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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

My recording tent was attacked!

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

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

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!

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"

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!

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!