Heather Fluck Winn's Blog

​                Working on developing a writing project when you are *ahem* bi-vocational (meaning that you love writing and want to write full time but need to also eat and have clean water because apparently your body will shut down without these things?) is a series of fits and starts.
                It’s understanding that being creative requires attention to detail and time and being unwilling to compromise on either… but being unable to give them in unlimited quantities. Reading over a single paragraph ten times to get just the right punctuation, just the right words, just the right ‘feel’ is time consuming. You must choose to either feel good about putting out volume or quality. With other things vying for your attention, you cannot have both.
                It’s understanding that your success is directly connected to your ability to pick yourself up, again and again, when you fall short of your goals. Often, no matter how hard you try, other things get in the way of your writing, and these things NEED to be done. Even when you make it a priority to write, five “important” emails and an unexpected meeting at work can blow up the best of intentions. You need to accept that failure to write, and try again the next day (or the next month).
                It’s understanding that sometimes silence doesn’t mean that you have nothing to say, you just can’t say it right away. You have to hold onto your own value, the fact that what you’re trying to say, the story you’re trying to tell, may be on hold, but that doesn’t mean that it has lost value. You just can’t work on it now. You still have a message.
                I have had a challenging past few months professionally, and that has gotten in the way of my writing. And I mean any writing of any kind - obviously. Now that I’m back in my work-in-progress (dredging through the sequel to ‘Assigned’ to get ready for layout and formatting), I have to constantly remind myself of these things.
                I’m very excited to be getting ready to release ‘Queen’ in the next few months, and I’m enjoying the editing process (probably more on that later). I hope that you’ll enjoy it, too, but, more than that, I hope that somebody who needed to hear that they need to brush the dust off and get back to their dream-lay-dormant will read this.
                Just because you’ve had to wait doesn’t mean you’re done.

This is not me. I probably don't look this together in the classroom.      As I write this, I'm sitting on my couch, enjoying the sacred long weekend. It's Monday, and I get the day off to reflect on the greatness of some dead, white, slave-owning men. God bless America. I'm also carefully watching every model of weather forecast as a storm may or may not be dumping s school-cancelling quantity of snow and ice at the optimal these-roads-are-impassable time. I'm optimistic.
     I'm taking advantage of my day off to get some writing done, I mean, some actual, pop-on-the-headphones-and-forget-the-outside-world writing. 
     As a teacher, I consider it a service to my students to take this time. No joke. I do have a list of things that need to be done to prepare for my week educating and molding young minds, and I'll get to that, but this writing thing needs to be on my list as well. And I have a very sound reason.
     It sucks to be in education right now. And just by saying that, I'm opening myself to a world of criticism from some members of my community. For some of these folks, I should be grateful that their tax dollars support me. Please don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I am able to help support my family with what I make in the classroom. I am not complaining about the amount I am paid. 
     For that matter, I'm not going to go through a list of the problems in education right now. As with any societal issue (and, let's face it, public education is a societal issue), there are layers and layers of problems. I'm not necessarily equipped to answer to all of them. I can only speak to my experiences, but, from them, I CAN confidently say that all teachers need a creative outlet to keep themselves healthy.
     Originally, I got into education because it was an outlet to work with kids. And working with kids can be messy. It's exhilarating to solve problems on the fly, it's challenging to try and meet students' needs, it's empowering to think that I can impact them for the future through something that I say or a challenging discussion. 
    Since I promised to not address the problems with education, I need to stand by that. Let me simply say that there are fewer and fewer days in which I am able to solve problems and more and more days in which concern over testing and numbers dominate my day. The data is an ever present factor in everything that I do, and every decision I make has to be able to answer to those test numbers. Gone are the days (or, at least, severely minimized) when a teacher can simply say that he or she knows in the gut that students are enjoying something or struggling with something. Teaching is much less about creativity and much more about meeting state, federal, and local mandates.
     Therefore, I have a mandate of my own. Some people need to be creative. Humans need hobbies, we need things to work on and relax with that will fulfill and challenge us when our jobs do not. I would argue that the teaching field has traditionally attracted creative people, and I am certain that I am not the only one leaving my workplace feeling the change from the creative field I fell in love with. No matter how the school has changed, as long as I am in it, I owe it to my students to keep trying to help them. I also need to acknowledge how the landscape of my career has changed, and it has changed away from the inventive, open ended, and stimulating.
     This means that writing, for me, has become more important.
     People come by writing through a variety of channels, and it may be possible that those channels are often therapeutic. I can not encourage enough other teachers to give yourself the time to tell your stories. The stress of the job does not show any sign of abating soon, and, regardless of what that stress can be attributed to, Publish, don't publish, solicit agents, never send out a resume. But write. And make time to do it, don't just pick away when you get time - you and I both know that you don't just get time. 
     Finding an outlet for the drive that got you into teaching is important. I will continue to encourage other teachers to continue fighting the good fight in their classrooms - and that means being fulfilled yourself. Write or paint or play and then teach. 
     
     

      In case you're completely unobservant, it will not be news to you that my website is was designed on the Weebly platform. In the two years I've been with them, I've learned a bit about how big and fun the internet can be. 
     Some very seasoned authors I have met have no website of any kind, sometimes saying that they "don't have the time", and that makes me sad. Especially with Weebly, designing and maintaining a website (let alone a shop or a blog) is easy and, dare I say, rewarding.
     First of all, when shopping for a provider to launch your website with, you need to understand that Weebly and similar website design services do not sell the domain name (that would be the "www.faerynnforever.com" part). Weebly will check for you to see if your preferred name is available, and you can buy it through their site, but that's not precisely what Weebly's for.
     Once you have bought the rights for your desired domain name is when Weebly really shines. They have gorgeous layouts already made for you, and lots of them. You can choose from lots of looks and then either modify it in infinite ways or keep it as is and just input your information. You can change fonts, colors, pictures (they've got some great pictures stock, or you can upload your own), sizes, and organization in each page. All of the options allow you to truly customize what you're doing. I had an awesome experience, and it wasn't overly technical. There was no coding or jargon, and I was able to find videos on YouTube to answer most of my questions.
     I don't want to make this sound like a commercial for Weebly. I've had a great experience with them and would obviously recommend them  to anyone, and sometimes it's nice to hear companies that other people have had success with. What I would rather you walk away with is this: 
     At this point in technology, websites are so affordable, so easy, and so versatile, you are stupid not to have one. It expands your ability to reach people with whatever message you have. It gives you a home base to control your image, your brand, or your reputation. 
     And beyond that, you get the warm fuzzy of the "page views" count. 
     Y'see, I have this app-thing (from Weebly, remember them?) that gives me stats on how many people have been to my site, where they came from, what specifically they looked at, among other things. Do you know how awesome it can feel to know that I've had 144 folks on my website this week? That's 144 people who are being introduced to what I do, and I love what I do (well, I love writing. The day-job thing is pretty much only to support this writing issue). That's 288 eyes who may never read my book - but who CERTAINLY weren't going to read it before they came to my site.
     The indie publishing movement can be very lonely. You can feel like you're shouting into a void, and it's easy to get discouraged. Having a page not only helps me with my PR, it expands my ability to connect with people. And that's huge.
     So, thanks for reading. I appreciate you, and I appreciate your time! This Weebly you speak of is interesting. How do I find it?

     Oh my goodness, thank God you're back! As the most influential YA author who keeps a blog, I've been waiting with bated breath for your return! Where the heck have you been?!
     Calm down, huddled masses! I have returned from a not-at-all-self-imposed hiatus with a new view on things, an improved piece of writing to incessantly talk about, and a better theme song (it's angrier).
     I will certainly address the way in which my professional life (by which I mean the sad hours spent not writing or reading or writing about writing or reading) have pretty much become a trailer for the latest Stephen King mini-series in a later post. For now, I'm excited to talk about the changes to my series (because it's a series now) and how you, all of my rabidly adoring fans, can get on board with the action.
     Not yet a rabid fan of my work? Have you never even heard of me? To quote the awesome kid in the edited-for-TV version of Four Christmases: "Google me, Barbara! Look  me up sometime!" Or don't, because this website is pretty much the extent of my digital footprint, so... you may be directed to return to this very page and that would be a waste of time.
     I'm very proud to be announcing that, this week, I'll be taking my work back to the masses in a sleeker, smoother, and better reboot. With a pretty new cover.
     Why re-release?
     My original novel was great, and I was very proud of it. The reviews I got reflected what I wanted the book to be received as. However, there were some issues that quickly became apparent to me as issues that might impact the long-term viability of the project.
     First off, cost became an issue. I published the paper copy of my work through a company called Lulu. They were awesome, and I had no real issues with them. I didn't use any of their "premium" services (I formatted the text myself, designed the cover myself, and created my own PR - you're enjoying it), but all of those are probably awesome. My problem? The novel, in paper copy, came in at over $8 a copy for me to have printed, and I had to wait weeks for them to be delivered. Which means I had to charge more than I wanted to for the retail of the book and sometimes had to make people wait while they were being printed. In it's current form, I'll be able to sell the books for $8.50 on Amazon and probably $7 or $8 in person (I like to keep it cheaper for my students because, hey, keeping them reading is kind of job security for me as an English teacher). What did I change? I cut the book in half (split the original into two) and changed over to CreateSpace (I know, start playing the Darth Vader music and saying I sold out to the Amazon machine).
     Secondly, as I already mentioned, I sliced the original in half. WHAT?! Didn't that feel like cutting up your child into bits and pieces? No. No, it actually felt very liberating. I wasn't sure that I'd feel that way, to give full disclosure, when I started. I opened a new Word document, copied the first 17 chapters from my original, pasted them into the new, blank document, and deleted them from the original, complete work. Where I had been the author of one novel, now I was the author of two. I had around 85,000 words in each document, and that felt right. I was able to take a second look at the work, and, as two pieces, I could edit things differently.
     And I was so much happier with it.
     Finally, I had a few people suggest it to me. Even at my level of greatness, I still have some folks whose opinions I respect. When all of them give you the same advice, you have to think that there's something to it. They loved the book, but it was intimidating to recommend it to others at it's hefty word count.
     I was able to find an awesome new cover from selfpubbookcovers.com for this new work (BTW, they have awesome artwork - I advise perusing their material), which had always been the plan. While I loved my original cover, I had always hoped to be able to replace it with a professionally done piece when I had made enough money from sales.
     Currently, promotion of "Assigned" (the name of the new novel that represents the first half of the original) is taking up a lot of my free time. It will be available for sale on this Friday. Then, we start moving forward into the world of being a "series" author with work on editing the second and rough drafting the third.
     I was afraid that I would feel like I was admitting defeat by splitting my novel, by re-releasing it one half at a time, but I don't. I'm so much more happy with what I'm putting out there this time around with "Assigned". To be honest, the original novel was massive. Was it egotistical to try and take on filling the role of George R. R. Martin in the YA genre? Possibly. More than that, maintaining that kind of length made the whole writing thing harder than it needed to be. I once had a mentor who told me that you needed to create a system which allowed you to focus on your work more than the system. 
     My new novel isn't really a new novel, but it feels like a different project. "Assigned" is not the way I originally anticipated my second novel as entering the market, but I'm happy to say that it's my next step.
     "Assigned" is now available for ebook pre-order on Amazon right here, if you're interested: 
Check it out on Amazon

         My rating: 7 out of 10 stars
        This was not exactly the book I expected it to be, and, in some ways, that was to it's detriment, but, in others, it complimented the story nicely.
        The story of Remember is the story of Marina "Mara" Stone, who lives with her grandmother after her father has been killed and her mother has run off to use dark magic. Mara helps care for Meg, her younger sister, and spends time with Cole, her boyfriend. When her grandmother unbinds the magic powers that have been kept dormant within Mara, she needs to learn how to use them to protect the people she loves.
        Let me say this for the book; because the character list was so small, these characters are well drawn and easy to invest in. Their back stories are all given attention and develop organically through the plot. Their connections to one another are clear and well-defined.
        However, the setting is a bit more confusing, and it left me wishing for more detail. Mara seems to inhabit a town in which magic is accepted. They hold festivals to honor the moon and her grandmother sells baked goods as well as herbs and remedies that I took as potions. Now that's all well and good, but has something happened to bring about this community of magic-believers? There's a bizarre hunting incident in the first chapter that I thought was setting me up to read a novel set in a world that had undergone a change of some kind, maybe not post-apocalyptic, but changed in some way. However, this development is never brought up again, so I was left feeling a bit unbalanced by the whole thing. I'm game for other worlds and tweaks on this one (I encourage them, in fact), but I need to be able to picture what kind of world I'm inhabiting, and this one was incomplete.
        The tone of the book was the aforementioned challenge to my expectations. I guess I went into it anticipating suspense and action. What I actually got was a very tender, cozy story. At first, this was a problem for me. The elements are presented as these anthropomorphic-with-a-Disney/Pixar-twist beings who fly and tease and giggle. The romance between Cole and Mara is very innocent (lots of cuddling and sweet-nothings). There are bad guys, but they show up rarely, and their threats are handled with a calm, plodding reaction. I actually had to put the book down for awhile, thinking that it wasn't really up my alley.
        However, once I embraced the book for what it was, I found it much more enjoyable. Really, the magic used in this novel is child-like and innocent, so it's only fitting that the novel feel like an animated movie. The plot was steady and there were no major surprises, but that was OK. There's a very gentle and respectful undertone to the whole thing that actually compliments the subject matter. This is a pleasant, cozy story about a pleasant, cozy family (who eat really well - be warned: you will get hungry). Even in the way they speak, rarely using contractions so that the dialogue is slower and more deliberate, this feels like a faerie tale in more ways than not.
        I would recommend this novel to anybody who likes books about magic and special skills regardless of age, I think even young children would enjoy reading this one along with their parents. Just be warned that this is not necessarily a tear through it page-turner. It will grow on you and make you feel at home. A great book to snuggle up with.

Pick up a copy here.

        I have wanted a tattoo since I was in high school. I have a lot to say (obviously), and a tattoo is a way to express myself in a permanent way.
        I have always had one major problem: tattoos are expensive. Putting something permanent on my body and possibly having errors or regrets is not made any better by being able to say that I got it on sale. I want to do my research and find the artist who will do the work I want in the best way possible. I want to know that the shop is clean and reputable. I need to be able to trust that this person is a good business owner who will charge me fairly for his/her work. But once I know that they are well-known for pricing honestly, I don't want to worry about the dollar amount.
        So, where to get this money? Why not write a book? I certainly did not start out writing my book hoping to make money to pay for an ink curiosity. However, a crazy moment arises when you're making change for a fifty dollar bill with cash you have on hand from book sales and you realize that you have extra money as a result of your book. Make no mistake, I'm not quitting my day job any time soon, but it was somehow a pleasant surprise to find that there was a trickle of cash finding its way into my wallet.
        I did my research (thank you FaceBook), made my appointment, and got the tattoo pictured above. It's based on the short story The Last Leaf, by O. Henry, which is one of my favorites (Unfamiliar? You're missing out! Read it online here). I love my tattoo, and I've learned some things. Let me share.

1. Commitment can be a rush
        I do not fashion myself to be an adrenaline junkie. I don't jump out of airplanes or enjoy extreme sports (or even, for that matter, enjoy roller coasters). But I can totally understand people who say that they are "addicted" to tattoos. Calling to schedule a consultation was exhilarating, and then meeting with my "tattoo guy" was one of the more exciting things I've done. He was knowledgeable and kind and talked through what I wanted and asked me some questions. We scheduled a final appointment for that weekend, and I walked out of his shop with my heart racing. After getting the work done, my husband joked that my new tattoo was more permanently in my life than he was. It can be a huge surge of adrenaline to make a permanent change like that.

2. Tattoos can be a self-fulfilling prophecy on your body
        My tattoo speaks to a belief that I hold dearly: that the greatest way to leave lasting impact on the world is to invest in other people. But putting that idea permanently on my body took it from a fun concept to something I'm advertising forever. It makes me more aware of what I do and whether I'm living up to the tattoo. It does influence the way I think and act at times, and I like the change.

3. Some things still take time
        The actual work of the tattoo took all of about 45 minutes. To be honest, it was almost anti-climatic how quickly it was over with. My "tattoo guy" went over basic care and maintenance, told me what to expect in terms of healing, and I nodded at all the right times, but I wasn't really listening. I knew that if anything went really wrong, I could stop back in and ask him for help, and I was busy enjoying looking at his work. Then I found out that what nobody warns you about tattoos is the ITCHING. For about two weeks, while it healed, the itching was fabulous. And you're not supposed to actually itch it. This morning, as I was putting on some sandals (bought specifically to show off the beauty on my foot), I noticed that some spots of the ink were still a bit raised, meaning that there are some places still healing. STILL?! And then, I realized that this was something that was going to be on my body for the rest of my life. In perspective, one month isn't much. I'd like to think that I'm mature and have an attention span longer than a gnat, but this has helped me understand that I still have some work to do in that department.

4. More people have tattoos than I thought
        When I was pregnant, I kept noticing all of the pregnant people. It seemed like an epidemic. The same phenomenon has occurred with my tattoo. I'm now noticing the little, black mark teasing out from under the t-shirt of the guy stocking the shelves at the grocery store, then there's the cursive lettering I can't quite make out on the wrist of the girl next to me in the doctor's office, and on and on and on. Not all of the people with tattoos are advertising it - I was complimented by some people I work with who complimented me and casually mentioned their own tattoo experience, even though I hadn't had any idea that they had anything. I wasn't sure if I experienced some societal outcry for my "rebellious" decision, but I've received only positive feedback.

        Getting my tattoo was a great experience, and it's given me a great way for me to meet new people and talk about something new. I'd love to hear about what you have and why you got it!

        I highly doubt that anybody follows me so closely as to realize that I normally post twice a week, but last week, I didn't post at all. So, what happened last week?
        Bad editing happened last week.
        I feel strongly about reading indie and self-pub authors. I am convinced that there is good stuff out there that has not been backed by any of the Big Five, and those works can be buried easily if those of us writing (and reading) on the fringe don't speak up, create our own buzz, and take care of each other. Therefore, I look on purpose for books that have not been heavily reviewed on Amazon and GoodReads. I ask friends for their lesser-known recommendations. If all of those reviews are positive and make the book sound promising, I'm in. 
        My policy for book reviewing is simple. I want to put out the positive that I want to see in the literary world, so I only write up a review of the stuff that I'm reading that I want to encourage others to go read. I'm not a professional book reviewer (I highly doubt I even qualify as a book blogger at this point); I'm not well-read enough nor have I studied in the manner the professionals have in order to develop their own 'palate' so to speak. Because I'm not a pro, I don't see any reason to write a negative review - I'd rather just keep it to myself and find something that IS good to review for next time.
        That whole policy, however, was in theory until last week. Last week, I met a book that started out rough and became rougher (or it more rough? See, if I were writing to publish and charge you for that sentence, I'd look it up. Because I care about the customer. But you're getting this for free, so deal with it). I'm talking sentences that were so poorly punctuated it made my eyes water. I battled to about halfway through the novel, thinking that the plot had to have something to redeem it... but the plot actually took a detour into suckville and the dialogue went with it, riding misspelled shotgun. 
        And that's what we call a DNF (for did not finish), folks. Which is not at all what I wanted, and, to be honest, it set me back a bit. Any author who says they never doubt themselves is lying, and this utter failure of a book did put me back on my heels. I had to wonder - does my book come across as that unprofessional? Do people start reading Bound and snicker to themselves that this woman has no business releasing her work and then asking people to pay for it?
        And then, a student stopped me on his way out of class and thanked me for writing my novel (no joke - sincerely said "thank you"). He said he really enjoyed it and was glad that he's read it, even though at first he had thought it would be too long and, therefore, maybe too boring. That review will never get onto Amazon or GoodReads, but it made my day.
        So you pick up the shattered remains of your confidence and piece them back together into something resembling a competent author. You shove the doubts and questions back down again because they don't lead to anything productive.
        I also highly doubt that any of you are aware of the fact that I teach junior high English when I'm not wearing my super-writer costume. And I got to thinking that, while I am certainly no professional editor, that means that I have an added advantage in the editing phase of this work. Grammar is a big chunk of what I do, everyday, five times a day. In case you're wondering, today I got to play with participles. Pity the participle.
        Anyway, one thing my job has taught me is that confident readers sometimes get in their own way when it comes to grammar. I'll include myself in this camp. We put commas where they "look good" when we're supposed to be learning the grammar crap, and, because we're right most of the time, we never actually learn the rules. Especially with commas. Dear God with the commas.
        So, in an effort to be part of the solution and not the problem (I don't want to whine about poor grammar just because it makes me feel grammatically superior), I'd like to share with you the eight states of Commalandia as we travel to them in Mrs. Winn's 8th grade. I wish I could tell you that the geography teacher has never been asked about the location of Commalandia, but that would be a lie. And now you understand what I'm working with.
        Before I give you the states and their rules, please hear me say two things:
        A. Professional editing is a great thing. As an indie author, it should be a top priority for all of us to get at least line-editing done on our work. This is not in any way a substitution for having a professional check your work.
        B. There are always exceptions. These are simplified and they work 98.23% of the time. They are not the be-all and end-all of punctuation rules. I am also proudly pro Oxford comma (all hail), and all of these rules reflect my passion to make the next generation equally so. Please don't send me hate mail.
        Now, I give you...

The 8 states of Commalandia
After Intro Elements
    Intro elements include but are not limited to prepositional phrases, verbal phrases, and dependent/subordinate clauses. They can be one word, including the interjection (well, wow, hey). If you're setting the stage for your sentence and the group of words you have assembled can't stand on their own, you probably need a comma to join it properly with your main sentence (AKA independent clause).

Around Non-Essential Elements
    Simply put, if you can take it out of the sentence without altering the meaning, you need to put commas on both sides. To get technical, these are frequently relative dependent clauses.

Around Transitory Elements
    Your words like first, finally, on the other hand, for example, and however. They need commas anywhere they are toughing your main sentence - if they're at the beginning, they need a comma following them to join them to the main clause, if they're at the end, you need a comma before your transitory element, and if they're in the middle, you need commas on both sides.

In a Series
    This rule has more exceptions than any grammar rule should have. A very angry (or drunk) grammarian established the punctuation rules for this. So let me simplify. If you can take the items you're listing and flip-flop them in order and everything still makes sense, you need a comma betwixt the items. I also advocate the comma before and when you're listing the last item. For example; chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate.

Joining Independent Clauses
    If you have two clauses that can stand on their own (meaning you have a subject and a verb/predicate), and you are trying to put them together, you MUST use a comma and conjunction or a semi colon.

Nouns of Direct Address
    If you are naming the person being spoken to in the sentence, they are technically a non-essential element, and therefore need to be separated with a comma. You, dear reader, understand what I mean.

States, Years, and Titles
    All of these three need to be separated with commas. Every time.

With Quotations
    Can you hear me groaning where you are? This one's complex and tricky, but it centers on you, as the writer, knowing if you've completed the thought in your quote BEFORE you add in the "she sighed melodramatically under her breath" part. If you're not sure about this rule, look is up. No, really.

        So there you go. Hopefully this was more helpful than obnoxious. Consider your comma placement - because it's way more fun to be confident in your comma placement than saying simply 'it looked good there'. At least I think it's fun. Almost as much fun as memorizing the list of most commonly used prepositions, but, you know, it would be exhausting for all days to be that riveting.

        I am a Star Wars dork. A full shelf on my book shelves is populated with novels based on the movies (and that's the shelf of books I've actually read, not my TBR collection), my ringtone is Vader's march theme (although that's also there to scare my students, admittedly), and I've got the obligatory Blu-Ray edition of the movies. Last year, I got a great picture of my then-infant son swaddled up in a teddy bear hooded bath towel and called him an ewok to celebrate the day. This year, I ordered him a special t-shirt with pictures of the major characters on it. Pictures will be forthcoming on Instagram. 
        For these reasons, I get excited about May 4th. It gives me a chance to be eccentric and creative in the ways I work the Force into my day. However, I would maintain that creative people of all pursuits should embrace this holiday for what it represents.
        May 4th is a celebration of the imagination and its boundless, unquenchable, and unfathomable powers.
        I am not so naive as to think that the fantasy genre was created when the idea for that galaxy far, far away came into his highness George Lucas' head, but he took it to a level that we had not seen before. This was not just a magical kingdom or a great character with some strange powers - this was worlds and races and intergalactic wars. This was a complex and completely realized place in which you can completely lose yourself. This was creativity on crack.
        The creative community thrives on the ability to make up things that are not there. We create people and marry them, kill them, get them into embarrassing situations. We create places that are gloomy and glamorous. Every person who uses that amazing engine of an imagination, for hobby or occupation, should respect the sheer scope of what Lucas did. The mind boggles at all the facts and details he brought into being that simply were not there before. 
        Now, you may be thinking, there are many incredibly successful fantasy projects out there. I would agree. Harry Potter comes to mind first, and then there's the Song of Ice and Fire Series (AKA Game of Thrones). All of these are great examples of people harnessing an incredible vision. Am I claiming that they were inspired by Star Wars? No. Am I saying that they benefit from a culture that has experienced how incredible it can be to leave their everyday lives completely behind? Yes.
        I love writing in the fantasy genre as much as I love reading (and viewing) it. I love all of the ways that it challenges me to be original. For that reason, I celebrate May 4th not just as a fan of the movies (and books and  and TV series and toys and costumes and random pieces of interior decor), but out of respect for what an amazing legacy it has created for me. Hopefully, you are preparing to observe the holiday as you see fit - escaping into your own universe and celebrating the amazing thing that is the human imagination!

        My rating: 7 out of 10 stars
        Before I start the review-formal, let me say that this is big-kid fantasy. To be honest, that flavors my whole review, that it can be refreshing after reading lots of angsty, self-doubting YA fantasies to take on something that features an adult-ish main character along with the language and lifestyle decisions that go with him. Yeah, him. On the whole, this is a male-driven novel, but I'll get to that.
        In an interesting twist, Schneider makes the main character, Ian, a warrior with a complex past and a difficult relationship with using magic. He's able to use it quite skillfully, and it is very enjoyable for him to do so (described similarly to drug usage), but the power to perform that magic has to come from somewhere.  Ian ends up sucking the life out of any living things around him to perform any spells. This conflict is introduced right from the beginning so that the reader may think that they've been thrown right into the plot with a clear idea of the major conflict and are in for an exciting ride.
        The exciting ride part is correct, but the idea that this will be the major conflict is not. I'm torn on whether to claim it as a positive or negative (my mind changed several times throughout reading), but there is a LOT going on in this novel. On the positive, this is a novel with a lot to say - the scope is vast! The struggle, and the power, is constantly shifting from a societal to personal conflict so that it can be hard to keep all of the threads straight. Which brings me to the negative that this is a complex novel when it comes to the plotline and backstory. Now, in full disclosure, my weakness in reading has always been keeping the supporting details straight. If I'm being perfectly honest, there are some countries/nationalities that I'm still not sure I could connect correctly after reading the book. There are just a LOT of characters/relationships/backstories to keep straight! The scale of this book actually felt like it should have been much longer to give time and attention to all of these details. So, again, it was clearly a fully realized world with well-developed characters (good!), but sometimes all of that information actually got in the way of the story (bad!).
        The main character is also a mixed bag. His relationship with magic colors everything he does throughout the book, and that consistency is both subtle and flawless. He is strong and capable and bull-headed and damaged and, yes, cliched. However, they're cliches for a reason, and Schneider uses those cliches to keep you turning pages. I still can't decide of I would categorize him as a guilty pleasure or not. I would have loved to see the character learn anything from his mistakes (after about the fifth time he walks stupidly into a situation, alone, because he just 'can't let it go', it does get old), but, as this is a series, there may be growth coming in the next book of the series. I was a bit disappointed with the over-sexed women. Even as supporting characters, I would have loved to see there be a female character who was able to do something other than seduce the guys.
        This novel had a plot that kept twisting and turning so that I kept reading and, on the whole, I have to say that this was an enjoyable adventure. You root for the hero to save the day even when it seems like he won't be able to overcome the odds, and watching this beautiful world unfold around him makes for an engrossing experience. Good read, all in all!

        I am not very good at starting movements. I'm not well-connected (shockingly, I only update my Instagram a few times a week! And Tumblr is very confusing to me. One will never get a massive cadre of followers that way!) or at the top of my field (how one gets to the top of the education field is normally by gathering too many degrees and pontificating on the value of standardized tests). But I also believe that good ideas have a way of  being shared, I believe that good enough ideas can create movements.
        So, here's my movement:
        In May, I need to increase my writing. Like many indie authors, I have a day job, and need to fit in time to sit in front of my laptop when I'm not meeting the needs of the work that pays the bills. The upside of this situation is that I am able to write what I want with no regard for whether I will make money from it - I am writing to fulfill myself and make some cash on the side. The downside of this is that I'm not able to dictate my own writing schedule. I'm fortunate to have a supportive husband who encourages me to find time after Little Man is asleep to pound away on the keys IF I don't have grading or lesson planning to do.
        And yet, I'd rather be writing.
        The temptation is there to gorge myself, to wait until the weekends and create a whirlwind of fiction and hole up at my desk with an IV drip of Chai and ramen and write. The temptation is there to stay up until 3am one night writing only to be so exhausted the next day so that I underperform at my job and can't write a thing because I need sleep!
        While this is a fun temptation to indulge once in a while, it doesn't really lead to good writing. If I'm trying to improve myself, I need to make choices about my writing habits that will help me do this. You can read it everywhere, from any number of sources. Daily writing makes for stronger writers.
        Which brings me to my movement. I may be the only one engaging in this mission, and I'm OK with that. In May, I hereby commit to writing 500 words every day. No marathons or binge sessions, but daily creative work on the projects I'm focused on right now. I've got a serial that I'm really excited about. I've got students asking about the sequel to my first novel. Both of these are awesome things. Allowing myself to binge-write may satisfy me for that night, but, in the end, I won't get the true satisfaction of meeting my writing goals. I may go over 500 words if I've got the extra time, but I need to be able to write again the next day so I can't put myself in a position where I'll need to sleep off a literary bender.
        I know some writers who preach schedule. These writers do not have an 18 month old whose nickname is, aptly, Dozer. I will not be adhering to a schedule. I'm not a morning person, but that is the time when my house is at its most peaceful and I'm able to concentrate the best, so I'll try to get my 500 words done in the mornings at times. But, let's be honest, the snooze button is a seductive mistress who has misled many a well-intentioned creative type. I'll write when I can. And I'll get to 500 words when I do get the chance.
        I'm inviting you to join me. I'll be tweeting (and blogging) about my progress. I'll be using the hashtag #500words. I'm not trying to get something 'trending' and I certainly don't have the hip t-shirts ordered yet, but I am trying to improve myself and support some of the fabulous writers who I have met and come to respect on this journey. I'd love to have you join me!