Category Archives: masks

Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

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Here’s the man to blame for starting my obsession with classic lit, historical fiction, historical fantasy, what have you. :)

Charles Dickens 200th Birthday Google Doodle

A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens novel I read when I was in high school, and I wouldn’t have even heard about it had I not stumbled across a movie adaptation of the book on TV. I remember not only being fascinated by the costumes but also developing a schoolgirl crush on the characters of both Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Unsurprisingly, they look alike, so you can’t really blame me. :D It wasn’t till I was in college, when I reread the novel with a more critical eye, when I realized that it was Sydney I should swoon over and not Darnay. Both times, I was a sobbing mess at the end of the novel.

A Tale of Two Cities Illustration by Ralph Bruce

To me the biggest influence that Dickens has in my own work has always been writing memorable characters. I know for a fact that I’m nowhere near his level of creativity and skill, but it’s definitely something I work hard to achieve, regardless of what story I write. Quirky characters, especially, are a bit difficult to create (they have to be unique and cockeyed enough to up the interest levels) and “maintain” throughout a novel-length work (they have to be consistent in their cockeyed-ness), but the final results are well worth all that grief. Again, I don’t think I’ve written any character that comes close to any of Dickens’, but the challenge is always there. And I’ve always considered that to be one of the most fun goals I give myself whenever I begin a new story.

Speaking of writing, I’m just about halfway through Dr. Morbid’s Castle of Blood (or Masks #6). The novel’s coming along pretty well, though I’m finding myself second-guessing this story’s plot more than I did with Mimi Attacks! The circumstances of Eric and the superheroes’ adventures aren’t the same; in this new book, they’re trapped, which means very limited action and setting. In Mimi Attacks!, their adventures are pretty much the standard supervillain-versus-superhero kind of thing. So there’s a bit of nervousness and occasional angst-ridden moments of writerly nail-biting throughout the writing process for Dr. Morbid, and I hope I’m able to pull this through without a hitch.

Releasing two Masks novels in a row earns me a break from writing contemporary fiction after Dr. Morbid, and I’ve been refining the story outline and notes that I scribbled in my writing journal for that French historical fantasy novel I talked about before. Following that, I need to turn my attention back to contemporary fantasy again, but not in the Masks universe. I’m still trying to find a new story (series, maybe) that would serve as a complement to Masks and maybe a replacement down the line when I get tired of writing about superheroes. I certainly can’t see myself writing about Eric for more than ten books, and in fact, I didn’t expect to go beyond five volumes overall. But in this series’ case, it’s good to simply go with the flow as inspiration dictates. If and when I write the final book, it’s not going to be an end-end, if you know what I mean. It’ll remain open-ended to show that Eric’s adventures are ongoing even after the curtain closes. I hate goodbyes, anyway. I’d rather have the gang continue the good fight and end the series that way.

And now I’m starting to bum myself out by thinking about it. One day at a time, dahlink. One day at a time.

Now Available: Out of the Depths (And Some Goodies)

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Heads up! My short story, “Out of the Depths”, is now available from Queerteen Press in e-book format (note: short stories are only available in e-book format). In brief, it’s a horror / gothic retelling of the “Pygmalion” myth.

Blurb: It has been a year since Konstancji’s lover passed away, but rather than move on with his life, Konstancji hires one young man after another to sit for him as he obsessively works on a statue. What’s apparent is the fact that each sitter dies and is replaced with a new one, his grieving family compensated generously.

What no one’s aware of, though, is the purpose of the statue, which is the means through which Konstancji hopes to bring his beloved back from the dead.

If you purchase directly from the publisher, you’ll receive a 20% discount. Go here to buy it as well as to read an excerpt if you want to get an idea of the piece’s tone and style.

And some extra bits of news!

     

“The Knight”, a short story due out in March, is now listed at Queerteen Press. It’s a retelling of the “St. George and the Dragon” legend, and you can read the story’s description and an excerpt over here. And then there’s Mimi Attacks!, the next book in the Masks series (this is book number five), which is all about superheroes, supervillains, crazed fangirls, and a sixteen-year-old boy who always ends up with the short end of the stick. Book blurb and excerpt can be found here. Since this is a novel, it’ll be available in both print and e-book formats.

There you have it! And if you purchase a copy of “Out of the Depths”, I hope you enjoy it. :) It’s the only horror story in the collection of short fiction that I’ve contracted with Queerteen Press.

When Economics Rears Its Creepy Head

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I almost feel like the prodigal son (or daughter) as far as my web presence goes. Since I started publishing LGBT YA fiction three years ago, I crept my way forward at first, testing out this blogging service and that and then finally deciding to self-host my blog as I really wanted that independence. That was before WordPress started offering all kinds of paid goodies – or at least from what I remember, anyway.

And from there, I also started toying around with the idea of commissioning artwork for my book covers, and I was lucky enough to know Alex, who was an absolute joy to work with.

The downside to all this, unfortunately, is the fact that my chosen market isn’t as lucrative as adult fiction. LGBT YA is a tiny market to begin with; add to that the fact that I don’t like writing contemporary issues-based fiction, which is essentially this market’s status quo, and that I prefer to work with small presses because they’re the ones who take massive, massive risks on unknown writers who specialize in unpopular genres. What we have in the end is a recipe for teeny sales, though as far as the Long Tail Theory goes, it works in my favor. Slowly but surely, those books are moving.

But economics is a force that I can’t ignore for too long, and eventually, my expenses way overrode my returns. Technically I’ve been in the red since late 2010, and I literally have yet to see my royalties stay put in my checking account.

My move back to WordPress.com after the unexpected merger of Super Green Hosting and JustHost is proving to be a major thorn off my side. I mean, sure, I lose my independence as a blog owner, but at least I do enjoy a few perks via WP’s premium services. Through those, I only pay for my domain name, privacy, and ad-free blogging, and today I decided to go for the custom upgrade, which means that at the very least, I can mess around with my theme’s fonts without destroying the theme’s codes. The total yearly cost for this is only about a dollar more than if I were to renew with JustHost for their cheapest rate, divided annually (their cheapest rate requires customers to pay them in three-year blocks, which I can’t afford).

So I’m back to the last theme I used before my self-hosted blog inexplicably vanished during the transition to JustHost, and I’m pretty happy where I am.

With New Year coming in a few days, I’ve been thinking about what I should do next year to make things less financially frantic (for lack of a better term) on my end. I’ve been debating on whether or not to commission cover art again, with my Masks series throwing a wrench into things somewhat. I still would like to see the comic book look of the earlier covers continued, but I also have to remain firm with my expenses in 2012. I really need to buckle down next year and learn to say “no” to what’s shiny, when more prudent alternatives are available.