Journal

April 30, 2012 0 comments

Why I Write

Why do I write? Because writing makes me happy and gives me something I desperately crave – an outlet for all of the people and worlds living in my head.

Writers aren’t exactly people…they’re a whole lot of people trying to be one person.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

To be honest, I don’t ever expect to become rich off of my writings. I don’t exactly see myself as being the next J.K. Rowling or Laurell K. Hamilton or Stephen King.

I just like to write.

I do hope to reach the point – soonish rather than later – where I will be able to pay off all of my debts and make a fairly comfortable living. I would like to be able to give the Kid a good education and a nice place to live. Most of all, I never want to worry about him going hungry again.

But even if I was living in a gutter somewhere, I would still write, because it is my passion and my joy.

Even if there was no one to read the words, I would still write them down. On a computer, in a notebook, in the dirt on the floor… the words would still flow out of me and always will.

That being said, I really do appreciate it when someone reads something I’ve written. Whenever I sell a book, I feel a jolt of pleasure at the idea that someone out there is meeting the people I created and traveling the world they live in. And I hope they experience the same richness of feeling that I did as I wrote every word and imagined every action or scene.

Feedback is always appreciated, but to just know that someone is reading something I’ve created… that’s enough.

~Peace, love, joy

April 29, 2012 0 comments

So Famous You Transcend Fame

Johnny Depp is the kind of famous where he could stop acting in movies, have lost all his money, and could be residing in a dumpster – and people would still recognize his name and face. He’s just got this legendary kind of fame, and he also happens to be an incredibly attractive man.

He is probably one of the most beautiful men in the world, and he’s only gotten better with age. I look at his “21 Jump Street” day photos and he’s a pretty boy, but he grew up into a beautiful man. And on top of that he’s an excellent actor and always seems charming.

There are just some movies that are made better just by having a particular actor or actress in it. Johnny Depp makes every movie he’s in better. That’s being a star.

And that’s what I’ve been thinking about: Being a star. Being incredibly famous. Being the kind of person that thousands of people completely obsess about.

I’ve been writing “Idlewile,” my band story. In it, Idlewile is Johnny Depp, Rain, Big Bang level famous. First from his boy band days, then now as a soloist. It has really made me think about fame and what it would be like to deal with being so famous that literally EVERYONE in the world knows your name and what you look like.

Which brings me back to Johnny Depp.

He has always kept it classy, or if there’s been any slips he has a good PR sense. Some people have questioned his fashion, but I think it ties in to his need for some semblance of privacy. Those hats and glasses and even the flashy things he likes to wear – they draw the eye and that’s all anyone sees: Johnny Depp wearing eyeliner or channeling Jack Sparrow.

Everyone needs a place to hide sometimes. Even if that “place” happens to just be the mask you wear in public.

April 27, 2012 0 comments

Where are all of the book remixes at? The Book Remix Project?

My brain just totally popped with an idea that I feel like I should immediately share with the world:

Book Remixes

I’ve admitted my secret “shame” before – my fondness for reading fanfiction – and one of the things fanfic authors like to do is a story remix.

It’s basically when someone writes a really awesome story that lots of people love. A fanfiction story so great, that someone writes a fanfiction for it. A fanfiction of a fanfiction. It’s like some kind of unintended mindsuck, like the movie “Inception” (which has a very hearty fandom behind it.)

In fanfiction, one author asks the other for permission, then rewrites their story in a different way. Like a lighthearted comedy story could be taken to a very different extreme, or the whole story could be basically the same, except the very end. Sometimes there are remix contests where all kinds of fanfic authors throw their stories into a hat, then other authors rewrite the stories in their own way. It’s just one of those stupid fun things people like to do.

So what stops indie authors from doing the same thing? Like each one of the remixed books could have REMIX in the title and an explanation of what they are on their description pages, or maybe there could be a story collection. It could be like a fun contest for authors to enter – either to exchange books amongst themselves, or to rewrite classic literature in the common domain.

I just think it would be a really fun thing to read.

Imagine: CJ Cherryh rewriting “Brave New World.” And Aldous Huxley rewriting “Fortress In the Eye of Time.”
Mark Twain rewriting “Pride & Prejudice.” And Jane Austen rewriting “Huckleberry Finn.”
Joss Whedon rewriting “Twilight.” And Stephanie Meyer rewriting “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (or even better, what if she rewrote “Angel?”)

April 25, 2012 3 comments

Me-date. As in, what’s up in the world of me

Kdrama: Found a ton of Korean movies on YouTube (no, I’m not going to list the links. They’re just on there and I didn’t have to do any work to find them.) I was really pleased and I caught some movies I haven’t otherwise had a chance to watch, so that’s pretty cool.

Anyways, because of some of the shows I’ve seen, I’ve been struck by some amazing inspiration 🙂 Just general concepts I’ve been putting together in my brain. That’s what happens when you see a whole bunch of eye candy working together in one TV show or movie.

Personal Woes: I need to stop obsessively checking my Twitter and Facebook. Why? Because every time I do, I get my feelings hurt when I find out someone’s de-followed me ;9_9;

It’s kind of crazy just how sensitive I am to something I really should be able to just shrug off. But I guess I’m more delicate than I like to pretend.

What I’m Working On: I’m putting “Pomegranate 01” together and I’m hopeful it will be available for purchase soon *fingers crossed* Right now it’s comprised of “The Hand of Ares,” “And A Single Petal Fell,” “Daisy,” “LeNoir,” and I’m deciding whether I want to include “Icarus.” When it’s all ready, it should be a pretty mean mix of fiction 🙂 I just have to get a cover on it (sounds like that Beyonce song, doesn’t it?)

Working on the story I’m publicly calling “Band!Fic” which should be a nice mm piece. Thinking about whether I want to pub it myself, or send it out. My only problem is that I’m mildly incompetent at talking to new people or being judged, which makes submitting my stuff near to impossible (I’m thinking about taking up Xanex or something, though all the side effects scare the crap out of me hardcore.)

Still, Band!Fic is coming along crazy fast. I literally wrote 5000 words in an hour and I’ve developed a ton of back story that I can sprinkle throughout. I still haven’t made up my mind about whether I want it to be by me, Harper Kingsley, or if it’s going to be “Sol Crafter.” The problem is that I honestly have a hard time writing any kind of sex stuff — I’ll write a scene and it always just seems to awkward and semi-awful to me that I want to hide the story away. So I kind of want Band!Fic to be a Sol Crafter piece, but I worry about how people are going to take the lack of overt sex. There’s hints so far and sweet romance, but it’s pretty PG right now and I’m thinking it’s probably going to stay that way — which should make it a good choice for a gay YA read.

Round Up: Writing, writing, hanging out, reading, writing. That’s basically it.

I’m not going to give anyone a set date for publications, mostly because I’m so bad at keeping to deadlines. I’m terrible about it, in fact. It’s one of the greatest shames of my life. But I will say that these will all be coming out in 2012, so follow the blog to get the heads up or Like my Facebook page because stuff usually shows up there.

“Vedran’s Hand” – The Duel is approaching, Dragon is being stupid, Vedran is the Emperor, and someone is staging a coup. And, btw, I’m kind of falling hard for Kameris, who was only supposed to be a secondary character, but is quickly becoming a favorite. mm fantasy, novel.
“The Brand” – Tensions are rising between Pen, Wrath, and Ilis. Plus, the assassination attempts are starting to get pretty serious. Yeah, it’s totally that harem thing, and I might be biased, but I think it’s getting pretty good. mm fantasy, novel.
“Fiends” – The fiend Teablossom is a jerk, but a very charming one. And it’s always kind of beautiful when someone finds out they really do have a heart, even if it’s small and black like a coal. mm romance, novella.
“Allies & Enemies” – Book two of “Heroes & Villains.” The continuation of Vereint’s adventures as a superhero turned supervillain turned regular Joe turned… well. Starts with a BANG! ends with a whim… BANG! And I would just like to note that Vereint is a total BAMF in this, like scarily so. superhero adventure, mm, novel.