Diverse Pages Giveaway

Everyone's invited to enter for a chance to win some really great books (Neverlove and They All Fall Down are in the mix).


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love the Shiney

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday.I had a lovely and relaxing day.

Now for a quick note: A new shiney idea has been brokering its way through the ranks vying for attention. I've got a couple of other projects demanding my focus now that I (Rayven) finished the Confessions series - boxed set coming soon.

So for a few weeks, I may be a tad bit, uh, what's the word...hmmmm...fickle in the blogosphere as I buckle down and work things out. There should be no need to put up one of these:

I'll get back to something slightly resembling a regular schedule as quickly as I can :-)

My Writing Process

Carrie Butler of So, You're a Writer, Forward Authority and The Mark of Nexus fame tagged me in this interesting meme, er, game. I don't normally get to do these but this is one that I'll have to jump on.

The Questions

 

What am I working on?

I just finished my Confessions of a Sex Fiend series written under my Rayven Godchild pen name so I'm working on a story I plan to republish and beginning work on my third story in the Shadow Jumpers series, published under my name.

How does my work differ from others of its category/genre?

This may sound a little egocentric, but my characters are mine, well, mine and the readers'. I built an afterlife-twining-with-now-life that may be similar to other stories but have their own rules of engagement.

Why do I write what I do?

Something that is easier said than explained is how I love different genres and adore the chance to write them. I think it's the world building that attracts me to fiction overall. Whether it's fantasy, steampunk, sci-fi, dystopia or otherwise, there is a new world to discover and to bring forward to myself through the act of fleshing out the story then publishing it so readers can enjoy it.

How does your writing process work?

Often, it is observation leading to inspiration. Most times, I let the idea marinate for a while. It bounces around in my head shaking loose new little tidbits I can add to the concept and build out the premise to something with steam. Then I get to brainstorming questions to build out more to the "new idea" so that I have something to work with.

Once I'm ready to write, I sketch a skeleton outline to give me an idea of the various turns on the writing road I want to take. From there, it's muse-driven. So this also means that even with a skeleton road map to follow, I may take detours to discover great plot angles to deepen the drama, draw out the tension and really go crazy.

That's the first draft.

After some revising, rewriting, beta reading and more revising from feedback, then more reading and editing and writing...yeah, a few washes later, the draft should be at a pretty good point to bring it out to the world. 

In Time for the Weekend

Here's a Rayven Godchild announcement:
Confessions of a Sex Fiend: Bound to Collide is OUT NOW!
The FINAL confession...

~ ~ ~ Chancellor Baltimore left the escort agency life for a few good reasons, but the main reason: Neela. Now she’s back…and understandably angry. After making her way into his retreat and in his face seeking the truth, they both discover there’s a whole other truth they must deal with…and the truth…oh yes…it sets them free. ~ ~ ~

This episode is all about confrontation:
Confronting anger
Confronting desire
And confronting the need binding Chancellor and Neela on a collision course that was inevitable.

Let’s enjoy this tale of a sex fiend as Chancellor continues to break the rule that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Shhhhh! Don’t tell anyone. It’ll be our little secret…

Buy links: Amazon | Smashwords

***This may be the last confession, but I doubt it will be the last we'll hear from the geek-extraordinaite-turned sex-fiend.***

Getting to the Goal

Goals!
I love making them and meeting them. However, I have my moments when me and the goals I set for the month don't quite mesh lol!

For the month of March, I had the following goals:
*Publish Confessions of a Sex Fiend: Retread Bound by March 7th - Done :-)
*Get Confessions of a Sex Fiend: Bound to Collide revisions done before spring break - Done :-)
*Get CoaSF: Bound to Collide to editor - Done :-)
*Enjoy spring break! - yeah, just worked the day job and had fun with my Chipmunk
*Review Secret Lilies for repub - Uhhhh....
*Begin first chapter of Shadow Jumpers third book - Okay...see...what had happened was...yeah, no good excuse

Although I prefer meeting all of my goals, I'm okay with what I got accomplished. My April goals have been penned on a pretty pink Post It note and stare me in the face, along with a short grocery list thus far :-)

How did things go for you in March with your writing/reading? Have you made any plans for April?