New Projects

Kind of a short post today. My P.A and I came up with a new project that's eating most of my limited attention span. It did give me a good chance to think real hard about saliva though, and so I almost threw up.

That's always a good sign, isn't it?

I'm going with yes.

Anyway, I should get back to it, hopefully there'll be more details I can share soon.

Outlining Outlining And Furthermore, Outlining

Today we are spending the day with the outlines of a couple of projects. When I was a younger, lazier Aki I didn't tend to do much in the way out outlines and tended to just let my projects grow in whatever direction they saw fit. These days, however, I like to think I'm a wiser Aki and have learned the merits of a good, but flexible outline.
Nothing works for everything and there's a good chance that what works for me won't work for even most people, but this is my blog and I'm going to share my method for outlining.
Start simple, have a vague idea of what you want to have happen and write that down.
"But Aki," I hear you cry, "surely I don't need to write down the basic premise of the book I'm working on before I outline it"
Yes, you do. You will get up to make tea and it will be gone forever. Write it down in three different places.
Then decide how you want your work to be divided. With Diary I knew I wanted to tell and apocalypse story in three parts so I treated each section like its own novella. With most books, this is just going to be by chapter.
Start with Chapter 1 and have an extra document for brainstorming, the brainstorming doc contains everything, your cool idea for the middle, the gripping hook that came to you in the shower, spare characters, everything. Your outline starts with chapter 1. Figure out the main action for chapter 1 and jot that down, leave yourself enough wiggle room to add things while you're actually writing it but make sure it's detailed enough that you have a clear map of where you're going. Then do chapter 2, building from what you've written in chapter 1. I like to start with five things per chapter, but again, mileage may vary.
When you're done with your outline, keep it close, tinker with it, if you see places to add foreshadowing jot that down. Go in and change things as you see fit.
And that's Aki's quick and dirty guide to outlining.

Resurfacing after a long dark sleep

Hey all, sorry the blog has been inactive for so long but I'm really a very boring person and was having trouble thinking of what to put up. Unfortunately for all of us, the left hand of God, my P.A. has informed me that I need to get back into the swing of updating this blog more often. So I'm going to, because I fear no force on Earth the way I fear them.

Things have been slow, but I've been working, plugging along at a number of projects that will eventually bear fruit. Hoping to have good news for you all in the near future.

Yep, Still Bad At Updating

The Booksigning went marvelously! The folks at Title Wave are phenomenal and I seriously can't recommend their store highly enough. It's cozy and close but even I didn't feel crowded. I've been invited back for Banned Book Week to do another reading and another signing.

Other than that things have been kinda slow. I've been working on my health but there will hopefully be some good news about Nibelung in the near future. So look for that!

Book Signing: The Night Before

So, tomorrow is my first book signing as part of an Earth Day event here in town. I'll be at Title Wave Books with some other offers, signing copies of Diary In The Dark and lusting after other people's knowledge as is my wont.

Honestly, pretty excited. And also pretty pleased that it's with other people. The venue isn't huge but it gives me a chance to get my feet wet before I do anything like this on my own. So that's good.

We printed out some booklets with one of my flash fictions --Feeding The Beast-- that I'm hoping people enjoy. I'll put it up here after the signing so it's available.

Tomorrow is going to be long, but tomorrow is going to be worth it.

Consignment! As Though I Were An Actual Adult!

I'm bad at updating this blog! Oh well! A couple of terrible exciting news points concerning, as it says in the title consignments!

Diary In The Dark is available on shelves at select stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Currently you can find it at Bookworks in Los Ranchos (which, by the way is a treat? The whole store is packed with books and feels comfortable and close but not crowded despite the intense foot traffic? I fell a little bit in love with it while I was there) and as of tomorrow it will be available at Title Wave Books (Menaul and Wyoming, tucked back into a side street. Also delightful. Indie bookstores are some of the nicest places to just be.) 

In other possibly more exciting news, I will be having my first booksigning at Title Wave on Friday, April 22nd. It looks like it's going to be me and about seven other local authors so definitely a good place to hit up. You can see my shining, smiling face (and my newly dyed hair, it's purple and gold now), pick up some books and talk to some other New Mexico Authors.

Looks to be pretty damn rad.

I'm Getting Married

Not really writing related, except that he inspires me to actually work and has always looked at this as a "real job".
On Sunday I asked my boyfriend to marry me. We'd been talking about it for a while, but that didn't make my nerves any stronger. I stammered through the entire proposal at the museum in the witness of my sister, my dad, my best friend and a couple of dead dinos and he said yes.
So, yes. Very exciting that.