Cloud Nine Girl

[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support to each other on the first Wednesday of every month.  If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]

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Last Wednesday night was a bit of a nail biter.

Game II of the World Series, the Kansas City Royals versus the New York Mets with the Royals being my own home team, and the game of all things, was in my hometown.

That night was also the night before a major writing deadline for Writer’s Digest, a contest possibility I’d been planning to submit my work to for the past week and a half.

I sat at my desk with a three-hour stretch in front of me.  In my own busy world of work and writing and family, I’d missed a few points in the submission process. And in that daunting moment, I faced the almost inevitable decision not to go for it.

My dilemma?

1. The log line. Consolidating the entirety of my 71,000 K current word count manuscript into one bitty sentence. I didn’t think I had enough time. To do that, I knew I’d have to streamline and I tend to be wordy on short notice time frames.

This log line couldn’t be a run-on sentence. But a powerful verb filled sentence anyone could get and not only get, but also feel the same excitement about my work that I do enough to want more.

Could you do that? Consolidate your biggest passion into one sentence and make it so enthralling you hook a stranger so they too, understand exactly who you are and why you are different and why they should care?

… AND … do it is less than three hours?
It’s a difficult spot to be in.

The second bigger point in why I didn’t submit?

2. A completed manuscript.

I couldn’t honestly back up the submission point in having a completed manuscript to my own personal satisfaction. With a previous draft completed, I’d since shifted the plot line and easily had another 20,000 K in words left to complete.

On the Upside of the contest?

The main prize did look amazing. The chance to have the first 10 pages of my manuscript critiqued by an incredibly talented agent who liked my genre, Young Adult Fiction, and after researching the agent further, who was also interested in my specific genre, Young Adult fantasy. Real world life mixed with a bit of magical dust.

Wrapping up my decision.

So! Maybe my worries got the best of me. Even though I knew the manuscript wouldn’t be reviewed in its entirety, there is always potential an agent might pick you up.

Unfortunately, I am a rule follower.

So what do you think? Even though the decision is past and gone, what would you have done?

~Erika

[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support to each other on the first Wednesday of every month.  If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]

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Every Monday evening, I sit in a black metal chair and watch my daughter dance across a hard wood floor in her tutu, sometimes tights, and always ballet slippers. She’s five. She loves to spin and glance at herself in the mirror like any other five-year-old. And this past week as she sat on the floor stretching her arms towards her pointed toes the entire class broke out and chanted together a really great line, “No More Naughty Toes!”

The kiddos were referencing the difference in pointed verse flexed feet in class and what natural rules dancers follow in order to succeed. While I watched my daughter giggle, smile, and enjoy the time she spent with her friends in class, I couldn’t help but compare the rules and techniques she seems to be learning in dance to my own passion in writing.

Rules can be stressful. Sometimes I wish I had the eyes and heart of a five-year-old as I tackle basic rules in writing to polish off my own manuscript. Sometimes it seems small children have no fear. Maybe it’s what we learn along the way because I know in my own 39 years of life, I have a list of them.

My biggest weakness, or Naughty Toes I should say, is conquering plot development. Years ago, when I started working on my first lengthy novel,  I had no idea of the art involved in the natural progression of events, what to hold back from the audience, and what they absolutely need to see in order to get the bigger picture we author’s sometimes keep to ourselves in our heads. Plus, my character scenes sometimes derail my plot. I’m comfortable with scenes and characters, but sometimes I get lost in dialogue and action, and then I get to the end of the chapter and I scratch my head and think, well, that’s not what I’d outlined at all. 🙂

I hope I’m becoming more flexible in my studies, just like my daughter in dance class. I’ve been working pretty diligently on the craft of plot with a multitude of resources, workbooks and my writing BFF Becky. We’ve made a pact this year. We’ve decided to team tag the topic of plot development. No matter what, we promise to work as a team, keep the steam rolling and brainstorm at the end of scenes all over again if necessary.

Sometimes the fear hangs on and a flashlight isn’t enough to chase away the shadows clinging to the doors in my mind. Will this really be the draft I’m hoping for, the one with a sound plot weaving my characters and scenes so tightly together, it wows the audience right out of their seats?

I’m not sure. I know I’m not the type to give up. I also believe the best way to conquer our weaknesses is through our friends who also share in our same struggles. We’re better together. I’ve seen it in my daughter’s dance class. I’ve felt it ever since I met my writing friend Becky.

My Question: So what about you? Any rules your struggling with in your work, or have found yourself struggling with in the past?

Thank you for stopping in today.

~Erika

MINOTAUR, by Phillip W. Simpson, takes you back to Ancient Greek and Roman times when poets and bards told the histories of kings and legends.

There are two main characters: Publius Ovid Naso (Ovid) a Roman Poet; and Ast, a giant from the top of his head to the rumble of his voice, a man who also bears a huge secret about himself.

The reader is first introduced to the poet Ovid who seeks to experience some of the places he’s written about in his poems first-hand. He exits his ship and meets Ast shortly, his proclaimed escort to the palace of Knossos.

As Chapter One progresses, Ast reveals his true identity as the Minotaur, the feared legendary beast, an immortal man half-human half-God born more than a 1000 years before. Impossible? That’s what Ovid thinks at first. However, Ast is very persuasive. He wants to set the record straight about his past and is adamant Ovid should tell his story to the public to clear his name of the atrocities he swears he never committed.

“Something strange was happening. Ovid, despite his misgivings, was hooked now. Even if he wanted to run, he knew he wouldn’t.” (MINOTAUR)

Author Phillip W. Simpson hooked me, too.

The style of writing seemed true to the time, reminding me of all the Greek and mythological epic stories I’d read back in school: The Iliad, Beowulf, The Odyssey and even one of my favorite Greek plays “Medea”, which made its own way into this book. A different sort of read for me, MINOTAUR is an excellent tale with vivid and original interpretations of famous historical and mythical beings like Medea herself, Icarus a real man who invented a set of human wings, giant man eating turtles, and other family and friends so full of life they become real:

“… A simple fisherman casting his net out into the waves. He was old and bronzed and so slim he looked emaciated. Thin wisps of gray hair failed to hide his almost complete baldness. He saw me, and his eyes widened with surprise or perhaps fright. I must have cast a strange image. Clad only in a loincloth and my bull’s helm. he might have first surmised that I was some god emerged from the sea. Perhaps Poseidon himself. ” (MINOTAUR)

I am a huge nature lover. The scenes with Ast’s affinity for friendships with animals were some of my favorites.

“I lifted my head, examining the creature underneath me. It was, of course, a dolphin. I might’ve been lucky. I might’ve been in the right place at the right time. But it did occur to me that perhaps, just perhaps, my father was taking an active hand in my fate.” (MINOTAUR)

Many moments of unjust deeds committed to Ast tugged at my heart. I definitely took a few breaths and paused on the pages, but Ast’s naïve and honest nature kept me going,  and I wondered if this kind soul would ever catch a break. And the end? It was so worth it! If you want a vivid book where you find yourself thinking about the endearing characters and relationships, where scenes and thoughts from the story slip into your dreams at night, then you’ll love this book just like I did.

My Review: Four Stars.

I would have given it five stars had the first few pages had fewer unnamed strangers making it difficult to follow.

Interested in reading more reviews? Click this link to visit the review tour for MINOTAUR.

ABOUT MINOTAUR:

Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson

Publication Date: September 29, 2015

Publisher: Month9books

“Where shall I start?” asked Minotaur.

Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.”

Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began.

So begins the story of Asterion, later known as Minotaur, the supposed half bull creature of Greek legend. Recorded by the famous Roman poet, Ovid, Asterion tells of his boyhood in Crete under the cruel hand of his stepfather Minos, his adventures with his friend, Theseus, and his growing love for the beautiful Phaedra.And of course what really happened in the labyrinth.

This is the true story of the Minotaur.

Where Can You Get The Book?

Good Reads, is a good place to see more about the book.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | B&N | BAM | Chapters | Indiebound | Kobo | TBD | Google Play

Giveaway Information: Contest ends October 23, 2015

• Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson (INT)
• Click this link to enter for your chance to win.

ABOUT PHILLIP W. SIMPSON:

Phillip W. Simpson is the author of many novels, chapter books and other stories for children. His publishers include Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, Cengage, Raintree and Oxford University Press.

He received both his undergraduate degree in Ancient History and Archaeology and his Masters (Hons) degree in Archaeology from the University of Auckland.

Before embarking on his writing career, he joined the army as an officer cadet, owned a comic shop and worked in recruitment in both the UK and Australia.

His first young adult novel, Rapture (Rapture Trilogy #1), was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for best Youth novel in 2012.

He is represented by Vicki Marsdon at Wordlink literary agency.

When not writing, he works as a school teacher.

Phillip lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Rose, their son, Jack and their two border terriers, Whiskey and Raffles. He loves fishing, reading, movies, football (soccer) and single malt Whiskeys.

Connect with the Author:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Thank you for stopping in today. Have a hope-filled, rest of your day. 🙂