The absolute best way to read my stuff for free is to subscribe to my newsletter. First, as soon as you subscribe you’ll be able to download a free copy of my award-winning short story, “Starry Night”. Second, I occasionally send short stories to my subscribers just to share them, and third, because my subscribers always get the first shot at free advance copies of my work.
It’s win/win.
And if you change your mind, unsubscribing is just a click away.
I just sent the following email out to my old newsletter subscribers. It was, uh, less than successful, so I’m posting it here as well in case a few more people might see it. And also as a sort of lazily-written announcement. New newsletter subscribers are just as welcome as returning ones 🙂
Hola!
I think it’s been three years since I last sent an email to this list, so you may have totally forgotten it existed, I know I’m not even sure this is the correct address to mail this to. I hope it is though, and that even if you’d forgotten you’d subscribed to this list once upon a time you haven’t forgotten me. I hope that for a lot of reasons, one of which is that I’m resurrecting the ole newsletter.
Yeppers, and it’s going to be better than ever!
For one thing, I won’t be sending it out every month. Forcing myself to send it on the first of each month just didn’t work. The result was a few newsletters the point of which was, “Well, I have nothing to say really…” *sigh* So, yeah, no more of that. From now on I’m only going to send out a newsletter when I have a reason to send out a newsletter. A good reason. A reason like I’ve got an anthology that just opened to submissions, or one of my books has been released. I’ll also send out occasional newsletters with exclusive content (stories, poems, excerpts) I’ve written and special offers (discounts or giveaways), but no more “Uh… so it’s the first of the month…” letters. Nope.
Secondly, I’m shifting to using MailChimp to manage the mailing list. Partly I’m doing this because it’s pretty (do you remember the old sign-up forms? Man were they UGLY), but also partly because they give me all sorts of fun toys and HTML-based templates I can use to make the newsletter look nice and be easier to read than the older, .pdf versions.
The only downside to this change is that it’ll require you to re-subscribe to my newsletter. In theory I could import all the email addresses from the old newsletter into the new newsletter manager but I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to do that for two reasons. The first is that I’ve lost the password to get into the admin area of this newsletter list…
…I wish I were joking.
Worst of all? There’s no password retrieval system that I can find. So that’s fun >_< The other reason, which would be relevant even if I hadn’t lost my password, is that I don’t want to presume you still want to receive my newsletters. It has been several years since I sent one. People change, could be you’re no longer interested. Obviously I hope that’s not the case, but you never know, right? So if you’d like to subscribe to my new and improved, super spiffy newsletter you can do that by clicking right here:
The only thing you need to put into that form is your email address and if you have any troubles email me at rhonda@jofigure.com . Do not try to send an email to me by hitting ‘Reply’ to this email though, because within hours of my sending this I’m going to delete this old mailing list (I haven’t lost the password for that!) to complete the shift to the new system. I really hope to ‘see’ you there 🙂
Best,
Rhonda
In doing this Blogging from A to Z challenge (which is more difficult than I’d expected) I was stuck for a topic to go with Q so I asked people to ask me questions I could answer. Thankfully people took pity on my pleading and asked me some questions. I answered the first couple on my “I” post (I Lied), and now I’m going to tackle a few more. I’m not going to answer them all though, because, um, well, I may need them for another post later this month LOL
Huushiita asked:
What are some of your WIP that you have? Do you even have any? lol
I have several. It’s actually kinda tricky to set a definite number because I have dozens of poem first drafts in notebooks that are resting before I revise, polish and submit them. If we don’t count them though, or the stuff I’ve started working on and then filed in my “In Progress” folder (likely) to be never seen again I have four novels in various states of done-ness, three short stories in desperate need of attention (two are unfinished and one is in need of serious revision) and two pieces that I don’t know how long they’re going to be when they are done. You could say that focus is not my strongest skill.
ETA: Apparently answering questions also isn’t my skill. I went to bed and then realised I hadn’t actually answered this question and worse, I knew I’d never sleep until I did.
So, to answer the question you asked (what are some of your WIPs) rather than the one I read (How many WIPs do you have?):
I’m working on Twixt which is a YA novel about a girl who is trapped in the land between this life and whatever comes after. I’m also working on a genie novel currently titled Consequence and I’ve got parts of my brain chewing away on another novel set around Krakatau right before it blows. That story doesn’t have a working title yet, but it does have a lot of awesome. I mean, a monster volcano and shapeshifters erm, that is, secret awesomeness.
On the short story front I’m struggling to work on a rather classically-styled ghost story, an Antikythera machine-inspired piece, and a couple stories about some sexy demons. I don’t know yet how long those last two are going to turn out to be… I’ll have to find time to start working on them some more to start figuring that out. I’m also working on a graphic novel with Danica that has a lot of fun (a lot of challenges too, as you can imagine) which really deserves more of my time than its getting.
This blogging challenge and the poem a day challenge are consuming all my writing time right now, but thankfully the subconcious keeps chewing away on things when I can’t devote all my attention to them LOL Come May my priorities are going to be Twixt and whatever else looks shiny when the time comes 🙂
Do you write with music on? If so, what is your go-to song/band/album? What music do you prefer?
It depends. When I’m writing poetry I prefer to have the radio on low and in the next room, it provides some background noise without actually being influenced by it. When I’m working on fiction, however, it’s anyone’s guess LOL Sometimes I need the low radio (I positively cannot work in silence) and sometimes I like having identifiable music playing. For example, when I wrote the last draft of Shadows my playlist was mostly Taylor Swift, but I also wrote a novel while listening exclusively to King Diamond.
Do you ever get cravings for ice cream from out of nowhere? What’s your flavour of choice?
Nah, not really. Ice cream isn’t my foodie weakness. Right now I’m all about stuffed jalapenos. Om nom nom. I did talk about ice cream in my previous question post though. You can check it out here, iffin yer curious.
Why must you be so damn bloody awesome? <3
I wasn’t sure if I should post this question or not LOL I don’t feel particularly awesome, but saying that feels like fishing for compliments, which I most assuredly am not. If I truly were awesome, I’d have had a super funny response to make to this question, but I don’t, I only have thanks, for making me smile 🙂
Ness asked:
what happened to your newsletter?
It fell victim to a combination of a bit of impostor complex (Who am I to have a newsletter? Does anyone even read this thing?) and a particularly bad depression that forced me to seriously cut back on the number of things I was doing. I’m feeling a lot better these days so perhaps it’s time I considered sending it out again. After all, there are still subscribers there… Hmm… We’ll see, we’ll see…
have you had ‘the talk’ with dani yet?
I honestly thought about making this it’s own blog post, I could talk about it quite extensively. However, I decided that I’d take the lazy way out and just address it here instead, in short form 🙂
Personally, I don’t believe in ‘the talk’. I believe in a dialogue, a continuous dialogue that takes place over many years. Jo and I have always spoken openly with Danica about sex, keeping our answers age-appropriate, of course. She knows she can come to us with any questions she may have (and she does) and receive non-judgemental, correct information in response.
In all honestly, the more difficult questions to answer are not about the biological / physcial things about sex. Much, much harder are the questions about relationships (romantic and otherwise). Emotions are so much trickier than mechanics LOL We try to answer those as openly as we can, giving Danica information, advice or sharing our own similar situations, but then leaving her to make her own decisions and act on them.
you’ve written a lot of things set in aphanasia. do you have more? how many more do you think you’ll write?
I do have more. A lot more LOL And I will write them, someday. Right now, however, I really feel like I need to take a little break from Aphanasia to work on a couple of the other stories that are tossing about in my brain. That being said, even now, when I’m trying to devote all my attention to revising Twixt I’m still occasionally struck with an idea for See The Sky Again, which is another Aphanasian novel I started working on a while back and plan on finishing someday (oh, and I didn’t include that in my count of WIPs. Sorry Huushii, I guess that makes it five novels).
Thank you guys for your questions 🙂 I’m going to tackle a few more in the near-ish future 🙂
~*~
This blog post is part of the Blogging from A to Z challenge over the month of April and was brought to you by the letter Q. If you come by tomorrow I’ll be talking about Rejection. In the meantime, don’t forget about Niteblade’s fundraiser. I know I’ve said it before, but we really, truly need your help.
There’s a brand new review of Shades of Green out, and the reviewer loved it. Universe? This is how I’d like to start all my Mondays, if you don’t mind.
Clayton Bye reviewed Shades of Green for Alternative-Read.com and said I worked magic. Awww! He also said:
When a story pulls a reader in to the extent that he forgets about all else, the author has done exactly what she’s supposed to do.
That’s awesome, what a great way to start my week 🙂
This review reminded me that I haven’t given away a copy of Shades of Green in a fairly long time. I’m going to have to change that. I will be giving away one copy to a random subscriber to my Newsletter tomorrow to make up for it. If you’re not into newsletters, don’t despair — I’ll also be giving one away in a contest to promote the fact I’m giving away Lost and Found… soon. That’s not a Blizzard soon, it’s a ‘In_a_month_or_so’ soon.
I’m on vacation. I’m actually doing some work while I’m on vacation, but not a whole lot. Nope, not a lot at all. I did find an old story in one of my notebooks that I’d started and stopped a couple/few times. I took it out and wrote it to submit as my final Whittaker story. The results aren’t out yet, but I’m happy. I met all my deadlines except one, and that one was a result of a brain fart about time zones (I was out at the time I should have been emailing my poem to beat the deadline). So yay!
I’ll definitely do the Whittakers again next year. Deadlines are win when it comes to productivity for me, apparently. I got several good pieces out of this year’s and that makes me very happy. Shame my brain doesn’t assign the same degree of importance to deadlines I give myself which don’t affect anyone else… Maybe someday.
~*~
I made a newsletter and went to send it out, but then I found that I couldn’t quite do it. Why? Well, lemme tell you.
The newsletter had a zombie poem and included a retelling of an incident that happened to my family and I when we were in San Francisco. That incident involved a very angry man wearing woman’s clothes stomping around a McDonald’s and shouting at everyone in there that we were “all a bunch of faggots”. It was so bizarre that I filed that man away to be used as a character at some point, and Jo called me on it after we left the McDonalds. So why not share it?
I find that I’m incredibly uncomfortable sharing it, actually. I define myself as ‘mostly straight’ but I haven’t a homophobic bone in my body. Still, I can’t bring myself to share that story in its entirety because I’ve learned that it’s impossible to overestimate people’s ability to misconstrue your words. I’m SO not looking for that to happen.
Hopefully I can find another short worth sharing and send out the newsletter before the end of the month is completely over. Wish me luck!
I’m not going to have a long, interesting blog today because in preparation for my writing retreat next week I’m actually working on my newsletter today. Early. What’s up with that? LoL
As promised I will be revealing the news about one of my super sekkrit projekts in this one. If you don’t subscribe don’t worry, I’ll tell you too…you just need to wait a couple days LOL
Because I wanted to offer something other than ‘Shh I’m trying to think here’* I’ve included a picture from this weekend. Danica was dressed a -little- bit country with a plaid button-up shirt and a huge cowboy hat, so I filtered it in post to emphasize her freckles and really make her look country. 🙂
*If you caught the Jaina Proudmore reference you rock. Just sayin’.
I’m sitting here listening to Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley (who make up Evelyn Evelyn) perform even though they are separated by an ocean courtesy of the giant ash cloud. It’s remarkable what technology makes possible, isn’t it? Someday perhaps it will inspire me to write something techno-y. In the meantime, I’ve found some inspiration in the deadlines and prompts offered via the Whittaker Prize. I included one of the stories I wrote for it in my newsletter, which yes, I did get done and sent out today.
Yay!
For people who are subscrib
ed to my newsletter this update post will have some news that you’ve read already. Bare with me (or is it bear with me?) though, there will be some stuff you’ve not read before too 🙂
First of all, Clarion West sent me their spiffy form rejection letter last week. I was disappointed, of course, but far less than I would have guessed. Truthfully, as much as I wanted to go to Clarion West (or Clarion), the idea of being away from my life and family for six weeks was a difficult one. It would have been tough on them, Danica especially, and I wasn’t sure I was actually willing to be that selfish, or what the cost for the people I love would be. Still, yes, disappointed. Maybe next year — Dani will be more independant then. We’ll see. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I keep writing. I entered the Whittaker Prize this year in an effort to give myself deadlines and also receive completely unbiased feedback on my work (since judging is anonymous and I don’t know the judges so they can’t recognise my style). I shared the story and poem I was submitting for the first round in my newsletter. The scores are in and I did better than I expected (74/100 on the poem and 85/100 on the story — surprising, I would have never guessed I’d score higher on the story than the poem.), now I’m looking forward to receiving my written feedback. I’m also working on my submissions for round two.
One of the prompts reminded me of a story I’d long wanted to write about Michael and Margaret. It’s set a long time before Sister Margaret but when it’s done I hope that you’ll be able to see the seeds of their future in its pages. It’s also meant to stand alone. Progress is going well on it, and it will make me happy to be able to submit an Aphanasian story for unbiased scoring and feedback. As for the poem…I’ve only a vague idea. We’ll see what comes of it. It is, of course, zombie related 🙂
Speaking of zombies, I will be doing the poem-a-day challenge in April. Sorta. My plan is to follow his prompts and write a poem a day, then after revision combine those poems (all zombie, of course) with the zombie poems I wrote based on Robert Brewer’s prompts in November and see if I can’t come up with a chapbook. I don’t know that I’ll do the ‘enter-the-contest’ part though. I doubt it.
Let me leave you with a short story about the kind of book I want to write. I was talking with my daughter about a book* she was reading and loving. We were discussing the storyline and one of the mysteries within. Danica said, “Well, that’s possible, but we think *insert spoilerific theory here*”. I said, “Oh, are some of your friends reading this series too?” she said no and asked why I’d think that. I said “Well, you said we think. That implies that you’ve been discussing this with other people.” Danica laughed and explained that no, when she said ‘we’ she meant she and the other characters in the book.
Think about that for a moment.
Those are the kinds of characters I want to write, the sorts of connections I want to make with my readers. Bravo Kelley.
*The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong. Danica loves what she’s read of the series so far. I, personally, enjoyed the first book in the series, The Summoning, until I realised there wasn’t going to be any resolution at all. I don’t like book series in which none of the books can stand alone.
Lastly, that picture? I just love it, and with the snow that has decided to return and cover my world with its beautiful but decidedly cold goodness I am truly longing for warmer weather and flowers.
That is a screenshot of the links bar from Kari Wolfe’s blog at Imperfect Clarity. What does it have to do with anything? Um. Not much. I just think it’s fantastically amazing to have my name included in that list. I’m in pretty good company there, hmm? 🙂 Thanks Kari! That really made my day when I first saw it (obviously, I screenshotted it LOL).
So, the subject of this post is ‘Point Form Stuffs’ because I have so many things to touch on that the only way to do it all without this turning into a novel is in point form (hmm… point-form?)
I feel like I’m forgetting stuff…but that seems like a pretty good collection of ‘stuffs’ to share 🙂 How about you? Do you have any exciting stuffs to share?
Things are a weird (and quite surreal) mixture of incredibly laid-back and stressy-busy around here these days. It’s odd, and not great for productivity. Still, I sent out my newsletter today. It included the cover for Shades of Green (in case anyone missed it) and also the first chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it 🙂
In other news, over at Niteblade we are giving away a free .pdf of last year’s December issue, Oh, Christmas Tree. If you don’t already have a copy you can get it at http://www.niteblade.com/news 🙂
I won’t be online reliably now until after the New Year, so I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of December and I’ll see you in 2010 🙂
