With Camp NaNo, I'm halfway there!

Dear Self:


When deciding to work on two simultaneous projects at once, making sure all your ducks are in a row still doesn't guarantee satisfaction.

I have one story continuing from last Camp NaNoWriMo April 2019, Oak & Ash with Bone, which is considered high/epic fantasy.

And this Camp NaNoWriMo July 2019, I'm working on another story that is working-titled The Firefly Crown Cycle (the "official first" story in the series published by e-anthology Anthrozine) that takes place 12-20 years later.

It is tentatively-titled The Queen in Spite of Herself/The Lion Rampant. Also titling the chapters.

The photo to my left shows the current journals I'm gleaning from in order to get this work on board.

If you want to read Firefly Crown online, you can go to my publication blog The Angry Goblin at Wordpress!

I am halfway through and already feel I might not make my word count, but, I would rather have the outlines and drafts typed out so I can edit and revise for later.
I'm exhausted and will do more blogging. Take care!

CAMP NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and I've been having tech problems...

It has been three years since I participated in any NaNoWriMo activities.

As I've said in past posts, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. At the end of this post, I will provide official links. The reason I decided to do so this year is I have a series that helped me find my voice as a writer as well as a community of acceptance. It has also helped me have a "writing career" of sorts. I've been interviewed for podcasts, invited to participate in writing workshops, a few events, and led me to graduate school, something I thought I wouldn't do.

My feline fantasy series has also helped me to create an online presence as well as navigate social media and I know there are still stories for me to tell. I don't want to give it up. Also, the life of a writer has sidelines and detours. Writers, we get distracted or obsessed with other projects, new ideas, and have asides. Also, life gets in the way as it does with everything. Sometimes, I struggle to juggle all these stories, new shiny ideas, and the determination to finish other projects.

Once I sat back and took a good look at myself from 2017 and 2018, I realized I would need to take a step back from the goals I had set for myself, especially when certain goals have been met as well as seeing that some have become stumbling blocks and may no longer serve their purpose. It's okay to walk away from certain goals one sets for oneself! I had to learn that hard lesson. I understood that the continuing of my fantasy short story series cannot be sacrificed in the interest of goals that have expired or outlived their purpose.

Sorry, I went into a diatribe, but I'm officially returning to the Tabber the Red world and will use 2019 as the Year of the Cat for my tales. My website named after my warrior tabby is turning 13 and I want to give it a fresh new look for its birthday this year. The blogs keep getting updated, but ever since I upgraded my desktop, I now lack the software I've used to update the website. And just recently, had to lease a new laptop since the new Dell netbook to replace my Chromebook died, and then the Chromebook has been shutting off, so...

Also, my mom needed a new computer, so I helped put her Lenovo 3-in-1 desktop together and have been navigating my way around it as well as my own Alienware to keep their antiviruses, software patches, and notifications up-to-speed. It hasn't been easy. I'm a lab tutor and one of my coworkers and good friends is our department's tech person, I'm the unofficial one for when he isn't around. So, not only do I have to do topical fixes and changes to our technical equipment at my job, but I come home to maintain my and mom's computers and printer. That's another thing, my own 3-in-1 printer stopped talking to my Chromebook, so that's been fun!

But the good news is my desktop is an Alienware and my brand-new laptop is a Razer, so by the grace of God, I can go back to worrying about updating site, blogs, writing, and hopefully returning to relearning digital artwork on these new platforms. And there I went off on talking about technology when I should have been talking about my plans for April Camp NaNoWriMo!

Next post! Onward and upward!

World-building shouldn't be this hard... But it is

3 hours ago...
Time to continue my series' bible now that I unearthed my big blue journal! This huge notebook has a special place in my heart. Bought it from Borders Books back in 2002 when there was still a superstore in the next city.

3 hours ago...
Retyping my feline vocabulary from the language I made for my cat characters and putting them into alphabetical order because I'm crazy like that.

1 hour ago...
So those cat languages I wrote down eons ago were three language systems: runes, pictographs, & hieroglyphs... Am researching to re-tool all over again. *Weeping*

50 minutes ago...
Using up my mom's Epson printer ink. Gotta switch off. And why use HER'S? Oh, that's right, because for some STUPID REASON, my HP Officejet 4630 printer no longer has the capabilities of working via wi-fi! Not cool, Hewlett-Packard. Not cool.

Eureka!
These languages were based on Egyptian hieroglyphs, Phoenician alphabet, and Celtic runes... Thank God I remember the actual systems.

8 minutes ago...
Ok... Tired. Last day of work this week. I've jotted my language notes and will begin to craft (or draft?) these words into their written systems, beginning with the vocabulary I have typed so far from series' bible. And I still need to outline some scenes from same feline story! Kill me now.

Story can be a challenge

I had a short story in mind but realized another story within the same world, yet dealing with a different cast, finally started to make sense. I also didn't want to force the characters of another story in the same series for the sake of meeting a themed submission guideline. That routine has hardly worked for me except in this year, when I crafted an article just for a journal and it was accepted! 

Mind you, this is 2017 and I've been trying to write professionally since 1996 with my first publication in 1999-2000!

Since this break in the semester, not only has the novel continued rolling around in my head as it should, but a solution came to a short story within the cat epic fantasy series! I've been on-again-off-again with a particular title within the collection and I realized it proved difficult to write another title because I needed the events of the title I'm STRUGGLING WITH NOW to happen!

EUREKA! Can you believe this? And now, that difficult story is almost writing itself! I'm still jotting down notes, swathes of exposition and setups. The story deals with one of my magic using characters who I believed for years to be a villain, or at best, an antihero. I couldn't be further from the truth! He's not only a nice and generous person, he's lovably sardonic and sarcastic! His sardonic personality was already fixed when he was originally 'conceived' but that was with a villainous character. With this more pleasant personality, my shero/heroine won't seem like such a masochist when she falls for him.

There have also been changes to his back story as well. Actually, I kept his origins but in the nascent conception, I had him move far from those trainings and how he was raised. I also had him a stranger to most of that background. Now I understand he couldn't possibly be who he is while disavowing his origins. He just wouldn't be that person! 

His back story also solves my reasons for the antagonistic relationship he has with another fellow magic user too! It's all making sense now. After HOW long? Sheesh... Well, 'til next time!

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - PART 6 [PHOTOS]

My next post in honor of Andre Norton being taught within an undergraduate course at my college campus.

According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the artist for this book cover is by Laslo Gal, another favorite Ms. Norton book illustrator.

front cover 

Here is another book cover and story that has heavily influenced me. As a reader. As a writer. As an artist. Breed to Come was the second story I read after 'Warlock of the Witch World' (more on that title later:)). This story was a milestone in that it not only featured what I would later learn to be anthropomorphic characters, but the level of world-building was astounding. In a nutshell, this is what would be considered a Dystopian sf tale. This is millions of years after earth was ruined and abandoned by the human race, who took to the stars, leaving a wrecked planet, the animals, especially the cats, dogs and rats, have evolved into separate civilizations. The story starts with a feline character and Norton explains his biology as if his remains were examined by scientific forensics. It's an incredible spare kind of writing that just took my breath away with its precision details! As Furtig (cat protagonist) explains, he is about to partake in some sort of ceremony to determine if he will be chosen as a mate. Norton has a knack for dissecting complex cultural and social mores into an interesting journey for the reader.  

back cover

Furtig goes on a quest to figure out what his purpose is. But, this protagonist has another motive and so he decides to follow in the footsteps of a clan ancestor who pursued his quest for knowledge and was never heard from again. The story ebbs and flows. It picks up and slows down, especially by Ms. Norton's expositions on the landscape and what earth now looks like after millions of years of missing us. Of course, there is conflict and invaders touch down on earth to check it out as well. Furtig has to find his place in this new world and we the readers must figure out our place in this magnificent novel as well. 

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - PART 5 [PHOTO]

Another Andre Norton book cover! According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the artist for this cover is Davis Meltzer.

As an artist, there are many things that inspire me, especially when it comes to book covers. Nowadays, some of these front covers are being digitally done and I find the artwork often uninspiring, which is sad to say the least. However, with some of my favorite stories, I have been fortunate to have favorite covers too. Here is another from Norton's Web of the Witch World, which I think is the second book in her long-running 'Witch World' (c) series. 

For some reason, it reminds me of a 1970s comic book cover, and the tale within is filled with powerful women, magic with science, inter-dimensional villains, and a protagonist from our planet who is still adjusting to the culture of this new world. It is a refreshing, exciting, sense of wonder tale. To read it multiple times is to find something new. Pure delight. 

Andre Norton as an undergrad course - Part 4 [PHOTOS]

Now, on to the Book Covers!!!
*Kermit the frog cheer*

As I said in an earlier posting, since finding out from some college students that my favorite, favorite author Andre Norton is being taught in an English course on-campus, I have decided to revisit my love and 'fangirling' of this amazing woman. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In previous posts, I gave URLs on her newest official site and older homepage as hyperlinks in the post, re-posted a classic post on her, and just about ranted on the unfairness that while an undergrad, many folks didn't seem to know about her and now, as an employee on same campus, she is part of a college literature curriculum!

But, I am an artist first, and I judge books by their covers, and, for some reason, perhaps because Ms. Norton was prolific and was still writing and publishing almost to her death, her bibliography is varied, long, and epic in scope as her stories. Yet, it was the various artists that tried to capture her ideas that mesmerized, baffled, or even bewildered me.

Without further ado, on to the book covers! 

The first is Norton's The Zero Stone. The book is from my family's personal library. These are the Viking editions that my father acquired during the 1970s. According to the Andre Norton Official Website, the cover artist is Robin Jacques.

What struck me was the highly-detailed almost digital preciseness of the piece. Also, the illustrator captured a pivotal scene. Do you see the detailing? I used my Chromebook's webcam to take this picture so I apologize if it's not clear enough. 

 Not only is this one of Norton's more zippier-reads (the action is not breakneck but it does breeze by during the action scenes), but my biggest regret is that I removed the dust jacket! It annoyed me and so I took it off the book! What can I say? I was 11-12 at the time. I regret it now. I still regret it. I know better. 

Still, what was on the dust jacket is what's on the actual binding as well as the front and backcover. I've seen other editions where this gorgeous illustration was on dust jacket only, so, I lucked out.

Andre Norton as undergrad studies - PART 3

I got that last rant out of my system. Now, on to more serious topics.

There are plenty of reasons to enjoy Ms. Norton. I will give the list on why I adore her.

 1. Her protagonists are often outcasts/pariahs/lepers in her/his respective community/society/world/planet.
2. This outcast often does not know what is in store for them. Then, in the middle of their woes, their destiny arrives!
3. Norton appears to have used more disabled characters than other fictional authors. Also, because her character is disabled, doesn't default them to 'bad guy/bad girl'.
4. The disability stays with the character. Whether it's in a Norton science fiction or fantasy, the disability is often a boon.
5. The disability is also not glorified but is unpleasant for the protagonist. Norton's literary descriptions of how a real-life or fictional disability can affect the character in profound ways - by their internal monologues, their physical or 'magical' limitations, she as a writer appeared to have a good grasp on portraying a disability in a realistic way. However, by the middle of the story, he/she finds out how the 'disability' helps on the quest or in the middle of a conflict.
6. Norton likes 'furries', and the protagonist will often be accompanied by either a recognizable creature (cat or dog), or, a creature native to that particular planet/dimension/world.
7. Said 'furry companion' will often be more intelligent than the protagonist and often dispels the reader's ideas about 'pets'.
8. There are clues, riddles, puzzles to solve, ancient languages to decipher. Some of Norton's best stories (Most are) read as crime thrillers or murder mysteries.
9. Her novels, short story collections, series, and shared worlds are equally populated genderwise. That means she has just as much female protagonists as her male protagonists.
10. Norton appears to like shape-shifting, polymorphism, and out-of-body-experiences.
11. The woman got me more obsessed about psychic phenomenon! In many of her stories when the protag and 'furry' companion were 'linked', it was often through telepathy.
12. Norton's villains were not the Van Dyke-mustache-twirling types. Often, they simply were philosophically/politically/socially/genetically opposed to the protagonist. And if there was 'evil', it was a forgotten source of power left on some ancient abandoned world.

In honor of Andre Norton being taught at my campus, I will have another post on the Grand Dame of Science Fiction/Fantasy!
And some pics from my collection! Take care!

[Part 4 coming up]

Andre Norton as undergrad studies - PART 2

Ok, remember that I learned from two students they are being taught about ANDRE NORTON? Both students are taking the same instructor/professor.

Here's my question...
WHERE WAS I WHEN THIS WAS BEING TAUGHT?
The answer: the 'Grand Dame' wasn't taught when I was a student back when the college was a community college! Back then, most folks didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned her!

Both my students (one for this semester and one from a previous semester) had to do RESEARCH Papers on her! One student interviewed me! My student I tutored asked me out of the blue about Norton. This is how I figured out something was amiss.

Now, I was told about the author's new website. I would have still been going to the fan-made one had my students not made me aware of what their teacher told them to use as citation!
CITATION. Andre Norton is being CITED?

I know, I know. This post is becoming one heavy rant, but, I can't help it. I feel like Charlie in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when he fears he didn't get the golden ticket! But he did! He did!

And what did I get? Well, I did get the chance to rant about my favorite late author on-the-job.
*Sigh* Why oh why wasn't she a college course when I was a student?
[Part 3 coming up]

Andre Norton Post re-posted***

[Post originally on Dec. 26, 2012]
*There is a brand-spanking-new official website for Ms. Norton. http://www.andre-norton-books.com/
*There is a new post about Ms. Norton. Link is previous post to this *Andre Norton as an undergrad studies*.
Another blog post where I mentioned her is here when discussing one of the famous spec fiction anthologies she co-edited.

When the stifling of summer changes to the cool breezes of fall and becomes the set cold of winter, I get nostalgic.

I mentioned in the last post that since I am in Second-draft mode, I am taking a more inward analysis about myself as a writer. What do I mean?

Because I keep a library in my bedroom as well as the family library in the den (sun room), this puts me in a unique position: I often have immediate or near immediate access to the books and stories that helped to shape my reading and writing persona.

Let me tell you about a lady who named herself Andre Norton.

From site: http://wishestrumpet.com

Andre Norton was born Mary Alice Norton but legally changed her name to Andre Norton because she began to publish at a time (mid-1930s) when women writing SF were very likely to have their works snubbed by the 'male establishment'.

(For more of this phenomenal writer's bio - go to her official site - created by fans, no less! ANDRE NORTON ORG:: Main Index)

She was incredibly prolific, and her space adventures involving youth, strong female protagonists, won her many readers and lifelong fans.

Originally a librarian, she seemed to know what middle-schoolers-to-high-schoolers-to-young adults were thinking, what they worried about.
Whether it was coming to grips with new found abilities, or feeling an outcast because of said abilities, Andre Norton's stories seemed to touch upon very real pre-adolescent and adolescent feelings even in fantastical settings!

After a used, tattered, coverless paperback was handed to me at 11, "Warlock of the Witch World", my imagination was lit on fire. Later, I took down every hardcover title we had on the family bookcase, snatching them for my bedroom library.

I knew then, this was the author for me!

It seemed predestined when, in Seventh Grade, an English teacher I didn't like very much, but who had recognized my gift for storytelling, gave me Ms. Norton's address while the author lived in Florida.
I never followed through, and later, health and other reasons caused my role model to migrate to Tennessee.
I can tell you I eventually did connect with Ms. Norton, wrote to her, but by then, she was growing feeble and unable to receive books to autograph, but I still have and cherish the card and letter I received from her.
It is one of my regrets that I didn't interact more with this great author while she lived in Florida at the behest of my teacher.
I would've had a longer relationship with someone I admired for so long and to tell her how much she influenced and inspired me to become the writer I am now.

Thank You, Ms. Norton, THANK YOU

Andre Norton as undergrad studies

Life is not fair sometimes. No, I mean, really unfair. Back in the almost-mid to mid-90s, I was an awkward 17-19 year old traipsing around Miami Dade Community. I was withdrawn, bookish, and by then, highly steeped into the science fiction and fantasy genres. I couldn't get enough of it and, except for a few friends and fellow art-majors, I pretty much kept to myself.

By now, I was reading Andre Norton, a living-legend sf/f author who had almost consistently published since the mid-30s. She was prolific. She churned out novels, short stories, series, and shared worlds. Her worst was better than other writers' best and I loved her books to pieces. For some reason, her works weren't often re-edited into newer editions, so, many of her stories were out-of-print. In fact, I familiarized myself with the local used bookstore in my neighborhood. It was one of only a handful where I could find Ms. Norton's works.

I have another post that I will link with this because I waxed eternal about her in it, but, I will say this: Andre Norton stories were ahead of their times in terms of style and gender-equality. Half her books had female protagonists just as the other half were male. Her writing in sci-fi was just as exemplary as her fantasy writings. She has influenced many of the speculative fiction authors over the generations. She continues long after her death.

And while I was an awkward new college student reading battered copies of her books, now in my late 30s, my community college now a 4-year, I still read her.

But there's a catch.

Ms. Norton is now being TAUGHT at my college campus...
[Part 2 in another post]

A New Movement inspires this fantasy novelist's latest book

The "Black Lives Matter" Movement inspired this fantasy novelist's newest novel. She also draws inspiration from the historical oppression of indigenous people worldwide.

Author NK Jemisin talks about her new novel

This blog post originally appeared on 12/26/12 *Sent to a new blog post*

[Post originally on Dec. 26, 2012]
*There is a brand-spanking-new official website for Ms. Norton. http://www.andre-norton-books.com/

When the stifling of summer changes to the cool breezes of fall and becomes the set cold of winter, I get nostalgic.

I mentioned in the last post that since I am in Second-draft mode, I am taking a more inward analysis about myself as a writer. What do I mean?

Because I keep a library in my bedroom as well as the family library in the den (sun room), this puts me in a unique position: I often have immediate or near immediate access to the books and stories that helped to shape my reading and writing persona.

Let me tell you about a lady who named herself Andre Norton.


[PHOTO REMOVED - PLACED ON RE-POSTED POST]

Andre Norton was born Mary Alice Norton but legally changed her name to Andre Norton because she began to publish at a time (mid-1930s) when women writing SF were very likely to have their works snubbed by the 'male establishment'.
(For more of this phenomenal writer's bio - go to her official site - created by fans, no less! ANDRE NORTON ORG:: Main Index)
She was incredibly prolific, and her space adventures involving youth, strong female protagonists, won her many readers and lifelong fans.

Originally a librarian, she seemed to know what middle-schoolers-to-high-schoolers-to-young adults were thinking, what they worried about.
Whether it was coming to grips with new found abilities, or feeling an outcast because of said abilities, Andre Norton's stories seemed to touch upon very real pre-adolescent and adolescent feelings even in fantastical settings!

After a used, tattered, coverless paperback was handed to me at 11, "Warlock of the Witch World", my imagination was lit on fire. Later, I took down every hardcover title we had on the family bookcase, snatching them for my bedroom library.

I knew then, this was the author for me!

It seemed predestined when, in Seventh Grade, an English teacher I didn't like very much, but who had recognized my gift for storytelling, gave me Ms. Norton's address while the author lived in Florida.
I never followed through, and later, health and other reasons caused my role model to migrate to Tennessee.
I can tell you I eventually did connect with Ms. Norton, wrote to her, but by then, she was growing feeble and unable to receive books to autograph, but I still have and cherish the card and letter I received from her.
It is one of my regrets that I didn't interact more with this great author while she lived in Florida at the behest of my teacher.
I would've had a longer relationship with someone I admired for so long and to tell her how much she influenced and inspired me to become the writer I am now.

Thank You, Ms. Norton, THANK YOU 

Inspiration in strange places

A B-movie fantasy watched in 1980s.
A first and second title from an author that becomes one's favorite.
An early obsession with Greek myth.
An early obsession with Sword and Sorcery ephemera.
A fantasy novel read in junior high.
Another epic fantasy series that blew the mind in high school.
These are just what is remembered that served for inspiration to the series worked on now.

Mapping one's world

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/12/how-to-make-a-fantasy-world-map-emperors-blades?utm_source=newsletter-

This Tor® Books' article is from their constantly updated website (please check it out)!
Books published by Tor are often innovative, exciting, and bear beautiful covers.
The website is an ongoing conversation with authors, short stories published nowhere else, writing reference info, etc.

The above article is by a Tor Books cartographer (mapmaking) and how he gives an authetic feel to an author's world built in the fantastic.

This piece has a special place to me. As an avid spec fic reader, nothing made me more childishly giddy than seeing a map of the world I'm reading about! I was especially excited by Shelly Shapiro's rendering of numerous classical fantasy worlds, especially for Del Rey® and Ballantine® Books. Not only did it help entrench my imagination with the 'Lord of the Rings', 'Xanth', 'The Belgariad', but even Weiss'/Hickman's phenomenal 'Death Gate Cycle'!
One thing that excited me about attending Miami-Dade Community College in the mid-90s was their library: I once found a coffee-table book of maps based on several, various fantasy series, including Oz, Earthsea, and Middle-earth! I was so taken by the thought and care it took in creating worlds only real to the mind, that I decided to use it as a springboard to ideas for my Computer Art course.
I made an early map of my feline fantasy world with color pencils and ink. Later, it was scanned, uploaded and rendered by QuarkXpress, an early desktop publishing software.
I hope I can find those early maps and upload them soon.

What ideas make a story? Part 2

I'm reworking a short story within my cat epic fantasy milieu, so I'm excited by a lot of renewed interest in the Middle East and its past and present! *that's why I immensely enjoyed that documentary "Islamic Art: Mirror to an Invisible World" (2011)* 

Whatever misconceptions you have about the Middle East, drop them! If you love hearing about Middle Eastern cultures and how they have affected every level of modern society, watch this documentary! You don't have to be an art grad as I to appreciate BEAUTY and HISTORY.

Now, about the story..

**Please find and watch this documentary**

What ideas make a story?

I mentioned in last post about an awesome (most documentaries are!) documentary I recently viewed and a wonderful article about how a short story is borne in "bits and pieces".
*Check last post for documentary title and magazine issue/page*

"The Contract" (my childhood fascination with royal lines, and my distaste towards politics)

"I Guard the Gate" (my love for Ancient Egypt, angels and dimensional portals)

"White Ministrant" (my interest in Middle Eastern culture, modern and ancient. Also, my first foray into writing a creature-feature)

"Firefly Crown" (a continuation from "The Contract" story arc, or, far into the storylines' future as well as my first post love scene. I also feel this is a "Masterpiece Theatre" - Alistair Cooke hosting, but with cats)
Onto the next post..

Cat fantasy epic..part 2

I just finished a documentary on Islamic art called: "Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World" (2012).
It reflected Islamic art through the following countries: Egypt, Israel, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Spain, Mali and India.
I am also re-reading an article in The Writer Magazine called: "Making short stories from bits and pieces" by award-winning author, Linda McCullough Moore. (The Writer/August 2012/pg 28-29)

Why am I fascinated by ancient art that continues to beguile scholars and the world?

Why am I reading an article on the technique that got me published over the years in the first place?

There is an agreement I made with myself: when drafting a piece, I need to know what kind of information I will reach for to electrify my writing.

I can't remember exact influences and inspirations in that moment and time, but I try to give a snap statement to encapsulate what space the story means.
Here is a list of my published stories and what I state within parentheses.

"Su Ling" (after a Tang Dynasty short story and that particular form)

"The Merchant's Daughter" (social commentary and I wanted to write from a vendor's point of view)
Onto the next post...

Reworking cat epic fantasy...

Finally, a patchwork of short stories that I've wanted to use since I drafted them in 2004, I'm FINALLY working on.
What could stand on its own, I gave each a single document.
What was patchy and could be grouped together (i.e. Excerpts, scraps of dialogue, brief scenes and exposition), I gathered into a single doc.
I realized some of those created an original idea I could draft. Now it's about eight pages I can work with!

Just a thought...[Addendum]

How I enjoy stories where the supernatural world affects the natural world, and how I employ this in my epic fantasy cat stories!
I learned this technique from David Eddings*(Please read my April 2021 Post titled 'Our Heroes Are Actually Monster) when I read his fabulous Belgariad series!