#second novel

[maybe-ill-catch-fiddle-faddle]

Redesign ! ...well, not really. The only change is now she's female rather than male. Everything else is basically the same (save for her bowtie transitioning into a necktie).

I need to draw her with her fucked-up cousin. They are such polar opposites it's hilarious

In all seriousness though I'm so happy to finally go public with this, I've wanted to change her to female for SO long but didn't think it would work for story reasons. Well I finally figured it out !

Anyway meet Sandy ! She'll talk your ear off about books and tell you hundreds of insanely detailed, clearly rehearsed stories. She lives a pretty boring life until the Summer of 1954, where she reunites with her less-than-sane, deathly ill cousin Frasier, and nothing is ever the same again.

[faireladypenumbra]

The newest flavor of writing anxiety, post-first novel, is "do I still love my craft enough?"

I've been writing/rewriting the second and third novels of this series for roughly four years while I revised Chimehour, and every second working on them is a joy, albeit an annoying and slow process. But the craft you wield feels different, cleaner and less passionately messy, after you finish that first novel. Everything I write is shorter, sharper, deeper. Sessions are focused and built on making the most of a scene. This new book is actually more about growing from the seeds of a now defunct first draft, rather than trying to save as much as possible (something I tried with Chimehour that DID NOT work).

And still, there is a monkey brain part of writing that worries I'm not loving my writing enough, particularly if I'm not up at 4am, 3,000 words flying off my fingers a night. I don't fill my every waking second with motion towards finishing the next projects, and feel guilty. I worry I don't care enough about my art, or that I'm losing focus on my passion. All while forgetting that I did that only when I had no job and was not a senior English major.

By new standards then, Beglamour and Endevour are going great! They are going at the exact pace they should, and I can make peace with that. The new normal of the serious writer is not always the blood rush and insomnia that we tie into writing, but maybe that's part of growing up too.

[maybe-ill-catch-fiddle-faddle]

"What a looker, is he not ?! One might even mistake him for a dolly !"

AKA a fuzzy blip in Sandy's memory. Frasier is her babysitter. Crowsong is Margaret's. They all spend an unusually pleasant night at Marg's place. Frasier, ever the snoop, digs through the house and discovers an old camera collecting dust in a drawer. Naturally, he runs wild with it. Everyone does, save for Crowsong, who's happy to be behind the camera but reluctant to ever be the subject. Frasier doesn't believe in boundaries, though.

This piece is a bit muddy as I'm not entirely sure how to shade digitally ! Still, I really like the texture and atmosphere I achieved. I've been meaning to draw these two together, they have one of my favorite dynamics in the entire trilogy because they're both awful and dangerous but for entirely different reasons...

Crowsong looks super worried and vulnerable but that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, he's averting his gaze to suppress his murderous urge lol. Despite their contrasting looks, Crowsong is a billion times more dangerous than Frasier and his ever-withering self control and ego are the only things stopping him from flipping his shit and skinning that guy. If Margaret and Sandy weren't present, the night would have ended completely differently.

Thanks for letting me info dump ! I'm almost ready to write the official first outline for this novel I'm so freaking into it

[kalindamage]

I’ve been working with an artist for the cover of my next book and they’re amazing. I got the first draft of my cover and I was blown away. I showed it to my husband and they noticed that the moon is unmarred and based on what happened in the narrative, the moon should probably have some battle damage. I love the idea, only problem is in the first book (which is published) has the protagonist staring longingly at the sky and while a lot is made of the stars, the moon is not mentioned. So at first I figure no moon that night and battle damage is a go, then realizing that doesn’t quite track with the series timeline and the moon playing a big part at a significant moment. So no battle damage, but I love the idea too much. So next thing I know I’m down a rabbit hole of what would happen if the mood broke free of it’s tidal lock and rotated on its axis at the same rotation as earth... and have come up with a bunch of plot threads and things I need to alter in the other (non-published) I’ve written in the series. 

Writing is fun. I like it.

[blondewritemore]

Writing My Second Novel: Things I Have Learned About Myself #MondayBlogs

Writing My Second Novel: Things I Have Learned About Myself #MondayBlogs

Writing my second novel has been a ferocious two-year battle consisting of two strong-willed opponents; me versus my mind.

My second novel (working title: Meet Me in Blue Cove Bay) is not finished by any means but one stage of this great battle has ended; after two years I have finally finished writing the story I want to tell. I have lost count of the number of drafts, total rewrites and…

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[anthologylgbtforculture-blog]

A second novel: Leah on the Offbeat

Explanation of how the piece selected fits the theme. Leah on the Offbeat is a book about a girl called Leah and includes the same friend group as in the first book. The book follows Leah as she and her friends decide on prom dates and colleges. all the while she tries to find the courage to tell her friends she’s bisexual. 

Personal response to the texts, showing how it broadened their horizons, how they explore.  Leah and the Offbeat is a great book. While it is the sequel of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, it has a different feel to it. Leah has known that she was bisexual since she was eleven and already came out to her mother but she hasn’t come out to her friends yet. Despite this, she is still very confident about her sexuality, this is refreshing to see. 

Leah isn’t the only bisexual in this story. Abby, Leah’s friend, is also bi. Therefore this book has not just one, but two well written bisexual characters, which is truly an amazing representation. Another reason why this is great is that we are now shown two very different experiences. Leah has known that she is bi for quite a while, whereas Abby is still a newbie.

One thing that I disliked about this story was how Leah treated Garrett, her male love interest. She leads him on and even takes him to prom only to then cheat on him with Abby. I thought that this was very disappointing because it plays into the stereotype that bisexuals are unfaithful. 

Explanation of how they link. The book also links with Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. This is not surprising because Leah on the Offbeat is the sequel of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Explanation of how they found this out and what others can learn from that. I decided to finally read this book after I’d read the first book. 

[noturmuse]

What's your novel about? (You don't have to go into detail of the plot, just basically) x

It's from the perspective of a young girl during the Dirty War in Buenos Aires, Argentina

[nataliajasterauthor]

TRICK is 76% funded!

I cannot believe this! In only six days, TRICK has almost reached its INDIEGOGO goal!!! Thank you to everyone who’s contributed so far. This is incredible!