editing

Collaboration is Key

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Every book I write is a collaborative effort. I always try to emphasize that because there’s a perception that books are only crafted by the author. While that may be the case for some books, it is not the case for mine.

I ran into trouble trying to find an editor for The Blood of Kanta and the rest of The Wolves of Kanta series. I thought I had someone lined up, but it turned out that was for a sample edit and it would take six months after I approved the sample for a full edit. That was my bad, I misunderstood what I was signing up for. But I simply couldn’t wait that long.

I found Lara Zielinsky’s information on the Wide for the Win Facebook group. She was listed with high praise, so I reached out and explained my situation. Lara gave me a sample edit and worked out a schedule for me. She made this stressful situation so much easier to deal with. She not only put together a series style guide for me but also gave me wonderful feedback for The Blood of Kanta. She encouraged me to lean into the science more and not be afraid to go into more detail. I’m endlessly grateful to her for helping me out when I was in a dire situation, and for her incredible notes and feedback. I’m thrilled to have her for the rest of The Wolves of Kanta series!

Each cover was also carefully crafted. I worked with Harvest Moon Premade Cover Design for the entire Wolves of Kanta series. Blood of Kanta’s cover was especially fun to make because of the vials in her hands. I especially like the one that looks like poison–that was her suggestion! She was wonderful to work with each time I needed some graphic or had a question. I honestly can’t recommend her enough!

Finally, there’s the map of Kanta, which I intend to include for every book in the series. My sister, Kelley M. Frank, put it together after working closely with me on the look and style. She kept it simple but also added a lot of important places to keep the map relevant for the entire series, which I love. One of the best parts of having a map of the world while I’m actively writing the series is that I can reference it as I go.

Each book is a collaboration project put together by me and several creative professionals who are all far more experienced in their field than me. As much love as my books get, remember I could never do it alone.

Thank you to Lara Zielinsky, Harvest Moon Premade Cover Design, and Kelley M. Frank for all your help. I look forward to working with each of you again!

If you love their work as much as I do, go visit their sites below and give them some love!

Edits by Lara Zielinksy
Cover by Harvest Moon
Map by Kelley M. Frank

Scrivener Tutorial #3: Writing and Backups

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I’m continuing on with Part 3 of my Scrivener Tutorial series on YouTube. This time I’m focusing on:

  • How to use the Editor
  • Setting wordcount goals for a document
  • Hiding the wordcount tracker
  • Working in full-screen mode
  • Managing snapshots

I originally started this series as a way to help authors get more comfortable with this admittedly complex software. I used to be in the same boat years ago, daunted by the amount of features. Once you get over the hurdle of learning it however it’s very helpful and I wanted to share that.

Now that I have made several of these videos, I realize just how many of these features I use on a regular basis. Not just once in a while either, I mean with every single manuscript I pull out at least one of these features each time. I know I still have many features to hit in this series, but I hope this helps someone down the road!

Scrivener Tutorial #2: Manuscript Creation

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So this video is later than I wanted it to be. I’m still new with being a Youtuber, and occasionally I run into hiccups.

I was struggling with my videos being blurry after uploading them and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I checked my rendering settings, I rendered again in “Highest Quality” settings which took an hour, and uploaded it again.

Same problem.

So I deleted and uploaded it a third time. By then I was scouring Youtube trying to figure out what was happening. I kept being told to change my Default Upload Settings on Youtube, but it didn’t have any video quality settings, just basic fields like title, description, etc. Then I found a post that explained what was happening.

When Youtube tells you that a video has finished getting processed, it isn’t really done. The first rendition of that video is finished, but all of the resolutions haven’t been uploaded yet. So when I saw that blurry 380p version with all my Scrivener text unable to be read, I freaked out thinking it was a problem on my end. Really I just had a wait a bit longer for Youtube to catch up rendering the rest of my resolutions.

Thankfully this was an easy fix, but I wanted to share it so others didn’t waste a four hours of their Friday night trying to solve it! haha

In Part 2 of my Scrivener Tutorial series, I talk about moving sections, moving books around in a single project, setting project wordcount targets, working with templates, and outlining with the corkboard.
If you want to dig into what makes Scrivener so cool, this is a good place to start!

If you like my videos, please like and subscribe! I post videos every Friday (Youtube willing). 😉

A Quick Breather

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I am currently waist-deep in edits for my upcoming novel, Stolen, which is due out in January 2019. On top of that, we have the 4th of July Family Fest on Wednesday that we’re preparing for. It’s a local festival and the owners invited us to attend, so of course we said yes.

Needless to say, I feel like I’m busy constantly at the moment. It’s a good busy, but still busy. That said, I wanted to give some updates!

  • Stolen is going to have 2 other books in its series. Book 2 is tentatively titled Broken.
  • I’m doing Camp Nanowrimo this month (you know, whenever I have the time to write…) to get that word count going on Broken
  • I’m taking a trip this month that I’ll be considering my first one for book research. I’ll be studying a cruise ship layout, and yes, I’m planning it to be another YA Horror novel. 😈
  • I’m still working on my Leafeon cosplay for DragonCon. If you want to see updates, hop on over to my Instagram and check out my stories. I try to post short updates there.
  • Finally, you may notice some changes on this blog! I’ve finally taken the plunge for the first time in 8 years (omg have y’all been listening to my rambling rants that long??) and have upgraded my blog. I plan on getting a custom domain name and maybe even sell some original stories on here as well. I’m not entirely sure yet, but once I have the time, I’m going to iron out some details.

Anyway – that’s all I have for now! If you’re an American, please try to enjoy the 4th and keep your head high. I’m hoping to have a lot more fiction announcements down the road! Thank you for reading my work and supporting me – every kind review or appreciative note inspires me to keep going. 🙂

In the Mood for Halloween

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It’s finally October, one of my favorite months of the year! We’ve been busy getting our Halloween decorations up today, which of course meant cleaning up the mess that remained after convention season came to a close last weekend. I also forgot that we got a big bag of miniature skulls to put around the house. So those are going everywhere.

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What I also like about October is how everyone expresses their love of horror! All month long, the Horror Writers’ Association will be showcasing the work of its members in Halloween Haunts. Horror authors will be talking about Halloween, posting snippets of upcoming books, or even hosting book giveaways. Last year I gave away a copy of Not Your Average Monster Volume 2. My post will be up on the 10th titled “The Angry Woman” about our eerie visit to New Orleans and the frightening haunting we experienced.

I also just sent off the final round of edits for The She-Wolf of Kanta! Fortunately the second round of edits weren’t nearly as difficult as the first, but I always enjoy putting together some nice background sounds that make me think of the piece. Usually it’s best without lyrics so that the words don’t interfere with my thoughts. A wonderful app that I like to use is called myNoise. I first got introduced to them as a way to help concentrate at work, but since then I use the app constantly. I bought the full pack to access all their songs, so I can get new sounds as they release them. The great part about it is that you can overlap up to 6 noises at once, all set to their own individual settings. Below are the sounds I mixed to get the feel I liked for She-Wolf of Kanta.

The Huu chant gives some nice low melodic sounds mixed with wordless vocals that give the mix an ethereal quality. The Autumn Walk literally has a person’s footsteps going through dried leaves which I really love since I associate Mercy with that scent and sound. I also really like the cawing crows occasionally with a few cheerful birds, like an idealized view of the woods that Mercy wishes she could visit. Finally the Twin Black Lodges has a nice mysterious/spooky sound that’s hard to describe, but was apparently inspired from Twin Peaks. If you have the app, give this mix a listen and let me know what you think!