript when I finish it and give me their impressions, critiques, etc. I'd like to step outside of my writer's group for that, because even in our merry little circle, it's easy to fall prey to some of the weird ideas and acronyms that plague critters.

I need people who are, above all, honest.

This should be interesting!

update: Taerith

Chapter Twenty of Taerith has been posted. I'm going to start making a note here everytime a new chapter goes up--since Inklings is turning into my writing hub, I might as well.

This is one of those chapters that ran off with itself in terms of atmosphere. I had a big scene to do and wasn't sure how to do it, but I knew that atmosphere would be the key to the whole thing. So I threw in a lot of stars, and standing stones, and allusions to wolves--I think it worked.

Lo, the Blogzine Breathes!

I've started moving some of the old family-related posts from this blog over to The Big Family Blogzine, which I'm still going to explain in greater detail... one of these days...

In the meantime, stop by and leave me a comment.

congratulations to us

Fellowship With Jesus: A 365 Day Devotional by Kris Thayer won a bronze Ippy Award (that's Independent Publishers award) in the Inspirational/Spiritual category this year. I couldn't be more thrilled, as I helped develop and edit the book, as well as writing the follow-up questions after each devotional.

The press release had this to say:

"In her new book, Fellowship with Jesus: A 365 Day Devotional, author Kris Thayer lays out a daily how-to for asking Him into our hearts and confessing our sin.

"The gorgeous, easy-to-read devotional touches on topics ranging from healing, Satan, the purpose of God, living graciously, and the power of prayer. Each devotional follows with a “Ponder, Pray, and Pursue” section that has meaningful, pointed questions to help reflect on our purpose in God’s world.

"Originally a journal that paraphrased her pastor’s scripturally-based sermons, Thayer has collected a veritable treasure trove of spiritual wisdom gleaned from the visionary missionary, the Apostle Paul."

Congratulations, Kris, and all the other Ippy winners this year.