Now I own a museum issued litho of Flaming June. Not a full sized one. That thing’s huge. But a very decent sized one that hangs on my wall above the television. It’s possibly one of my most favourite pieces of artwork.

Hannah sent me a beautiful picture of a man that reminded me of this painting. Not sure of the photographer meant that to happen or if it is just the composition and colours that did it for me. Either way, gorgeous composition. I’ll put zoom on it so you can see the details.

I have a lot of art in my house. Not all of it classical. Or rather not traditionally classical. I have a few James O’Barr. A LOT of Ursula Vernon. A Ren Ung and a few other pieces by varied artists as well as photos. The walls here are chaotic at best.

But see, it gives me such… colour.

What are some of your favourite pieces of artwork? Something you’ve seen on the internet? Something you’ve purchased on a whim? *grins*

Well kiddies. It’s been a long week. Lots of stress…mostly real world stuff that really should just resolve itself but it’s not. So over it looming over me. Wish me an immense amount of luck please. I need this bout to end. *nods*

That being out of the way, let’s talk writing.

Fish and Ghosts has reached the halfway mark. I’m rather liking it. Hoping to have it done in a couple of weeks actually which then brings us to…

DIRTY LAUNDRY

To say I’m apprehensive is really kind of undermining the glass butterflies shattering themselves against my brain and stomach. When writing, you kinda pretty much do it in a void. Because of timing, I don’t have any real numbers on how my books have been doing over this past quarter. I’ll know more in a couple of weeks. I mean my backlist went from 1 book in 3Q12 to pretty much close to 5 in 1Q13 (if DSP accepts W&W by the end of the month). Sinner’s Gin was really only on the 4Q12 books for two weeks.

So how do you tell if your backlist is doing well while you’re waiting for numbers? You pretty much don’t. But! It definitely is the time to interact with people who want to discuss things like books or writing.

So… what would you all like to talk about? What seems to be the style of writing you find yourself gravatating to these days? Mind candy? Hard core thrillers? Love stories with parakeets? Share.

Or even better… what are you LONGING to write?

And now since I haven’t posted anything odd in a bit… Here’s a Gay Brazilian Twerking Crew. Okay maybe not odd but you know… different.

Problem with the internet is you get to hear all us writers whining. Okay so you get to hear me whining. Isn’t that fun? Heh.

It’s the beginning of March in Southern California and I’m looking at a bright blue sky. We’re probably going to be in the mid to high Seventies today… temperature not decade and I am about 10 songs and 1 epilogue away from ending Whiskey and Wry.

So, where do we go from here?

It’s been a rough year. Laid off, conventions, convention stress, family issues, personal boo-wigglies and whatnots made for a rough Year of the Dragon. Harsh really. Some floundering and a near skipping miss of crazy. Trust me. I’ve danced enough on that razor edge to know when I’m about to suck its edge and cut my soul.

While coffee can’t cure everything, it does help.

Year of the Snake has started and a job has to be on the horizon. Starbucks could be hiring. Hmmmmm. *grins* I’m not successful enough to do this writing gig full time and let’s face it, the cat’s gotta have his insulin.

But on the writing front, what’s after Whiskey and Wry?

I’m going to dance off field and scribble up a contemporary/semi-paranormal before heading back to Cole and Jae. I’ve been immersed in killing, blood and angst for a bit and kind of need a break. In between Dirty Laundry and Whiskey & Wry, I’ll probably be self-pubbing Black Dog Blues since there’s really not a LOT of love for Kai in the publishing world. BDB doesn’t have enough smex in it (yet) to pub to the romance section and he’s too bisexual/gay for indie fantasy press. Or maybe he just sucks but damn it! I like him. *grins* So I’ll put him out there so he can at least breathe and say he’s out there. So that’s on the horizon. There will be sex in it at some point. Dunno when but it IS a series. *grins* So hopefully soon. Or maybe he can have a quick romp towards the end of the book.

This is why I write. Because I can’t leave well enough alone.

There will be laundry. And the side wall to our yard is being redone. I have coffee, a lovely almost chocolatey dark roast with crème brulee creamer. Really, life isn’t that bad. The dogs are asleep and the cats are off basking in the sun someplace.

The good thing about this year… well one of many things… has been all of you. Really. If you’re reading this, thank you. Fucking thank you. I keep saying I couldn’t have gotten here from back there without you and I mean it. You all are like pop rocks. Fizzing bursts of surprising fruity goodness.

So thank you. And I’m off to write songs for this damned band. *grins*

How am I feeling? Kinda contemplative. I’m kind of giving the hairy eyeball to people who profess to know everything about child abuse survivors. Especially where molestation happened.

In Sinner’s Gin, Miki has sex. A lot of real-life child abusees have sex. In reality, a lot of teens who have been sexually abused as children adapt their behaviour to flirtation and promiscuity because it was a form of affection and attention they were groomed for. My own personal experience aside (’cause yeah, that’s there), years of working in Juvie as a counselor pretty much drove that little point home. It’s a confusion, mental mess that no ONE person has the answers to. Everyone deals with it differently.

Some people don’t deal with it at all.

Yeah, Miki’s going to have sex. He might even have therapy someday. But not today. Doesn’t want it. He’s not ready.

But if you yourself been abused and you’ve reached the point where you need to talk about it or heal, please do so. Please reach out to someone. Survive the experience. Do not let someone in your past…or present…victimize you. Kick them in the balls… even if it’s only in how you think of them.

Come on out the other side. We’ll cheer you on.

Everyone at some point weighs in on bad reviews. There are so many opinions about reviews I can’t even go into all of them.They range from “I can say anything I want because I bought the book” to “I can defend my book because I’m the one who wrote it”. Some people believe an author should never contact a reviewer in any way shape or form while others feel that a review is a good way to discuss good and bad points in a book with a reader.

Personally, I do try to thank people for taking the time to review my books, even if it’s a negative review. They paid for the book…hopefully… and read it. I can at least say thank you for their time, even if the book wasn’t to their liking.

Because well, not every book is going to please everyone.

I’d be a fool to think otherwise.

But what does a review actually do for an author?

Sometimes, they hurt.

Now that’s not something to be ashamed of saying. They do hurt at times. Sometimes it’s like choking down fiberglass and then following it with a glass of water from the Dead Sea. I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’m untouched by someone saying one of my books was a DNF or if they pan it to the point of wondering why someone hasn’t cut off my fingers so I never write another thing again.

The human creature usually fixates on the negative. Or at least I can probably say the writer brain does. There may be ten positive reviews but the one scathing one stings. It worms its way in and sticks there like a tapeworm.

For some writers, it’s hard to find the fortitude to ignore it or kill it. Some people feed it more negative thoughts until it grows and bursts inside of them, poisoning the entire body.

And see, there are also some people who review things with that end in mind.

I’ve run across those people. They read a book then delight in tearing it apart, stating pet peeves or trope dislikes as if the writer purposely wrote the book solely to offend them. Those are the reviews that should not be fed. You can usually recognize them. They’re usually long and sometimes rant or they get personal. I’d caution anyone from engaging those reviewers. There’s no good that comes from any of it.

Because ultimately, the whole point of discussion is that something good comes of it.

Even if a review is bad, I try to be gracious. Sometimes I wonder if the person read what I’ve written or if they understood what I was trying to communicate. Expressing that will get a fire hose of “well if that’s what you meant, you should have written that” thrown back at you. Not worth losing your skin over but it still hurts.

Because let’s face it, the reader isn’t just buying a book, they are buying months of a person sitting down and writing something down. That person might take things very much to heart, regardless of the fact that they are a writer and put their book out there. They’re still a person with flaws, hopes and doubts. Does that mean this writer should attack people who didn’t like their book? No, not at all.

Do I hope that writer deals well with the pain of that rejection? Yes.

When we write and that piece is published, we’re asking everyone to the prom. That’s pretty much what it is. We’re asking a roomful of people to dance with us. Some people are going to say no. Others are going to say yes. And of the ones that say yes, there are going to be a select few that will knee us in the metaphorical balls out in the middle of the dance floor then run back to their friends and laugh.

That is when the writer needs to breathe, take control of themselves and get back up. Continue dancing. Continue taking the risk. Keep going to different dances. Try out new things. Wear new clothes. Explore the possibilities.

Oh, and maybe wear a codpiece. And no, not one with spikes… just a codpiece. For those kicks to the balls. Because nothing will lessen the intent of the blow but you can lessen the impact.

Just don’t drink the punch. It’s probably not spiked and God knows, sometimes you need the booze to make it through the prom.

There is a belly rub toll in our living room. Prepare to pay when crossing.

No book of mine is EVER going to be worth 37 dollars, much less 69 USD. What the hell are these people thinking? Really, these are prices for used copies of Sinner’s Gin. Used. I fear what they’ve been used for. God, I hope no one is actually ever contemplating purchasing these.