Tuesday, January 29, 2013

OUT NOW: "SEIKOU." Book 3 of the REN'AI RENSAI series

Amazon .:. Kobo .:. Smashwords
I'm very excited to announce the third novel release of the REN'AI RENSAI series! "Seikou." is thus far my favorite release. Of course, I love all my works (otherwise I wouldn't bother with them!) but I have a lot of ~feelings~ about "Seikou." I've never been one to shy away from bending the conventions of a genre. Even though some people may not be happy with the overall plot (infidelity) because it's a touchy subject for a lot, it's something I really wanted to do and was an inevitable direction for the relationship of Aiko and Reina. My main goal was to tell a story with that at its core plot...and pull it off with the HFN. There are a lot of highly emotional (and sexy) scenes along the way. To say I am proud of this story is an understatement.

That said, please enjoy the blurb and excerpt below!

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For over twenty years Reina has sexually celebrated the women around her with a reverence only tolerated by her wife, Aiko. But when Reina misinterprets the fluidity of their open relationship, she’s backed into a corner where her gender dysphoria reigns supreme. In order to salvage her marriage, she may have to reanalyze the way she views the world, her life, and her experiences.

Just when she thinks she’s figured her spouse out, Aiko faces an unexpected transgression. Can she forgive her? Or will love finally give way to the fatigue that accompanies being with someone like Reina? A sick mother and unsympathetic sister are not helping Aiko’s dilemma.

Even the most passionate relationships sometimes fall asunder to “seikou,” the sexual character at the core of one’s identity. Will Reina and Aiko reunite with stronger hearts, or is it finally time to go their separate ways? And if they do split up, who will help them pick up the pieces – the stoic therapist, the desperate socialite, or the young couple who initiated this mess to begin with?

---

            “We’re going to try an exercise,” Dr. Katou announced, her legs crossed once more. “Its goal is to help you two better understand how you see each other.”
            This’ll be grand.
            “Reina, let’s begin with you. Please select one word that you think best describes your wife.”
            A word? Just a word? While Reina was a champion of brevity, she could hardly sum up everything that was “Aiko Takeuchi” into one measly word. Reina’s vocabulary wasn’t that fantastic. How was she supposed to describe her own precious wife, the one she had so apparently wronged, with one word? What would she focus on? Her beauty, despite its aging? Her homemaking prowess? Her sweetness? Her trademark naiveté that had gradually chipped away over the years, the more Reina influenced her?
            “I guess it would be arasagashi.
            Aiko gasped, and Dr. Katou “hmmmed” like she always did when things were about to get interesting. “Arasagashi?” Aiko repeated. “Is that so? You think I am so picky?”
            Un.” She hadn’t been in the early years of their relationship, but Reina gauged Aiko’s habit of picking out every fault in her partner began around the time they moved in together and she adopted the occupation of homemaker. The day that happened was the same day Aiko went from a fun and curious girl to a ranting woman, as if she were determined to become the stereotypical housewife who constantly treated her husband like a careless child. But like her diminishing naiveté, it too had been gradual, enough for Reina to ignore it while continuing to enjoy the things she loved most about Aiko.
            She was halfway through spitting out a testy response when Dr. Katou cut her off. “And how about you? What one word would you use to describe your partner?”
            Reina should have seen it coming from beyond the Japanese Alps, from the way Aiko’s jaw set with a determined, slightly arasagashi-like stance. She should have seen it coming, but she didn’t.
            Seikou.
            Without context, Reina had no idea how to take that word. Seikou in itself had seemingly endless definitions. She had half a mind to ask Aiko to write it down in Japanese kanji so she could see the intended version.
            Seikou, eh? So I’m a steel manufacturer?”
            No surprise when Aiko didn’t laugh at that joke.
            “Am I a big success?”
            “You know which one I mean.”
            “Hardly.”
            I know. Reina could see the layers written in the lines of Aiko’s face. Denial kept them at bay. If Reina faced the true meanings Aiko intended, then she had to confront the same accusation she had flung in her wife’s face one week before. I’ve always known.
            “Your character is rotten. Rotten with sex.”
            Oh, not one meaning, but two! And how they intertwined was so affronting that Reina leaped up in sheer shock. “Seikou, is it?” she snapped. “If you knew my character was so consumed with sex, then why did you get into a relationship with me, huh?”
            “How could I have known?” Aiko retained her nonplussed demeanor, that same evil one turning Reina’s life upside-down. “How does an inexperienced girl recognize that sort of sordid character consumed with sex? It’s not normal. You should never choose other women over me!”
            “Choose women… over you… seikou! Shinjiran!” Reina paced back and forth even after Dr. Katou gently suggested she sit down again. “I don’t believe it! It’s like I told you last week. You’ve been trying to change me over all this time!”
            “I have done no such thing!”
            “But don’t you wish you could? Don’t you wish you could make me normal?” Reina glowered above her wife. “It’s bad enough your oversexed spouse can’t keep her legs closed, right? She’s also got a whole box of other problems, all the way down to her inability to have sex like a woman!”
            “Reina!”
            “Don’t deny it! You want me to fit into your heteronormative dreams! You got your marriage, and now you want…” Reina choked and stepped back. All her gender-infused demons came crawling up her legs and took root in her stomach, and there was Aiko gawking at her in horror. She hates me. Reina stumbled over her empty chair. I’m a monster. She couldn’t breathe. I’m neither man nor woman. “You want me to die inside just to fit your mold.”
            Reina collapsed into her chair and held her head between her hands, forcing back the sobs wanting to burst out and humiliate her. The demons inside her taunted her identity as neither man nor woman, their cackles drowning out the sounds of Aiko’s panicked declarations of love happening a meter away.
            “No, Reina, no!” Aiko grabbed a shaking hand and parted drooping hair. “I would never! I would never change you! I don’t care about your libido, or our lifestyle!” Chairs screeched backwards as Aiko shoved out of her seat. “I only want you to keep your promise to me!”
            Her kisses were warm and wet on Reina’s face, but it wasn’t enough. Not when she now knew her wife’s summation of her. Seikou. Everything wrapped in the core of Reina’s identity, from her carefree attitude to the way she tended to women around her – those beautiful, loving women – was a divide between them. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Ai-chan. Reina didn’t want to feel the affection showered upon her. So why are you hurting me?
 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Weekly Writing Check-In: Prioritizing

I find myself in the really strange place of having SO MUCH to do I'm not sure what order to do it in. Usually, I am great at prioritizing things I have to do so my brain doesn't explode from anxiety, but I think my issue today is that they're all things that have to be done around the same time, and some things I have to wait for approval on, and and and...

Basically, this is what I'm looking at:


  • Submit SEIKOU to all retailers at certain times so they'll show up on around the same day. Maybe.
  • Continue writing the first draft of Book 4
  • Start a short story for my new pen name
  • Finish the next RR short
  • Work on SUPER SECRET PROJECT
  • Futz around with cover mocks for multiple series
  • More futzing with paperbacks (Hatsukoi should be out this week!)
  • Mail stuff
  • Other crap no1curr about.
I've actually managed to get through most of this today, but I'm always in that state of "should I be working on something else first instead? And there's the part where I'm not sure I'm in the mood to write...just watch Japanese dramas...and play Sims...my life.

How y'all doing? Busy this week? NOT busy this week? Maybe it's time to start hiring personal assistants. 

Saturday, January 26, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Naamah's Curse" by Jacqueline Carey

Naamah's Curse (Moirin Trilogy, #2)Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the latest installment of Travel the World With Moirin, we find our young heroine setting out from Ch'in (China) to find her One True Love Bao, who has ran off to Tatar country (Mongolia.) Once they are reunited (of couuurrrssee) everything goes to hell, and the next thing Moirin knows she's being chained up and sent to Vralia (Russia) to be religiously tortured by a Yeshuite (Hebrew) priest. Because she's a dirty, dirty girl. Somewhere along the way she frolics through Tutan and Bhaktipur (Nepal/North Eastern India), dresses up in saris, and brings the Light of Lesbianism to their queen.

Uh, I mean she goes head to head with the Indian caste system. Yeah. That's what I meant.

(Wow, that summary was so much shorter than the first book's!)

Book 2 of Moirin's Trilogy goes straight into the action - following Moirin into Tatar Territory in her quest to reunite with Bao, that guy who is barely more interesting than she is. If you read my review of the first book, then you know that I was not impressed with their relationship that's beaten over your head. So the fact this book started off with Moirin braving the winter elements to find her True Love was kinda meh on me. Especially since it took about 100 pages of her recapping all of book 1. Honey, I read book 1. We really don't need to go over it in fine detail as your ride your horse through the north.

The story doesn't really begin until she and Bao are reunited (there is some hilarity over the circumstances of Bao's new life...haha gj bro) and crap hits the fan when the Great Khan sells Moirin out to Yeshuite priests looking to convert them some bear children. A good deal of the first half of the novel is dedicated to Moirin being a prisoner of a really gross guy up in Vralia and having defend her very nature and the cultures of her people. I found this section the most interesting, especially all the parallels drawn to the Bible that are brought up. (In Carey's universe, the Hebrew tribes actually worship Christ as the Son of The One True God, so they are all about the whole biblical texts.) After her escape, Moirin follows where she believes Bao has gone and ends up in Bhaktipur, where she befriends the local ruler (very quickly) and vows to take down her sworn enemy and save Bao. This was the part that was pretty ~meh~ to me.

First, though, I feel like I should defend the fact that, although I had a lot of problems with this book, it was still a very entertaining read. I went through it super quickly (for me, I am a slow reader by nature) and kept stealing moments to read another chapter. So, one that front, I am giving it a strong three stars. But it lost the other two very easily, for reasons listed below.

I don't know, I feel like I am missing something in this trilogy. With Phedre's trilogy, you never knew what was going to happen, how much horror they would have to plow through. Everything Phedre did had a dire consequence to it that made her work hard for her happy ending. In Imriel's trilogy, there were so many twists and turns and puzzles that it was an emotional roller coaster. Thus far in Moirin's trilogy, I've rarely felt anything and everything is accomplished way too easily. Besides the fact that Moirin is far away from home and the simple life she once knew, I feel like there have been very few sacrifices. Certainly at least at the level Carey has made me come to expect this late in the realm of her universe. Compared to Phedre and Imriel, Moirin has everything laid out for her - her destiny tells her what to do every step of the way. Have a conundrum? Consult your destiny! I see a lot of other reviews lamenting this, and I fully agree. There was no real sense in these books. Moirin always knew more or less what to do and it was done swiftly with little loss. I stopped worrying about characters, which made me stop caring towards the end.

The other thing that bothered me was that Moirin makes friends and allies WAY too easily. While I know a part of the moral of her journey is that there are always friendly and helpful people wherever you go, I feel like this really detracted from the possible urgency of the story. Literally every leg of Moirin's journey included somebody who just shows up and helps her. At no point was Moirin even entirely on her own, save for the moments when she was actually traveling alone at the beginning of the story. Part of the reason I liked Phedre and Imriel so much was because they had a huge sense of agency, both in making decisions and choosing their friends wisely. Even when Moirin faced the spiritual inquisition she mostly rolled over. (Okay, in this part that was really her only chance of survival. And while I get that, it was still annoying we didn't get to see her defending herself or dissembling like I'm used to seeing Carey's characters do.)

I'm not going to really touch upon the whole White Savior aspect that occurred at the end re: the caste system. I feel like it's been expressed well enough by other reviews.

There's one story left in this trilogy, and yes, I am excited to read it! But I'm not gonna hold out much hope that will be as good as the first six novels in Carey's universe. I'm mostly excited about getting back to the religious intrigue left behind in Book 1. Gods mucking stuff up and making people's lives hell? Yes. Sign me up for that please. Although please promise me it won't consist of Bao and Moirin just waltzing in, consulting their destinies, and yawn while taking down the bad guys in two pages.

Also, spoiler:

(view spoiler)[ I am so mad that Jehanne was killed off screen. So. Mad. She was the only character I really loved in this particular trilogy, and I was shipping her and Moirin pretty hard. Meh. Now we just get dream!Jehanne. IT looks like though she'll still be playing a part in the last novel, so there's that. (hide spoiler)]

Once again, a very strong three stars, but one of the weakest novels in this universe by far..

View all my reviews

Friday, January 25, 2013

"SEIKOU." Book 3 of REN'AI RENSAI cover and blurb reveal!

Are you excited for book 3 of REN'AI RENSAI, coming out January 31st? I am excited. I am so excited that I can't wait to share with you the beautiful new cover and hot new blurb!

-----
 For over twenty years Reina has sexually celebrated the women around her with a reverence only tolerated by her wife, Aiko. But when Reina misinterprets the fluidity of their open relationship, she’s backed into a corner where her gender dysphoria reigns supreme. In order to salvage her marriage, she may have to reanalyze the way she views the world, her life, and her experiences.

Just when she thinks she’s figured her spouse out, Aiko faces an unexpected transgression. Can she forgive her? Or will love finally give way to the fatigue that accompanies being with someone like Reina? A sick mother and unsympathetic sister are not helping Aiko’s dilemma.

Even the most passionate relationships sometimes fall asunder to “seikou,” the sexual character at the core of one’s identity. Will Reina and Aiko reunite with stronger hearts, or is it finally time to go their separate ways? And if they do split up, who will help them pick up the pieces – the stoic therapist, the desperate socialite, or the young couple who initiated this mess to begin with?

"SEIKOU.", a full length novel, will be released by January 31st!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

"DAISUKI." is the #1 Queer Book on Amazon Japan

Yes, you read that right. Yesterday I made my first sale on Amazon JP (yay!) which granted me a rank and a spotlight. Nice! Today I woke up to find that I was number one in the Gay and Lesbian Kindle Category. Woohoo!





You can click that to make it bigger~

I'm pretty excited about breaking into the Japanese market for obvious reasons. ;)

Monday, January 21, 2013

Weekly Writing Check-In: Pratfalls of Pen Names

First of all, I am aware that it's Monday. Oops. Oh well! Better late than never, or so I hear.

Two days ago I received confirmation that I get attend this year's South Coast Writers' Conference next month! Yay! I really need to get out of this house and talk to other people. The fact they're writers will be a bonus. I actually managed to make some nice acquaintances last time two years ago. Hopefully that can be a repeat! I'll be armed with my wares!

Now, onto what my title is about. Recently I've seriously considered starting up a (super secret shhh) pen name for economical reasons. I'm about half committed to this now - I've picked out the name and have started staking claim to twitter, tumblr, etc. just to make sure I've got accounts on the ready. I also need to call up and speak to my tax lady since I will not be publishing these stories under my publishing label, Barachou Press. (Would sort of defeat the HUSH HUSH purpose.) On one hand I'm excited about the new financial possibilities for me, but on the other I wonder about how much time it'll take away from my "real name" and, consequently, REN'AI RENSAI.

Speaking of which, the final draft of Book 3 is on its way. (Expect a reveal soon!) Book 4 is about halfway through the first draft stage. February is going to see a TOTALLY COOK PROJECT YOU GUYS being unveiled, plus a short towards the end of month. Of course, I am excited about all of them. I am expecting Book 3 to really make you FEEL THINGS...whether its rage, sympathy, or inevitably both, who knows. Also, I don't really care. :Db

Back to editing! Got ten more pages to do tonight!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Naamah's Kiss" by Jacqueline Carey

Naamah's Kiss (Moirin Trilogy, #1)Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After jumping into Carey's alt-history fantasy world with Phèdre's trilogy and having my mind blow, and then having my heart ripped out of my chest by Imriel's trilogy, I thought it was time to jump into Moirin's trilogy. It begins with NAAMAH'S KISS, about one hundred years since we last left Imriel's happy ending.

The next character, Moirin, is a half Alban (of the Maghuin Dhonn) half D'Angeline girl growing up in solitude with her mother. With this heritage comes some magical skills such as concealment and healing capabilities. I won't dawdle too long a spoiler-free summary - all you need to know is that Moirin's father is a Priest of Naamah, which means Moirin grows up to inherit super sexy abilities. Because it's not a trip in this fantasy world unless the main character is having a crapton of awesome sex from the age of 14 that makes you rethink your own love life.

But, basically, Moirin is charged by the goddess of the Maghuin Dhonn to go out and search for her destiny. This leads her first to Terra D'ange where she meets her father and becomes enveloped in royal and religious intrigue. Later, she follows her destiny to Ch'in (China), where she helps the royal princess and heir rid herself of the literal dragon inside her and stop a civil war that will quickly spill over into the rest of the world. Of course, she is aided by a multitude of friends...and lovers.

This book was a breezy, easy read. The language was the easiest I've encountered from this world yet, and it may have something to do with Moirin being uneducated in comparison to the previous two narrators. Yet her voice almost mimics Phèdre's in her overuse of phrases ("Stone and sea!!" anyone?) and zinging one-liners....literally. One thing that's always bothered me about Carey's writing is her overuse of one-line paragraphs. They were already ridiculous before (and thus completely destroying the effect) but Moirin takes it to a new level where sometimes you'll have three in a row. It goes from eye-roll worthy to sigh-inducing very quickly. Moirin, ~honey~, not everything is really that powerful. I promise.

Most of the reviews I see seem to say that the first half the story was relatively slow and doesn't pick up until Moirin sets off for Ch'in. I felt the opposite. I loved reading about her life in Alba and picking up all sorts of cool things about the Maghuin Dhonn, a people vilified in previous trilogies. I also enjoyed reading about her spiritual encounters once she traveled to Terra D'Ange, and of course, her super hot relationship with Queen Jehanne. Just when I was really getting settled in, however, we're off to Ch'in, and things got boring and predictable real fast. Princess Snow Tiger (ugh, is there reason why she was referred to by her name's translation when nobody else BUT the bad guy was? Her real name, Xue Hu, is very beautiful) had a lot of potential as a kick-ass warrior princess, but instead came off as flat, even when granting how she was raised and Ch'in decorum. The entire storyline from here mimicked that of the previous book, Kushiel's Mercy, all the way down to the impending civil war brought on by a magician looking for world domination. I also was not that impressed with the Western Savior aspect of having to have Moirin, a European, coming in to save the Asians with her Western-Gods sent magic. In the world of the book it was not quite so transparent, but given OUR world implications and seeing that Carey goes out of her way to be meticulous about other cultures in this alt-history, it was a bit much. Even Phèdre was more of a visitor to the African realms in her trilogy as opposed to an instigator of change and saving everybody. It was not the end of the book, but it bugged me a little, nonetheless.

Of course the subplots in these novels revolve around romance. Sometimes, I forgot how young Moirin was. I reckon she was in her mid, possibly late teens towards the end of this tale. And in that time she had a lot of sex, mostly with men. I'm used to that by now, even though I never want see "suckle" used sexually ever. Again. Most of her partners were a part of her sexual awakening, and by the time she met Raphael in Terra D'Ange it turned to plot-related. My favorite relationship to see her in was with Jehanne. I feel like in Phèdre's trilogy we never got to see enough lesbian interaction, even though she was clearly obsessed with Melisandre. (Who was, of course, the villain.) So imagine my chagrin when (view spoiler)[ it suddenly shifted to Bao becoming Moirin's biggest love interest. I thought he was a good character, but their relationship felt incredibly forced. Probably because it literally was forced by a "tonic" potion. It's also reminiscent of Phèdre and Joscelin's dynamic to the point it's not even laughable, but kinda sad. And after the ending when they become bound in their souls,it's obvious the next two books are going to be All About Them and how much they're in love. Gag. Bring back the lesbians. (hide spoiler)] tl;dr hello cliches I can live without.

For all my complaints, however, you'll see I still rated this four stars. I really did enjoy this book for all its faults and could have read it all in one sitting if I could have stopped time to do so. As I said before, it is an easy read - for those who have read the previous trilogies of this world, this will probably be an even easier reader. I never had to reread something to make sure I understood what was going on. The dialogue was smooth, even if repetitive. Moirin is a fine character - I am not as attached to her as I was to Phèdre and Imriel by the end of their first books, but I do not dislike her either. Although I will say I have no particular liking for any other characters, besides perhaps Fainche, Moirin's mother, and Queen Jehanne. I also maintain that Carey is a master storyteller: she leaves no threads unknotted and everything has a purpose. You may wonder for a long time what the purpose of something will BE, but when it comes, you kick yourself for not seeing it sooner. On that end, I am excited for the future books, because she left a loooot of clues that we'll be coming back to Raphael and the fallen gods. (I am so excited, seriously. SERIOUSLY. I will be sorely disappointed if nothing comes from what-happened-before-Moirin-left.)

If you enjoyed the first two trilogies, you will surely enjoy this one too. More, or less, I could not say. Thus far I enjoy it less, but that is still a compliment to Carey's abilities as an author. I have already started the second book and will likely chomp through it like it was chocolate.

View all my reviews

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Guest LOL Over @ Author Kathryn O'Halloran's Blog Today!

...As the title says, I'm over at Kathryn's today sharing a totally embarrassing story from my night out at Tokyo's Ni-chome gay neighborhood last spring. It includes me and a bunch of Japanese lesbians possibly making out. POSSIBLY. I make no promises, although they sure did.

While you're there, be sure to check out Kathryn's latest book, "The Bad Girls' Club"!

Monday, January 14, 2013

OUT NOW!: "CHINSEKI." a REN'AI RENSAI SHORT

PLEASE NOTE THAT "CHINSEKI." IS THE DIRECT SEQUEL TO "NANPAKAI."

Just in case the story of "NANPAKAI." wasn't enough, the trio (including new character Jun) are back for more, more, more, this time somewhere a little more private. If you liked "MITSUSHIN." you'll probably like this one too - probably even more so, because confident women, yo!

Check out the blurb!

"After watching her girlfriend seduce a stranger at a nightclub, Reina finds herself in the same stranger’s hotel room only an hour later. Girlfriend Aiko and her new friend seem ready to go for round two, but there’s one thing holding Reina back: this third wheel is more masculine than she’s comfortable with. Will Reina let go of her gendered insecurities and have a good time, or will her new friend’s request for “chinseki,” or “sleeping together,” be too much for her to handle?"

Amazon US .:. Amazon UK .:. Amazon DE

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Weekly Writing Check-In: Big Life Changes Are (Perhaps) Afoot

This past week has been an emotional whirlwind for me. On a lark I started applying to day jobs again, not expecting to get anything. Well, unless things start to go seriously south in more ways than one, it looks like I may be moving up to Portland (a seven hour drive from here in lil' ol Curry County, OR) for a full time job. If that comes to pass, it will mean a lot of changes with my publishing business. Mostly, time. Right now I work about 12 hour days on my publishing business. This is how I am able to put out so much so quickly, because I am CONSTANTLY working. I will go from 12 hour days to 2 hour days. Releases will become sparser.

But on the flip side.

I will no longer have to worry about making money with my releases. I can just write what I want and get it out there. Assuming I have the time and energy to do it.

There are a lot of other feelings involved as well. Nothing I really want to get into here because lol no but tl;dr, I just wanna write all day.

That said, I've got another REN'AI RENSAI SHORT coming out tomorrow, and book 3 is in a couple of weeks! Back to work!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Write 'Em And Forget 'Em: Or, I Almost Never Re-Read My Works

I know I am not alone in this, and yet, it feels weird to talk about. As a published author I am very proud of my achievements and what I've managed to accomplish in over three months - but I have a confession. The moment I hit "Publish" on a work, I will probably never read through it again.

Why?

Heck I don't know. Call it fear.

When I flip through my book downloaded from Amazon to make sure it published in the correct format, or flip through my paperback just to say I can, I almost never let me eyes linger on the words, let alone read them. There's a lot of rationalization for this, but it mostly boils down to I don't want to make any more changes. 

From the time I hit "THE END" on a work, I will read through its entirety about ten times before it's published. This doesn't count all the smaller bits I'll read on their own, or the re-reading I do during the course of writing the first draft. (Yes, I edit as I go. GASP.) I'm also very particular about editing. Even my novelettes I've been publishing in the past month get a lot chopped from them....I believe about one-thousand words is the norm, and that's BEFORE they're sent to outside editing. Up until the last minute before I publish, I will chop off prepositional phrases, flip through a thesaurus because that word is "still not quite right", and flip back and forth between using a name or a pronoun in certain sentences. I know I'm done editing and ready to publish when, not only do I have editor and beta go-ahead, but my editing is no longer moving forward, but sideways. Thus when I flip through a story after it's been published, bought by dozens+ of people, reviewed, shared, etc, I just don't want to face the fact that maybe there's something left to change. 

As artists, we are rarely satisfied with our work. And sometimes we're afraid of what we may see.

I know most of my faults as a writer. I've been seriously writing for about 15 years now. The first novella I published was not the first book I ever wrote...certainly not even in the top 10. Maybe the top 20 of completed novels. I've done my dances of "OH EW I WROTE -THAT?-" over the years So when I re-read, it's not all about cringing and wondering how anyone in the world could possibly give it five stars...but it is a part of it. And as publishers, we're taught that once it's out in the world, it's out. Short of glaring typos and a few minor things (that may add up to big things) on a technical level, I'm a believer that once it's out, it's OUT. No more changes, no more humming, just publish it and work on the next one. Which makes it kind of awkward when I think there's a scene I might want to refresh myself on because it relates to one I am writing.

What about you, other writers? Do you ever go back and re-read your works? Does it make you cringe,even if you wrote it two months ago?

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Weekly Writing Check-In: Check out the goodies!

They're here! Friday the UPS man showed up with my VistaPrint orders for business cards (just in time for the writer's conference next month!) and REN'AI RENSAI bookmarks! Take a gander, and please excuse the awful glare on the photo. I took about 10 photos in different locations around my house but that was seriously the best I could get.

The business cards came out totally awesome, even if the paper quality is kinda meh and not glossy. I ended up using one of their premade layouts since it fit my needs perfectly. (Look at those flowers and BUTTERFLIES!) The bookmarks were created from scratch and made three apiece on their postcards. Now, the only issue is that I have no idea how to cut them. The only sharp edges in this house are dull scissors and meh knives. My family is convinced I could just use scissors, but I am also convinced that my family is not thinking this through. I will prevail, though!

In other writing news, not much else is going on except massive editing. Starting Tuesday at the latest I will be pulling 5k days in the hopes of getting the first draft of RR 4 finished in a timely manner. Unless it just pisses me off so much  I go NOPE and work on something else. (It'll be coming out the end of March and should be novella length, so I shoooould have time.)

Regardless, one of my goals this month is to do more MARKETING. Which I hate. I hate marketing. But I need to take a couple hours out of my day I would otherwise be fooling around on message boards to actually market my work. Because like as not it's not selling itself and word of mouth only gets me movie money every month. WHELP. This will be fun.

(Those hot bookmarks though.)

Friday, January 4, 2013

OUT NOW: "NANPAKAI." a REN'AI RENSAI short.

Finally, it's out! The first of a two-part story, "NANPAKAI." is probably my ~raunchiest~ title yet. But still with that romantic twist, of course.

It also introduces a new character, Jun Isoya, who you'll be seeing a LOT more of this upcoming spring! (oooh what does that mean~)

Check out the blurb below!

"As a belated birthday present, Aiko’s girlfriend Reina takes her to the largest lesbian nightclub in town. Rowdy, drunk women aren’t exactly on Aiko’s list of “great birthday gifts” however, until she discovers the club’s dirty little secret - it’s actually a “nanpakai,” or a place for picking up women for some quick, casual fun centered around exhibitionism. With the mission to become a seductress for one night, Aiko sets her sights on an out-of-towner. Will their encounter be the envy of every other woman watching, or will Aiko discover she’s not cut out for the life of a nanpa?"


Amazon US .:. Amazon UK .:. Amazon DE