Writing Wednesday – Guilty, Crazy, Panicky, Lazy edition

I’ve barely been writing. My ‘Writing Wednesday’ updates are to keep myself honest, in line, and on track, and I’ve completely derailed. To the point where I was too guilty to post Writing Wednesdays for a few weeks.

Partly, it’s Orlando. I’ve got three major writing projects right now—the novel, Triad Soul, my village novellas, and another joint author project. The third project involves a character I was allowing myself to write for the first time: a guy dealing with the aftermath of losing control of his body to violence and hate. Now, it’s an upbeat, fun, sexy story, but I wanted to have the character be realistic, and delving into his head is like stepping back in time and after Orlando?  I just can’t seem to. I can’t find that “upbeat, fun, sexy” feeling. The love interest of the character is a cop, also, and after the raid on the NYC beach, I’m not feeling particularly sexy thoughts about cops, either.

I’m also having trouble catching the village vibe. Especially after Toronto Pride (which, for the record, I support the actions of BLM-TO) and all that it has brought out in “my” community, I feel cynical, and jaded, and bitter in spades, but that feeling of solidarity and strength? Not present. So I open the file, look at the pages set in my fictional version of the queer village and… Nothing. They’re supposed to be a little bit magic, cheerful romances with a light tone, and… I’m not there.

Triad Soul hasn’t ground to a complete halt, but it’s stuttering at best. I’ll have a day (often with a writing buddy who’s been dropping by) where I get 2,500 words out, and then days of nothing or negative or less than a hundred.

The foot isn’t helping. I don’t think I’ve mentioned here, but I managed to roll my foot while walking the dog, and a week later, although it had felt better in the meanwhile, it ballooned up. I went to the doctor, got X-rays, and it turns out I did a number on it. I’ve got three more weeks of wearing an air-cast. So I’m not having my nice long head-clearing walks with the dog. I feel lazy. And guilty. And panicky.

So. No word counts. No updates on the writing front beyond “not so much.”

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The Crazy

That said, the Crazy Canuck Canada Day Blog Hop is still underway. Seven authors, eight prizes (including a copy of Light by yours truly), and you’ve got two more days to enter.

You enter the individual giveaways at each individual author’s site, which I’ll list here. There are posts to read and comment upon, and a Rafflecopter link to work with.

If you want to win said copy of Light, you need to go read this post, and make a comment there.

Here’s the short-version list of the other authors taking part, and the prizes they’re offering.

Which blogs? What prizes?

• PD Workman – Summer is Short on the Prairies Canadiana Prize Pack, including paperback copy of Questing for a Dream
• Jessica Subject – a paperback copy of Alien Next Door – the Complete Series
• Romarin Demetri – A Mirror Among Shattered Glass
• Lisa Emme – a signed copy of Home Again
• Nathan Burgoine – a copy of Light
• Kayleigh Malcolm – $20 CAD Amazon Gift Card
• Cori Vidae – a paperback copy of Rough Edges

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Open Calls I Know About (and find tempting)…

• Animal Magnetism – Tales of men drawn together over their love of animals, JMS Books, Deadline: July 31st, 2016.
• This Wish Tonight – Holiday M/M Genre romance, Mischief Corner Books, Deadline: August 15, 2016.
• Over the Rainbow – Fairy Tale Retellings, Exile Editions (note: Canadian requirement), Deadline: August 31, 2016.
• A Scandal in Gomorrah: Queering Sherlock Holmes – Queering the canon or something more transformational, Lethe Press, Deadline: January 1, 2017.

Don’t forget to check the Lambda Literary site for more calls, as well as the Queer Sci-Fi calls for submission page (always a trove!)