You know those scenes that are just so delicious that you can't wait to write them, but you don't write them yet because it isn't time? So you use them to bribe yourself to write the boring scenes in between?

Yeah. Don't do that.

I learned this lesson years ago, when I came up with a scene that was incredibly moving, a pivotal point in the development of a deeply wounded character, and I looked forward to writing it with intense anticipation... only to find that by the time I got around to it, all the life had already drained out.

I'd forgotten too many of the important points, I'd already worn the emotion out of it, and the magic was forever lost.

That long-ago lesson was reinforced to me while writing Heroic Lies - only this time, I did things right.

This time, I wrote down scenes, parts of scenes, or scene outlines as they came to my head, and I never once regretted it. It meant that when I got to the point in the book where the scene needed to be added in and fleshed out, a lot of the work was already done, and done better than it would have been if I'd waited to write it until then.

And, even better, it freed up my mind to concentrate on the parts of the book that came before the 'candy bar scenes'. Because of this, those other scenes were more enjoyable to write, and were better-written and more interesting than they would have been if I'd simply slogged through them with another scene on my mind.

And now comes the editing process. The process in which I polish everything up, and turn every scene into a candy bar scene - even the ones I wasn't that excited about the first time around.

UPDATE: I've got some great news!

If you enjoy superhero stories with a twist, Heroic Lies is now available for purchase! (Actually, it's available for purchase even if you don't enjoy twisty superhero stories, but in that case, it would be irrelevant to you.)

To learn more about the novel and to get your copy, click the button below.
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Yup, that's a picture of me, after I finished the first draft of my latest novel, Heroic Lies.

So. Frelling. Happy. :D

This is a pretty proud moment for me; it's the first time I've ever attempted to write a novel and conduct a product launch at the same time. And master web sales technology, and serve my existing customers, and, and, and...

So just the fact that I finished this thing is a big accomplishment for me. And I did it 2 weeks ahead of schedule, too! Last night, it came to the final push; I'd outlined the epilogue ahead of time, and in one last, mad writing streak, I hammered out over 2,100 words, and finished the novel shortly after 2:00 a.m.

Needless to say, I rewarded myself by letting myself sleep in a bit.

I'm really excited about sharing it with you once I'm finished editing it. In the meantime, I still need to finalize the cover design, and find an appropriate model; if you know a woman with longish red hair who'd like to see herself on a book cover, by all means, let me know! You can see the guidelines here. (It opens in a new window.)

Thank you to everyone who's followed my blog, read my other novels, and supported me through this exciting journey. I really appreciate all of you, and I look forward to sharing Heroic Lies when it's ready to be published.

Yes, you read that right. Three. I've been a busy girl. And once I got the basics down pat, music videos actually started to come together way faster than I had thought possible.

And to think, there was a time when I believed that I wouldn't have the patience or the technical skills to make a music video! Hahaha.


The first is one of the stranger combinations of concept and music that I've come up with, and yet, it was one of the easiest to make. There was just the right ratio of vocals to instrumentals, so I seldom got caught having to find extra clips to deal with the gaps between verses, and despite the fact that I was casting a pair of men in the role of Alice in Wonderland, I always had clips that suited the words perfectly.

It's also one of those videos where the tone and feeling of the clips and the music just clicked, so I never felt like the visuals and audio were fighting over which mood to invoke. The result was a great blend of drama and creepiness, the first MV I've made that really captures the full scope and awesomeness of the Farscape series, and quite possibly the best music video I've created yet.

The next one was considerably more difficult to create than "Her Name is Alice", as there are larger gaps between some of the lyrics, so I often found myself searching for additional footage when the clips I'd chosen turned out not to be long enough. And it had an instrumental break. For me, those are always the hardest part of the video to create, as they don't come with an instruction manual in lyric form.

But while it isn't as seamless as the one just before it, I think it turned out pretty well. So enjoy the fruits of my very fun labour.

And the third is quite possibly the first music video ever to be set to Emilie Autumn's song "One Foot in Front of the Other". (If there is another one, it's not readily findable on Google.) I do love finding underused, unexpected or improbable songs and turning them into videos. :)

It just seemed so fitting for Scorpius; he goes through more crap than almost anyone else in the cast, but like the determinator he is, he just keeps putting one foot in front of the other foot, in front of the one foot, in front of the other foot.

There are some questions that I don't often have to ask myself.

As a writer who tends to keep her character development slow and natural, I've found myself struggling with a part of the book I'm currently writing.

A character who's stayed the same for much of the novel, and who's actively resisted every opportunity and reason for change, is suddenly thrown into a situation that completely blows his carefully-constructed self-delusions into a cloud of shrapnel. And now, he's being forced to choose between clinging to his old ways, or doing something that's all but alien to the person he's always been.

Either way, the cost will be unbearable.

It's definitely a time for character development, and perhaps my own biases are making it feel too fast. To a lot of other writers and readers, it might seem perfectly natural. But to me, it just feels sudden.

As I've been slowly learning to do, I'm delaying judgment until the editing phase. I'll come back to these scenes with fresh eyes, and maybe add some more foreshadowing beforehand to make it seem more natural.

In any case, I'll make it work out. But for the moment, it just feels weird.

Have you ever had a scene like that, whether you were writing or reading it? One where the sudden change in a character was justified, but it felt too fast? If so, please share it in the comments, if you can do so without giving spoilers.

There are several basic components that make up a story. Premise, plot, execution and characters are the four most fundamental ones that come to mind. And it's amazing how much you can get away with screwing up the first two if you can get the third and fourth ones right.

I've been rewatching some episodes of House: M.D. during the last few weeks, and it really serves to highlight what's most important in storytelling.

​The premise, while good, is hardly earth-shattering; it's a show about a doctor who's a brilliant, idiosyncratic jerk, and the plot pretty much always consists of "House and his team make one wrong diagnosis after another while new symptoms rear their heads, until the correct amount of time has been spent, and THEN they get to diagnose them correctly."

So how does a show that's so terminally formulaic get to be so good?

Execution and characters.

While the lines the show is colouring between are almost always the same, the colours they use are so interesting that it doesn't get old.

The patient gets sick, gets sicker, then eventually gets diagnosed - that's a given. But the patients themselves are intriguing and varied, and they always manage to draw out the personalities of the main cast. No matter who the patient is, somebody's buttons are going to be pushed, and the resulting character development is great to watch.

And then there's the execution. By that, I mean the mood, the tone, the lighting, the pacing, the foreshadowing, all the little technical details. This show does them well.

​It draws the viewer into what's happening on the screen, enough that if you can forgive it for the fact that you KNOW when the patient is going to be diagnosed, it's a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Have you ever noticed a show, book or movie like that? One where the plot was repetitive, or the premise overused, but it still managed to be really good?

If so, I'd love it if you'd name some examples in the comments section. Who knows - you might help someone to find a new favourite, or at least a guilty pleasure. :)