Monday, March 21, 2016

A to Z and the Final Change (Change: part 7)

Okay, so it's probably going a little too far to say that the thing I'm about to talk about was the final change of 2015 (there were also art projects and a multitude of smaller things that got passed over as I was writing this series); in fact, it was one of the earlier changes of the year, but it is the final one I'm going to talk about. The final change of 2015, at any rate.

When I started writing, I chose a very specific style of writing, because I was writing with my kids in mind as part of the audience. In fact, they were my primary audience for The House on the Corner, seeing as how I wrote that book for them. After that, because my kids wanted to be able to read what I was writing, I made sure to keep whatever I was working on kid-friendly. Which is not to say that there aren't mature themes, but my current published works (minus one) were written with my children in mind as part of the audience.

[Fun fact:
Shadow Spinner actually has a 1-star review because of all the sex. All the sex? Did I miss something? I don't remember writing any sex in that book. Like I said, my kids were in mind as part of the audience, so I'm pretty sure I didn't include any sex or anything else that would be inappropriate for a normal 12-year-old. I mean, I've read the book in public schools and there have never been any complaints about me reading "sex" to middle schoolers.]

But speaking of sex...
Oh, wait, I'm not there yet.

I've always had some decidedly adult projects in mind when I started writing, many of those being in various planning stages or beginning phases, right now. It's part of how I work. I do try to stay focused on the actual project(s) I'm working on, though. Theoretically, that's supposed to be Brother's Keeper, the sequel to The House on the Corner, but various things keep sidetracking me from getting that finished. In 2015, it was a deliberate change in tone in my writing.

Basically, I decided to write some things that were not kid-friendly, meaning that I decided to work on some projects that would get at least "R" ratings if they were movies. One of those is a collaboration with another author, one of those is the current novel I'm working on (and am very excited about (but more on that later (much))), and the last of those is my A-to-Z project.

The project for A-to-Z actually came to me back in 2014 and is why I didn't do A-to-Z last year: It wasn't ready. It's still not ready, but I'm not willing to wait another year to start this thing off.

What is it, you ask.

Well...

Actually, I'm going to skip the long explanation and let the product, eventually, stand on its own. Let's just say that I wanted a topic that would lend itself to a series of related short stories. After much thinking, I settled on Angels & Demons. The idea was that there would be a free story each day for and Angel and a Demon for that letter of the alphabet but, well, I haven't finished the stories yet. By a lot. So some days there will be free stories and some days there will only be a brief character description. The stories will only be free the day (and the day after) they are released, though, so be aware ahead of time. And this year is just the Angels (with, maybe, one exception).

But what does that have to do with change? Well, these will be the first (very) adult works I will publish. So far, the people who have had a chance to read any of these have pretty much all responded with, "Wow, this isn't like anything you've ever written before." And they are not like any of the work I have currently available. By a lot.

I hope you will stick around and check them out.

12 comments:

  1. You haven't finished writing them? No pressure, huh?

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  2. Oh yes, the sex shadows had in that book. I think Peter Pan's Shadow was there too. Crazy reviewers.

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  3. If there was sex in the Shadow Spinner, I missed it completely. Unless sex isn't what I think it is. Anyway, I can't wait to see what you've come up with for the Challenge. If you took a year off just to keep preparing, it must be good. I hope you're able to complete it by the end of April.

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    1. Jeanne: I don't know; what do you think sex is? I knew someone once who thought it involved a can of Coke and a straw.

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  4. I'm not actually trying to finish them all before April or before the end of April. That's impossible at this point. I'm going with what I have and character studies for the ones I don't have.

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  5. Ah who needs to finish stories ahead of time. I look forward to reading whatever you've got when April arrives. :)

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  6. It sounded like a huge undertaking from the start (and admittedly I have not had nearly enough time to work on anything, much less my minuscule part) so I'm glad you scaled it back just a bit. Bring on the adult themes, extreme violence, and suggestive language!

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  7. Sounds intriguing.. Sounds like fun! I look forward to your posts ~Lori~

    Lori's A2Zs @ As the Fates Would Have It & Promptly Written

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  8. Good luck with finishing the stories. Sounds like you have been working hard on them. Hope the AtoZ goes smoothly for you.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  9. Best of luck with the stories/character sketches. Wishing you a great A-Z.

    Nilanjana.
    Ninja Minion, A-Z 2016
    Madly-in-Verse

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  10. Interesting theme with the angels and demons; betting researching them were interesting to do :)

    Have a great challenge!

    betty
    http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/2016/03/its-that-time-again.html

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    1. betty: There has been a lot of research, which is okay, because I like research. It has been more than I anticipated, though. Interesting stuff.

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