Smaug the Terrible vs Kerik the Conflicted

Today one of the most famous dragons in fictional history takes to the big screen. Smaug the magnificent, terrible scourge of death and destruction. The epitome of greed and self-centered existence, Smaug lives in infamy.

Kerik, my dragon, is a more complex character. Not that he doesn't feel many of the same things as Tolkien's scaly creature, but he fights against his dragon nature. As a dragon, Kerik knows he's a superior being compared to mere humans. But because of his upbringing, he cares for some of those puny humans. The dragon Kerik knows that humans are his only natural enemy, yet he takes a side in the human war.

What are the chances more people read about my dragon in the next year than will read about Smaug? Probably about as much chance as me running a 5:30 mile today. But I'm still hoping a little dragon love will spill over to my book, First Dragon. It's had a little sales bump this past week, so I'm hoping.

Are your heading out into the next winter storm to see The Desolation of Smaug in its opening weekend? Did you buy any Tolkien books for gifts this Christmas? Don't forget, today is the last day to get your name in for the wonderful contest at the IWSG site.

Nobody Knows

About five years ago at a writing conference, I attended a workshop led by an editor from a major publishing house. His focus was on fantasy and science fiction. During the question and answer period, someone asked him what the next craze would be after vampires died out. (not that they every die, right?)

The editor laughed, pretended to look into a crystal ball and predicted zombies. He completely didn't mean it, but his educated guess was right. Who could have known that the TV series, The Walking Dead, would be such a hit? How about World War Z? Zombie books are everywhere.

I'm sure no one predicted the vampire rage five years before it stormed into our lives. And the Game of Thrones TV show is certainly helping elevate that genre also. Who could have predicted that?

No one. Nobody knows what the next craze might be. Fairy tale characters because of the TV show, Once Upon a Time? Heroic teams of crime fighters like the Agents of Shield? If you write books relative to the 'next big thing' your career could be ready to sky rocket. But no one knows what it is, so you have to just write the story that speaks to you. Write your thing as best as you can without trying to catch a trend.

Two years ago I started writing a dragon series for the epic fantasy market. First Dragon is coming out shortly. I never thought about The Hobbit when I wrote that first book, but I'm really, really hoping that Smaug will inspire readers to want more dragon in their lives.

What is the next big thing in your opinion? Are you looking forward to the next installment of The Hobbit? Do you think vampires have run their course?

Hobbit Fest

Like so many fantasy fans, I'm really hoping the new Hobbit movies live up to our high expectations. I'm not as excited as I was for the grand adventure of The Lord of the Rings, but it is still going to be great.

Helping us celebrate the movie premiere, M. Pax and Tyrean Martinson are hosting a very interesting blog hop to get us all in the right mind set. Visit either of their blogs to sign up and find more wonderful blogs to share fond thoughts of those lovely little furry footed hobbits, those gentle and courageous heroes.

As part of the blog hop, I must answer a few questions.
1.What is my favorite hobbit characteristic/or the one that resembles me.

The thing I find most lovable about these little people is how they don't think of themselves as heroic or adventuresome, yet they step forward when it's really important. They're everyday heroes, not kings or knights, but farmers and villagers.

2.If I could choose between a scrumptious second breakfast or a perilous unexpected journey which would I take?

Second breakfast sounds pretty good, but because I don't want to tend toward roundness like a hobbit, I better go on the unexpected journey. I do like to travel and see new places.

3. Have I ever left something behind on a journey and then wished I'd brought it over and over again?

I didn't but one of my sons when he was about eight years old forgot to pack all his tee shirts after we laid all his things out the night before we left for a week at the beach. We went into a souvenir store and bought him ten $3 shirts, all with the same picture of a shark on the front. It was pretty funny. We still laugh about it and he claims he loved those shirts.

4. What is my favorite quote from the book I hope will be in the movie?

I don't have a favorite quote but I'm really looking forward to seeing Bilbo trick the trolls. He's so clever.

Remember this is a blog hop so go find some more stories to get you pumped for The Hobbit. What part of the movie are you looking forward to? Every have second breakfast?

2012 Goodies

I was very busy with blogging this week and some deadlines fast approaching on the day job. Two meetings after school and one before made for three long days out of five. Then it was so cold most of the week until today.

But on the writing side, I felt pretty good about putting together a blog for the TBR blog kickoff week. I'll announce the winner of my giveaway later this week.  Then it was the fun first Wednesday blog for The Insecure Writer Group.  I met some new friends and learned how much writers have in common.  I feel I should take a sick day from school the first Wednesday in February so I can visit blogs all day. 

I visited a blog, forgive me but I don't remember who it was, and enjoyed her list of what she's anticipating for 2012.  What a great idea. There are some things I'm looking forward to, professionally and personally.

My daughter will make her decision shortly about what college she'll be attending next year.  She's an excellent student with limited only by what we can afford. It will be tough on me when she leaves and I'll miss her twenty times a day, but it will also be a bittersweet joy to watch her move forward toward the dreams she's worked so hard to make reality. 

Some of my favorite TV shows will be back in 2012 like Justified, White Collar, Haven and my new love, Person of Interest. In April HBO will bring us the second season of Game of Thrones.  Can't wait for that one.  Add to that some movies like the next Batman movie and The Avengers. And I can't forget The Hobbit.  I'll have eyes on the screen for a few hours this year.

I'm really hoping it doesn't rain so much this year.  Our area of the USA had nearly twice the normal amount of rainfall this past year.  I hope when warm weather arrives I'll be able to keep up with the outside chores.  I usually love doing them, but with all the rain last year the weeds won.

And perhaps my biggest source of anticipation for 2012 is starting my last year of teaching.  I'll be retiring at the end of the 2012-13 school year.  I love teaching teenagers but there's so much bulls*** surrounding the profession today and it's only going to get worse. I'll be glad to be out of it and be, hopefully, a full time writer starting in June, 2013. I'm sure I'll write more about this in the coming 17 months.

In the book world, I know a number of my favorite authors have books coming out I'll purchase the first day they're available.  I'll give shout outs when they happen and maybe some reviews.

On a slight continuation of my vow to do more promotion, I must mention that Beyond the Gate, Book #2 in my epic fantasy series, is finally available on Barnes and Noble for Nook.  It's been for sale on Smashwords and Kindle for a over a week but now it's everywhere.  That's a lot of places.

What are you looking forward to with great anticipation this year?  Will it arrive before the world ends in December?

Juggling Isn't Only for the Circus

My dear mother turned eighty-five last week. You can guess by her age she grew up during the depression. She’s never used a computer, never searched for anything online and is the only person in our family who doesn’t like to read. But she has always supported her family in their reading and now me in my writing.


We didn’t have a local library in the small town where I grew up. We relied on the school for pleasure reading material. When I was a teenager I had an aunt who started sharing her romance novels with my sisters and me. I was introduced to The Hobbit in a ninth grade English class and my love of fantasy was born.

I called my mother to wish her a Happy Birthday and she asked as usual how my writing was going. She always puzzles over where I get my ideas, that infamous unanswerable question. She knew I had some edits to do last week and asked me if I’d finished them. When I explained that I had and was now working on setting up promotion, writing a short story and hoping to get back to the new manuscript I’d put aside to do edits, she became totally confused. I’m not sure I ever realized myself how much of writing is juggling various projects.

When I first started writing, I worked on one manuscript. When I finished and polished it, I started submitting it to agents. While I waited to hear back on my submissions, I took the advice of all my writing buddies and began work on the next book and then the next. Once I sold that first book, I began establishing my ‘web presence’ with social networking and building a website. By that time I was already submitting the second book, and then the third, doing edits on the first, doing promotion, and keeping up with the blogs and all those other promotion gambits.

All this is familiar territory for experienced writers but I remember the stress it caused me the first few times I had to put aside a WIP because I had to edit an older book especially if the new one was really flowing. I still long for those days when I could concentrate on one project at a time though I’m thrilled I’ve had enough success to have so many things demanding my attention. And on days when I’m ‘stuck’ on a certain scene or plot twist, I still feel as if I’ve accomplished something if I’ve updated my blog or made some new contacts on other social networking sites.

I’ve learned to juggle and most days avoid the stress inherent in it. How about you? Are you ever so busy with multiple deadlines, various projects and responsibilities it nearly overwhelms you? Have you ever missed a deadline or otherwise dropped one of those balls you juggle every day?