While I have offered some good advice in my Wordslinger posts, (and we've all had a few good yucks in the process) I think that this month's essay has the potential to do the most good for any and all writers in any and all mediums.
Hello, everyone!
In recent weeks I’ve been posting weather reports on Twitter from the Highlands. Every morning before dawn, I race into the woods after my favorite alpha male characters and their feisty heroines, inking their adventures into stories to share with all of you.
If you hadn’t already noticed on either my website or my spirited Twitter posts, I write time-travel paranormal romances set mostly in the medieval Highlands of Scotland.
This fall, I’ll be bringing you the first story in the series.
{vibrates excitedly}
The first award-winning manuscript in the series is nearly ready to publish. Starting next week, I’ll be glued to my keyboard as I incorporate the insightful suggestions made by my beta readers.
In mid-April, the manuscript is going to a wonderful freelance editor.
{cringes, imagining a chainsaw ripping into my work of art}
A creative summer will be filled with final edits, final proofing, cover art, and arranging a promotional tour.
The first book is tentatively set for a September 2013 release date.
My early morning Twitter weather reports from Inverness, Scotland?
They’ve prepared me for the daily plunge into the snowy forests of the Highlands in a holiday novella I’m also penning for the series.
Incorporating characters from all three of the longer novels, the novella will release in November of 2013.
Furious drafting of the second manuscript has begun. While chasing after my characters to document their wild adventures, I’ve been typing two to three thousand words a day.
I anticipate an early 2014 release for the second book.
I’ve had such a blast combining my favorite genres–paranormal, romance, and the medieval Highlands–into my writing. All the stories feature strong characters who go on a journey of self-discovery, finding unexpected love amid their turbulent adventures.
Many themes center on the difficulties in overcoming issues of trust and the rewards of learning acceptance. Redemption will play a large role in the second and third novels of the series.
Some of the stories will also highlight the great tragedy of human trafficking set within the timeframe of the stories. The characters struggle with the grave injustice brought into their lives and learn to survive and thrive in spite of the darkness of their world.
The completed series will tell the stories of three siblings whose lives and clan are affected by a very unique kind of magick.
{refuses to give away spoilers} 
Are you a book reviewer?
Do you love paranormal romance, time-travel, or Highlander romances?
I’ve begun a list for ARC copies. If you’re a book reviewer interested in reviewing the book for its release, and we’ve not yet spoken, please contact me via Twitter or by email. I’d love to add you to the list.
If you participate on a blog or with a magazine and wish to be a part of any of the promotional tours, please email me your information and ideas. I’d love to start building that list and calendar as well.
As I mentioned, I’m anticipating a release of the first book sometime in September 2013 and the novella sometime in November 2013, but will know firmer dates as the months progress.
In recent months, traveling along my own road of self-discovery, I’ve become a more selfless creature and strive to continue toward that end every day.
Both World Vision and Covenant House support efforts to fight human trafficking. In November of 2012, the romantic poetry collection of Utterly Loved, with inspiring foreword by the incredible author and humanitarian Sylvain Reynard, was published to support those worthy charities.
With every other book I publish, a portion of the proceeds will go to an ever-growing list of charities in the hopes of raising awareness and increasing support for those that are lost in this world and in need of our love.
Now that I’m chronicling a rowdy clan of Highlanders, my weekly blog posts will transform into spontaneous musings. I’ll occasionally wander out of the forest for a signal on my electronic devices.
My goals for the year are to get that first book into your hands by early fall and release that novella by the holidays.
Meanwhile, be sure to follow me on Twitter, where I try to say hello at least once or twice daily; “like” me on Facebook; and “friend” me on Goodreads.
Thank you for every bit of enthusiasm and support that you’ve given for my writing and for the charities I support.
Until the next blog post…
{disappears into the Highland mist, notepad and pen at the ready}
Your humble shoe,
~ Kat
© 2013 by Kat Bastion
Hello, everyone.
As you all know, or will now be finding out, I’m a paranormal romance writer that stumbled into poetry accidentally with Utterly Loved.
I’m back in the saddle (my office chair), my fingers flying on the keyboard with a new paranormal romance story. My new work-in-progress (WIP in writer lingo) is a holiday novella woven into the story lines of the series. After that, it will be on to writing the second in the series. I can’t wait to write the amazing stories unfolding in my head.
You’re probably all wondering: What happened to the first story?
It’s currently a polished manuscript. I’ve scheduled a freelance editor to edit the piece in the beginning of February. If all goes well, the book will be published early to mid-summer.
In the meantime? It’s with four beta readers.
Who are these beta readers?
They are dear trusted friends who love to read.
Collectively, they…
Held my hair in college when I hurled at the bar
Were the first to tell me, “That’s the story you need to write”
Consoled me when I was frustrated
Wiped away the tears
Cheered the successes
Sometimes know me better than I know myself
These are my people. The ones I rely on. My closest confidants.
I only decided last week to take each of them up on their offer to read my story. This project has been a part of my life for two years. They are the ones who’ve shared my ups and downs along the way.
I finally got the courage to let go and give my heart and soul to them.
Why now?
I had an enlightening hour-long conversation with a best-selling author who shared with me the value of her beta readers and why they’re so important to her. She said they’re the only ones who truly know her. Her most important goal was for them to be honest with her and, where warranted, tell her, “This sucks.”
We both laughed. But the impact of what she said sank in. She further explained how they will see things we can’t. We writers are too close to our work to see certain things we need to know. If we want to publish a page-turning story, one the reader can’t put down and thinks about long after they have, we have to know if there are slow sections, missing parts, or extraneous, excellently written fluff.
I decided she was right. My friends wanted to be a part of the process. Each of them had voiced that sentiment to me. I also realized no one else would do.
They will all laugh when they read this blog post. I impressed upon each of them to please relax, read, and enjoy the story. But they had better tell me if they hit a slow part. I demanded they tell me if any part of it sucked. I have every confidence they will. If it’s ever really bad, I hope they please break it to me gently over a drink. {laughs}
The really amazing thing for me? They’re all from different backgrounds. I’ve got swamp and city. All are highly educated and intelligent, but some are analytical and some are creative. Only one of them reads books in my paranormal romance genre. One tells me they will give me their opinion when they are finished reading. (I’m dying of suspense.) Another is telling me chapter-by-chapter her thoughts.
So far? My chapter-by-chapter (non-paranormal-romance) girl is giving me such incredibly exciting feedback, I’m having to repeatedly ask her, “Are there any slow parts? Anything missing or extra?” She’s replied with a resounding “NO!”
Her texts have said…
“I am speechless…”
“Never saw that coming!”
“You have this supernatural ability to take the reader to the edge of a heightened emotion and then drop them immediately into another.”
“I’m having to force myself to stop reading. The flow…epic! Just when one scene is finishing up, another one, just as vital, comes into play.”
“It’s the perfect flow of detail and plot movement.”
She’s even dubbed the hero, a Highlander, “Scotty McHotty” … I just… {dies laughing}
I’m very interested to hear my other beta reader opinions. I value them all.
Thank you, my beloved beta readers. I’m so very grateful for your friendship and support. Don’t go easy on me. Find me something that sucks…please!
It’s important to mention, that I have a fifth beta reader, my husband. He read my manuscript months ago. As my best friend, he told me where it sucked. He also pulled me up out of my office chair the moment he finished, grabbed me by the shoulders, and stared at me hard as he said, “Anyone who ever tells you that you don’t have what it takes has no idea what they’re talking about.”
Damn, I love that man, for both telling me where it sucked and convincing me I have talent. That is why I love my friends. They excel by having my back in every way needed… The love and the tough love.
My goal is to give you, the reader, the very best story possible. I hope to transport you into an amazing story filled with medieval Highlanders, ancient Picts, magick, and a few other surprises I’m not yet ready to spoil for you.
Stay tuned for more updates on the upcoming release and my adventures in writing, editing, and publishing along the way.
Your humble shoe,
~ Kat
© 2013 by Kat Bastion
October has long been my favorite month of the year. I like how quickly the world around us changes in just a few weeks. Mother nature knows when to say when, and she makes a good show of sending our summers into the history books.
This Wordslinger will take a cue from the Fall leaves and focus on endings. I shall call it...
Do you have a love affair with words?
Have you vibrated when you’ve found the perfect morsel, a rush of satisfaction firing through your veins when you know only that single descriptor will do above any other?
Do you obsess about your own?
Have you moaned in need, knowing exactly what you want to say… but it’s just out of reach, on the tip of your tongue, tormenting you with a taste… but not quite gaining substance?
Do you crave them from others?
Have you searched for that secret place of solitude, away from the world, where you can escape for an hour, or two… or many… into a dreamland spun by another?
Do you find yourself addicted?
Have you strived to find that sweet spot of balance and rhythm, a natural ebb and flow, teasing a heart-felt work of art from a cold slab of marble?
Do you long to turn the most mundane into something spectacular?
… {smiles slowly} ….
To walk into a British car auction, testosterone pinging in the air.
In an arena dominated by wealth, your pulse accelerates as the journey unfolds.
The sensuality… palpable.
Your gaze travels the room until… your breath catches.
She lies there in beautiful repose, the object of your desire.
Exquisite curves beg for your touch.
You lick your lips.
Unbidden, your body leans closer.
The eyes of a voyeur stare deep into her soul.
Bared for you to devour.
You imagine sliding in…
The fit tight… but perfect.
She hugs your body as if the two of you were created together.
Your fingers slide over her soft, supple skin.
A firm grip… takes control.
You swallow hard, slamming zero to sixty in record time.
And still… you push her harder.
She takes everything you have to give her and screams for more.
You shift gears…
She responds… purring…
Faster…
Hotter…
Forcing…
Vibrating…
The auctioneer’s voice over the intercom interrupts the two of you and you snap back to the room. You stare back longingly at her. The moment was shared. The erotic experience happened. The memory, a snapshot forever kept in the album of your mind.
… {inhales deeply} …
Do you have secret liasons with your thesaurus?
Have you squealed in delight when a “word of the day” account followed you on Twitter, following back the decadent account with breathless anticipation of a beautiful relationship?
… {whispers} … I –so- have…
Do you have a love affair with words?
I do…
Your Favorite Shoe,
Kat Bastion
It's the first day of September peeps, and you know what that means right?!?
Yup...Morgan is in the house with his monthly Wordslinger. Now that's the way to begin a new month...
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
We all want him. Not just any alpha male.
We all want the Great Alpha Male.
An alpha doesn’t walk into a room. He commands it. Without effort, he could defeat every male there. The intangible vibe pouring off those broad shoulders announces the danger louder than a bull horn. Every other wise man in the room heeds the warning.
Every single woman responds to the dominant presence. Instinctually.
Something primal takes over.
Our hair gets fluffed without thought.
Perfectly glossed lips get licked.
Shirts are pulled down lower, chests stuck out further, hips swayed another degree right and left in an unconscious effort to gain the spectacular male’s notice.
The mating dance has begun.
He surveys the group of potential females.
Each woman hopes for a chance to be the one…
The female above all others that he has chosen.
We’ve already chosen him, even if our stubborn mind puts up a valiant fight. Our body overrides reason. We are biologically programmed to choose virility. We seek protection from the one most able to provide.
Sound animalistic? {smiles slowly}
Oh, yes. Most definitely.
A glance comes our way… devastating.
The voice… deep and soul-penetrating.
Those eyes… demanding.
Our breath quickens.
Our pulse races.
We swallow hard, our throat suddenly Sahara dry.
Logic steps in, creating a tug-of-war with our bodies and minds. We shake our heads, clearing lustful thoughts. Will-power soon falters, our gaze traveling back to the object of desire.
Every action is geared toward the heart-pounding hunt. It’s one thing to find him. Quite another to ensnare the specimen alpha male.
The alpha male, may dally with many females, but chooses only one as his mate. Someone worthy of everything he has to offer. A powerful woman… is his counterpart.
When the two meet, it is in every way, a collision.
The dance continues, and, yet, has only just begun.
Fighting.
Resisting.
Overpowering.
Submitting.
No matter the strength of his female…
the alpha male must overpower her to have her.
By choosing him, she agrees to be owned by him…
whether she realizes it or not.
If we’re lucky, we haven’t found just any alpha male.
The rare few capture the Great Alpha Male.
The one that is innately alpha… and so much more.
When the larger than life man falls to his knees…
When the man who can conquer legions yields to a woman…
When he rips his chest wide open, handing her his very heart…
That incredibly lucky woman has found…
… the Great Alpha Male.
Romance is filled with larger than life Great Alpha Males.
The Highlands are filled with them… in reality and our fictional worlds.
Hence, my unending love for Highlanders.
Who is my favorite Great Alpha Male?
So far, it would have to be Jericho Barrons.
He may not be a Highlander, but damn, what a Great Alpha Male.
And… he was part Pict, after all.
Who is your favorite Great Alpha Male?
Your Favorite Shoe,
Kat
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
Wow. I’m still in shock.
I got the call yesterday. The contest coordinator told me the news. I’m a finalist in the Lone Star Writing Contest.
She told me I’d have a week to make any judge recommended revisions, and then the piece would be submitted to the final judges. Although, she said she didn’t know what suggestions they’d make with such high scores.
Nothing prepared me for opening the email today and seeing…
perfect scores. Two perfect 100′s one from each judge.
Just… wow. {puts the oxygen mask over my face}
Even the contest coordinator who broke the news raved about the entry. They said they hope to see it on a bookshelf soon. Me. Too.
Some judges comments?
{takes another hit of oxygen}
Last year it won two contests and was a finalist in a third. An editor for one of the big six publishers requested the manuscript. I can’t wait to submit to her.
As you know from my blog, I’m elbows deep in editing and having such a blast. I hope to be ready for submission by October.
And my blog next week? I’d planned to talk about the benefits of entering writing contests. {smiles huge}
Perfect. Timing.
Stay tuned… I’ve entered a few other contests this fall. {vibrates in excitement}
Don’t worry. I just invested in a case of oxygen tanks.
Your Favorite Shoe,
Kat
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
Everyone seems to be afraid of… or utterly dread… editing. Going back into work you’ve slaved over and doing the mechanical “stuff.” (highly technical term)
For me? Editing is the most amazing part. Now’s the time I get to shine—weave magic into an already stellar piece of art…or…not…depending on whatever I was thinking when my fingers flew across the keyboard at Mach 13. (which is 9,896 mph, in case you were wondering) … {fogs my nails and buffs them on my shirt}
Why all the anxiety?
Well, by the time you’ve finished. You’re a little bug-eyed. You feel like your head is about to explode. You’ve been so long in the forest you’d forgotten there were trees. With leaves. That are green. Usually.
Like fine wine, some things need to breathe.
Give it a rest. Let that beauty sit there long enough for the oxygen to enhance your creation… and recharge your brain cells.
First, you have to prepare yourself. Put your sweats on, tie your hair in a high, fluffy ponytail, and keep a dose of dark chocolate close at hand. Put on those sexy librarian glasses that make your man think you’re imminently do-able, but force him to take pause because he knows there’s a whole lot of something else going on over there.
Now, you sit down and break it down—Chapter by chapter; Scene by scene; Paragraph by paragraph… Down to the very last sentence.
Now. Usually all that analysis, and the weaving of those magical elements, comes in waves for me. I am a pantster, after all. But the point is, I know what to look for. I know where my weaknesses lie in my drafts. I know how to fix them.
Are there repetitive words? Especially unique words that will pull your reader out of the story when they notice. Like… bristled… or askance. Do you really want your readers to stop and think to themselves, “Damn. There’s a whole lot of bristling going on.”? No? Me either.
I’ll never forget, as I looked up synonyms for enormous. I decided to do a word find. I found: 8 enormous, 4 vast, 7 massive, 1 huge, 2 gigantic, 2 giant, 1 mammoth, and 1 gargantuan. I got excited. I had yet to use oversize, colossal, and substantial.
How do I remember that? I’m looking at the yellow sticky pasted to editing notes.
Okay, Kat. We get it. Everything is massive. {smirks}
Trust me, I didn’t always love editing. But, mentor’s words and techniques ring into my head when I’m elbows deep in reworking my rough draft into a polished diamond.
What did I take away from those greats? Finish what you started. Make it better. Everyone has to work hard to get results… it isn’t through the wrinkle of a nose like in Bewitched.
Perspective is huge. How you go about doing something always impacts the result. Like I always say… about everything… if you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong.
I make it fun, with the sweats and the ponytail and the chocolate.
As I work through my paper-pushing day job, I can’t wait to finish, so I can tweak that scene. Add the idea that’s rattled around in my head. Polish that rough spot.
For me, the magic truly begins with the editing. The story I’ve written comes to three-dimensional life as the world mists off the pages and surrounds me.
Editing is seducing your story—teasing her slowly with grace and care until the best part of her shines through.
Can you tell I’m in the middle of editing? {laughs}
I’m having a blast with rewrites, revisions, and editing. Oh. My.
I hope you join me… and have fun with seducing your story, too.
Please comment and share your favorite techniques of editing, your challenges, and the pet-peeves you’ve seen in writing that you wish would have been edited.
Your Favorite Shoe,
Kat
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
Yes. You heard right. I… am a pantster.
An elusive breed of writer who lays track without really knowing where they’re going?
Well… not exactly.
My blog and website’s About Kat page, gives you clues about why I write the way I do.
{thinks you should read my About Kat page…highly stimulating…laughs}
But, the nuts and bolts of it?
I’m a recovering Type A personality. Anal retentiveness, OCD, and perfectionism… Oh. My. You think I want anything to do with plotting, planning, and outlining like plotters do? Hell. No.
In mid 2010, lighting struck in the middle of the night, as my creativity tends to do, and I started writing. By hand. In a notebook. With a pen. I had no idea until I’d finished that manuscript that I wrote as a pantster. Although, when I found out, I smirked. What a perfect description for unruly and slightly naughty me. {laughs}
What’s it like to write like a pantster?
Well, for me, it’s like a movie reel begins to roll. Action. Dialogue. Tension. It’s all there. The scenes unfold for me, and I’m writing by the seat of my pants trying to download everything as it flies by in my mind. At the beginning, and for a good part during the story, I have no idea what’s going to happen next. To me? The unfolding of the mystery makes the process of writing an adventure ride like no other.
Of course, when I begin, I do have a basic idea of where I’m going. I have a hero and heroine and a setting. I’ve already decided in my head their personalities and the challenges they’ll face coming together. And, I do write romance, so I know they’ll end up together in the end. It’s the exact path they take, which turns they’ll make along the way, and who or what will hijack them in the process that I have to discover as I travel the path along with them.
Even though there are a few disadvantages to being a pantster, I wouldn’t do it any other way. I thoroughly enjoy the longer time it takes to re-write. I even edit on a micro-level like a pantster, only on the second time around, I let a good dose of my perfectionism seep into the manuscript. The feeling of pride about what I create makes that slow-and-steady combination worthwhile.
The bottom line for me? Every single time I write, I’m having a blast. And, I whole-heartedly believe…
If you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong.
Be sure to follow my blog to see what adventures this pantster is up to next. And, if I were you, I’d hold onto those panties tight. Any time I’m around, they are at serious risk.
Or…like I sometimes do… go commando. {winks}
Happy writings and readings, everyone!
Kat Bastion
© 2012 by Kat Bastion
