Top Reads of 2015

Some people have an instinct for storytelling. They are able to take all the disparate parts - plot, structure, setting, character - and weave them into a tale so fascinating, so heartfelt, so exciting that you not only can't see the seams, but don't even think to look for them. And these are the stories that reach out from the page, grab hold, and don't let go. In some strange, indefinable way, these stories become part of you. In short, some people can bring whole worlds to life with only the written word.

I'm not one of them.

Getting a story to come together into something cohesive, something that flows - something that fits all those separate elements into something greater than than the sum of their parts - is a real struggle for me. It feels like juggling a thousand balls in the air at once, and I never was any good at juggling.

And when you count the pressures that seem to go along with being a writer in this current day and age, it becomes infinitely harder. Not only must one be an excellent writer, but also editor, agent, publisher, promotional wiz, and advertising department. It's a lot to expect from one person, especially for those who, like me, aren't sure they have what it takes to begin with.

All this to say that I've done very little writing this past year. But I have been reading a lot this year, and I've had the (rare) privilege of encountering several books in 2015 that reached out and grabbed hold of me - the kind of story that left me dizzy and dazed, that I want to read again as soon as I turned the final page.

And they've made me realize that is why - despite my doubts - I want to write. Not for fame or fortune, but for the hope that someday I will write something that will reach out and grab an unsuspecting reader, leave them dizzy and dazed, and become part of them. After all, what better way to repay the writers whose stories I love than to pay it forward and write something that someone else will love?

Without further rambling, I present my top reads for 2015:

5 Secrets of Creativity You Already Know But Might Have Forgotten

Most writers worth their salt already know everything on this list… but sometimes we need a reminder. I came across this yesterday during a short-lived bout of cleaning. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

There are cycles of creativity

Just as there are seasons in a year and cycles in preparing, planting, nurturing and harvesting, there are creative cycles. We are not always in the harvesting phase — we do go through the dormant cycles of winter that feel as though nothing is happening. When we honor this, we complete the cycle and move on to the planting and harvesting phases.

This is something I've struggled with lately. I've been in a dormant phrase with my writing for many months now, and can't seem to pull myself out of it. This has been a welcome reminder that at times we must let our creativity lie fallow, and replenish itself for future projects. And that it's OK to do so.

Creativity takes time and silent space

Known to writers as Butt-In-Chair time — staking out regular quiet time. Make an commitment to yourself and your writing, whether it is every day or several times per week. Many writers feel guilty when they take to the time to engage in their work. It may mean letting some things go, not overcommitting, and saying no.

As the saying goes, "I say no to many things, so that I may say yes to what gives me life." We need strong boundaries so that we have energy and time for our creations.

Work from your strengths

"If you were to spend 80% of your effort to become good at a weakness you might improve that area 20%. But if you were to spend that sane 80% of your effort to improve an area of strength, you might improve it 100% or more!" ~ Cheryl Lackie

When we focus inordinate amounts of time and energy on our weaknesses, it can be easy to forget our strengths. But don't lose sight of what you're good at, or why you enjoy writing in the first place.

Fear is a companion of creativity — make friends with fear

Unless you're a thrill-seeker, you will likely experience some degree of fear when you venture out into unfamiliar territory. You can pause, examine it, slow down for a moment. Just don't let it stop you—after all, the only way past fear is by facing it.

Fear is a jolt of energy. put it to work by channelling that energy into your writing. Expect it, redefine it, use it. Just don't let it get the better of you.

Stop criticizing yourself

We can defeat ourselves before we start by constantly feeling we come up short. I know I've found myself thinking like that far more often than I'd like. You can polish your work and improve your skill, but you don't have to label yourself wrong or a failure in order to do so.

When you have to do something perfectly, you will rarely try something new because you can't do new things perfectly on the first try. Do your best, but don't hold onto it something until it's perfect because by that time it could well be outdated.

Adapted from "The Top Ten Secrets of Creatively Successful Women" by Iris Fanning

Light and Dark

Summer is finally loosening its grip, and fall waits just around the corner. The last of summer's endless heat is always a welcome time in Arizona, and every year autumn is too brief for my tastes. Shorter days, cool nights, clear blue skies and golden yellow aspens… it's the perfect time to be in Arizona.

Light and darkness both have their place in the cycle of the year, in our lives, and in the lives of our characters. Don't get too caught up in one, because each always leads to the other. Both have their time and place. The challenge is to understand and appreciate what each has to offer. Derek Murphy over at CreativIndie has a wonderful article on this theme that's definitely worth a read.

I've been working to get Last Night in Ghosttown ready to debut on Smashwords. No (re)release date just yet, but I'll do my best to get it back on the virtual shelves sometime this month. All of my other projects have been backburnered recently for some soul searching. As all I turned up in the course of my searching were a few existential dust bunnies and an odd sock or two, I suppose I'll just keep on keeping on and continue writing at my own glacial pace.

How do you stay balanced between light and dark? What role do each play in your writing? In your characters' journeys?

Release Day! LOUDER THAN WORDS

I couldn't be happier to announce the release of LOUDER THAN WORDS, a YA novel by my friend Iris St. Clair! I had the privilege to read this book in its infancy, and it's a wonderful story of friendship, trust, and finding your inner strength.

Louder Than Words

by Iris St. Clair

published by Swoon Romance • released 9/16/2014

Synopsis:

Disappointment has been on speed dial in Ellen Grayson's life lately. Her dad died, her mom numbs the grief with drugs and alcohol, and her so-called friends have slowly abandoned her. 

Trusting a popular teacher with her troubles should have been safe and should NOT have led to an unwelcome seduction attempt that made her desperate to escape the final moments of Junior year. Lesson learned. Best to keep all the sordid details to herself and trust no one.

Enter Rex Jacobi, a cocky boy, recently transplanted from New York City and fellow summer camp employee. Though his quick wit and confidence draws her in, she can't let him get too close. And summer is just long enough and hot enough to keep a boy like that at arm's length.

But by the time Rex's charm wears down her resistance, it's too late. He's put Ellen on the "just friends" shelf and has shifted his romantic attentions to the impossibly annoying and perky anti-Ellen. Even worse, the teacher who tried to get her to sleep with him is still at it, preying on other girls while Ellen struggles to come to terms with what happened.

With her ability to trust as shaky as a chastity vow on prom night, Ellen must decide if she has enough remaining courage to speak up about the well-liked teacher and risk retribution, tell Rex how she really feels about him and risk heartbreak, or hold all her secrets inside. After all, it's the only safe place she knows when the only thing louder than words is the fear of being rejected.

Find it on GoodReads here • But it on Amazon here

Excerpt:

"Ellen!" Rex calls my name but I ignore him. "Ellen!" He draws up beside me. "I'm sorry. I got a little carried away. I'm sorry." From the corner of my eye I see him push back a swath of hair from his eyes. "Shit. That's all I seem to be doing, is apologizing to you."

My feet stop moving and I whirl to face him. "Why did you do that?"

His face is pinched, eyes droop at the corners. "Because I thought you wanted to. I thought you …" He pushes his hair back again, even though it still lies in cowed submission. “You were so close, and when you looked at me with those eyes—”

“So, it’s my fault?” I throw up my hands with an exasperated cry and keep walking.

"No. No, that’s not what I’m trying to say. It was just … I misunderstood, and I’m sorry. Wait, wait. Let me apologize better." His voice almost sounds sincere … almost … enough to make me halt.

"I promise I won't come on to you again. I won't touch you, make suggestive remarks or, or do anything else—like other stuff I can't think of now—that's inappropriate. I'm sorry. I guess maybe I misunderstood because… never mind. I have a big mouth and I’m impulsive sometimes. What can I say? I’m Italian." He shrugs and buries his hands in his pockets. Like that excuses it—a faulty impulse control switch and Latin genes he can blame whenever he’s called out.

I cross my arms and cock my head. "Why should I believe you? Cause it was that bad? Back there?” I can’t look at him anymore, wish I had just nodded at his apology and dropped it. My face blazes, and all I want to do is run away from him, to the ladies room, to splash cold water on my cheeks and wash away the awkward memory and my even more awkward reaction. I need to shut up, shut up, shut up.

"What?" He chuckles and the sound echoes through the hallway. "Is that what you … aww, hell no." He raises his hands, palms out. "That is so not what I meant." He moves a little closer, and glances around as if to make sure we're unobserved. In a hushed voice, he says, "The kiss was fantastic, amazing, fabuloso, but I shouldn’t have done it. I promise, I swear even, I won’t do it again. I’ll never try to kiss you or touch you … unless you ask me, of course." He shifts to face me. “I am a man of my word. You can trust me.” His smile fades. “Please trust me. Alright?"


About the Author:
Iris St. Clair is the pen name for a long-suffering cubicle worker by day, a Walter Mitty-like dreamer by night. (Her alter ego Tatiana Ivanadance also choreographs gravity-defying routines in those fantasies, but that's another bio.) No matter what genre she writes, she prefers witty, insecure heroines and kind, persistent heroes able to break through to the gooey heart inside. In high school she was voted most likely to win at Monopoly and Clue, but least likely to throw a ball anywhere near a target. Thank goodness writing requires less hand-eye coordination, punctuation errors notwithstanding. Iris believes in the two-year "fish or cut bait" dating rule and has a 20+ year marriage and two teenaged sons as proof of concept. She lives, writes, dreams and dances in the rainy Portland, OR area.

Book Blitz hosted by YA Bound Tours 

Unpublishing and New Challenges

With the closing of publisher Eggplant Productions, my sci-fi novella LAST NIGHT IN GHOSTTOWN is officially out of print. While I hope to make it available again down the line, the specifics of how and when are still very much undecided.

Which officially makes me an unpublished author once again. I'm not sure what the future holds for me as a writer, and it's likely my activity on this blog will be sparse for the time being. So I thank anyone who's stopped by to read or comment, along with everyone who supported me in my journey to share LAST NIGHT with the world.

Because everything is better with kittens

Publishing: One Step Forward...

… and two steps back.

By now the news that Eggplant Literary Productions is closing has spread around the internets. Which means that my novella, LAST NIGHT IN GHOSTTOWN, will be out of print sometime within the next month.

Needless to say, this has come as quite a shock. It's stirred up a lot of hard questions within myself which I thought I'd finally answered. I'm a slow writer - what if I can't get new works written quickly enough to stay afloat in this biz? What if LAST NIGHT was just a fluke, and I never write anything good again? What if I'm just wasting my time?

So now, I'm not quite sure about anything. I know I'd love to find a new home for LAST NIGHT once Eggplant's doors are closed, but that's all very much up in the air right now.

In the meantime (by which I mean the next few weeks) if you have even the slightest interest in reading gay romance with an Indian-inspired, futuristic sci-fi setting, please take a look at LAST NIGHT IN GHOSTTOWN before it vanishes:

Amazon • Barnes & Noble

Cover Reveal: LOUDER THAN WORDS by Iris St. Clair

I'm thrilled to present the cover for LOUDER THAN WORDS, a touching YA romance by Iris St. Clair, releasing September 16, 2014 from Swoon Romance. I consider myself privileged to have read an early draft of this, and I loved every word - I can't recommend it enough!

From Goodreads:
Disappointment has been on speed dial in Ellen Grayson's life lately. Her dad's dead, her mom is numbing the grief with drugs and alcohol, and her so-called friends are slowly abandoning her. Trusting a popular teacher with her troubles should have been safe, shouldn't have led to an unwelcome seduction attempt, shouldn't have sent her running to the girls' bathroom for the final moments of her Junior year. Lesson learned. Best to keep all the sordid details of her life to herself.

Enter Rex Jacobi, a cocky teen recently transplanted from New York and fellow summer camp employee. Though his quick wit and confidence draws her in, she's not letting him get too close, not til she's sure she can trust him. By the time Rex's charming persistence wears down her resistance, it's too late. He's put Ellen on the perma-pal shelf and shifted his romantic attentions to her arch-rival. Even worse, the teacher who tried to seduce her is still misbehaving with impunity.

With her ability to trust as shaky as a chastity vow on prom night, Ellen must decide if she has enough remaining courage to speak up about her teacher and risk retribution, to tell Rex how she feels and risk heartbreak, or hold all her secrets inside, the only safe place she knows.

About the Author
Iris St. Clair is the pen name for a long-suffering cubicle worker by day, a Walter Mitty-like dreamer by night. (Her alter ego Tatiana Ivanadance also choreographs gravity-defying routines in those fantasies, but that's another bio.)

No matter what genre she writes, she prefers witty, insecure heroines and kind, persistent heroes able to break through to the gooey heart inside. In high school she was voted most likely to win at Monopoly and Clue, but least likely to throw aball anywhere near a target. Thank goodness writing requires less hand-eye coordination, punctuation errors notwithstanding.

Iris believes in the two-year "fish or cut bait" dating rule and has a 20+ year marriage and two teenaged sons as proof of concept. She lives, writes, dreams and dances in the rainy Portland, OR area.

Learn more about Iris: Website ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest

Cover Reveal Organized by YA Bound Book Tours