Category Archives: craft

Now what?

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2482580_blogSo I’m in that weird limbo where I’ve finished a project and haven’t picked up a new one yet. The first draft of my novella, Warrior Bride, is done and shipped off to be ripped to shreds by critique partners. The betas of The Dragon and the Pearl have come back and I’m getting those edits in.

I’m going to be a big girl and send both of those to my agent this weekend. I don’t know why I’m so scared. Actually, I know exactly why I’m scared. It’s like when mum used to always tell me to do better on the next report card. Then one day I brought home straight A’s and mum was happy — but I knew I wasn’t going to get to drop an A ever again.

I’m sure it’s not that dramatic. Mum/Gail will still love me if I bring home a B, right? 🙂

Well, so I have two choices right now as I wait for revisions. I can drag out the dusty first manuscript I ever wrote, Intrigue of the Dragon Court, of which very little of the old manuscript gets to remain. Including the title. Even that has to go. The thought of editing that scares the bejeebies out of me.

Second choice: I can fast draft something totally unrelated. Now here’s where my writing weird comes out to bite me. Nothing is calling out of the ether. I’m always afraid the next idea won’t come. I hear other writers lament about how they have all these ideas tugging at them and here I am, no plot bunnies anywhere. Here bunny, bunny…

Star Wars and Kurosawa and the Cantina

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This is a very misleading post title. I suck at titles and having to think up blog post titles would be too stressful if I didn’t just go with the first thing that came to mind.

It’s very commonly known that George Lucas was influenced by Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films when creating the original Star Wars trilogy. In particular, The Hidden Fortress, which has a sword wielding general escorting a defeated princess through enemy territory. So my title is misleading because I’m not going to add to this discussion too much.

I’m writing this historical novella which opens at a noodle stand in a little town. By the way, if you’ve ever been to any country in Asia, you know the food stand/restaurant/tavern is everywhere.  I’m loving how fun it is to write this story, but then I got worried. Butterfly Swords has an early scene set at a dusty roadside tavern. Am I being too cliche?

Then I started daydreaming of a space story that I drift to off and on in my head. Where do I open that story? A space tavern.

Which takes me back to the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Soup stand, tea stand, and then a spectacular tavern battle.

Serenity – The Maidenhead tavern where River gets triggered.

By now I’m feeling better. I think back to my trips backpacking through Europe. The only places we knew to go that weren’t in the tour book were bars and cafes. All you had to do was order a drink and no one could say you didn’t belong there. That’s where stuff has to happen in an adventure story.

So I’m going to relax and embrace the cliche. I’ll ask for forgiveness once the story is finished.