Tag: fiction

About Writing

Navigating Fantasy and Sci-Fi: Finding Your Unique Niche

Autumn

I actually have a hard time knowing how to classify my writing. Oh sure, there’s the big picture ‘fantasy/sci fi’ tag, but I get a little lost in the subgenres.

For example, my concept story “THEM” is my idea for a time traveling romance. Only, it features a nebulous alien invasion versus sorcerers, and the main love interest travels back in time to coach the main character (who was brought forward in time after her original was killed by the aliens) on how to seduce his contemporary counterpart, except she’s a reluctant introvert with social anxiety. All while she’s nannying a 4-year-old prince. Cue gothic overtones.

Maybe I’m just not well read enough, but I haven’t seen any hints of other books that are remotely like that.

Am I my own niche?

Which is one of the reasons why it’s so easy for me to put off that whole “marketing” thing (not to mention, I don’t want to mentally drain myself so I can’t spend time writing every day, ’cause it’s the writing part that I love the most).

I also have a malfunction.

But sometimes I feel lost in the noise. There are a lot of danged writers these days, and sometimes I think it’s harder to convince people to read something for free than it is to get them to buy it. Like, da hek ppl?

Am I going to find more readers by demanding money? Is that what you want out of me?

Anyway

My husband thinks I’m better at writing sci fi than fantasy. It is true that I was exposed to fantasy first, and there is a possibility that I might have stuck with it out of habit, despite the fact that I don’t actually like “sword and sorcery” type stuff all that much; hence why my Order of the Magi all use the internet and conduct their business with electronic tablets. I also prefer to explore human nature, instead of ‘world building’ or any of the typical fantasy tropes, but I also don’t like Star Trek type stories, or “technology is the magic” sorts of things either. I guess that I’ve got a nerdy enough bent to me that I like a solid foundation in reality. I’ve probably just illustrated that I’m actually a very picky reader.

So … the sequel to The Black Magus will very likely have a more sci fi atmosphere instead of fantasy. Heck, I established that magic is mostly just learning how to muck around with reality’s programming code anyway.

The hilarious part is, I have zero intuitive understanding of today’s trendy technology. Smart devices and I don’t get along. At all.

About Writing

Adding Romance to TSS

Autumn

Quick recap: I wrote The Scion Suit in 2019 as a response to a writing prompt on Reddit that ended up being popular.

SO

While Carol and Lambert did develop some chemistry between the two of them during the course of the story, there simply wasn’t enough time for either of them to realize it consciously. Since this story was ‘unplanned,’ and was written while I was in the middle of working on The Black Magus, I kept it short and to the point, with the idea of returning to expand it into a full-length novel someday.

I’m a hopeless romantic. Honestly, sometimes it feels a little embarrassing to say, “I write love stories,” when so many people start groaning at those words, and I can easily imagine lurkers from Reddit reading this post and thinking to themselves, “She’s going to ruin TSS by adding sex!” (You know it! *wink wink*) But what can I say? It’s just who I am. A pervert.

Let’s be frank: Reddit was fun, but it wasn’t enough to keep me there. Ultimately, I found more joy in pursuing my own projects, even though they don’t get as much attention (admittedly, I don’t advertise). If you, as a reader, dislike things like romance, sex, and babies, then I’m not the author for you. I have five kids IRL, meaning there’s a huge amount of living out my fantasies and writing what I know going on, so naturally it’s going to permeate through my fiction.

I’m going to write my story arc where Carol and Lambert do everything right to end up [in bed] together, it’s going to be emotional and hot, and I’m going to love every second of it. So there. Deal with it.

Besides, there’s no point in trying to deny it.

I’m not exactly vanilla.

And the dynamic between those two is too kinky to ignore.

About Writing

In the Zone

Autumn

I wrote about 10,000 words of additional content for The Scion Suit in a week, which is *fast* for me. And, since the original was only 15,000 words, means that the VN is going to be *substantially* bigger (I’ve only added one alternate ending so far).

I definitely should have kept exercising over the winter, instead of letting myself get bogged down. But now I know just how important it is to my health (my blood clot resolved a few days ago, in case you were wondering).

Rules of living:
1. Stay hydrated
2. Keep moving
3. Magnesium

Anyway

I decided to write in my normal 3rd-person narration style since that’s what I’m most comfortable with, to be converted into a script later. And, in lieu of numbering each section, I titled them instead.

Highlights include:

Learning to Cuss
Kinky
My Girlfriend is an Alien
Actions Have Consequences
That Didn’t Go Well
Have I Gone Mad?

I’m probably going to eventually publish this stuff as a choose-your-own-adventure novel, since it includes events from Lambert’s perspective that aren’t going to be part of the VN … I got a little caught up in the story, lol.

I’m more than likely not going to be able to keep up that pace (I promised my kids a banana cream pie today), but dang it sure is nice to know that I’ve got it in me. But who knows, maybe I’ll be able to get this out faster than I originally thought.

The Scion Suit

The Scion Suit Character Notes

Autumn

Carol

  • Age: 31
  • Rank: special officer
  • Time served: *2 years cleaning the Suit*
  • Appearance: 5’4″, brown hair – just above shoulders, wears neutral t-shirts and tank tops
  • Personality: “Obedient and unambitious”, but has a petty vindictive side. Struggles with anxiety. Starts off bland, because [SPOILER].
  • Drink of choice: Moscato (sparkling white wine)
  • Other notes: Lambert mockingly calls her “commander”. The Suit recognizes her as the primary user.

Lambert

  • Age: 40
  • Rank: Captain
  • Time served: 6 years
  • Appearance: 6’0″, bulky, dark brown hair, wears dark colors when not in uniform.
  • Personality: Irritable. Has no life outside of the military. Secretive about himself.
  • Drink of choice: Whisky
  • Other notes: Was a psychiatrist before joining the military.

Hartmann

  • Age: 35
  • Rank: Master Sergeant
  • Time served: 18 years
  • Appearance: 5’11”, angular, sandy blonde hair
  • Personality: Joined the military for the action, loves being recognized for his accomplishments.
  • Drink of choice: hard liquor for getting drunk/showing off
  • Other notes: Brain damaged by the Suit

Holmes

  • Age: 21
  • Rank: Corporal
  • Time served: 3 years
  • Appearance: 5’10”, lanky
  • Personality: Young, likes to tease, but takes his job seriously and follows his orders very well.
  • Drink of choice: Anything lawl
  • Other notes: Has a girlfriend, planning on getting married after his service is up.

The Scion Suit

The Scion Suit VN edition

Autumn

I’ve been converting The Scion Suit into a script for an interactive fiction game, and I’m amazed at how well it’s translating over into second-person narration. It’s almost like I wrote the story for this purpose without realizing it…

I don’t remember laying it on so thick with the Carol/Lambert pairing, but apparently I did. Lambert’s seriously got the hots for Carol, but she’s too obsessed with the Suit to realize it, lol.

I wasn’t actually planning on starting this project right away, since I know full well that I’m committing myself to months and months of work here, but my husband can be so persuasive. He immediately jumped on getting me set up with Twine and Vim, supplied me with documentation, and appealed to my teenager years when I played with HTML for fun.

Tangent: Bit funny, really, but the only reason why I didn’t go down the web designer path is because one person flaked out and left me feeling stranded. I would have eventually quit to raise babies and write anyway, but it could have possibly spared me from developing a great deal of cynicism.

Let’s not kid ourselves: we’re here for the deep undercurrents of cynicism and alienation.

Back to our regular schedule …

It’s fun to type up things like:
<<Lambert “I yell at you so much because I secretly want to bed you, but I know I shouldn’t.”>>
”How do you reply:”
[[I love you too! -> Ooo_la_la]]
[[Who are you again? -> OUCH]]

Look at me! I’m programing! I AM SO SMART! LAWL.

Anyway

While I’m playing it safe and basic on the technical side of things, I’m feeling ambitious in terms of branching “what ifs” for the story. The whole point is to provide tons and tons of avenues to explore.

Including this:

Unfortunately, this isn’t the sort of thing that I can really share as I work on it, so you’re going to have to wait until I’m ready to publish the game. I know, I’m disappointed too.