Pointed Squiggle

Stop Censorship No to SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

I'll be off line on 1/18/12, to join in the protest of SOPA/PIPA. Here's a video explaining why we should all be very concerned:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

A Christmas Carol: Read by the Podcast Community on Facebook

2011-12-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

I'm so grateful that I fell into podcasting. Aside from the fact that podcasting has led to my fledgling career as an audiobook narrator, it's also allowed me to be a part of a terrific community of similarly creative people. There is now a Podcast Community group on Facebook, and Douglas Welch one of the group's members, offered to produce an audio version of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol", to be read by various members of the community. Being a basically presumptuous person, I signed up for the last section.

It was so much fun! I absolutely adore reading gorgeous writing, and this is such an iconic story, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable. Plus several of my podcasting friends (Rish, Bryan, Scribe, and Tim) participated as well, and that made listening to the finished project, very special.

Click here if you'd like to hear the Podcast Community version of "A Christmas Carol".

Stories of Trae: Available as e-shorts!

2011-11-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

Every time I release something I get nervous. It's an anxious, exposed feeling which I detest. So that's probably why I haven't blogged yet about the two new short stories I have up at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. But I've gathered my courage, and now I can finally write about them here. And you can read them, if you'd like some more insight into the world and the characters of Dreaming of Deliverance. Both stories stand on their own, so you don't need to have read DoD to follow them, but they also provide glimpses of what's happening in Trae and what's made Lindsay who she is at the beginning of the novel.

The stories don't need to be read in any particular order, but I'll describe "Preston's Take" first. Preston was Lindsay's boyfriend at the time of her arrest and this is his story—where he describes what happened and why. This is one of those stories that I'm reluctant to claim as something I wrote. Do people like Preston really live inside my head? I guess they do!

I wasn't sure what Dreaming of Deliverance fans would think of it either, because it's quite different from the tone and style of DoD. No journeys to Trae, for example; the whole thing takes place in the real world. But it does tell us a lot about Lindsay herself and how she ended up in prison. And I've had a good response from the beta readers. Some said that they even understood what Lindsay saw in Preston, which pleases me because even jerks have their appealing qualities!

"Preston's Take" costs 0.99 and you can read it on your ereader, phone, ipad, or computer, and purchase it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Smashwords. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

The second story is more similar to Dreaming of Deliverance, even though Lindsay only appears briefly in it. "Forbidden Fruit" is about Anne right before she becomes a Lead. Anne is one of my favorite characters. Life wasn't easy for her, and she isn't a very nice person in her day-to-day interactions with people, but there are good reasons for that, and you can find a lot of them in "Forbidden Fruit".

Then there's Reg, whom you'll meet in this story. He's also going to appear in the still unnamed sequel to Dreaming of Deliverance, and getting to know him through writing "Forbidden Fruit" opened up my imagination and helped me figure out a lot of things that happen in that next book.

This is the story where you can return to Trae: to a new community this time—Stanlo, which I can see as vividly in my mind, as I can Parl and Guin. Forbidden Fruit is also 0.99 and is available at Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

I'm going to produce and sell both stories in audio as well. The audio versions will also be 0.99 each and as soon as they're ready, I'll let you know where you can find them.

More soon!

I'm here, just not here. Want to hear me? New links here!

2011-10-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Where the heck have I been? Well, my daughter broke her elbow the last day of August and it took a few weeks to get it treated properly. Yeah, weeks. She's a tough cookie, though, so she handled it great. Plus she ended up with a really cool cast. Did you know that it's possible to get multi-colored casts these days? Apparently, they even have leopard print, although that wasn't an option where her cast was put on.

Anyway, even though she's very stoic and an easy patient, we've still spent quite a bit of time in Drs. offices, and I've had to let some of my other stuff (namely this blog) slide. I'm usually pretty good about tweeting, though, so if you're on Twitter and want to know what I'm up to, follow me. The link to my twitter is on the right. --->

So despite the fact that there haven't been any new Pointed Squiggle entries in awhile, I haven't been idle! Several new podcasts featuring me (both interviews, and voice work) have gone live recently.

First I was interviewed by Bryan Lincoln and Abbie Hilton for their Parsec Award-winning Fullcast Podcast. We mostly talked about pacing and narration, but since we are all writers, we also talked about (duh!) writing. They are both great to talk to and it was a fun conversation!

Then I did a new Unpublishednotdead! It was unscripted, off-the-cuff, and rather therapeutic for me: I always seem to get quite candid about my feelings when I barge in on Eric's podcast, so I really appreciate him letting me. Anyway, in it, I give an update about what's going on with me and how I'm handling it. (Not always well!)

And here's another interview! It's for Abbie Hilton's Cowry Catchers podcast feed. We recorded it back in February, but she didn't want to post it until Book 3 of Cowry Catchers was complete. She talks a lot about Dreaming of Deliverance and what she doesn't like about it. Strangely, that didn't bother me too much. Maybe I'm growing! But once we finished talking about Dreaming of Deliverance, we went into more detail about Cowry Catchers, so if you haven't been listening to that excellent podcast novel and think you will some day (and you really should, it's SO well done!), skip that part because we mentioned some pretty big spoilers related to my character, Dakar.

Finally, I made my Drabblecast debut over the weekend! I was very excited to be asked to do some of the narration for the Susan Forest short story "Orange". It is an extremely well-written, thought-provoking piece, and it was pretty exciting for me to hear my narration alternating with the amazing Norm Sherman's.

I've also been writing lots and am getting so close to being able to tell you concrete details about the new Dreaming of Deliverance short stories. You'll be able to get them as e-shorts or in audio (or both), and I'm hoping to have them released by the end of the month.

See? I'm definitely still here. Just not always here. At this blog.

More soon!

Huh! Time management strategies actually help with productivity. Who'd've thought?

2011-08-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

My boss is still wimpy, but I'm taking matters into my own hands and trying to do some time management, and what do you know, I've been much more productive. But that means I'm not blogging so much. I'm on the fence with how much blogs help, from a productivity standpoint, anyway. I've always blogged for myself mostly. I know there are highly motivated people whose blogs bring in new readers/listeners, but I'm doubtful I could ever be one of them. So I blog sporadically. Thanks to the few who stick with me, despite the lack of regular entries.

Anyway, I wanted to dash off a quick entry before getting back to writing and audio editing. Why the head in the jar? Aside from the fact that I didn't know which picture to post, I think it's a good example of all of the fun/timewasting options there are out there in the world now. This was made using the "head in a jar" ipod/iphone app. So if you've ever wanted to make a Futurama head in a jar avatar of yourself, now you can! I am trying not to do too much of that kind of thing, however. I'm trying to be productive and efficient. A couple of weeks ago I watched this amazing lecture on Youtube on time management given by Randy Pausch before he died. You should check it out if you haven't already. It inspired me to make todo lists and commit to using my time more wisely (or should that be using my time wiser? hmm....). I hate todo lists but I found this ipod app that I'm using and somehow that's making it all more tolerable.

So really fast, before I get back to work, here are a couple of other links you might want to check out:

Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations by the great Mike Resnick is the latest Dunesteef story that I produced. I had a lot of fun with it. There was threat of castration and operatic sex. What's not to like? Plus it's really funny!

Then I had a role in a fullcast podcast of an incredible short story called "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. It was written back in 1909 but is amazingly accurate in some of its predictions for the future. Give it a listen.

Finally, Dreaming of Deliverance was reviewed by The Self-Publishing Review. I was worried about what she might say about it, because she has high standards and doesn't finish 90% of the books she's sent, but she read all of DoD in one day and said she missed the characters when it was over. Of course she also had areas she thought could be improved. I want to blog more about that, but for now I'm just going to give you the link: The Self-Publishing Review

Okay! I will try not to let too much more time pass before I post another entry. If I get it on my todo list next week sometime, I should be all set!

Self-employed with a wimp for a boss!

2011-07-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

My boss sucks. She's too nice! She's too forgiving! She needs to start cracking the whip around here! Yes, I'm an employee who struggles with confidence. Look at me! I'm clearly a nervous wreck. I tend to forget what I've accomplished and doubt myself. And I have a lot of other responsibilities. But still! That's no excuse for her allowing me to be such a slacker! She needs to get tough!

I have some great plans for the company. There are two short stories related to Dreaming of Deliverance that are basically finished. I have some beta readers lined up to go over them. Them I'm going to produce them both in text and audio and release out into the wild. You'll be able to read and/or listen to more about Trae and Lindsay's background. I know there's an interest. But I'm having trouble getting myself to do what I need to do. And my boss does nothing. I just have to email them to the beta readers. Why can't she require/encourage me to do it?!

Then there's what my son refers to as "The Rat Book". It's a middle-grade novel thats 75% complete. I love this story. I can't wait to finish it. I think it will be excellent in audio and there really seems to be both a need for and lack of ebooks for younger readers. But my boss hasn't given me any direction on when I need to finish it. I'm floundering here, and she's no help at all!

And of course there's the sequel to Dreaming of Deliverance. I'm getting there with it, but I still have a long way to go. However, I'm ready to start sharing excerpts: post videos of myself reading them on Youtube. I'm excited to share them. Even my non-podcast listening readers know how to watch videos on Youtube. It's going to be awesome! But once again, my employer is giving me no guidance, no timeline, no help.

So I'm turning to this blog, as I often do when I need a kick in the rear. Something about stating here what I'm going to do, helps me to actually do it. And maybe the fact that I'm spilling corporate secrets by admitting that things aren't exactly hunky dory here at work, will finally force my boss to treat me how I need to be treated!

Either that or fire me.

Description and natural settings

2011-07-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

It was so pleasant writing by the lake last weekend, that I decided to write in my backyard this morning. The backyard isn't quite as picturesque as a mountain lake, but it's still lovely. My husband grows bonsai, and our neighbor has a fountain, so it's rather peaceful and zen-like back there.

It's funny. I've gotten many compliments on how descriptive and visual my writing is, which I used to think was one of my weaknesses. It's something that doesn't usually come easily. But writing in beautiful settings helps. Being outside helps, especially since a lot of the scenes in my fiction occur outside in dramatic natural settings.

I want to start blogging about some of the settings in Dreaming of Deliverance as well as its sequel and soon-to-be released short-stories. The trees in Guin, the granite in Parl, Hoven canyon, the river, the willow, they all were inspired be real places. I don't grab characters from my real life and experiences (at least not purposefully) but I'm very inspired by nature. When I'm writing a scene, I can see it in my mind and I think that helps me describe how it looks. Also, I think my impatience for too much description in some of the books I've read, means that I only include enough description in my writing to set the scene and provide a climate for what's happening in the story. Description for description's sake isn't usually that interesting, but when done carefully and concisely, it can really help plunge the reader right down in the middle of the action.

So look for some blog entries about setting soon!

Writing Lakeside

2011-07-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

I’m up early. Sitting on the dock of a mountain lake, looking at the snowy peaks, and listening to the water lap against the shore and the occasional ski boat roar past. This morning I’m working on a short story I’ve been working on forever. My approach to writing is the opposite of a lot of what you’ll read from the writing gurus. I feel like an oddball compared to them. It’s one of the many reasons my confidence isn’t as strong as it could be when it comes to writing. I do things so differently from many other writers.

For lots of writers, word count is a big focus when they are writing their first drafts. Not for me. I understand the appeal. Word count is something trackable. You can measure your progress, mark how much you’ve written, and even share that with people in your social networks. I’ve tried to track words, but it doesn’t work for me. I’m too slow. It’s depressing.

One of the reasons I’m slow is because I don’t take the time to write as much as I should. In some ways that’s understandable. I’m a mom and it’s summer. The kids are around more, blah, blah, blah. But the main reason I’m slow is my writing process. I write and revise and write and revise. It’s difficult for me to keep churning out first draft type writing for more than a couple of pages. I have to go back and rework it until I feel ready to move on. That can take awhile. And I get stuck, not only on the level of trying to polish the writing so that it says what I want it to say in a clear, effortless-to-the-reader way, but also on the story level. It takes time to come up with stories that are interesting, compelling, and different. I like being different. I like having characters that you haven’t seen before and situations and resolutions that aren’t what you expect. All of that takes time.

Does that mean I’m a hobbiest and not serious about being an author? I don't think so. I’m not going to have several books come out a year; they just take too darn long to do. But I refuse to crank out writing that doesn’t work for me so that I’ll have a high daily word count. Maybe I take it all too seriously. But my goal has never been to put out stories just for the sake of putting them out. I want to be able to stand behind them and know that I am satisfied with them. They might not work for everyone, but they work for me. I make them the best that I can. And in order for me to do that, it takes time.

Time spent writing on the dock of a mountain lake isn't so bad, however. Now I'm going to get back to it!

Hear me narrate my own writing in "Reprieve", now live at NewFictionWriters.com

2011-05-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've been doing a lot of everything except blogging! Sorry! I continue to be chronically swamped, but nevertheless I wanted to post a quick entry about a short story of mine that is now live at NewFictionWriters.com. It's called "Reprieve" and it's the story that I submitted to Farrago: The Michael Bekemeyer Project, which I blogged about back in October.

Now "Reprieve" is available in audio format as well, and not only was I able to share the story itself, but Tony Whitford at NewFictionWriters asked me to record a "Story Behind the Story" afterwards so that I could talk about the process of writing "Reprieve".

"Reprieve" is not related to Dreaming of Deliverance, but I think you'll find that the intensity and tone are similar. It is a story that is very important to me for a number of reasons. For one thing, it was writing this story back in 2004 that gave me the courage to admit to myself that I am a writer. I can still remember what it felt like to read it over and get goosebumps. "Reprieve" seems to have a big impact on readers/listeners as well.

Another reason this story is special, is that I was lucky enough to share it with Diana Gabaldon, author of the amazing Outlander series as well as the Lord John Grey novels, at the Surrey International Writers Conference. Diana Gabaldon is one of my favorite authors and getting her in-person feedback (all of it positive!) was an incredible experience! You can hear more about that in the above-mentioned "Story Behind the Story", which now that I think of it, is kind of a mini Renée-Unpublishednotdead!

I'll be back here soon with more updates on my progress with Dreaming of Deliverances's sequel and related short stories! They are moving along!

Writing Mind Games, Cowry Catchers, Dunesteef, and Website Woes

2011-04-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

I've been a blogging slacker lately. Sorry! But on a much more positive note, I've been writing like the wind! Unfortunately, I need to play mind games with myself to get myself to write and I've had to adjust those strategies over the years as my circumstances change. So when I first started writing fiction, I wrote during nap time. Then my kids stopped taking naps and I had to adapt. That's when the 4:30 AM approach began. Lately, however, it's been tougher to get up that early. My kids are staying up later making 4:30 seem even earlier than it used to seem. So instead, I'm not letting myself log onto the internet until I've met the day's writing goal. It's working out really well so far.

In other news, I'm going to redo my website. For some reason I can't update it and since I've never really liked the way it looks, I've decided to stop struggling with it as is, and redo it using WordPress. That could take a while, unfortunately.

However, I can still update you here about a couple of new voice work projects. First, six episodes of Book 3 of the Guild of the Cowry Catchers, by Abigail Hilton are now available. If you've read this blog post from November, you know how much I love this story. I am thrilled to be a part of its podcast! Listen to Books 1 and 2 first, so you'll be up to speed, but then you can start Book 3 and hear me play Dakar, a girl that Abbie describes as both creepy and sweet. Listen to Dakar hum in episode 4 and you'll see why!

Then I produced another Dunesteef story: "Sides", by Clay Dugger. I had a lot of fun with this one. My character is creepy and not so sweet, and there are zombies, a scary lab, and lots of humor.

So although I haven't been blogging much lately, I've been busy as usual. And remember, even if I haven't posted here in awhile, you can usually find me on Facebook and Twitter, but not before I've completed my writing for the day!

My biggest narration challenge to date: The High Priest, by C. Deskin Rink

2011-03-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

The toughest story I've ever narrated is now live at the horror podcast Cast Macabre.

Why was it so difficult?

The language.

"The High Priest", by C. Deskin Rink is gorgeously, lyrically written but wow, were there a lot of words there that I had never said before.

I asked Barry J. Northern, the force behind Cast Macabre for some help with the pronunciations of the names and he connected me with C. Deskin Rink. I love it when I can interact with the writers of the pieces I voice, because I know all of the energy and thought that goes into writing and I want to do what I can to help bring their vision to the listeners.

Well, C. Deskin Rink had a lot of ideas about how "The High Priest" should sound. He sent me a link to another story that was read in the style he envisioned for "The High Priest", as well as a link to "Ankor Sabbat" a story of his podcast on Pseudopod that was set in the same world. I listened to both, and also went through the manuscript and looked up the pronunciations for every word I was unsure of how to say, then wrote them phonetically in the text. That took some time because there were a lot of words I was unsure of how to say! It was the most preparation I've ever done before reading a story.

As is typical for me, I then went through a low period. It's great to have so much input from the writer, but then I worried: Can I pull it off? He obviously cares a lot about how this story should sound and what if I fall short? Also, I write in a fairly uncomplicated style. I don't typically use unusual vocabulary. Would I be able to do his writing justice, as well as make it accessible to the listener?

But when I started recording, all of those doubts went away. True the reading wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I ran out of breath a few times, and stumbled more than I usually do. "Cartilaginous" gave me some trouble, for example! But for the most part, I loved saying all of those gorgeous words. And Barry was able to edit it together so that I sound like the whole thing just flowed off my tongue!

I've always thought of myself as someone who puts story first. Both as a writer and a reader, I want the story to be captivating. The writing hasn't been as important to me. I don't have much patience with weak writing, but usually I prefer the writing to be clear and invisible so that the story can shine through. In the case of "The High Priest", however, the language used and the elaborate style in which it was written, were a thrill to read. I loved doing it. The fact that the story is also intense and awful (this is horror, you understand, so that's a compliment) just made the whole experience all the better.

"The High Priest" is a fullcast production. Abigail Hilton, author/creator of the Guild of the Cowry Catchers (you all know how much I love that story!) voiced Bethany, the protagonist, and Bob Eccles played the part of Arden, the wolfish warrior who helps her.

This story is dark; it's poetic; it was a huge challenge for me to narrate, but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to give it a voice!

My Simple Pleasures

2011-03-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog post! I've no good excuse, just germs sweeping through the family. I've been recording and writing anyway, however, and here's some good news. There should be two DoD-related short stories that will be made available in the next few months! I'm having fun working on them, and they will answer some of the questions raised in DoD so you won't have to wait until the next novel is ready to learn more about what's happening in Trae.

But that's not why I wanted to blog today. I've been thinking about simple pleasures. I saw a discussion about them on line and got to thinking that there are so many small things in life that provide such happiness. We tend to focus so much on the big stuff, but it's important to appreciate the little things that make life beautiful. What are yours? Here are some of mine:

The quiet house in the morning before everyone else wakes up
An In-n-Out cheeseburger animal style no pickles
Running in the canyon
Sitting by a river
Reading a great book
Walking on the beach at low tide
Figuring out how a story fits together
Kitty snuggles
Laughing with my kids
Hugging my husband

Hope you're all having a great week!

More soon!

New Dunesteef Story: Check out this promo!

2011-02-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago Bryan Lincoln of the Fullcast Podcast asked me to do some lines for a Dunesteef story he was producing called "Plague Birds", by Jason Sanford. It's now live at The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, and wow, what a cool story. The production was amazing. I was really impressed. And the vomit discussion afterwards, was hilarious (albeit, kind of gross) but my favorite part of the after-story commentary was Abbie giving Rish dating advice!

Here's the Plague Birds promo. Check it out!

New from AudioLark.com: Letters from Home, written by Jo Barrett, narrated by me!

2011-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

Did I mention I'm now a pro? Yup! I've been doing some narrating for AudioLark.com, which publishes romantic audio fiction. Jennifer Feddersen, the owner and editor of AudioLark, has been terrific to work with and has given me lots of opportunities to narrate some lovely stories. Letters from Home, by romance novelist Jo Barrett is one of them.

In Letters from Home, the two main characters Phoebe and John are separated first by distance—he's a soldier stationed in Iraq when they begin corresponding with each other—then by a misunderstanding, and also by their own mistaken beliefs about themselves. They are good people who belong together, they just don't know it...yet! The story takes place in a Mayberry-like small town in North Carolina, and I really enjoyed getting to know Phoebe and John, as well as all of the other characters.

Being a writer myself, I always feel a big responsibility when it comes to narrating other writers' stories. I know all of the time, and energy, and love that is involved in shaping one's vision into words. When I'm reading a story aloud, I try to immerse myself in the world of the story, and not think about how it sounds, but instead tell the story in a way that rings true for me. I hope I was able to do that with Letters from Home.

A tiny tease...uh...I mean...an excerpt. Yeah, an excerpt!

2011-01-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a smallish excerpt from the as-yet untitled sequel to Dreaming of Deliverance.

I know, it's short, but at least it's something!

The truth is, it goes against my nature to release anything before I've finished the novel, because I will spend a lot of time revising the manuscript and who knows what will be cut or changed? But something tells me this little snippet will remain in the ultimate version.

Oh and there aren't any spoilers here, but if you really don't like to have any inkling as to what's coming next, or if you haven't finished Dreaming of Deliverance, you'll want to skip the rest of this entry.
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“You have to go back, Lindsay! They need you! She needs you! Tell me you’ll go back! I can’t stand it otherwise! It’ll blast me to powder if you don’t.”

“What are you talking about? Go back where?” I was crying now too. Somehow I knew what she meant, but I didn’t want to believe what she was saying to me.

“Go back. Go back! To them! To help them. They need you. Oh…it’s unbearable!” Her mania broke and she dissolved into exhausted weeping. I stumbled away from her, appalled. She worked her hands free and pressed them to her head on either side, like she was covering her ears trying to block out some terrible sound.

“Please, Lindsay,” she sobbed. “Please go back so I can rest. I’m so tired. So tired…. Please?”

“All right,” I whispered, returning to the bed and wiping the tears from her anguished face. “I will.”

Now on NewFictionWriters.com: "Ghost Town" written by Rebecca Wright, narrated by me!

2011-01-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Leave it to me to blog about my upcoming entries, and then my next entry isn't any of the ones I mentioned!

Oh well!

Those others are still in the works, still coming. But for now, I wanted to let you now about a story I narrated for NewFictionWriters.com. It's called "Ghost Town" and it is such a touching and engaging story. The main character, Leah, is around 13 years old and is searching for her younger brother and dealing with the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina. I did not attempt a New Orleans accent, kept it southern, but I really like how it turned out.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed reading it!

Ghost Town, by Rebecca Wright

More soon!

The 52/25 FB group, review compilation, the excerpt dilemma, and my acting heritage!

2011-01-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Happy 1-1-11!

I'm flying by to give you a heads-up on some upcoming blog entries.

But before I do that I want to remind you about our Facebook accountability group the 52 Weeks, 25 Stories Challenge. There is now a 52/25 blog and there might be a podcast. You don't want to miss out! We're getting lots of new, motivated members. It's going to be SO helpful for me, even though I'm not participating the right way: I'm not writing stories. Instead, I'm going to work on DoD 2: at least one hour a day, six days a week. I've been chipping away at it all along, but this should really amp up my progress. Anyway, I'd love to see you there, so head on over and sign up!

Also, I'm working on getting my reviews and interviews all together in one page on my web site. It's been really amazing going through them and remembering all of the incredible feedback I've received on Dreaming of Deliverance. That should be up at REChambliss.com before too long.

As for upcoming blog entries, I'm still trying to decide whether or not to post excerpts of DoD 2. What do you think? Do you like reading excerpts? Would you like a taste of what's to come?

But there are a couple of blog entries I know I'm going to do in the next couple of weeks. The first will be on running and DoD. JP told me months ago that he listened while running and I was so touched and pleased about that. Since then, I've found out that other people have also listened while running. I think that's incredibly cool and will be sharing thoughts and photos about it soon!

Also, someday I want to write the story of my actor grandparents, Woody and Erika Chambliss, and as a start, I plan to blog here about them. Neither are alive anymore, but both are very close to my heart especially now that I'm doing some acting myself. Their stories and backgrounds are absolutely fascinating and I can't wait to share them with you.

But right now I need to get back to the post-NYE clean up and then do some more writing. See you back here soon!

Happy New Year! Peace and positivity for 2011!

Happy Festivus!

2010-12-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm having trouble finding my Christmas spirit, which I think is related to being the mom and the one who makes Christmas happen in our house, for the most part.

But I'm trying to let go of my "bah humbug", Grinch-like mood and celebrate the positive of the season, which today is Festivus!

Enjoy the beauty inherent in this time of year, my friends!

More on writing fear: at least I'm in good company!

2010-12-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last entry I blogged about fear and writing. Craig wasn't sure what I was afraid of, so I decided to write a little more about it today. No I don't have a creepy guy in a black hat stalking me, like poor Johnny Depp's character in Secret Window.

In my case, the fear is less tangible, but it is a part of my writing process. I've come to learn, however, that not all writers experience it. Like a lot of fears, it isn't rational but that doesn't make it less real to me.

Almost every time I write I'm scared of trying to get what's in my head, down in words. It's not worrying I can't be good (although I've had those moments too). It's that I'm afraid of the monumental task of piecing the story together so that it works to my satisfaction. When I sit down to write, there is so much that is unknown, and I'm the one who has to face that unknown, alone. There are always a huge pile of problems to be solved, and most of the time, I worry that I won't be able to solve them. I want to solve them. I want to find the story and get it down in such a way that it resonates with other people. The fact that I've solved countless similar problems in past writing sessions rarely reassures me.

I've been writing fiction for the better part of a decade now, and it's clear to me that this fear is just part of my process. If I want to write and tell stories, I have to accept that I'm going to be afraid a lot of the time. I think it's worth it, but that doesn't make it easy.

And I'm not alone. Here are some quotes from that book I mentioned in my last entry The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes, "Page Fright" section (p. 24).

All my life, I've been frightened at the moment I sit down to write.

—Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It's really scary just getting to the desk—we're talking now five hours. My mouth gets dry, my heart beats fast. I react psychologically the way other people react when the plane loses an engine.

—Fran Lebowitz

I suffer as always from the fear of putting down the first line. It is amazing the terror, the magics, the prayers, the straightening shyness that assails one.

—John Steinbeck

Blank pages inspire me with terror.

—Margaret Atwood

See? I'm not the only 'fraidy-cat writer in the world! Wouldn't it be great if Queen Latifa from Stranger than Fiction could come and give us all some moral support? Sadly, that's not something I can count on so I guess I'll just face my fears, and write anyway.

Writing, accountability, and yes, I'm a scared little weeny!

2010-12-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

This is a writing blog, dag nab it! Or at least it was when I started it way back when. In those old days I used the blog as an accountability tool to help me finish Dreaming of Deliverance. It really helped. But I've fallen out of the habit of blogging about writing.

I need to get back to it! Well, maybe not about blogging about writing, but writing itself, for sure. More and more people are asking me about DoD's sequel, which is awesome. Plus I want to immerse myself in that story telling mindset again. I tend to get distracted by voice work, hungry children, etc., but I need to write too!

So, I'm making a commitment to write lots in 2011. It's not a New Year's Resolution. I'm not as anti-resolutions as Lipstick Lady, aka Wyo of the awesome blog Temporary Digression of the Spotted Kind, but I don't tend to set them because it's almost a cliché how ineffective they are. But I am joining a Facebook group called "25 Stories 52 Weeks Challenge". Now I'm not planning to write 25 stories this year. I'm going to work on my novels. But I will make some kind of writing commitment, whether word count or time spent writing, I haven't decided which.

What this means is that I have to face the almost crippling fear I feel when it comes to writing and story telling. Why I'm such a weenie about this sort of creating, I have no idea, but I am. I've pushed through the fear countless times before, however. I know I can do it again! Still, I'd better break out my copies of Fearless Creating and The Courage to Write. (Yes, I really get that scared of this stuff. Pathetic, huh? Probably another reason I haven't blogged about writing recently! It's embarrassing!)

So, who's with me? Kael? Craig? Wyo? Tony? Here's a link to the group, so you can sign up!

25 Stories 52 Weeks

My recording tent was attacked!

2010-12-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

You know, a lot of people have teased me about my recording tent. Some have praised the clean sound in enables me to produce, but most have mocked it.

That's okay. I accept that not everyone's ideal recording set-up includes crawling into an old Spiderman children's play tent covered with a lavender, sheep-festooned flannel sheet, and a worn duvet cover—all held together with binder clips and duct tape.

Really, I don't mind. Chuckle all you want. It looks stupid. I know!

However, the other day I came across the following disturbing sight. And this is where I draw the line, people. Make fun of it all you want, but I will not allow my goofy-looking recording tent to be assaulted!

I was shocked! It was in shambles!

Was there an earthquake? Was it the kids? No. Soon the problem became clear...

And just in case there was any doubt:

Yeah, not a lot of remorse there. And sadly, it wasn't a one-time incident. She tears it down every chance she gets.

So now I have a new pre-recording task. In addition to turning off the heater and refrigerator, moving the ticking clock to the other room, applying lip balm, making sure I have hot tea and cool water at the ready, the microphone plugged in and the lap top fully charged, I also must put the kitten in the back room and close the door before I finish assembling the recording tent.

On a positive note, I've been podcasting for over a year, but now I feel I've truly arrived! Because one thing I've noticed when listening to other podcasters' outtakes, is that feline interference and podcasting seem to go hand in hand!

Cenizas and the Ash King

2010-11-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

My first fullcast fiction production went live earlier this week at the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: Cenizas and the Ash King by Lizanne Herd.

Because I'm recovering from fighting the Black Friday crowds*, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here by describing my involvement, and instead am cutting and pasting some of my comment from the story listing:

When I offered to produce one of the Broken Mirror Stories, I warned Big and Rish that I’d never put together a full cast production and had no experience with sound effects. I was a little stressed out about that part of it because I know how much time and finesse can be put into sound effects and I don’t have the experience or the temperament to do them well. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the Cenizas experience! Putting together a fullcast fiction podcast is story-telling and I hadn’t realized that before. I always love story-telling.

The best thing about producing the story was that I got to hear the unedited lines from Big and Rish! So entertaining! And really, it was easy to edit the voice track into something that sounded good because they do such a great job with the narration and their characters. It was also fun to give lines to Rhonda, EMZ, and Kenn. They were awesome about getting them back quickly and did a great job with them! Kenn also helped me with the production–the lines that were said in unison–because I was not getting that to work. My kids had a blast doing the kids’ voices and they also liked hearing the story come together.

The crowd noise was probably the biggest challenge–well that and the sound effects for the fountain scene, which I think could have been much better. Oh and all of the spitting, which wasn’t challenging, but wasn’t my favorite part to listen to. I was provided with lots of loogie-hawking that didn’t make it into the final version!

One more somewhat unrelated thing: because it's Black Friday, that means the holiday shopping season has officially begun! I want to remind you all that the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance is a mere $9.99. Maybe you have someone on your shopping list who loves to read and isn't into podcasts. You could share DoD with them! And if you'd like me to send you a signed book plate to stick inside, just let me know.

I'll try not to be too obnoxious about reminding you about the now-inexpensive nature of the print version. I'm just exited that the price is low enough that people could give it away as gifts! And I'm really hoping that you take me up on receiving the signed book plates. I have a stack of them all ready to personalize and send out!

Have a nice, relaxing weekend!

*Okay, I didn't really fight the Black Friday crowds. I prefer to celebrate B-F by vegging all day!

The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, by Abigail Hilton

2010-11-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I'm not the best at self-promotion, and I don't always put myself out there when I should. Thankfully, I have friends who give me self-promotion nudges from time to time. One of those nudges led me to a story that has become one of my all-time favorites.

The nudge? Craig Roberston told me a friend of his was looking for people to do Stories so Far for her podcast novel and that he thought I should offer to do one. If you're not familiar with Stories so Far (SSFs) they come at the beginning of each episode, and summarize what's come before.

So I wrote Craig's friend, Abbie, and she sent me the text of the SSF she needed. It contained lots of tricky to pronounce names, but I gave it a try. One I butchered so badly, despite the pronunciation guide, that she suggested I listen to an episode or two so I could hear it. I did and was hooked. Really hooked! I've now listened to every episode that's available--most multiple times.

The Guild of the Cowry Catchers by Abigail Hilton is a full cast production that you can find for free on itunes. Book 1 is also at Podiobooks.com. It has terrific voice actors, beautiful background music, and absolutely stunning artwork that accompanies each episode. But to me story is always paramount and Cowry Catchers has an incredibly gripping story with characters who are complex and three-dimensional. There's beauty, and cruelty, and romance, and action. The premise and the plot are unique and original. It's impossible to predict what's going to happen next. Abbie also does something that I think is so difficult but makes for such great fiction when it's done well. She has a character who is basically amoral, but you like him and root for him and forgive him for the terrible things he does.

Why am I telling you about this? Well, two reasons. One is that I love this story and want to share it with you! The second is that I get to voice one of the upcoming characters! Her name is Dakar and she first appears in Book 3, which is in production right now. So start listening to Cowry Catchers and get caught up so when I start giddily blogging about Dakar, you'll know what I'm talking about!

The Guild of the Cowry Catchers is such a great story. I know you'll love it too!

Some thoughts on endings: Dreaming of Deliverance's ending in particular!

2010-11-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to blog about story endings for a long time, but I've put it off because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't reached the conclusion of Dreaming of Deliverance. Actually, I'm still not sure how to do it! I guess I'll put a warning here. If you haven't finished DoD and don't want to have any inkling as to how Dreaming of Deliverance ends, skip this post. I'm not going to outright say what happens, but you'll get a sense of the tone of the ending. Consider yourself warned!

A few years ago I was reading one of my favorite childhood books, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, to my daughter. If you're not familiar with the story, it's about a boy in the Ozarks who works for years to save enough money to buy some hunting dogs. He and the dogs develop an incredible friendship and at the end of the book the dogs are killed saving his life. (It's a little more complicated, but in a nutshell, that's the story.) So I'm reading this book to my 7-year-old daughter and she's laughing at the dogs' antics and the cute, smart things they do, and as we get closer to the end of the story I start to stress. I feel like I'm guiding her to her doom. My dilemma was, do I warn her about what's going to happen and spoil the story for her, or do I blithely go on, knowing that it's going to be rough for her at the end? Wimp that I am, I ended up telling her that the dogs would die, but that it still was a great story, and I asked her if she wanted me to finish it. She said no. We've still never gotten to the end of that book.

When I was podcasting DoD I had a similar concern. People would write to me and tell me how much they loved the characters and I'd think, "I'm sorry! Don't hate me when you get to the end!" I felt like warning people to brace themselves. But I didn't. And I know the way the story ended was tough for many.

Sad endings have never ruined a story for me. Like Where the Red Fern Grows, some of my favorite stories have sad endings: The Time Traveler's Wife, Dragonfly in Amber, Shakespeare in Love, Before Sunrise. I don't like stories that are complete downers--where there's no upside. But that's not the case in DoD. There is a lot of positive at the end, both for Lindsay and most of the other characters. It's not all bad. And with DoD, a completely happily ever after ending wouldn't have fit with the rest of the book. It's a dark story.

Besides, I don't pull any punches when it comes to story. I guess I'm brave that way. If you're one of my characters, you have to realize that I won't keep you safe, just because I like you.

Still, I apologize to anyone who was upset by DoD's ending.

One of the tough things about being an independent artist is that there's no paid mentor to ask for advice. I've wondered for months if I should come right out and reveal something that might make you feel better about DoD's ending. However, being independent, I don't have an agent or editor to consult. And my knowledgable friends, who I know would be happy to advise me, are fans of the story. I haven't wanted to ruin anything for them just because I wanted some guidance.

But I did end up telling one person something about the ending, something that I think most people missed. (It's okay that they missed it, I kept it subtle intentionally.) Then I asked her what she thought I should do: tell or not tell.

Her advice was this: allude.

So here's my not-so-cryptic revelation:

Go back and listen to the last episode. Or read the end one more time, if you're a reader not a listener. If you pay close attention to exactly what's described (and what's not described) you'll probably feel better about how the story ends.

And there is a sequel. Don't forget that. I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this month, but I do plan to do a lot of writing on DoD2. Before too long, I think I'm going to release a few excerpts from it to whet your appetite for the next part of the story. Possibly in video form, now that I have a taste of being on camera!

Yay! My post on endings is finally complete. Feeling any better now? I hope so! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or want to share your thoughts on endings in general and DoD's in particular. I'm happy to talk more about it!

The Farrago Anthology: See me on video; read "The Reprieve"

2010-10-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of contributing to the soon-to-be-released Farrago Anthology, which contains 17 pieces from different writers, all together in one ebook. Farrago will be available starting October 31 and all proceeds will to help raise money for filmmaker Michael Bekemeyer's latest project.

Michael put together the above promo describing the origins of the Farrago Anthology as well as some short videos of different writers explaining who they are and a little about the stories they contributed. Wouldn't you know it, mine is first. So now you can see me as well as hear me, and learn about my Farrago story, "The Reprieve".

Listen to my latest short story: It's sinful!

2010-10-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

This year, I had the honor of participating in the Wicked Women Writer's Challenge. Each writer received one of the Seven Deadly Sins to write a story about and then record for the Horror Addicts Podcast. My sin was "Pride", and I had a lot of fun with it.

Those expecting something like Dreaming of Deliverance, might be surprised. This is short fiction so it's not as in-depth with characters and themes as Dreaming of Deliverance was. But I do have a vivid, some would say twisted, imagination, so I think you'll find the story to be different from the norm. There's also some humor and...well...since it's horror, there are some dark moments too.

To listen to "Pretty Proud" by R.E. Chambliss go to HorrorAddicts.net. There you'll find Episode 49 of the podcast as well as all of the stories as bonus episodes. You can also find them by searching for Horror Addicts on itunes.

If after listening to the stories, you find that one struck you as particularly well done, you can vote for it to win the challenge by emailing your choice to emzbox at sbcglobal dot net. If you vote, you'll be eligible to win a super-cool prize package, so why wouldn't you vote?

A big thanks to Emerian Rich the fabulous hostess and force behind Horror Addicts, and to the awesome H.E. Roulo, another terrific author/podcaster and last year's Wicked Women Writers Challenge winner, for all that they've done to make this year's Wicked Women Writers Challenge possible!

Want to buy Dreaming of Deliverance? It's $9.99 through the end of the year!

2010-10-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I always thought the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance was over priced. But I didn't have the option to lower it. Until now!

So I'm thrilled to announce that through December 31, 2010 you can buy a print version of Dreaming of Deliverance, an actual, physical book, for only $9.99!

Click here to order it from Amazon.com!

And if you'd like me to sign it, just email your address, and who the book is for, to renee@rechambliss.com and I'll send you a special signed, personalized Dreaming of Deliverance book plate to stick inside!

Starting January 1, the print version price will go up to $13.99, which is more on par with other trade paperbacks like it. But for the next two and a half months, it's yours for just ten bucks!

And don't forget, you can also buy the Kindle or Nook ebook versions for $2.99!

Now there is a Nook edition!

2010-10-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

One of the Dreaming of Deliverance podiobooks listeners asked if there could be a Nook e-reader edition. It took a couple of months, but finally it's available!

Here's the link:

Dreaming of Deliverance, Nook Edition

In other news, the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance will be priced lower soon, which thrills me, because I've always thought it cost way too much. It's only recently that I've been able to adjust it. I will let you all know the new price, once it goes into effect.

And, I have this blog post on endings, DoD's ending in particular, that I've been mulling over for a while now. It'll be up before too long. Stay tuned. I think you'll like it!

Tri!

2010-10-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

There's been some curiosity about the triathlon I mentioned in my last entry. So for anyone wondering how it went, here are some pictures from the race. As you can see, I had a lot of fun, as crazy as that might sound!

Before the start...

After the swim...

Ready to bike...

Starting the run...

The finish!

If you'd have asked me a few years ago if I would ever do a triathlon, I'd have said, "No way!" But I think I'm braver now. I still get anxious about taking on challenges like triathlons, writing novels, and (probably toughest for me) self-promotion, but I take those challenges on anyway, because I don't want to let myself down. Also, even though I still have perfectionistic tendencies, I won't let the worry about not being perfect keep me from trying.

So take on a challenge from time to time. You don't have to "tri", but try...something you've always wanted to attempt. You won't regret it!

P.S. I'm picking up the pace on the DoD2 writing. And look for a blog post about endings, DoD's ending in particular, in the next few days!

New Fiction Writers

2010-09-15T10:59:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe it's been so long since I last posted an entry. I thought I was doing pretty well, for me, anyway.

Sorry to anyone who is hoping for more Renée blog regularity!

This will be quick too, because I have to run a few errands before I go swim. Did I mention I'm training for a triathlon? I did one last year and really enjoyed it, believe it or not, plus having an event like that to train for helps me to stay motivated, exercise-wise. I'm actually quite a lazy person if left to my own devices--again, believe it or not!

So here's the news.

Part 1 of a new story that I narrated is available for your listening enjoyment. It's at the NewFictionWriters.com, which is a terrific site and podcast hosted by Tony Whitford. I love this idea, because it allows newer writers to have their fiction podcast. Unlike the other short-fiction podcasts I enjoy (The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine and The Drabblecast, are my favorites) this one is not limited to speculative fiction. In fact the story I narrated, Kathryn Long's "A Date to Die For," is a mystery--a lighthearted, funny mystery! The protagonist reminds me of a cross between Angela Landsbury's "Murder She Wrote" character and Stephanie Plum--she was so much fun to voice!

Also, Craig Robertson's podiobook, The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo is almost complete. Have you checked it out? Heard Trudy's big scene? (I think that's Craig's favorite "Renée moment.") I'll post another voice actress recap about my experiences with the later episodes, including Trudy's breakdown, soon!

Finally, there's a new Unpublishednotdead! Eric/Kael and Joanna did it together and as usual it's thought-provoking and entertaining--although it doesn't have much to do about writing, and they really need to work on their sound quality (which I know, they know).

Okay, off to the lake. See you soon, I hope!

Prisoner of NaNoWriMo--A Voice Actress's Thoughts: Part 1

2010-08-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Look it's my third Monday in a row with a new blog entry!

So Craig's newest podiobook The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo is up and available: Episodes 1-5, anyway. I think I had at least a line in all of them. Have you listened yet? What do you think? I thought I would give a mini behind the scenes take on what's out so far.

Episode 1: We meet Piers, our hero. He's about to start NaNoWriMo and is very excited about it. His wife, Samantha, is not. I think it's so hard for the people in our lives to understand the importance that all of the aspects of writing and storytelling have for us fiction people. Clearly Samantha doesn't get it! Craig asked me to give Samantha a Minnesota type of accent, but I didn't really pull it off. She does have a distinctive way of speaking, however!

Episode 2: One of Piers's first story attempts is space opera and in his try at it I play a seductive alien named Reledma. For this one, Craig thought a valley girl dialect might be interesting. Well, I can do a valley girl accent no problem. I grew up in California in the 80s, after all. But seductive Valley Girl? That had me stumped for awhile until I remembered the classic film: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion! I channeled Romy, whom I don't think of as a particularly seductive chracter, but she has a slower way of talking that I thought could work. She's played by Mira Sorvino and actually her outfit in this picture looks like something Reledma might wear!

Episode 3: Here is our introduction to Trudy, Piers's secretary. This is my first New Jersey-ish sort of accent. Trudy doesn't say a lot in this one, but we'll get more from her later--lots more! Anyway, I like this episode because I can SO relate to trying to go through story ideas in my head and all the ways why different elements will work or not work! It's also the first in a string of disastrous personal interactions for Piers. Never sketch real-life people as characters--especially if the characters are flesh eaters!

Episode 4: Trudy has only a brief appearance here and there aren't any other female characters so I don't have any behind the scenes comments about this episode. But as a writer I can relate to trying to write in restaurants--with much better results than Piers, fortunately!

Episode 5: Ah, Imperia Brimwoe. She's gorgeous and powerful and I would love to talk like her all the time. (Maybe I'll try it at the next PTA meeting!) Also I wish I had her dress, hair, and gliding ability. After the Imperia scene, Piers has another unfortunate encounter--this time with his barber, hilariously portrayed by Bryan Lincoln. Who'd have thought books could be such a volatile topic?

So that's the Prisoner of NaNoWriMo so far! I'll write more of my impressions about it as future episodes are released!

In other news, Odin1eye wrote a very thoughtful, detailed review of the podcast version of Dreaming of Deliverance for his blog Views from Valhalla. It still blows me away that people are listening, weird as that might sound since I started podcasting it 10 months ago, but I so appreciate hearing from them. Odin1eye has reviewed most of the biggies in podcast fiction and I'm humbled and grateful to be included in his blog.

More soon!

Dunesteef: "This Must Be The Place" by Elliot Bangs

2010-08-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Now things are happening! That Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine story I narrated is now live! I really liked this story, and think Bryan Lincoln of the Fullcast Podcast did an awesome job producing it. I still haven't finished listening to Big and Rish's commentary after the story and that's partly because I'm afraid of what they might have to say, and partly because when I saw my pathetic Author Website link in their show notes, I panicked and have spent the morning doing some sorely needed updating. The site still pretty much sucks (website design is not one of my strengths) but at least it is current now and more complete.

In a similar vein, I tried to add my Facebook information to the blog and the results are less than stellar. It might not look pretty, but at least now there's a link to click on if you'd like to be my Facebook friend.

Don't forget the Prisoner of NaNoWriMo goes live this Friday. And I'm working on another Unpublishednotdead too. (And it goes without saying that the progress on DoD 2 continues! :o)

More soon!

Finally, I have some news!

2010-08-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hello, my invisible friends!

It's been about a month since my second "I'm still around" post. Pathetic, huh? But there's just been no big news. Maybe I need to start blogging about writing progress, or favorite books or something. It might be better than the empty void that's been Pointed Squiggle for the last few months!

However, now I finally have some news! There is something coming out soon that I was lucky enough to be involved with.

Craig Robertson's next podiobook, The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo has a release date: August 20, 2010! From the Facebook announcement:

Piers Langland is a mild mannered paint salesman with one burning passion. He aspires to be a famous author. Each November he looks forward to entering The National Novel Writer Month competition. To be a winner in NaNoWriMo he must write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, a tall order for any writer. Turns out, it is an especially tall order for our hero. Join Piers as he struggles to choose a topic for his novel before he can begin his epic task. Vampires or space opera, romance or pulp fiction, what should he choose? Unfortunately, the greatest object holding him back is Piers himself. Follow this hilarious tale as Piers blunders his way though one genre after another, leaving a trail of wackiness and comical disasters in his wake. Can Piers choose a topic? Can Piers finish his book? Can Piers get even one thing right without bungling it terribly? Read The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo and find out.

So a couple of months ago Craig asked me to do a role for this. And then he asked me to do another role for it. And then another. Soon I was doing (with one exception) all of the female parts.

I was an alien with an accent like we've never heard before, a doting housewife, a Romanian shot putter, a ball-busting judge, a lizard-like psychiatrist, and a seductive vampiress. Oh and I almost forgot: an emotionally fragile secretary. How could all of these characters fit into one story, you might wonder? Well, I've also been fortunate enough to hear Prisoner of NaNoWriMo in its entirety and they do! It's a hilarious story and it makes my writing difficulties seem very trivial and boring in comparison to what poor Piers has to endure. I hope you guys like it as much as I did!

I'm also writing more. The kids go back to school next week which is bittersweet because I do love having them around, but I also love having more time to write. DoD 2 continues to shape up into a very exciting and more complete form. I love this story!

And more voice work is coming soon, I'm pretty sure. But I don't have any other dates for it yet. I'll let you know as soon as I do!

No, really! I'm still around!

2010-07-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's July 10, already?! Didn't I just post a blog entry? No? Crud!

The time is getting away from me. I'm writing some, recording lots, and have plans of course, but I haven't been blogging about anything, because nothing is available yet.

Soon, I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, as for the writing, I'm working on DoD 2, which probably won't be called DoD 2, but I don't have a title yet. That's not unusual since I didn't come up with "Dreaming of Deliverance" until the book was over 2/3 written. I have a hard time with titles. I like them to have multiple meanings, which Dreaming of Deliverance does, if you think about it. Anyway, I'm doing a lot of brainstorming, outlining even for this second book, which is very different from my usual process. The story of DoD was discovered as it was written, which was a ton of fun and worked well, I think, because Lindsay didn't know what was going on. She learned things as she went and so did we.

This book is different, however, because it's where we learn answers to all of the questions that came up for Lindsay. The story is going to end with this book and I don't want to spin my wheels writing without knowing where it's going. I do have a big chunk written already, but before I continue, I need to solve some problems. So I'm doing a lot of thinking and questioning and answering. I'm learning some incredible things about the whole situation. It's really cool! So don't worry. Progress is being made, even if I'm not sharing much about it right now.

As for the voice work, I think the story I narrated for the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine should be live before too long. I can't wait to share it with you!

I'm also doing some voice work for Craig Robertson's next podiobook and that has been so much fun! You wouldn't believe the variety of characters in this one. As soon as that becomes available, I'll point you in that direction. You won't want to miss it.

Then there are three other voice work projects that should be underway before the year is out, that I will be starting soon, and should be available to you in the next few months. I'll keep you posted!

And I'm going to have a story in the Farrago Anthology! Something else that I'm thrilled about, but again, isn't quite ready. If you're curious what the Farrago Anthology could possibly be, check out this blog post by author/podcaster/editor powerhouse, Jennifer Hudock: The Power of Community I love being a part of this effort!

That's all for now, I think.

I will blog more soon.

Really!

I'm still around!

2010-06-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

I miss you guys! I miss releasing new DoD episodes! Lucky me I still get to interact with the characters as I work on the sequel. I'm toying with the idea of releasing an excerpt from the still unnamed DoD 2. Is that something that might interest anyone? Email me or leave me a comment here, if you'd like.

I'm also thinking of starting a question and answer series about Dreaming of Deliverance or anything: writing, narrating, whatever. Craig had a question about the end of DoD, that I'd love to share with you all. And if anyone else had questions I'd be happy to answer what I can: as long as it doesn't spoil what's coming!

But if you'd like to hear me read something new, that's available right now, I recorded a story written by Kenn Crawford and his grandmother Hannah Crawford, that's now live at Kenn's site. It is beautifully written and very moving. The story behind this story is almost as touching as the story itself. So be sure to check out "Steven's Song".

And I was interviewed for Podioracket's Blog Talk Radio show! It was so much fun and there were lots of good questions. If you missed it and would like to hear it, here's a link to the archive. During the interview, someone told me they liked reading about the Africa trip. I still have lots of pictures, so here's a new one for you! A dung beetle! Not the most picturesque of the African animals, but really when you think about it, they are pretty impressive!

Finally, I'm supposed to mention that I was nominated for a Parsec award: Best New Speculative Fiction Podcaster/Team Apparently that's the kind of thing that one should blog about. I'm very humbled and thankful that someone thought of me for this category. So thanks to whomever put my name forward.

There's more coming, and I will try to be better about letting you all know about it. I'm going to be doing some voice work for the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, as well as for a couple of podcast novels. I will keep you posted on the progress there as the release dates for those projects get closer!

Take care, everyone! Thanks for sticking around. Even though DoD is over, there is more to come!

Dreaming of Deliverance is complete!!

2010-05-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe it. 32 episodes, over 560 pages of text, and over 6 months of recording and audio editing, and now it's finished!

Actually, it's been finished for a couple of days, but I've been so swamped with life and other projects, I haven't had a chance to blog about it until just now!

Thanks so much to everyone who encouraged and supported me throughout the process. I had a lot of learning to do to pull it off, but I'm really pleased with the result and so glad to have had the opportunity.

Now I'm going to work on the sequel, and do some voice acting and narrating for other books. Once they are ready for your listening enjoyment, I will post about them here!

Also, it's almost summer, so the kids will be home and there will be lots of activity here for a few months until school starts up again. That might keep me a tad busy.

Plus I might be podcasting with one or two other people that have been mentioned here in this blog. Well see...

So even though the podcast episodes of DoD are at an end, there will still be a lot going on with me.

I'll be sure to keep you posted!

In honor of Mother's Day...Baboons and Ep 31!

2010-05-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! I've finished episode 31 of Dreaming of Deliverance. It should be live at Podiobooks.com soon, but I've put it up here at REChambliss.com if you'd like to listen to it right now!

There is only one more episode to go. Wow!

As for Africa photos, I had several mother/baby photos and wanted to post one of them in honor of moms everywhere. I chose this mama and baby baboon. You don't usually think of baboons as sweet and maternal, but they clearly are.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

More soon.

Tired

2010-05-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Too tired even to make a "clever" simile about how I'm like a mama elephant (and I sure feel like one sometimes!). But I wanted to post this picture, because I love it! Taking pictures of the elephant babies was tough, because the rest of the elephant family was so protective of them. They'd usually stand between us and them. But we were patient, and eventually got this photo!

But as I said in the title of this entry--I'm tired! So even though the picture could probably tie in to the rest of what I wanted to tell you, I'm not going to try to make that connection.

I've been subbing away! But I did record episode 31 of Dreaming of Deliverance early yesterday morning, and I will have it edited and up before the weekend is out.

Only one more episode after this. I still can't believe it!

Brave like an Ostrich

2010-05-05T21:16:00.001-07:00

See these ostriches? Their heads are up! There was nothing for them to fear or avoid. Or if there is they're facing it.

I'm tempted to bury my own head in the sand, so I can forget a little that I'm subbing all day tomorrow and Friday. With my head in the sand I could pretend I had the whole day ahead to record the next episode of Dreaming of Deliverance. But since the Ostriches heads are up facing reality, I guess I'd better face the situation too. I'm not going to be wimpier than an ostrich!

So I'll get up early (4:30 am) and record ep.31, before joining my lively, energetic 5th graders. Then I'll get up early (yes, 4:30 the next day) and start editing ep31 before joining my lively, energetic High School students.

Head out of sand, doing what I can to get this done!

More soon!

Proud Like a Warthog!

2010-05-04T15:57:00.001-07:00

I have no idea if this warthog is really as proud as he looks here. Maybe he's trying to fake it 'til he makes it. But I doubt it. To me he's full of confidence. Sure there's a big herd of wildebeest behind him, and he's not thought of as one of the more glamorous African animals, but he doesn't care what others think. At least he doesn't look like he cares.

I've been scarce lately, but not idle. I posted episode 30 of Dreaming of Deliverance over the weekend. There are only two episodes left!

Dead Hunt is up through episode 12, so you can hear me there.

And if you want to listen to me chat with Erk, his interview with me is now live at echoromeokilo.com. We even talk about Kael and Unpublishednotdead!

So there is lots to report, even though I haven't blogged in a few days.

I'm excited about it all, but also as is typical, a little anxious about everything too. Someday I hope to be as confident as a warthog!

Mongoose, Hippos? Yes! Ep 30? Soon!

2010-04-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, everyone!

Two new Africa pictures today: Some banded mongoose (see the baby going for a ride?) and just a few hippos.

I'm subbing all day today then heading up to the mountains for the weekend with my sister and friends. But I'll still be getting Episode 30 all ready for you. Just three more episodes left. I can't believe it's wrapping up so soon!

Africa Photo of the Day: Thirsty giraffe near Ndutu

2010-04-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Doesn't seeing what this guy has to go through to get a drink help you appreciate the convenience of taps, cups, and opposable thumbs? It's the little things...

Africa pic of the day and Episode 29 is live at Podiobooks.com

2010-04-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

Do I even need to write anything here? Doesn't the title say it all? Well, I can tell you that these elephants weren't fighting, they were playing--so cute! I took their picture in Manyara National Park. I have lots of elephant pictures, but this was one of my favorites.

As for episode 29, in case you don't have a link to the podiobooks.com listing of Dreaming of Deliverance, here it is!

Africa Photo of the Day: Lioness Near Kira Wira

2010-04-26T12:35:00.001-07:00

I'm finally going through my Tanzania pictures. Check out this gorgeous girl!

Episode 29: for those who want it ASAP!

2010-04-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Lots of delays with episode 29. I had bad karma or something, because I ended up having to record 3 different times! (Usually, I get the whole episode read in one shot.)

It's uploaded to podiobooks, but sometimes it takes a little while to go live there, so if you'd like to hear it sooner, I posted it on REChambliss.com

Here's the link.

Enjoy!

More soon!

Renée in Africa!

2010-04-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am in Africa--actually visiting the Maasai village. You can see the trinkets for sale behind me.

I'm going to try to get more Africa pictures up. It's been almost a month since I've been back--I think it's time!

More soon!

Okay, now 28 is live on podiobooks.com!

2010-04-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

So you don't need to go to the REchambliss.com link to listen to it. I was hesitant to put it there, because the site needs a lot of work. But I had it ready, and it sometimes takes a day or two after I've finished it before it can go live on podiobooks, so I thought something might be better than nothing. But it's the same audio file, so you don't need to listen to it in two different places.

I was telling someone the other day about how even though I have perfectionistic tendencies, I've had to relax some because otherwise I wouldn't be able to get the episodes out regularly. The mom-thing limits both my time and my ability to record, since I don't record when the kids are home.

Anyway, I've been wanting to improve the web site forever, but haven't had much of a chance to do it. Now that we're so close to the end (just 4 more episodes), what I think I will do is post some bonus behind the scenes sorts of commentary on REChambliss.com after the whole book is live. I'd wanted to do them as I went and have the podcast version of Dreaming of Deliverance available in two places, but it all proved to be too tricky for my meager web master skills, and I thought having them on podiobooks took priority!

Today is Monday. The kids are back in school and I wasn't called to sub. So I might record episode 29. Or I might clean the house and go to the grocery store. Decisions, decisions! I know which I'd rather do, but sometimes duty calls!

More soon!

Episode 28!

2010-04-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's not up yet at podiobooks.com, but if you want to hear it sooner, I've uploaded it to REChambliss.com.

More soon!

Episode 27 is Live!

2010-04-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Episode 27

This was a longer episode, but I wanted to give you the whole chapter. My 3-year-old niece has been staying with us so I haven't had a chance yet to record for episode 28, but tomorrow is the day!

We have just 5 episodes remaining!

More soon.

Episode 27, Runners Round Table, Dead Hunt, Facebook

2010-04-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hello!

So I'd been hoping to be able to announce that Episode 27 of Dreaming of Deliverance is live. But it's not yet. I finished it and uploaded it Saturday evening, but it hasn't been posted yet at podiobooks.com. Soon I'm sure! Thanks so much for your patience!

But if you want to hear an interview where I talk about some of the background and inspiration for Dreaming of Deliverance, check out the Runners Round Table podcast from last week. I had so much fun talking with Joe, Toni, and Leslie. They were very welcoming and had so many great questions. Among other things we discussed the fact that unlike Lindsay, I've never been incarcerated. That part of DoD came from research and my imagination.

And of course there's Kenn Crawford's Dead Hunt! He just released episode 8. Have you been listening? Things are getting dicey in Margaree. And it's doing really well on the podiobooks.com charts, which doesn't surprise me at all. It's so well-produced and is such a creepy story! I sure tried my best to do it justice with the narration.

Finally, I'm hoping to have some sort of Facebook presence soon. It will be another way that people can communicate with me, as well as with each other about Lindsay, Joel and Trae. I'm not sure if it will be a regular profile or a fan page, but I'll let you know once it's ready to go. Do any of you have a preference there?

That's about it for me. Remember you can follow me on twitter: @reneechambliss

More soon!

The Runners Round Table

2010-04-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Next week I'm going to be on the Runners Round Table podcast, to talk about runners in fiction and Dreaming of Deliverance. I'm really looking forward to it!

More soon!

Finally! Episode 25 is live!

2010-03-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a long 3 weeks, but at last there is a new episode of Dreaming of Deliverance up for your listening enjoyment!

Thanks so much for you patience!

http://www.podiobooks.com/title/dreaming-of-deliverance

A small photo appetizer!

2010-03-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

I uploaded my Africa pictures--all 2000 of them! It's going to take a while to sort through them all and figure out which ones I want to keep and share, but here's one to whet your appetite. It's a black faced monkey. They are very cute and this one was part of a group that we watched playing and foraging for a long time. They are extremely entertaining! They do have a surprising physical feature (well, the males do) that isn't visible in this picture. Think sky blue Easter eggs, and you'll get the idea. Once I finish going through the pictures I'll show you what I mean.

More soon!

Meeting the Maasai

2010-03-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

It probably won't surprise you to learn that I was not looking forward to the visit to the Maasai village. Part of that was not knowing what to expect, and part of it was the photo issue I mentioned in earlier entries. It just seemed to me that either they have a spiritual problem with having their photo taken, or they don't. If they don't, why make an issue of it? And if they do, does receiving money really counter-act a spiritual objection?

But I was more uncomfortable about the idea than opposed to it, so when the time came I climbed out of the Land Rover along with the rest of my group to meet the son of the chief. He was dressed traditionally, smiled welcomely, and spoke excellent English. He told us to take all the pictures we wanted--actually we were told that over and over again, and I did end up taking some. Then he led us into the interior of the village.

Okay, here's where I have to go on a little digression. It wasn't really a "village"--it was smaller than that--a group of huts and a cattle pen all belonging to one family. Since one man can have many wives, it ends up being a substantial group of people, but it's not technically called a village. I'd remembered the term being something like "boda", and after spending 30 minutes googling to try to find it, all I could come up with was "enkang" from this link: The Destiny of the Maasai. But the link also says that the Maasai don't have villages, and according to the people we met, they do. They even pointed out their village in a nearby valley. So now I don't know what to think! (Edited to add: The term I couldn't remember is "boma". Thanks, Peggy!)

The huts were surrounded by a wooden fence and arranged in a circle with the cattle pen in the center. After we went inside the fence, a group of Maasai began singing and dancing to welcome us. A couple of people from our group joined them. It was all interesting, but a little awkward and even the Maasai didn't seem completely into the whole thing.

Once the dance was finished, the chief's son told us to divide into groups of two and a Maasai would guide us around. My roommate and I paired up and were met by our guide "Kennedy (I'm guessing that's not his only name). Like the cheif's son, Kennedy spoke great English. In fact most of the young men of the village seemed to speak and understand English (but not the women.)

The tour consisted of Kennedy leading us around the village while the rest of the Maasai, hung back and watched us with serious expressions on their faces. First he showed us a hut being built--a stick frame half-covered by a cow manure mixture that had hardened into the hut's sides. He also took us inside one of the finished huts. It was very dark and very smoky from the small fire that smoldered constantly within. Kennedy told us to take a picture, so I did, but I had no idea what I was shooting since I couldn't really see anything. Then he led us out again, and the tour was basically over.

No one said anything to us, but it became pretty clear that the next thing for us to do was browse around looking at all of the jewelry and other Maasai-made items that had been draped over the fence of the cattle pen. I'm not much of a shopper under the best of circumstances, and didn't really know where to start. My roommate was interested in buying a spear, so she asked Kennedy questions about them, while I circled around the cattle pen trying to find something for my kids.

Before long I'd chosen a beaded bracelet for my daughter, and a necklace with a carved bone pendant for my son (he'd wanted a lion's tooth, and this sort of looked like one), and once I'd paid, I was more than ready to leave. I'm not sure why I was so uncomfortable there and I'm a little ashamed at my reaction. Maybe it's because I'm usually pretty in-tune with what's going on with people--I spend a lot of energy reading others' attitudes and body language. With people so different from me, it was hard to get a handle on what was going on with them. Also, I'm basically an introvert and so trying to interact with people I didn't know much about was difficult. But whatever the reason, I didn't want to linger so I left the huts to wait by the car while the rest of the group finished up with their tours and shopping.

As I often do when I have a little time to myself, I decided to read. So I leaned against one of the Land Rovers and pulled out my Kindle. After a few minutes, the chief's son came up to me and asked me what I was doing. So I showed him the Kindle and the screen with my list of books. The one he zeroed in on was, of all things, the dictionary. The dictionary is one of my favorite Kindle features and I told him about how easy it is to look up words as I read them. He asked me to look up his name, so I did (it wasn't in there), then he left and I returned to my reading.

A couple of minutes later a group of 5 or so young Maasai men came up to me. One of them was holding a small piece of paper that was covered with cramped writing in blue ball-point pen. He told me that he'd been keeping a list of English words and wondered if I would look them up for him in my dictionary.

Now here's when everything changed for me and all my awkwardness and discomfort evaporated. I love words. I love talking about words. It didn't matter that we came from such different places, we had words in common.

But talk about a strange experience! Standing outside on a sunny day near Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, reading my electronic book, then talking about words with a group of young Maasai men in tribal dress! That's not something that happens every day!

Are you curious about the words they wanted me to look up? I was certainly surprised by them. Here are the ones I can remember:

trajectory
dove-tail
spawned
affinity
tailor made

Not exactly what you'd expect. Where did the list come from? I don't know. If I had to guess I'd say they were words they'd come across while learning English. They certainly spoke it well, and clearly were also learning to read and write English. But I loved how much they wanted to understand. I often substitute teach at the local high school and these young Maasai were around the same age as the kids I sub. I can't imagine American teenagers being so eager to expand their vocabulary that they'd carry around a list of words they didn't know, and then approach a foreign, almost 40-year-old woman and ask her to help them learn. But these guys did just that.

We had to leave before I was able to look up everything on their list, but they were very appreciative and it certainly put the whole encounter in a new light for me and gave me lots to think about.

You expect to visit people who live without all the modern conveniences we take for granted and either think, "Wow, I'm so thankful for what I have," or maybe, "Gee, I wish I could live more simply." After visiting the Maasai, I am thankful for all I have. If I had to list everything in my life that I probably don't appreciate enough, I never would have considered the dictionary, but it really is a gift. When I want to know the meaning of a word, I just look it up: online, on my Kindle, or even using my old-fashioned, hard-bound American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary. Those young Maasai men didn't have any of those options. And the fact that they were so interested in learning the meanings of words--interested enough for the chief's son to know about it and bring them to me so they could take advantage of my Kindle and its dictionary, absolutely fascinates me. It was one of those rare moments in life that is both surprising and incredibly touching. I still smile to think about it.

I'm so glad I was able to connect with those Maasai young men over words, and I'm very impressed with their desire to learn and the way they took the initiative to find out what they wanted to know. I hadn't been very enthusiastic about visiting the Maasai, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip to Tanzania.

Home Again

2010-03-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone!

After 30.5 hours of flying, airport time, and driving I arrived home again last night. It is great to be back with my kids and husband, but I can't help feeling somewhat wistful that my Tanzanian adventure is over. It couldn't have been better (with the exception of the migraine at the beginning, of course), and I would do it again in a second! My head is spinning with the memories of everything I experienced.

Soon I will start going through the 2000+ pictures I took throughout the 11 days, and then I will be able to share some of those images with you (no where near 2000, I promise!).

And very soon, later today I hope, I will write a detailed description of my encounter with the Maasai.

But right now, I need to respond to an oh-so-familiar request: "I'm hungry".

It's been over two weeks--I hope I still remember how to make breakfast!

Making Connections

2010-03-17T21:33:00.001-07:00

I have even less time this morning than usual, so I'm going to make this brief. We leave in 48 minutes for our last day on safari. We stayed near Lake Manyara last night and saw lots more great animals. My favorites were the black-faced monkeys. They are so cute and a group of them, including several babies, played, foraged, etc. so close to where we were parked watching them. Once again I probably took way too many pictures, but it's hard to stop photographing so many great moments!

But the highlight by far was the trip to the Maasai village. I'm not going to say much about it right now because I just don't have enough time to adequately describe what happened, but I ended up making a connection with some people with such a different life from the one I lead, and it was quite an incredible feeling. It didn't happen during the official tour, but afterward. Nice tease, huh? I will tell you all about it soon, I promise!

I think making connections is so important not only in real life, but in storytelling as well. I wrote something here about my experiences as a first-timer to Tanzania that all fit together really well. I don't mean to brag, other writers I know can relate--sometimes what you are doing all connects perfectly and it's so exciting when it does.
That's something else, however, that I'll have to tell you more about in a future entry, because we leave in 1/2 an hour for Tarangire National Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarangire_National_Park) and I still need to grab some breakfast.

More soon!

Go warthogs!

2010-03-16T20:43:00.001-07:00

I'm up early this morning. I haven't been sleeping very well on this trip. I think it's because I always have so much swirling around in my head, from all I've seen, and it's keeping me awake. Also, we aren't getting a lot of exercise. Since we're spending our days driving and you can't go out for a run, say, once you get to the lodge. At pretty much every place we've stayed there is the potential to see animals right on the hotel grounds. After dark you're supposed to have someone from the hotel escort you to your room in case you meet anything threatening. But I'm not super tired, so I'm not worrying about it.

Yesterday, was my favorite day here so far--and that's saying a lot. This Ngorongoro Caldera (look, one r! I'm getting it!) is absolutely incredible. We are lucky, apparently. Doug and Nancy Van Howd, who are leading our group, have been here many times over the past 12 years and they say they've never seen it so lush and green. So it has that going for it, in addition to all of the wildlife.

As we descended we saw an elephant family. There were maybe 30 of them and they were foraging among those trees I told you about yesterday--the ones that had been knocked down. Behind them was a mountain with clouds breaking over the top. In front of them, right near the road, was a huge male elephant with one broken tusk. I could watch elephants all day. They are simply fascinating, the way they move and the way they relate to each other. It was a fantastic spot for a photo and I took lots. And boy is it something to have this immense animal so close! The guide said to be very quiet and not to make any sudden movements because sometimes an elephant will charge the car! We were very obedient, and he didn't seem to be bothered by us, just kept pulling grass with his trunk and putting it in his mouth.

We got to see so much, yesterday, there's no time to tell you everything. (I'm already 1/2-way through my computer time.) It rained some in the morning and instead of ruining the excursion it made it better because the animals were much more active. One of my favorite moments was watching a zebra scratch himself against this rock that was right near the road. He scratched his belly and his neck and the side of his head--getting into lots of uncomfortable-looking positions in order to reach everything. After a little while he was done and moved on and no more than a minute later a warthog comes over to the same rock and starts scratching himself! It was awesome! The rest of the day we kept noticing these rocks with bare dirt rings around them, clearly used by the animals as "scratching rocks". We never would have noticed if we hadn't seen them in action!

The warthogs are so cool! Later in the day we were stopped near a herd of zebra and wildebeest and a warthog family with a couple of adults and about 7 piglets. At one point a hyena appeared and started freaking all the animals out. We were worried too after seeing hyenas chomp down on that baby wildebeest carcass yesterday. And everywhere the hyena went, the animals broke and ran, giving it lots of space. With one exception. The warthogs! I took a great picture of a mama warthog, all her babies behind here, facing down the hyena. It was so impressive! The hyena was completely intimidated and ended up backing off. Go warthogs! (Although I realize hyenas have their place and are part of the ecosystem here, yadda, yadda, yadda. Still, I can't help rooting for their prey!)

We also saw some adorable golden jackal cubs, a mound of elephant poop covered with fluttering yellow and white butterflies, and the highlight, a rhino! I added many, many pictures to my almost filled-up 8 gig memory card! There are two safari days left and I have 500+ pictures remaining. I'm going to have to ration myself!

Today we are off to Manara (sp?). And we are going to a Maasai village on the way. I haven't decided yet about taking their picture...

More soon!

Best Caldera Ever!

2010-03-15T21:39:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's the only caldera I've ever experienced but Ngorongoro Crater _is_ spectacular!

It took us a few hours to drive here. We could see the mountain off in the distance, however. A caldera is like a crater, but bigger. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldera) This one is a huge bowl. The rim, where we are staying is at 7800 feet in elevation, while the floor is closer to 6000. The edges of Ngorongoro are forested and they remind me of Costa Rica more than anything I've seen here in Tanzania yet. There are vines and lots of vegetation. Although in some places elephants have knocked the trees over and what's left are just thin, twisted trunks. I thought there had been a fire a few years ago to leave them like that. But no. Our guide explained that mother elephants knock the trees over so their babies can reach the tops.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! On our drive here we saw more of the migration. It was incredible because we kept driving and driving and the wildebeest and zebra were constantly there. I know I have way too many wildebeest pictures, but it's just so interesting seeing them especially when a big line of them charges across the road in front of you and keeps coming and coming. You have to wait for a break before you can drive across!

We also saw the Maasai people for the first time, out walking, carrying firewood, and tending their goats and cattle. Wow! I've seen pictures of them before, but like everything else here, it doesn't compare to seeing them "live" so to speak. They wear colorful draped clothing, have these amazing earrings and live in huts set in circles surrounded by a thorny branched barrier (anyone who watched Survivor Africa probably remembers what that barrier looks like). I don't think I'm going to take any pictures of them, however. Most Maasai don't want their pictures taken and apparently there are some who will let you if you pay them, but it still feels somewhat wrong to me. I'm not sure why.

The descent into the crater was phenomenal. The best way I can describe it is bands of color. The lighter green of the grass, the darker green of the marsh, a swath of pink flamingos, silver shining water, the dark sides of the crater, and the blue sky filled with huge white puffy clouds. And once you're in the crater (I keep typing "crater", but I mean "caldera" I'm rushing with this once again so I'm not going to go back and fix it!) the animals come up to the car much closer than they have in the other places we've visited. They are used to the cars here, and don't perceive them as a threat. It's a very isolated protected place so there isn't much movement of animals from inside to outside and vice-versa. I was able to take a ostrich picture and did see a few rhino off in the distance, but didn't take any photos because they just would have been white blobs. We are hoping to see them clearer today.

Highlights of Ngorongoro so far include watching a pack of hyenas tear into a baby wildebeest carcass. We didn't see the actual kill, but another car from our group did and said it was quite a traumatic site. We also saw a huge group of vultures tear into a buffalo carcass. (I guess if the last blog entry theme was romance, this one is carcasses!) We also saw lots of crowned cranes, which are stunning (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/247347/5045/Crowned-crane), hippos, zebra, lions, a huge male elephant, and lots of birds. They are so much fun to watch, and the setting, those bands of color, make for some beautiful pictures.

I have to dash since I'm almost out of computer time and I want to get some breakfast before another day here. Yay! Another day here!

Thanks so much for the comments. I'm glad you're enjoying reading about it all! :o)

More soon.

One mass, thousands of individuals

2010-03-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hello from Nbutu Safari Lodge in the southern Serengeti! http://www.ndutu.com/ There is so much to report, but again I must keep this short because I don't have a lot of computer time.

I have been in the Serengeti for a week now, and have taken well over 1000 pictures! I wish I could show a few to you here. But connections are slow. It reminds me of when I had dial-up! Once I'm home, I'll upload some of the highlights.

Right now 'the migration' is passing near Nbutu--thousands of wildebeest and zebras moving across the plains. It is an overwhelming site! Yesterday I also had the privilege to see a male lion in his prime striding along looking all tough and 'don't mess with me'. There were also two female lions guarding cubs and he didn't see them, but they sure saw him and were on full alert until he passed out of sight. He was their alpha male, but since their cubs were so young (we didn't see these cubs, but I have seen some from another pride--SO cute!) they try to stay away from him until the cubs are old enough to go along with the pride.

We also saw hyenas mating! It's quite different from the lion encounter from the other day. They have very different styles. Perhaps I'll go into more detail about it later. I did get some photos of it (feeling a little creepy to be taking pictures of such a private moment ;o) but they might be too graphic for the blog!

At the end of the day we saw some cheetahs hiding in the grass. Wow, are they ever gorgeous and sleek. I'd hoped to see them take off and chase something, but nothing was around for them to hunt. Also, our guide told us that in this group of four there were three brothers all wooing one female, so their minds were not really on hunting. (Boy, there sure seems to be a romantic theme to this blog entry, doesn't there!)

Today we are moving on to Ngorongoro Crater http://www.ngorongoro-crater-africa.org/ which is supposed to be absolutely spectacular. It's hard to imagine anything topping what I've seen so far, so I'm intrigued. I'm hoping to see a rhino and some ostriches up close. We've seen the ostriches from a distance, but I haven't gotten any good photos of them yet.

So all is not only well, it's fantastic! I feel great and while I miss my family and friends tremendously, I'm SO glad to be having this incredible experience!

More soon!

Better still!

2010-03-10T03:45:00.001-08:00

No time to write an in-depth update. And we're moving on tomorrow, so I'm not sure what the internet facilities will be like at the next place, or when I can next write a good long entry, but I wanted to let you know three things real quick:

1) Thanks so much for the emails! I love hearing from you all. Peggy, I do have Afrin and I will definitely use it before my flights home. And Craig, I also have Vicodin and it does help--I'm glad to have a 2nd medical opinion about that! Mom, Dad, Marlene, Christina, Claire, Lizette: thanks SO much for your sweet emails. I wish I had time to respond individually, but I'm in the hotel's office b/c the other computers weren't working and the phone keeps ringing and they're super nice about me being here but I know I'm in their way so I need to wrap this up.

2) I'm feeling 100 percent now! Yahoo! What a difference!

and

3) We saw SO many great things today. Again no time to fully explain, but I'll share one small tidbit...

Lions mating.

More soon. :o)

Positivity

2010-03-09T05:02:00.000-08:00

3/9/10 1:00 pm

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of a positive spin to put on this blog entry. I didn't want to have it full of complaints. It seemed so spoiled and ungrateful of me to have anything negative to say--seeing as how I'm on this incredible trip to Africa. But as of one hour ago it seemed like I'd either have to lie to you or whine about the truth. I was having trouble stretching my imagination to find good things to report.

Not that there's been anything externally wrong--the other people in my group are warm and friendly. My roommate is terrific! She is clearly going to be super easy to live with and I like her a lot. The flights have all been smooth--no lost luggage--everything has been on schedule and gone according to plan. But I have felt like complete crap (sorry Mom and Kara, there's just no other word for it) since about 30 minutes after taking off from San Francisco.

It just stinks! My body is not cooperating with the stresses of travel--and that's putting it mildly. I've been getting over a cold and not long after the first flight left the ground the sinus cavity over my left eye felt like an egg that a giant hand was trying to crush into shards and goo. I couldn't do anything but close my eyes with my hand across my forehead and moan internally.

It hurt so much I couldn't eat and I barely slept the whole 11-hour flight. I took some sudafed, which eventually helped some, but as is typical for me, any head pain whatever the source, tends to morph into a migraine. And three days later, the migraine is still with me.

But I didn't want to tell you this! I wanted it all to be different. So many people have been so excited for me--it sucks that this is what I had to share.

I won't go into great detail about the rest of my trip to the Serengeti. To summarize: the flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro greatly tested my pain-coping skills. And I spent the 90-minute bush plane ride from Kilimanjaro to this tiny airstrip in the western Serengeti with my head leaning against the side of the plane, trying not to hurl.

Zebras and antelope scattered from our path as we touched down and the rest of the group was marveling at it all. I saw the animals out of the half-closed lid of the one eye I allowed myself to open and tried not to cry. I didn't want to feel so miserable here. I didn't want to have to tell you all of this.

So why am I telling you now? Why didn't I gloss over it or make up a fictitious account so I wouldn't sound so gloomy and pathetic? Is it because I'm all better now and can look back on it and laugh? Well, no. Unfortunately the migraine is lingering. (Although I really think it's on it's way out now, and thank god--no more flights for 10 days!)

I'm telling you about what really happened because it all has a happy ending. What I've been seeing and experiencing in the past 90 minutes has totally obliterated everything that came before. Bye bye negativity!

It's green and warm and breezy. Scott, it reminds me of Santa Rosa in the wet season. Peace. Pura Vida.

And the animals! Just on the 20-minute drive from the air strip to Kira Wira Tent Lodge, where we are staying we've seen:

zebra
impala
ostrich
cape buffalo
wart hogs
crocodiles
a fish eagle
wildebeest
baboons

That was just during the commute! We weren't even trying! It's a cliche for sure, but it is absolutely magical here. Thank you all who have made it possible!

3:00 pm

Right now I'm sitting on my tent's private veranda with the Serengeti spread out before me in a carpet of various shades of green. All is quiet except for the birds and insects. The sky arches blue overhead; the clouds drift by hugely serene and puffy white.

I miss you all and I wish the trip down here hadn't hurt so much but I don't think I'm going to need to complain anymore. Despite everything that's happened, my expectations of what this trip would be like are exceeded. Greatly exceeded. Blown to bits, really. Thanks to the Serengeti. Talk about positivity!

I'm so glad to be here.

More soon.

Amsterdam

2010-03-07T09:01:00.001-08:00

Did I spell that right? I've no idea. I'm super tired. The flight here from San Francisco was smooth and uneventful (yay!) but I didn't sleep much. The pressure changes on the flight were awful. I came down with a sinus headache that turned into a migraine. Yay, me. Typical, unfortunately, and I don't let them stop me but I'm sure hoping it'll be gone tomorrow.

We're here in Amsterdam until tomorrow morning, so we did some sightseeing including the Van Gogh museum, which was beautiful but kind of depressing. He was clearly such a troubled person, and so amazingly talented.

It's cool here and clear and very different from anyplace else I've been. And tomorrow will be more different still--Kilimanjaro!

The safari starts Tuesday. I can't wait! :o)

Up early

2010-03-06T04:15:00.000-08:00

I woke up at three AM this morning. Early. But maybe not too early. 3 AM is noon in Amsterdam, where I'll be this time tomorrow. So I'm already starting to adjust. Really, when you think about it, I slept in!

Some of the group are going to meet up this morning and we'll all drive to San Francisco together. Our flight leaves at 3:30. I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to my husband and kids. Two weeks feels like a long time right now.

But I am so excited to have this opportunity! I keep trying to imagine what it's going to be like in Tanzania and I just can't picture it. This site helps! There's a web cam and everything!

Serengeti National Park

My next entry should be from the plane! :o)

P.S. I'm hoping episode 24 of Dreaming of Deliverance will be live today. For those listening, I want to let you know that it's a longer episode--maybe my longest yet. So much for keeping the length consistent! There wasn't a great place to cut it, though, and since it will be awhile before I'll be able to do episode 25, I'm hoping it'll be enough to tide you over. A new element is introduced in the story this week, and let's just say in a way I'm relieved to be skipping town for awhile!

Email blog posts?

2010-03-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

This is a test, not of the emergency broadcast system, but of the "Renee wants to be able to blog from Africa using email" system.

I'm not in Africa--yet.

I'm still home using my trusty home computer. But I'm hoping to be able to write up what's happening on my trip while I'm gone, and post it here, for anyone interested. The lodges I'm visiting are supposed to have internet access available. Isn't that crazy? Internet capability in the middle of the Serengeti!

So I'm emailing this post so I can see if it'll work.

And if anyone is wondering about episode 24 of Dreaming of Deliverance...

It might not make it up until Saturday. I'm so sorry. It's a combination of me running around going nuts trying to get ready for this last minute trip, and a few technical issues with podiobooks (Evo is out of town) and Libsyn (the server that podiobooks uses).

Please accept my sincere apologies. I've always tried really hard to get the episodes out weekly, and I think I've done pretty well, so far. But there's no team of people here making it happen, it's all me, and sometimes I can't get everything done that I want to get done.

Okay, now to hit send and see if this makes it to my blog! I'm such a dork, but I find this all very exciting!

Even more rushed than usual!

2010-03-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

There's so much I want to tell you! I have a new promo for Dreaming of Deliverance, put together by Kenn Crawford, and it's a huge improvement over my original promo. I can't wait to share it with you. Also, I just reviewed Michele Bekemeyer's podcast novel, Trapping A Duchess, which is terrific. I'd love to explain why, but no time. You can see my podiobooks.com review, however, here.

Why am I so rushed? Several reasons: I am subbing for a 1st/2nd grade class this morning and then I have to finish editing episode 24 of Dreaming of Deliverance. Oh there's also the trivial matter that I need to get ready for a little jaunt to Tanzania!

Yes, really! I'll be there a week from today!

I leave on Saturday and will be gone for two weeks. This all came up last minute but it's such a great opportunity, I can't turn it down. I've always wanted to go on safari!

So there's lots to say and I'll write more before I go, but for now I have to dash!

Episode 23 is Live!

2010-02-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Yay! Better late than never, right? This is a special episode to me both because of the big turning point in the story, and also because of the kitty cameo. My cat Bristle died right around the time I was editing this section of the book, so I modified the description of the cat in the store room to look like her. :o)

Hope you enjoy the episode!

Oh, I almost forgot: The bonus episodes at REChambliss.com are in the works, and I'm going to be unveiling the new Dreaming of Deliverance promo in a day or so. Check back soon!

I'm late!

2010-02-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

With episode 23, that is. Big apologies to anyone waiting. I'm working on it and should have it finished soon. I was all set to have it edited yesterday (I usually audio edit the episodes on the weekends), but as I was working through it, I realized that I'd forgotten to record a whole page of text. Doh!

So I set up the tent this morning and recorded that page before everyone woke up. Have I mentioned that the kids have been off school since Friday the 12th? And Dreaming of Deliverance not being exactly kid friendly, I can't record when they are here and conscious.

But I can't wait to have it up and posted because things are heating up even more for Lindsay and the people of Trae! It'll be worth the wait, I promise.

Also, I'm really going to try to have the bonus episodes back up at www.REChambliss.com this week. I have been a big slacker about that, but after listening to Michele Bekemeyer's fabulous Trapping A Duchess podiobook (more about that soon!), I remembered how nice it is to have that little something extra from the author. My only excuse is that I'm still so ignorant about all the technical aspects of websites and setting up podcast feeds. But I'll figure it all out and get it up and running. Plus it allows me to talk to you all some more, and I love doing that!

Thanks so much for your patience! Now back to editing...

I'm ignoring you.

2010-02-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm ignoring you. It's nothing personal. You are awesome! But I can't think about you, or anyone else, when I write. If I start thinking about you and whether you'll like a particular character or turn the story has taken, I freeze up. And when my mean, sadistic witch of a critical inner voice imagines how badly written you'll think a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or (most horrifyingly of all) an entire story is, then I become a quivering mass of unable-to-write protoplasm.

So when I'm in story-making mode, I have to push you out of my mind. Please don't take offense. I'll give you lots of attention at other times, I promise!

Although, I just recently realized there's another time when I have to pretend you don't exist--when I'm recording. See the other day I went to itunes and looked up Dreaming of Deliverance. And to my enormous surprise (and immense excitement!) there were two wonderful reviews! It felt great because even though I know intellectually that people are listening--since recording and editing each episode is basically a solitary endeavor--I do forget that there are people downloading and then actually hearing the podcasts.

But like I mentioned in my last Unpublishednotdead podcast, even when good things happen (like great reviews!), there's a downside. And yesterday when I crawled into my tent/recording studio to read, I was super, super nervous! I kept stumbling over words and redoing phrases and thinking about how it all was sounding and not losing myself in the story. I wanted to make it good for you, the people listening. I didn't want to let you down. And by worrying about letting you down, I became so flustered and nervous that the reading sucked and because it sucked, I was in fact letting you down. Ironic, isn't it?

After a little while, I was able to forget about you and immerse myself in the characters, and the reading went as fluidly as it usually does. (Which isn't perfectly fluidly, as Kenn Crawford could tell you. He's the author and producer of the upcoming zombie podcast novel Dead Hunt, which I'm narrating. So he gets to hear my unedited reading, which is no where near perfect, but also not the shaky, stumbling mess that I initially produced the other day!)

I have to ignore you sometimes if I want to make the story as good as I can. It's not you, it's me! I love, love, love that you're listening! I just can't think about it all the time. But that certainly doesn't mean you shouldn't comment and review and ask questions.

So thank you, Min and thank you, Alusha for the fabulous reviews on itunes! I'm thrilled that you are enjoying Dreaming of Deliverance. I definitely want to hear from you. It's terrific! Just please understand that when I'm in writing or recording mode, you won't be at the forefront of my mind.

I hope you understand!

Podiobook Episode Length Disclaimer

2010-01-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

A month or so ago, I became aware that podcast novel listeners prefer the episodes of the novels to which they subscribe to be all approximately the same length: from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Well, I internalized the 20 to 40 minute part of that, but not the all roughly the same length part.

Dreaming of Deliverance has episodes that range from 12 minutes long to almost 50 minutes.

Whoops!

Now I'm trying to keep them more consistent. But being stubborn, I'm not going to hold so fast to that guideline that I break them up in ways that don't work for the story. When I was editing Episode 18, I realized that the episode I'd planned--which consisted of all of Chapter 21--was going to end up being almost an hour. So I decided to cut it into two episodes, dividing it at a point that seemed both logical and suspenseful, and also happened to be halfway through the chapter.

The episode I just posted is the first part of Chapter 22. It's going to be shorter than the second half, but from a story perspective, its ending point is a more logical (and again, suspenseful) place to put in a break.

Anyway, I'm hoping that from Episode 18 on, the episodes will all be more consistent in length, not perfectly consistent, but better than what's come up to that point.

Huge apologies to anyone who was bugged by the length variety earlier on. What can I say? I'm still learning!

The Boom Effect

2010-01-20T05:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I logged onto Twitter and read some shocking news. Tee Morris's wife Natalie had died unexpectedly. Now I don't know Tee personally, but I certainly know of him. He is the first person to podcast a novel (Morevi). In addition he is one of the founders of Podiobooks.com, and co-wrote (with the other founder, Evo Terra) Podcasting for Dummies, which I've relied on heavily ever since I decided to try my hand at podcasting.

So without Tee Morris, there probably wouldn't be so many novels being podcasted. There certainly wouldn't be a podcast novel version of Dreaming of Deliverance. He's a founding father in the podcast novel world.

But more importantly, he's also a real father: of a 5-year-old girl whom he refers to online as "Sonic Boom."

When you become a mother, you have to face many new fears. One of the biggest I've faced, is the thought of what would happen to my kids if I died. They have many people who love them, and I know that ulitmately they would be okay, but no one wants their children to have to deal with even the smallest hurt. And what could be more devastating to young children than the loss of their mother? I really can't allow my mind to go there and imagine the pain and loss they'd experience. It's too scary.

But Sonic Boom is living that reality. Her mother is gone. And her dad, Tee, is now faced with the prospect of raising her alone.

When the podcasting community learned of this tragic situation, they responded in a big way. You know how when someone you care about is dealing with a big loss, you wish you could do something to make it easier for them? Well the podcasting community is doing something. They set up a "Chip In" account to help Tee with funeral costs, and enough was raised that the excess was placed into a trust fund for Sonic Boom to help with her college expenses someday.

Now Phillipa Ballentine, my favorite podcast novel author, is orchestrating a fundraiser called "The Boom Effect", where lots of great and sometimes one-of-a-kind items will be auctioned off on line on February 27th. The proceeds will go into Sonic Boom's trust fund.

I'm donating a signed copy of the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance. So if you've been listening to the podcasts, and don't want to wait to find out what happens (we're about 1/2-way through with the story now), you can bid on DoD. Or if you were considering ordering a copy anyway, bid on it at the auction. I will pay to ship the book anywhere in the world.

But there's much more available. Definitely go and check out all that everyone has donated. I'm sure you'll find something that you'd love to bid on. It won't give Sonic Boom her mother back, or return Tee's wife to him, but you could end up with something really special, and by participating in the Boom Effect, you will help make things somewhat easier for Tee and his little girl during this terrible time.

Thanks so much.

I'm testing my voice...

2010-01-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

...this week. I recorded every day while the kids were at school. Both for Dead Hunt, and for Dreaming of Deliverance. I think I need to look into the proper way to read aloud, because my voice is feeling a little strained. But I don't think I'll be able to record much next week because Monday is a holiday and I'm subbing Tuesday and Wednesday, so I wanted to get a lot done while I could.

I'm really enjoying narrating Kenn Crawford's novel. And I'm REALLY enjoying only recording, and not having to do the audio editing! He gets to edit out all of the retakes, loud intakes of breath, and lip smacks. You never realize how many extraneous noises you make until you have to listen that closely to yourself. Although, there's something to be said for reading your own words and knowing how to pronounce everything. Dead Hunt takes place in Nova Scotia and the names of the various locations in the story don't exactly trip of the tongue of this west-coaster. I've even been forced to learn how to pronounce a Gaelic phrase. That was interesting!

But I'm still not writing, and that sucks! I've got to figure out how to squeeze it in!

I'm going to try to get better...

2010-01-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

...about updating this blog! So here are a couple of quick items:

If anyone is anxiously awaiting episode 17 of the Dreaming of Deliverance podcast, it's coming! I'm sorry it's late but it should be up tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!
I am going to do the narrating for Kenn Crawford's podcast novel, Dead Hunt. I'm really excited to do it! It's quite a story--super exciting and scary! Listen to this creepy promo! Yikes!
Finally, I'm really wanting to get back to writing regularly again. It keeps getting pushed to the end of my super long to-do list, and I have to move it up to the top. As I mentioned in my last Unpublishednotdead podcast, writing helps me feel more centered about life in general. Plus, I'm starting to get some questions about the sequel to Dreaming of Deliverance. It's in progress, and will happen, but not soon enough, especially if I'm not working on it!

That's about it for now. Remember, you can follow me on Twitter: @reneechambliss

I'll be back soon!

It's up!

2009-12-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

My latest Unpublishednotdead, that is.

Check it out here.

And here's the link to that Anne Lamott article I mention.

Thanks, Kael, for letting me make myself at home. I'm glad I don't have to knock.

A New Unpublishednotdead is Imminent!

2009-12-12T09:12:00.001-08:00

I recorded it in the early morning yesterday by the light of the Christmas tree. :o)

See? That's where I was sitting on the couch. There's the towel on the table sopping up the spilled water. There's my sock-covered microphone and pantyhose pop filter!

What on earth am I talking about? Well, listen and find out! Although I guess I don't explain the pop filter this time: that was in my first UPND. In this one, I'm trying to be little r more than I have before (and I explain what that means). I also talk about my super-conflicted feelings concerning self-publishing and self-promoting and the realization I've finally come to that makes it all easier to handle.

I'll add the link as soon as it's live!

Talk to you soon!

Finished...

2009-12-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

...writing my next Unpublishednotdead podcast! Hoping to record it today or tomorrow.

We've had two snow days, but the kids go back to school today. Snow days are a novelty here, because it just doesn't snow that often. It was fun, but I'm ready to have a productive day centered around my stuff.

So I'm going to wrap this up, so I can ship off some signed copies of Dreaming of Deliverance, and with luck, record some UPND!

Hasta luego!

Promo!

2009-12-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, enough whining! Check out the promo for the DoD podcast.

It's here!

Social Networking Blues

2009-11-30T11:26:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged in awhile. I think it's because I started tweeting a little over a month ago. That means posting at Twitter.com, if you weren't already familiar with the lingo. It's a good thing for an author to do, apparently, and should help get the word out about me and Dreaming of Deliverance.

But while I have found some good information from others' tweets, and have connected with a few listeners to the podcast novel version of DoD (which is SO fabulous!) for the most part Twitter is completely stressing me out!

There are people who tweet all the time. Funny tweets. Informative tweets. Tweets that promote their work.

I'm trying, but it's hard not to feel like the little awkward girl at a party who jumps up and down in the corner and squeals, "Notice me! Notice me!"

I respond to the tweets that pique my interest or make me laugh. I congratulate people who tweet about their accomplishments. I try to self-promote in a way that will attract potential readers/listeners and not annoy or worse repel them. But often I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and not doing enough.

My calmer, more logical side says these things take time. The majority of the people I follow on Twitter are new to me--podcast novel people mostly. I'm guessing the longer I'm there, the more real connections I'll make. And I have had some great interactions! One of the tweets I responded to last week, led to a new listener, who just wrote a great review a podiobooks.com. (Thanks, Kenn!) I get to communicate with people from all over the world, and gain insights into the minds and experiences of veteran writers and podcasters. All of that is really, really positive.

But still...to me Twitter is a microcosm of the internet as a whole. It can be very useful and entertaining, but it can also be super-stressful and a huge time suck.

And now that I've written about this here, I have to decide: Do I tweet about it? Is this something I want to admit to my 100+ followers?

It's why I haven't blogged lately, because most Twitter users tweet about their blog entries and I'm not sure my blog ramblings are tweet worthy--especially one about Twitter insecurity. I don't even have a "Follow me on Twitter" button here on Pointed Squiggle or at REChambliss.com.

Guess I'd better get going on that! I'll add it to my chronically lengthening to-do list.

But in the meantime, if you want to follow me on Twitter, search for "reneechambliss". I'm there. Trying to get to know people. Trying to connect about reading, writing, podcasting, and independent authordom. I see the value to Twitter, I really do.

So I'll also try to stop jumping up and down in the corner.

Well, duh! Post an excerpt!

2009-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

So while perusing information on self-promotion yesterday I came across something so obvious, I can't believe I never thought of it myself.

When you're in a bookstore, or in the library and you see an appealing book, what do you do? You pick it up and open it and see if the writing style and tone appeal to you.

But when you're shopping online you can't do that. So an author with a book for sale online needs to have an excerpt available, so that online shoppers can virtually pick up the book and flip through it. Duh!

So, I've put up Chapters 1-3 on my author web site. You can either read them right there at the site, or download a .pdf version. And I'm hoping to get an excerpt at the Amazon listing too.

I'm slow sometimes, but I can be taught!

(And yes my neck still hurts! I need to find a good masseuse, I think!)

Pain in the neck

2009-11-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

I have such a pain in my neck. It's from sitting hunched over my laptop. Writing? A little. But mostly it's surfing and tweeting and trying to figure out how much promotion to do for Dreaming of Deliverance.

I remember when my former boss introduced me and my co-workers to the web. It was back in the mid-90s and he was telling us what we could do with it and all of the information we could find. "But you have to be careful," he said. "It's a real time suck." No kidding! I could explore self-promotion non-stop. There are so many options. Facebook fan pages. Twitter. Good Reads. Amazon author pages. Creating an on line presence in various forums. It's hard to know what to focus on, and where to stop. Because, although I know marketing and promotion are necessary--for any author, really, but especially for an independent author--I have other things I want and need to do. Like write, for example! Aren't I supposed to be a writer? So we're back to trying to find a balance again.

I'm going to podcast about this--today, maybe--at Unpublishednotdead.

Oh and if you want to check out Dreaming of Deliverance at podiobooks.com, you can! It's up here--episodes 1-7, anyway. And I had my first comment the other day from a podiobooks.com listener. Thanks so much, Gail!

Coming soon to podiobooks.com...

2009-10-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

...this intriguing, compelling novel called Dreaming of Deliverance!!

The whole reason I started this blog way back when was to motivate myself to finish the first draft and now there's an actual physical book that people can buy, Kindle people can download the Kindle version, and starting Monday, October 26, podcast novel listeners can download free audio episodes at podiobooks.com!

Wow!

I'm not very good at pausing and thinking about my goals once they've been achieved--I tend to focus more on whatever I need/want to do next--but today I am going to stop and reflect on all that's been accomplished since this blog began.

I'll say it again...

Wow!

Slacker be me

2009-10-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

So ungrammatic, but so true. (And if you were wondering, "ungrammatic" is apparently not grammatically correct either!)

Actually, to give myself a break, I'm not a slacker in general, just when it comes to updating this blog, because:

Now you can listen to Dreaming of Deliverance, the podcast novel version, episodes 1-4!

Check them out at:

REchambliss.com, click "Hear DOD" and you should find them. If not, let me know!

I'm having a lot of fun recording these. I hope you are enjoying listening to them!

Tranquility Has Been Achieved

2009-09-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not complete tranquility, but I am much calmer today.

The triathlon was great! I swam, I biked, I ran! And I'm definitely doing it again next year.

As for the website podcast glitch, it appears to be resolved. I still need to figure out how to get the podcast on iTunes, but one thing at a time, right?

So if you want to listen to Episode 1 of Dreaming of Deliverance, the podcast version, click here. Then click on "Dreaming of Deliverance Episode 1 + Bonus", and you should be able to hear it. Let me know if you can't.

And let me know what you think! :o)

Where Renee Freaks Out Again

2009-09-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

I'm freaking out! Again! Fitting, I suppose, since I haven't freaked out in awhile and that used to be the theme of this blog way back in the early days. I'd freak out, and blog about it. But then, I stopped freaking out as much and also got sick of writing about it, so that's why there aren't so many entries these days.

But today? Ick! The anxious adrenaline is flowing.

Why?

Two reasons. One is that I just can't get the web site to work as I'd like. The first podcast cuts out half-way through and I have no idea why. So I'm trying to figure that out because some wonderful supportive family members have been getting the word out about Dreaming of Deliverance's availability and I want newcomers to me and my web site to have a good experience, not a frustrating one where things don't work as they should.

The second reason? Tomorrow I'm doing my first triathlon. I just got back from the "1st Timer's Clinic" and now I'm a big nervous mess. It's going to be tough and I don't know how it's going to go.

And I just want the web site to work!

Bleck!

I'm going to give up in a minute and go home and rest up for tomorrow. So for anyone who is checking this blog out for the first time? Please bear with me! I've figured out quite a bit about this independent publishing thing so far, and I'm sure I can figure this out too! Come back in a couple of days when I'll probably be nice and calm again!

I'm out there and I'm LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT! (Not really, but I am out there.)

2009-09-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm basically an introvert--not the type of person who likes to be the center of attention. But because I'm independently publishing Dreaming of Deliverance, I need to put myself out there. So I am. And it's a little uncomfortable, but it's also kind of exciting because now Dreaming of Deliverance is available on Amazon! And I have an author web site! And the free podcast version, and the Kindle version should be ready soon!

So feel free to check out my brand-spanking new author web site REChambliss.com. There you will find links where you can order a print copy of Dreaming of Deliverance. And it will also be the place to go to find out when the podcasts will begin--soon, I promise. The podcasts are my next priority now that the website is up and running.

Anyway, I'm out there! There's no getting around it. Tell me what you think. I'm winging a lot of this, so if you have any suggestions for how I could make the site better, let me know!

Goodbye, scary 80s rocker Renée picture!

2009-08-24T09:08:00.001-07:00

Where's my pride? I can't believe I've had that guitar picture up there for so long. Although, I guess it's not gone for good, but at least it's not still at the top of the page!

Anywho, things are fine. I'm moving along with everything Dreaming of Deliverance-related. The print version is close. The first podiobook episode should be released before too long. I'll have a web site within the month. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get DOD on Kindle. That's proving to be somewhat tricky!

As for Unpublishednotdead, I have no idea what's going on with it. Eric/Kael has been quiet lately. I'm hoping there will be something new there soon, though.

School started last week and I've already subbed twice. So life is typically busy, but what else is new?

Return to Squaw

2009-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's not a good idea to return to the past.

For example, I probably shouldn't ever look like this again:

Okay, I never really looked like that. I've been playing with Yearbook Yourself 2009. Although, my sister has some pretty scary photos of me from the 80s, the era of big hair, that I'm hoping she burns soon. It wasn't a flattering decade.

Anyway, I'm back at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, and it's cool, but kind of weird too. I'm not doing the workshop this year and I like that I can attend the panel discussions, and craft talks without the pressure of giving feedback and the worry about my own writing being critiqued.

But at the same time, it's odd to be here, but not one of the participants. In some ways it's exactly the same as it was last year. I see all of the same kinds of people (including my type--horrifying as that is) but I'm looking at it from the outside, instead of experiencing it from within.

Okay, that sounds bizarre. And I don't think it was a mistake to come here, like a mullet and Crue t-shirt would be a mistake. But it is...strange.

I must think more on this!

Rats?

2009-07-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Despite being incorrectly thought of as "vermin" by many people, pet rats make great pets! I could go on and on about why that is, and how they are very different from wild rats (for one thing they've been domesticated for 100 years and have had all of the aggressiveness bred out of them), but since this is a writing blog I will restrain myself.

Anyway, here are our first pet rats: R2D2 and his brother, who shall remain nameless for the time being. Sadly, neither is with us any more.

And here our are current pet rats: Pikachu and Chester.

Now if, as I say, this is a writing blog, why post rat pictures? Listen to my latest Unpublishednotdead podcast to find out!

The Cover!

2009-07-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Check out the cover to Dreaming of Deliverance! I'm so pleased with how it turned out!

We still have a ways to go before the book is available at Amazon, but seeing the cover design is making it seem all the more real. It's going to be an actual book! Very exciting!

The "Renée Way" doesn't work at all!

2009-07-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

I tried, I swear! I brought my microphone up to the mountains last weekend and stole away from the family for an hour so I could record a new Unpublishednotdead.

But although Eric thinks my podcasts are fairly spontaneous, there was some planning involved for those other two--planning which I didn't have time to do for this one. And it showed. It stunk--and bad!

So the "Renée Way" was completely ineffective. Now I'm working more on my notes, and I'll record again in the next day or so.

It's got to turn out better than the incoherent babble I produced on Sunday. There's no way it could be worse!

1st Proof

2009-07-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

I saw the digital proof of Dreaming of Deliverance last week. So cool! I loved how they had the interior laid out and the cover was very close to what I had envisioned. I'll see the revised cover next week.

As for podcasting, I'm hoping to record a new Unpublishednotdead this weekend. With school out for the summer, my uninterrupted recording options are limited, but I'm hoping to carve out some kid-free microphone time in the next day or two.

I've got quite a bit to say.

As usual, Kael's latest podcast triggered many, many ideas. And wow, he was super complimentary. I guess I'll have to be nice to him next time. (Won't be difficult. As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan!)

And have you heard his Reno Show podcasts? Take a listen! If you've ever checked out my links list, you might recognize the "Lipstick Lady"; although her name is different, the clever, thoughtful commentary and humorous insights are very much the same! She's become a regular feature, and I love that!

Soon the kids will go to theatre day camp for a week and while they are out of the house I plan to go on a podcast novel recording spree! I'm still hopeful that the first several podcast episodes of Dreaming of Deliverance will be ready at the same time the print version becomes available at Amazon. But there's lots to do first! As is typical, it's a trick to work all of this out, but I'm determined, and have lots of experience squeezing writing-related activities in amongst everything else.

So with luck, by the end of the summer, my first novel will be released into the wild.

Yikes! (And yay!)

The Story

2009-06-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't freaked out on this blog in a long time, although that used to be the theme of most of my entries.

I still panic from time to time about the writing and wanting to be good enough, but I stopped posting about it because I just got tired of repeating myself. Plus I don't fall into writing-related shame-spirals quite as frequently as I did in the past.

But lately I've been bogged down by all of the decisions that need to be made throughout the process of getting Dreaming of Deliverance produced as a podcast novel and as a printed book. There are SO many things to think about. And I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I want to make the right decision and spend more time than I should analyzing all of the options related to each decision.

For the print version there's the cover, the interior design, the author photo, the acknowledgements. For the podcasted version there's bumper music, audio software, microphones, storage space. But what has me bogged down at the moment is marketing. How to get the word out about the book. There are lots of creative ways to go about it and I have some ideas for what to do, but ick. I don't like thinking that way. When I'm in a low-confidence phase I think why would anyone be interested? There are so many books out there. So many forms of entertainment.

But as I've said before, what's the most important for me, what got me started writing fiction in the first place, is story. Story trumps everything else. I adore burying myself in a good story. I adore burying myself in my story. So that's what I'm trying to focus on. The story. It will appeal to others. I get to share it soon, and that's really cool.

Next week I'll receive my digital proof of the print version, and with luck, will carve out some recording time. I'm also thinking about doing another Unpublishednotdead podcast.

I can't let myself forget about the story, though. In the end, the story is the reason for all of this.

Feedback Frenzy

2009-05-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

When you put yourself out there, whether it's by blogging or podcasting or publishing your words in some way, you open yourself up to feedback--especially, I think in today's technology-enhanced world. Thanks to the internet, people can voice their opinion on virtually anything, and often voice it anonymously. I think this makes many people bolder and blunter than they'd be if they were expressing themselves in person.

Like anything, there are positives and negatives to all of these blunt opinions flying around cyberspace. If you're trying to decide what kind of web hosting site to subscribe to (which is something I'm shopping around for right now) it's great to read other people's thoughts on the services they use. On the flip side, learning someone's negative opinion about something you've written or said, can be tough to take.

What's prompted this blog entry? Kael, who's asked for comments for awhile now on his Unpublishednotdead blog entries and podcasts, is now getting some and they aren't all filled with praise. I think it's awesome, personally. It shows people are reading and listening and are invested enough in what he's done to take the time to write a comment. But I also know from personal experience, that it can be hard to find out that not everyone thinks everything you do is fabulous.

But it's part of what happens when you share yourself with other people. You have to be willing to hear or read what they have to say about you. And then decide how much of what they have to say you are going to take to heart. Sometimes feedback, even really negative feedback, is exactly what you need to hear to make your work that much better. And sometimes, the person who's giving the feedback is clearly a big jerk who's opinion should be disregarded right into the trash. The tricky part is having the courage and self-confidence to not only let other people say what they'll say about you, but knowing how seriously to take their input.

I'm not worried about Kael. He is getting a following and I think that's so exciting and I know he'll be able to handle all that comes with it!

Lots to say, little time to say it

2009-05-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

Quick update, you invisible friends of questionable reality.

The print version of Dreaming of Deliverance is underway and should be available in 3 short months!

I recorded a test episode of the podcast version and it went well enough that I'm ready to start recording the book for real. The podcasts should start around the time the print version is available.

There is SO much to learn about all of this. I'm taking it one step at a time, but it gets overwhelming. Next step is to write the back cover copy. Then I take on the intimidating, but oh-so-important task of setting up an author web site, which needs to be up and running once the book and podcasts "go live" (that's podiobook lingo, I think).

Meanwhile, I'm trying to work on my kids' book, I'm subbing an average of a couple of times a week, and doing all the house/kid/wife stuff.

Tired?

Yes.

Stressed?

Yes.

Trying to squeeze too much in?

Probably.

Things should get both easier and harder soon. School is out in less than a month, so no more subbing for a while. But that also means the kids will be home all day every day.

But now at least I can scratch "Update Blog" off my list!

Gotta like validation!

2009-05-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hey!

I came across this article this morning. It's more validation that going independent can be a viable option.

And both the podcast novel and the print version of Dreaming of Deliverance are getting closer to completion. I'll try to be better about keeping the blog updated on their progress.

Right now I'm working on the cover design and recording the first five episodes.

Exciting times!

More soon!

Hear me defend myself!

2009-04-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

I guest hosted at Unpublishednotdead again!

This time I did not sit in the tent/recording studio, which I described in Podcast 11.

It's kind of stuffy in there.

Plus, I was really rushed and didn't think there was time to set it up.

I also didn't use my state of the art pop filter:

I don't think the lack of tent affected the sound quality too much, but I wish I had used the pop filter because the pops are definitely noticible. (Pops are bursts of static that occur when the speaker says consonants like "p" or "k" into a microphone.)

Anyway, my newest Unpublishednotdead podcast is Podcast 14 and even though I recorded it a couple of weeks ago, and Kael only just put it up last night, it's still worth a listen.

I respond to his insults in Podcast 12. I go off on him! And I get extremely rude and mean!

Well, not really. But I do defend myself.

I also discuss:

a great writing conference I attended

my thoughts on writing classes and conferences in general (they're not always good)

and where I am with my indie publishing plans

So, if you have 20 minutes and need something to listen to to take your mind off doing the dishes, say, check it out!

I've been called out!

2009-03-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

So Kael's done his first Unpublishednotdead podcast since I recorded my guest episode, and as usual he doesn't pull any punches! According to him, I'm ordinary. And he questions what's going on with me that I'd curse in my writing but not in my regular conversation.

If you want to hear it, click here, although I have to warn you he's kind of blue so it gets a little depressing. But since he was temporarily blinded in another horrific on-the-job injury, I think we should cut him some slack.

But will I, when I do my next podcast? Or will I respond rigorously and defend myself in a cruel, detached manner?

Well, knowing me, I probably won't be cruel and detached. But stand up for myself? You can count on it!

My First Podcast!

2009-03-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

Kael, creator of the always-entertaining, and somewhat unconventional Unpublishednotdead.com, has graciously allowed me to invade his space and do an Unpublishednotdead Podcast!

I had a great time recording it, and got in some practice with the recording equipment and audio software. (One thing I realized, I still have a lot to learn!)

In the podcast, I talk some about the Squaw Valley Fiction Writers Workshop, which Kael and I both attended last summer, as well as my plans for going independent in order to get my stories out in the world.

Oh, and I also describe my extremely high-tech recording studio.

You can find it by searching for Unpublishednotdead on itunes (my episode is Podcast 11, but while you're there you should check out the others as well) or by clicking here.

Happy listening!

Janet Fitch

2009-02-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

One of the writers who was on staff last year at the Squaw Valley Fiction Writers Workshop, Janet Fitch, has a blog, which I've added to my links list.

Fitch is the author of White Oleander and Paint it Black, both of which are quite dark, but are also incredibly compelling stories and gorgeously written. They are definitely worth reading.

And she was great at the workshop last year. Her afternoon session on dialog was terrific and very helpful. I also loved that in person she didn't seem like someone who'd write dark books. She was friendly and down-to-earth and came across as very together--not tortured and angst-filled like so many of her characters.

Why would that appeal to me? Because I don't seem like someone who'd write dark books either! In fact, someone who knows me and just read my novel, was surprised at how dark and profanity-laden it was. ("I didn't know you had such a potty mouth!" were her precise words.)

That's something that non-writers don't seem to get about us story-tellers: we make things up.

Writing fiction gives me the freedom to be anyone, act like anyone, explore any issue, imagine what it'd feel like to be in any situation. I get to set aside my compulsion to be nice and do the right thing all the time. I can act like a jerk. I can experience terrible hurts and tragedies without really experiencing them.

It's great to pretend to be another person! It's a freedom that's probably limited to kids and actors and spies.

And fiction writers!

Anyway, I really liked Janet Fitch's blog. Check it out. Read her books. And she's going to be at Squaw again this year for anyone who wants to see first-hand that one doesn't have to seem like a dark person to write dark stories.

The Digital Age of Literature

2009-02-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Have you, imaginary readers out there, seen this article from Time?

Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature

There are more options out there than there used to be. Sure times are rough in traditional publishing, but that's not the only way to get one's story out into the world.

More to come....

Developing Calluses

2009-02-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

I could learn a thing or two from this guy.

Talk about thick skin and perseverance and belief in one's writing!