Greetings from the cave! 

Let me get the bad news out of the way first. The White Rose is on hold again.... temporarily. 

Those of you who follow me on Discord and Instagram know that I have finished the line edits that I received from my editor. It took me three years to get to this point. The parts I was able to salvage are pretty decent. But there are several holes (again), and I am having a lot of issues getting a cohesive theme and scenes. So I am going to take a little break from it and let the scene ideas percolate through ye old muse for a little while. 

This issue has brought home the fact that I have been constantly been in "edit" mode for....a long longer than I should have. When I decided to take my writing seriously, I had 9 active story ideas. I wanted to finish a few of those ideas before I made any new WIPs. But this strategy has backfired. Being stuck in "edit" mode for the past 3+ years has made me forget how to create and it shows! 

Therefore, what I believe I need is to write a NEW story - one that I don't have to worry about being "good". This automatically eliminates anything related to the Epics of Verden, and the Fair Winds duology. 

I could bring back one of the story ideas I archived earlier this year, but that feels too much like editing. In fact, I deleted the Wattpad draft of Hidden Seeds, and I will permanently archive that story. It was a great training wheels story, but the premise has not aged well. 

So what is left? 

My lovable zany troupe of amateur actors that I haven't touched since 2020. 

This past weekend, I took a peek at my old Wattpad story, Shattered Chandelier. In spite of it's little problems, the story gave me a lot of comfort and confidence in my own writing. 

But rather than editing Shattered Chandelier, I think I'm going to continue the series. I had talked about doing three sequels - retellings of the musicals The Pirates of Penzance, Singing in the Rain or 42nd Street. I had said that I would do the Pirates retelling next after Shattered Chandelier in 2020, but I'm not holding myself to that promise. I had only said that was the likely one because I had drafted a plot outline for it in 2020....which probably should be scrapped. Or reworked, at least. 

All of this to say....keep an eye out for an introduction post sometime in December :). 

Scribbling with love, 

Catherine 

Greetings from the cave! 

Yes indeed, the Motherly Writer has struck again with her motherly metaphors. I can't help myself, lol. 

Recently, I've been sprucing up my WIPs page. Those of who who have been around for a while know that for up to this moment I have 9 active WIPs. Some of these are novels, some are novellas and others...who knows what they were intended for. 

But 9 WIPs is a LOT to juggle for even a full time writer. And I certainly am not that. Heck, TWR alone is keeping the muse busy enough as it is, even if she's being sulky at the moment. 

So, I've made the decision to "retire" some of the old WIPs off of my WIP page. Many of them have had little or no progress in over five years, nor is there any plans in the near future to pick them back up. Therefore, it is not conducive or relevant for me to have them on the page. 

I think, if I must be brutally honest with myself, that I have been holding on to these past WIPs a lot more than I should have. I felt that since I talked about them, I should keep them. But keeping those stories around is like having a to-do list, when in my heart, I know that I don't have the capacity to do much with them. 

This is not to say that these WIPs couldn't be picked up at a later time, whenever the rebellious muse decides to strike. This just means that they're going down for a nap. They, like the little toddlers that they are, will decide when they will get up again. 

The WIPs I have decided to retire fully are: 

Ancora Spei: 

This WIP was created for a school project and it was basically an exercise in world-building. I did create a plot for it back in the day, but it has not aged very well. And, to be honest, my opinion of utopian literature has soured in that time period. So I very much doubt that it will ever grow up to be anything satisfying. 

Rose of Culmore: 

This story is an incomplete draft, part of which was on my Wattpad account. My downfall with this story was trying to turn it into a novella. If I had stuck with it being a short chapter story like I had done with the Snow Dancer of Iclyn, I betcha I would have finished it. As it is, I haven't touched this WIP in many a year, and recently I decided to unpublish it from Wattpad. There is still a lot of potential in the story, but I believe the time has passed for me to do anything decent with it. 

Plain and Simple Truth: 

Like with Rose, I believe the season for this WIP has passed. This story was a very old WIP from high school which I tried to resurrect while coping with some struggles at the dairy back in 2018. While I love the characters and the few scenes I have written, the plot was an absolute nightmare. Conversion stories are really tough to get right, anyway. 

The Wade Girl:

This one isn't from lack of interest, however, but a logistical problem. When I initially conceived the idea of doing this screenplay, I bought a couple of books: a general book about Jenny Wade (my subject) and a book of correspondence between Wade and Jack Skelly, her boyfriend. Unfortunately, Amazon screwed up the order for the latter book. Which leaves me only the first book to work with right now and I am not sure what the proper legal standpoint for heavily using one book as the basis of a screenplay (film rights, etc). So until I get that second book (and maybe some more research materials) in my hands, I'm going to table this project. 

But this is only four of the nine WIPs. What is up with the rest of them? 

Well, obviously, everyone knows what's going on with TWR. That one is not going away anytime soon. *sigh*. 

The other four have a slightly more...complex status. These are ones that I am much more motivated to publish in some shape or form. Therefore, they are staying on the WIP page, but the order is being switched up. 

There are two WIPs currently on active hold:

The Midnight Cave: 

This one has a simple reason for being on hold - it's the second in the Epics of Verden series after The White Rose. Obviously, it doesn't make sense for me to eliminate this WIP entirely, but I can't finish it until I finish the first one... 

Fair Winds

Of all my WIPs, even TWR, this story deserves to be published. Because this story was created in a creative writing class in college, and my professor wanted me to publish it. She still asks about it sometimes when I go out to visit. I want to place a copy of it in her hands one day (though that won't take place after TWR is published). Which is why I decided that this WIP is not destined to go onto Wattpad, although the idea is tempting sometimes. 

Speaking of Wattpad, that is a platform that I have pretty much neglected these past couple of years. Not that many people have been paying attention to it much. But I hope to change that very soon with these two WIPs: 

Shattered Chandelier:

Well, okay, SC was always ON Wattpad. I felt it was a little too zany to be published in any other way (although if I ever write those three sequels I have planned for it, I may do an anthology...). And this one is a little weird because it's "finished" in the sense that the first draft has been completed and published. However, that draft is in sore need of editing one day. 

Hidden Seeds: 

This story was originally conceived as an entry for Rooglewood's Five Poisoned Apples collection (wow was that a very long time ago), and has gone through a couple of reincarnations over the years. This one has a semi-decent plot, a great setting, and some halfway decent characters. Re-reading it has given me a smile, and I'd like to share that with others. That and I want to justify to Lia the obsession that I had with Welsh music at the time of creating this story. 

That being said, I don't think it's a good candidate for indie publishing, simply because of the older writing style I was using and the story seems to fit a short chapter story format than a full length novel or even novella. 

Therefore, I have decided to publish the story on Wattpad. And much sooner than you all probably expect. 

As some of my writing friends already know, I am participating in Christine's Fall Fic Frenzy Writing Challenge! 

As part of that challenge, I will be doing two projects: 

1) TWR edits. Of course. 

2) Drafting Hidden Seeds. 

You see, a few years ago, I tried doing the second draft of Fair Winds while I was working on one of TWR's drafts. This worked against me at the time, as I wanted to work on Fair Winds but ended up on TWR. I'm hoping to repeat this process, except on purpose. And if I work more on Hidden Seeds than I do TWR, I won't complain that much. 

The point is, I need to get back into writing more. And if that means that I need to trick or bribe the muse, by golly I'm going to do it. 

I feel like I should re-introduce this WIP on the blog because it has been SO LONG since I've talked about it. But this post is already really long, so I will save it for next time. In the meantime, do check out the WIP page, because I have some new mock covers to show off! 

But before I go, I have one last announcement to make....

Because I am participating in the FallFicFrenzy, that means....I'm on Discord now!! 

My username is RebellingLass71, and the profile pic is the same as my regular one. So if you're on Discord, I would love to be friends with you! 

Whew! That was a LOT to cover in one post. What sort of new (or old!) WIPs have you guys been digging into?

Scribblingly yours, 

Catherine 

Greetings from the Cave! 

While I have been deep in the throes of editing TWR, the major thing that is getting fixed is my plot. As many of you already know, plotting is my weakness as a writer. Characters and world building, I have down pat. Plot? Ehh, it's loose at best. 

As part of the solution to this problem, my editor suggested that I use the Hero's Journey model. I'll only give a brief view of the steps, as this model is extremely well-known in literary circles: 

1. The Ordinary World

2. The Call to Adventure

3. Refusal of the Call

4. Meeting with the Mentor

5. Crossing the Threshold

6. Tests, Allies and Enemies

7. Approach to the Innermost Cave

8. The Supreme Ordeal

9. The Reward/Seizing the Sword

10. The Road Back

11. Resurrection

12. Return with the Elixir

In recent weeks, I have attempting (or re-attempting, I should say) to replot my character arcs along this form. I have three primary character arcs that I'm currently dealing with: two protagonists and one antagonist. I found that for one protagonist (Ealdread) and my antagonist (Magda), the Hero's Journey gave a really nice framework for which I can then improve the pacing of those two arcs. 

While researching the Hero's Journey, I also came across the concept of the Heroine's Journey. It was branded as an alternative to the Hero's Journey, supposedly to better reflect a more feminine point of view and the actual growth process of a feminine protagonist. 

The Heroine's Journey model is relatively new - for many traditional stories, the female leads follow the Hero's Journey model. In fact, the Hero's Journey model modeled for villians worked the best for Magda's plotline. 

As Janina's journey was MUCH different that Ealdread's or Magda's, I decided that the Heroine's Journey was worth investigating. And right away, I found that the Heroine's Journey was a little more *nuanced* than it's male counterpart. For one thing, there are different models of the Heroine's Journey. I'm only going to focus on the two most common: The Murdock model and the Schmidt model. 

Murdock's model is the most common, and the most likely model you will see when conducting a Google search for Heroine's Journey. The stages are as follows: 

1. Heroine Separates from the Feminine. 

2. Identification with the Masculine/Gathering of Allies

3. Road/Trials and Meeting Ogres/Dragons

4. The Boon of Success

5. Spiritual Arridity/Death

6. Initiation/Descent to Goddess

7. Yearns to Reconnect with Feminine

8. Heals Mother/Daughter Split

9. Heals Wounded Masculine Within. 

10. Integrates Masculine/Feminine Perspectives

For a more detailed analysis of this model, please see this post HERE. 

Right away, I notice that Murdock's model has a major problem with it. It limits it's effectiveness to ultra-feminist leads. A main part of the model is the protagonist basically adopting "male" characteristics in order to move the story along. It does show a return to the feminine, which is rather appreciated. Because really, women are hard-wired to be feminine and fighting against nature only gets one so far *cough*. Reading the comments to that previous blog post, it is clear that this model is only useful when women are attempting to break free from an "oppressed" society, and leaves no room for a traditional feminine interpretation. 

However, what if you have a Heroine who never rejects the feminine?? As my alpha/beta readers already know, Janina never throws a punch nor does she act all tough. Rather, part of her story is growing in her femininity. Clearly, the Murdock model doesn't fit Janina's journey, but neither does the Hero's Journey. 

Enter the Schmidt model of the Heroine's Journey. 

One ESSAY I read said that feminine stories didn't focus so much on the conflict as it did the connections. I see this really reflected in the Schmidt model, especially as it connects to women's psyche's. 

How is this shown? Well, let's take a look at the individual steps in the Heroine's Journey. 

(Please note: if you wish to view a more detailed, and more specific, outline of these steps, please see this blog post HERE). 

1. Illusion of the Perfect World. 

        This lines up with the "Ordinary World" stage in the Hero's Journey, but with a twist. It's the inclusion of the a plot device called the Character Lie. The Character Lie is very often used in fiction in general, but it is extremely effective for a feminine character arc. Why? Because women's psyche is based on the concept of being cherished. Because of this, harmony with either persons or concepts is a common goal for women. Schmidt's examples in this stage often deal with so-called "coping" strategies, such as people pleasing, being protected, exceptionalism, etc. 

2. Betrayal/Disillusionment

        This is somewhat similar to the Call to Action, but it specifically exposes the Character Lie. It is a break with the normal, to the point in no return for the Heroine. Some may call this the "inciting incident" (gosh, how many plot structures can we fit into one post here?). 

3. The Awakening/Preparing for the Journey

        This lines up directly with the Refusal of the Call step in the Hero's Journey. The major difference, however, is that the pressure to change is more interior (harmony/disharmony) than exterior. Schmidt calls it an "entire change in life direction" for the Heroine. 

4. The Descent/Passing the Gates of Judgment

        The Heroine is in the most conflict about abandoning her old ways and taking up the new ones. This really brings out the connectiveness of women, and their psychological need to be cherished. 

5. The Eye of the Storm

       The Heroine has minor successes, but which are not sustained. The Character Lie may reassert itself in a new form. Schmidt compares it to Murdock's Boon of Success step. Quickly, however, the conflict becomes intensified.

6. Death/All is Lost

        This is the darkest moment of the plot. The Heroine knows her old ways don't work, and the new ways are very often only a short-term fix. With no relief from the conflict in sight, the Heroine reaches her breaking point. Schmidt compares this to Murdock's Spiritual Arridity/Death step.

7. Support. 

        This is when the Heroine's "pieces are picked up" either by friends or a spiritual force. While this does bring "Meeting the Mentor" vibes, the context is much different here. This idea of women being supported is actually reflective of how women solve problems. Men tend to think things out by themselves. Women, on the other hand, go and talk about them (usually to other women or their spouses).  

8. Rebirth/Moment of Truth

        Strengthened by support, the Heroine mentally prepares herself for the final psychological battle. They see the "truth" at last, which can extend to seeing themselves, their role, and the world in a different light. 

9. Return to a World Seen Through New Eyes

        Lining up somewhat with the Return with the Elixir step in the Hero's Journey, the internal journey of the Heroine is complete. With deeper introspectiveness, the Heroine's worldview is profoundly changed. The external conflict may or may not be resolved completely, but the Heroine is a better person because of the Journey. 

Looking at these examples, it's easy to see how Schmidt's model could easily be used for more traditional feminine character arcs. But what are some other reasons to adopt Schmidt's model? 

1. Schmidt's model shows Woman's true enemy

Man's true enemy is very often external forces, the dragon. Woman's true enemy, however, is....herself. At the end of the day, the strong internal presence of women must be reckoned with, even before the external conflict does. 

2. Schmidt's model provides a much better outline for internal conflicts

This is not to say that the Hero's Journey model could not be used for internal conflicts with a degree of success. However, Schmidt's model has a stronger outline of plot points that are more easily converted into easy-to-understand stages. 

3. Better reflection of reality 

By this, I don't just mean the biological and psychological elements. The nice part of Schmidt's model is just as the Hero's Journey can be adapted for women characters with appropriate storylines, so too can this model be used for male characters with strong interior conflicts. So, in this case, it's a much more worthy counterpart than it's more popular doppelganger. 

In short, I highly recommend using the Schmidt's model of the Heroine's Journey over the Murdock model, especially for those women writers who wish to write more traditional storylines. Let's reclaim true heroines away from the feminists, shall we? 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine

Greetings from the cave! 

I have good news for you: I am starting to move forward in the publishing journey! FINALLY. 

I am still knee-deep in edits (and probably will be for quite a while...), but I am starting to put out feelers for a cover designer. Which, has led me to research trim sizes and all that good stuff. 

Since the size does depend on costs, I decided it was high time to actually look at several POD companies and see what would be best for my book, The White Rose of Duventoliel. 

I give you fair warning, this post is one giant rabbit hole. But isn't self-publishing always a bit of a rabbit hole? 

This post is not necessarily one that examines the pros and cons of each platform in general, but one that examines it from my own perspective. If you want general information on each of these platforms, I will redirect you to YouTube, where many authors have already done this. 

I will be examining three platforms: KDP, Barnes and Noble and Draft2Digitial. 

One major platform that is missing from this list is IngramSpark. The reason why I am not currently considering Ingram is because of their ridiculous fees and their overall reputation. I would not be adverse to considering them in the future, but the other platforms on this list are *enough* for me to consider for now. 

I will also not be considering smaller publishers such as Lulu.com, etc. because of the higher costs and the lower royalty rates. 

With all those disclaimers out of the way, let's dive in! 

Kindle Direct Publishing

Kindle Direct Publishing, better known as KDP, is a really popular platform for indie authors. It has really great royalties, good quality, lots of people using it, and decent distribution. 

According to these qualities - and MANY indie authors - using KDP is a no-brainer. In fact, a couple of authors have even said to me that not using Amazon at all would be a "career killer". 

But the truth is, I'm hesitating to publish directly on Amazon.  

The reason is...of an ethical nature. 

*incoming rant warning* 

It isn't just because Amazon is a huge global company with a kazillionaire as it's head, which goes against my personal views on just/living wages. (and yes, apparently that's how that big word is spelled, I just had it autocorrected from gazillionaire and the dictionary supports it. Anyway, moving on.) 

It isn't just because Amazon has a nasty reputation for not treating it's employees well. Which regrettably, is reinforced by a very dear friend of mine who worked at a Amazon warehouse for several years. 

It isn't just because they publicly endorse leftist political and cultural causes including DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for those who don't know) and LGBTQ, both of which I don't support. 

Rather. 

It is Amazon's rather ambiguous public stance on abortion that makes me hesitate a little. 

Ever since the Dobbs decision, major companies and even initiatives such as NaNoWriMo have made absolutely clear where they fall on abortion. Many, in fact, will either raise or allocate THOUSANDS for employees or other women to procur abortions. 

Amazon is strongly rumored to be one of those companies.  

The trouble is that it is difficult to find the truth of these rumors. Forbes and CatholicVote have put Amazon in lists of companies that offer "abortion-related services" and this was sourced from a leaked internal memo by Reuters. It's apparently wrapped up in their compensations for "medical costs" (SOURCE).  

Unlike the one shared by Dick's Sporting Goods, this memo from Amazon did NOT have widespread public exposure, nor made available to the public by the company itself - at least to my knowledge. However, if my memory serves me correctly, this policy may have predated the Dobbs decision by a couple of years (my friend may have told me, which has led me to wean off my buying on Amazon). 

This has led me to believe strongly that Amazon does indeed support abortion, but they do so very quietly. Learning the lessons that Dicks and Chobani have learned, Amazon has decided to keep it's public mouth shut. Which is all the more dangerous, in my opinion. 

Because of this - and all of the above issues as well - I've been participating in a "soft" boycott of Amazon-related products. Basically, I refuse to buy anything from them anymore. I still have my Amazon account, I still use my parent's Prime streaming and I will occasionally still shop for free e-books. 

This does put me in a moral bind when it comes to my fellow indies because I really really really want to support them, but I don't feel comfortable breaking my ban just yet. However, wide distribution has become a really trendy thing recently so maybe I won't have to worry too much. 

SO

Now that you have that convoluted context in the back of your mind, I will now truly explain why I have been hesitating to use KDP. 

It has to do with the level of cooperation with what Catholics call an intrinsic evil (such as abortion or LGBTQ ideologies). In other words, because Amazon actively supports these evil things, my use of these services could be seen as an endorsement for their use of my money to fund someone's abortion etc. 

Now based on what I said above, I believe that my own level of cooperation would be relatively remote if I choose to sell on Amazon, especially through an aggregator like Draft2Digital. Amazon grosses so much income and the expenses paid to women seeking abortions would be miniscule in comparison. A priest has also told me that what Amazon uses their money for is out of my control, and the intent would be to purchase the product, not to support the abortion. 

However, there is a different level of involvement with actively publishing via KDP (especially if I do go exclusive with them in the future) and having it be sold on Amazon via Draft2Digital. Selling a direct line via Amazon also seems rather hypocritical - here, buy my book from this company that I despise! 

To be absolutely clear, though, I am not entirely ruling out selling on Amazon directly, even with these serious reservations. I know that Amazon holds a big chunk of the book market and not having that market would be a huge financial mistake. Which I literally can't afford to make because I spent way too much on my editing expenses and I need to make that money up somehow. As many authors that I have talked to have said, eliminating Amazon entirely from my selling platform would be not only heroic but also detrimental. 

Plus, the idea of having my book on Kindle has been a dream since the very beginning. 

This is going to take some very prayerful discernment and a very painful wrestling match with my conscience, so I will be leaving this knotty problem to deal with later. 

Barnes and Noble

One of my dreams as an author - as I'm sure many have - was to have their book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. After all, BN still is my favorite book store chain. 

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that BN also offered Print on Demand, with a similar reach and structure to Amazon. It is often marketed as an Amazon alternative, which makes me very interested. 

Upon looking at it....the royalties are comparable, but they're definitely not as good as Amazon's. This will cause a problem as I will have to price it higher to make any sort of profit. Which would not play very well with the idea of having a pricing incentive to buy from BN over Amazon. 

The other rather upsetting thing about BN is that the paperbacks are only available in the US, which kills my international market chances if I choose to exclusively publish the paperback through BN. I wouldn't have been so concerned about this, if I didn't have several bloggy and author friends in Canada, Ireland, and Australia. I would be really really sad if my international friends - some of which have been following this story since it's infancy! - would be denied the opportunity to buy this book. 

Nonetheless, Barnes and Noble is still one of my top picks to publish this book to. 

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital was a top contender throughout this entire process for a couple of reasons. In fact, as of this moment, I am already a registered user with them. 

The first reason was the really wide distribution options. Draft2Digital not only distributes to the big platforms  like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but also has access to many smaller and international platforms such as Apple, Kobo and others. 

Having a wide distribution for my books is extremely important for me. While exclusivity through a company gives good perks, it really shortchanges a conscientious buyer who wishes to boycott said company such as my own soft boycott of Amazon. Plus, I do want to make sure that my international readers also get access to the book, which I wouldn't be able to do if I went exclusively with Barnes and Noble. 

Currently, Draft2Digital is experimenting with a paperback POD option. It's been in beta for over three years, and it's....still got a lot of kinks. Mandi Lynn, an author and YouTuber, has used their beta option recently and her proof copy was reportedly $30. Which is massively overpriced and will probably drive some people away. However, I may apply to the waitlist and try it out for myself because I really really REALLY want more paperback competition to Amazon and even Barnes and Noble. 

So, what's the current verdict?

When I first started researching, I was looking for that "one" platform to publish to. However, I have discovered that as an indie author, I can indeed publish to multiple platforms (even if it's a little complicated with ISBN numbers and all that). 

I will, of course, be publishing both a print and an ebook version. 

For EBOOK, I am strongly considering Draft2Digital for the formatting and distributing to the international/smaller markets. While I have some good connections with some people who would be willing to do my formatting, the fact of the matter is....I can't afford it. So using that tool would be a godsend to me. 

I will definitely be uploading my ebook to Barnes and Noble for NOOK readers, most likely directly. 

I am strongly considering uploading my ebook to KDP, either directly or through Draft2Digital. 

For PRINT, I will definitely be selling through Barnes and Noble and will probably push this platform a little more because of my reservations with Amazon. 

I am still considering using KDP for print for the sake of my international readers. I will also investigate other avenues to sell a print book, including the Draft2Digitial print beta. Ingram may also prove to be a good option for this, but as I mentioned, I need to discern if it's worth the hassle or not. 

And so, I will conclude this post here, to be updated as the journey continues. I am most definitely open to suggestions/advice/kicks in the seat from my fellow indies and readers about this process in the comment box because let's face it, I have no clue what the dickens I am doing.  

In the meantime, there is an ongoing plot surgery going on in the next room, and I should get back to that. 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine

Greetings from the cave! 

I feel I should explain where I've been and what I've been up to, since I've been pretty quiet for so long. The long story short is - I've been spending a lot of time with my family and friends. If you want a more detailed account of those adventures, subscribe to my newsletter in the sidebar! 

And now, the blogging muse has struck again. And so, I've been going through my blogging archives to see if I could finish a post or two that have been lying around. 

Because, ya know, 13 draft posts are a little *much*. 

Many of them still need some research and some time to stew (like *hem* that post about dragons that I hinted at forever ago - still too controversial for me to touch!!) 

But I have two "mini" posts that are a little too short for my liking but were similar enough topics that I decided to throw them together. Call it a double-feature, if you will. 

The first feature is a post from late 2020 (!). Ouch, I did not realize this editing game was two years old. This is bad. Very bad. I need to get my act together. 

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Nailing the Age Range of Epics of Verden 

(originally written December 2020)

When reviewing my book, a common question my editor would ask was "what the ideal age of my reader was". I always answered 18-25, simply because of the content. Apparently, according to her, Young Adult is now considered 12-17, which is the equivalent of teen literature to the rest of us. 

My voice tended to ride the middle of two age ranges. Too clean for Adult fiction and yet too thematic for Young Adult. 

While The White Rose is written in an old-fashioned, light-hearted style, some pretty adult content happens. One of the main characters loses her purity. There is a band of ethnic nomads that engage in witchcraft and seduction. This isn't kids' stuff. And much of it....is integral to the story.  

What is a poor Christian author to do? 

Ironically, the answer would be found in another fiction book. 

I picked up the novel Chivalrous not too long ago, from the teen section of an outlet store. However, as I went through the book, it also had some adult content. There were affairs, desires, and even.....I shudder to even write this....an abortion. And this is supposed to be a teen book?????

Out of curiosity, I flipped over the book to see the review blurb on it (you know, the one below the actual blurb?)...and found that this book was marketed as a YA/Adult crossover. 

Interesting. I think I have found my marketing niche.....

=========

Ironically, had I been thinking ahead, I could have used this more effectively as an Instagram caption. Oh well. 

The next segment was written much more recently. However, I don't believe that my state of mind was very good when I wrote this one, as you will probably gather from the proceeding text. You have been warned. 

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How Line Editing and Developmental Editing at the Same Time Strangely Works

(originally written January 2022)

Greetings from the Cave! 

We're now a week into the new year and all of a sudden, my editing inspiration has come back. Don't know if it was the Epiphany blessing earlier this week or the fact that I'm starting the turn the corner from the horrible PMS I've been experiencing for the past two weeks. Either way, I'm not complaining! 

Now, this title is a little weird, even for me. I mean, you've heard me moan and groan about this whole system that my editor has tortured me with. And I'm sure that any editor friends that happen to stumble across this are giving me the stinkeye right now (for the heretical nonsense I'm sure to spew and the ridiculous grammar).  

Tell you what, you read the post and then you can judge all you want. No holds barred. (haha, I originally wrote that as "no bars held", and there were a few moments where for the life of me I couldn't figure out why that didn't look right).

1. It allows organic growth of the manuscript. 

While I am a big believer in making lists of editorial markings and scene ideas, sometimes the best improvements are those spontaneous moments that just solve everything. 

For example, today I was editing a scene in Chapter 13 when I suddenly got a brilliant idea that promised to fix a persistent plot hole that I've been dealing with. You see, sometime in the middle of Draft 2, this bevy of foreign girls just randomly showed up and plopped themselves in my story. Oh sure, they gave me their first names and their country of origin, a few anecdotes here and there, but...no explanation as to how this Tournament Court thing came into being or why they were there, or what. They threw my poor beta readers for a loop, especially when one of them paired themselves with one of my Suitors...yeah, that was kinda a surprise for me too.  

Until today that is, when it was revealed that my antagonist may have been doing some shenanigans. Which is about time, to be honest, that girl was starting to worry me she was so quiet. 

Now, would I have thought of the same idea doing the traditional editing route? Maybe. Pantsing is so unpredictable, that it's hard to know when it's going to strike. 

2. Learning how to prioritize things. 

One of the biggest objections that I had to line editing before development was the whole cut-and-paste business that tends to happen. After all, if I'm going to just cut the scene entirely, why would I spend all that time line-editing it? 

The answer is "Cut the scene, stupid, and have done with it." And don't ask me how long it took me to figure that out, for it's rather embarrassing (read: a long longer than it should have). Although to be fair, most major cutting and pasting like that is firmly in the developmental side of things, so it was really hard to reconcile the two. 

Editorial lists are really really helpful when dealing with this. They help keep track of what got cut and what's getting moved. 

========

Aaaaand the post ends there. Because there really was no other reason why this system works and really, even those two points are shady. I go back to my original position - line editing and developmental editing should be done at SEPARATE stages. And for pity sakes, find an editor that does that. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Have you thought of writing a crossover or marketing your book as one? Do you prefer to edit all at once or do it in chunks? Let me know in the comments below! 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine

Greetings from the cave! 

As November trudges on, I'm finding that I'm missing NaNo a little. So I decided to post a bit on my novel. While I have been posting occasional updates in other posts, there hasn't been a post specifically about TWR since...March. And a very very long time has elapsed since then.

So, what exactly IS going on with TWR?

Well...

I've only made it through a quarter of the book in terms of edits. 

Which is much less than I thought I would have after a full year (YES A YEAR) after I received my editor's feedback. 

There are, of course, many factors playing into this (graduate school, YAG, etc.) But the one that I want to focus on is how my editor's feedback has significantly affected the speed of my editing. 

When choosing my editor, I focused on trying to find someone who could be respectful of my Catholic ideals and with who I could build a relationship with and one willing to help me make this novel the best it could be. So much so, that I missed a few red flags. Like the one that apparently my editor focuses on line editing rather than developmental edits. 

So instead of getting constructive developmental edits, I ended up getting a whole package with content AND line edits. 

At first, I was kind of excited for that, for then I thought that once I get through all of that, it would be done. What I found instead is that a full edit project on a 120k novel was very dense and very overwhelming. 

The advice I was given by my editor was to focus on the line edits first and then do the plot edits as I go and even later. Which went against every single grain of my instinct. For why would I waste time doing little edits on a piece that I'm going to cut?? 

After doing a little bit, I got what she was saying and it did help some. But, in the line edits were many stylistic "suggestions" that didn't sit well with me. I have said previously that my editor suggested cutting out all the "flowery" passages in TWR. But also among her suggestions were also the elimination of "old-fashioned" speech to try to keep speech patterns consistent throughout the novel (while trying not to sacrifice character uniqueness). 

Unfortunately, these two ideals often butted heads. For example, my betas will remember that my character Karsten is a rather...flowery individual. So cutting out all his flowery language would literally take away all his charm...something that I wasn't willing to do. 

This happened quite often, and so I would often get caught in the weeds. Frustration with my manuscript AND my editor would often rise. As I went through my manuscript, I also found evidence of miscommunications between my editor and myself, which frustrated me further. The relationship that I had hoped to form also never materialized, which was hugely disappointing.  

At present, I am going through chapter by chapter, line by line, fixing what I can. I have a huge list of scene ideas. My editor suggested that I should reduce the POVs down to three, which eliminates the omniscent-ness of the work. In some ways, I'm rather relieved because there were some rather troublesome subplots that needed to go...but I miss the overall tone and I hope that it won't detract from the charm of the original story. My betas have been great helps to me as I try to navigate all of this mess. 

In short, I found that my post-editor experience was mixed. I do believe that her feedback will greatly improve the manuscript, but I need to find a way to speed up the process. I had hoped that I could publish this book by next winter, but that is clearly not happening. 

Those of you who have been through this process before, how did you handle it? I would dearly love advice! 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine

Greetings from the cave! 

So, this post is sorta an announcement post, sorta a regular post, sorta a random post? 

Basically, I'm working on TWR edits again for Camp NaNo. I took a "break" sometime in late February because I ran out of motivation and I really need to get back into it. Luckily, Camp NaNo exists for this very purpose. 

And so today, instead of doing my usual introduction-to-my-project post, I'm going to be changing it up a little. I'm going to let you guys have a sneak peek into my editing process, at least up until this point. Alphas and Betas....y'all are in for a surprise at the end :).  

Many many moons ago, another blogger did a post similar to this. I want to say it was Jane Maree when she was writing her story A Sprig of Green. It has been so long, that I could well be mistaken. Whatever the case, I am stealing the idea. 

The scene that I am highlighting is in the 5th chapter, between two characters: Ealdread, who is one of my MC's and Ainsley, a secondary character who acts as a councilman to Ealdread. It is the scene that also sets up Ealdread's arc in the entire novel. 

I'm going to go through and put out the first draft first, complete with spelling and grammar errors. So prepare for the awfulness. Like seriously, it's bad. 

Draft 1 (original)

(Note: this is the original original version of this scene, just how I had first jotted it down from my imagination. The "first draft" went under quite a few renovations before being pronounced complete. Alphas got v.6, to give you an idea. Never doing that again, that was a horrible idea. Since the versions of this scene are nearly identical in v.6 of Draft 1 and Draft 2, I pulled v.1's version of this scene for comparison).  

“May I remind you, Your Majesty, that you are fast approaching your fourth decade of life? And that you have no heir to the throne?”

“mmmm, funny, I thought that was still about 5 years away.”

“Five years is not that much time compared to decades, Your Majesty. No Leofwine King, in all the years of the line’s existence, has ever NOT had an heir by this time in his life! Why should you be the first to break such an illustrious tradition?”

“If you must know, my dear advisor, I have not found a bride that suited me. All of the “eligible” women that you and the council have paraded before me have either been stuck-up, silly, or…..” He paused briefly, gesturing as if to catch the word that was escaping him. “Slinky!”

The advisor’s eyebrows raised as he swallowed his amusement.

“Why must I have an heir born to me anyway? Why can’t I just appoint a distant cousin or something?

“Have you forgotten your history, your Majesty? If you have no natural heir, you are at risk for assassination and usurpation! Not to mention breaking…”

“an illustrious tradition. I know.” Ealdread chimed in as the old councilman finished. “Well, why can’t I marry an “uneligible” female then, if you and the council are so adamant on my marrying?”

“Because the dynastic laws and tradition forbid the mingling of royal and common blood.”

“Ceberlandon’s royals intermingle with common blood all the time, and their line contains more meritous people than ours! Why should we be different?”

“Your Majesty…I didn’t create the dynastic laws. I only enforce them.”

“Yes, and you are doing a splendid job of it.” Ealdread laid his hands on the councilman’s shoulders.    

Okay wow. Looking back on this...this is a trip. 

This is why first drafts are not published, people.

I'm going to address the elephant in the room first: Ealdread's age. In this version, he was 35, which I admit now is just....not as good of an idea as it was when I first thought this out. As I was to find out later, being overdramatic in character reactions is dangerous these days. 

Also, yes, I draft dialogue first. Because for some reason, my character's voices come first rather than their mannerisms. Or their actions. 

So....moving on to Draft 2!! 

(changes will be in bold)

Draft 2 (Alpha Version)

But there he was again, at full tilt. “May I remind you, King Ealdread, that you are fast approaching your fourth decade of life? And that you have no heir to the throne?”

“Mmmm, funny, the last time I consulted a calendar, my 40^th year was still several years away.” Ealdread pushed himself away from the window ledge and walked briskly down the length of the barracks. His hands mechanically selected the container of shining salve for his sword, and his box of fire-starting materials. He also made a mental note to pack up some thicker shirts, as the Karala Games were to be several weeks long.

The nasally unwelcome voice of the councilman cut in again. “Seven years is not that much time compared to decades, Your Majesty. No Leofwine monarch, for all the years of the line’s existence, has ever NOT had an heir by this time in his life! Why should you be the first to break such an illustrious tradition?”

Ealdread threw down the map of Sidabras he was attempting to stuff in his pack. “If you must know, my dear Councilman Ainsley, I have not found a bride that suited me. All of the “eligible” women that you and the rest of the council have paraded before me have either been stuck-up, silly, or…” He paused briefly, gesturing as to catch the word that was escaping him. “Slinky!”

The advisor’s eyebrows raised as he swallowed his amusement.

“Why must I have an heir born to me anyway? Why can’t I just appoint a distant cousin or something? I’m sure that there are plenty of men in the other branches of the family who could lead Aistaraina just as well if not better than I could.”

“Have you forgotten your history, your Majesty? A kingdom never takes a good direction if it is passed to a different family – matter of fact, it almost always worsens. And if you have no natural heir, you are at risk of being assassinated and having the kingdom usurped! Not to mention breaking….”

“An illustrious tradition. I know.” Ealdread chimed in as the old councilman finished. “Well, why can’t I marry an “ineligible” female then, if you and the council are so adamant on my marrying?”

“Because the dynastic laws and Aistarainian tradition forbid the mingling of royal and common blood.”

Ealdread threw up his hand in evident frustration. “Ceberlandon and even Duventoliel’s royals intermingle with common blood all the time, and their royal lines contain more meritorious people than ours! We’re the only High Kingdom that adheres to this ridiculous tradition, why should we be so different?”

“Your Majesty…” Councilman Ainsley patiently sighed. “I didn’t create the dynastic laws. I only enforce them.”

“Yes, and you are doing a splendid job of it.” Ealdread laid his hands on the old councilman’s shoulders briefly before leaving the room. In his agitation, he left the bag that he had been packing before.

What Changed: 

- Ainsley has a name!!!! Believe it or not, I actually didn't have a name for this character in my first draft. A technicality that was shortly remedied, believe me. 

- Dialogue tags now exist. 

- A lot more world-building. And I don't mean just the physical setting of the room, I also mean some of the political and social norms of Aistaraina and Duventoliel. 

- There is more characterization, especially for Ealdread. 

The age thing didn't really change too much in this draft because this was before I did research on actual age-gap romances and romantic chemistry and all that. Looking back, having that age right out there, even if it was only implied, does give me a bit of a twinge. 

This is when I decided to lower Ealdread's age by a couple of years. I didn't want to lower it too much because the maturity is part of his character....but my alphas were giving me the evil eye. So I made a concession in Draft 3 with hopes that it would be better....hopefully. 

Draft 3 (Beta Version)

But there he was again, at full tilt. “May I remind you, King Ealdread, that the prime of your life is passing before you? And that you have no heir to the throne?”

“Mmmm, funny, according to the last time I consulted a calendar, I have only begun my third decade of life.” Ealdread pushed himself away from the window ledge and walked briskly down the length of the barracks. As he attempted to shut out Ainsley’s criticisms, his hands mechanically selected the container of shining salve for his sword and his box of fire-starting materials. A slight shiver from the cool breeze forced a mental note to pack up some thicker shirts for the autumn journey back.

The nasally unwelcome voice of the councilman cut in again. “If you would consult it again, you would discover that you have less than three years before the dynastic deadline. No Leofwine monarch, for all the years of the line’s existence, has ever not had an heir by this time in his life! Why should you be the first to break such an illustrious tradition?”

Ealdread threw down the map of Sidabras he was attempting to stuff in his pack. “If you must know, my dear Councilman Ainsley, I have not found a bride that suited me. All of the “eligible” women that you and the rest of the council have paraded before me have either been stuck-up, silly, or…” He paused briefly, gesturing as to catch the word that was escaping him. “Slinky!”

The advisor’s eyebrows raised as he swallowed his amusement.

“Why must I have an heir born to me anyway? Why can’t I just appoint a distant cousin or something? I’m sure that there are plenty of men in the other branches of the family who could lead Aistaraina just as well if not better than I could.”

“Have you forgotten your history, your Majesty? A kingdom never takes a good direction if it is passed to a different family – matter of fact, it almost always worsens. And if you have no natural heir, you are at risk of being assassinated and having the kingdom usurped! Not to mention breaking….”

“An illustrious tradition. I know.” Ealdread chimed in sharply as the old councilman finished. “Well, why can’t I marry an “ineligible” female then, if you and the council are so adamant on my marrying?”

“Because the dynastic laws and Aistarainian tradition forbid the mingling of royal and common blood.”

Ealdread threw up his hand in evident frustration. “Ceberlandon and even Duventoliel’s royals intermingle with common blood all the time, and their royal lines contain more meritorious people than ours! We’re the only High Kingdom that adheres to this ridiculous tradition, why should we be so different?”

“Your Majesty…” Councilman Ainsley patiently sighed. “I didn’t create the dynastic laws. I only enforce them.”

“Yes, and you are doing a splendid job of it.” Ealdread laid his hands on the old councilman’s shoulders briefly before leaving the room. In his agitation, he left the bag that he had been packing earlier.

What Changed: 

- Most of the direct indicators to Ealdread's age were removed. But not enough not to raise eyebrows. 

- Snarky banter was added. 

This was the version that got sent to the editor, along with my beta readers. I'll be honest, I didn't know how I was going to improve this scene at first. My editor had harped to me about the ages, which I found quite annoying after having made so many concessions beforehand. I had two choices - lower the age gap again or cloak the ages even further than I had. After some advice from the betas and many many nights of pondering, I decided to do the latter. The age gap, while eyebrow-raising to modern sensibilities, is an INTEGRAL part of my story. And I'm not writing just some fantasy story, it's MY fantasy story. Call me stubborn, but I'm stickin' to it.  

But really, even with two rounds of editing, it definitely could've used more improvement. So taking Michelle's advice to heart, I came up with this latest draft, which to date no one has seen (not even my alphas). So you're in for a sneak peek of what this draft is like. 

Are you ready? 

Draft 4 (Post Editor)

But the man was at it again, and even more so. “May I stress to you, King Ealdread, that with every passing day, your dynastic deadline looms closer? And that you still have no queen to bear you an heir?”

Ealdread attempted to tamp down his temper as he pushed himself away from the ledge. “I assure you, Councilman, that I intend to remedy that situation before any grey hairs appear on my head.” If he doesn’t give them to me before I leave, that is, he tacked on in thought as he walked to his own private locker on the other side of the barracks. Gathering a bag, Ealdread selected a container of shining salve and a box of fire-starting materials.

“You have said this several times before and it has come to nothing.” The unwelcome nasally voice of the councilman cut in again. “Never has a Leofwine monarch waited to marry as long as you! From the Aelvish father Daermaethor onward, no king has ever not had an heir by this time in his life! Why should you be the first to break such an illustrious tradition?

Ealdread threw down the map of Sidabras that he was attempting to stuff in his pack. “If you must know, my dear Councilman Ainsley, I have not found a bride that suited me. All of the ‘eligible’ women that you and the rest of the council have paraded before me have either been snobbish, silly, or…” He paused briefly, gesturing as to catch the word that was escaping him. “Slinky!”

The councilman’s eyebrows rose as he swallowed his amusement.

“Why must I have an heir born to me anyway? Why can’t I appoint a distant cousin or something? I’m sure that there are plenty of men in the other branches of the family who could lead Aistaraina just as well, if not better, than I could.”

“Have you forgotten your history, your Majesty? A son takes the traditions of the father and passes them down through the ages, preserving peace. A kingdom never takes a good direction if it is passed to a different family. In fact, it always worsens. And since you have no natural heir, you are also at risk of being assassinated and having the kingdom usurped! Not to mention breaking…”

“An illustrious tradition, I know,” Ealdread chimed in sharply. “Well, why can’t I marry an ‘ineligible’ woman then, if you and the council are so adamant on my marrying?”

“Because the dynastic laws and Aistarainian tradition forbid the mingling of royal and common blood.”

Ealdread threw up his hand in frustration. “Ceberlandon and Duventoliel’s royals intermingle with common blood all the time and their royal lines contain more virtuous people than ours! We’re the only High Kingdom that adheres to this ridiculous tradition. Why should we be so different?”

“Your Majesty,” Councilman Ainsley patiently replied with a sigh. “I didn’t create the dynastic laws. I only enforce them.”

“Yes, and you are doing a splendid job of it.” Ealdread tossed aside the bag and laid his hands on the old councilman’s shoulders briefly before leaving the room. 

What Changed: 

- Elvish got changed to Aelvish, in an attempt at originality and closer ties to Aelfdyn, the name of the actual race of creatures

- The direct references to Ealdread's age were entirely eliminated and gave more of an impression on his maturity but still maintained that he wasn't too old. 

- More specific world-building has been put in. 

- The need for a wife has been emphasized, which helps solidify Ealdread's motivation. 

- "Stuck-up" became "snobbish" and "meritious" became "virtuous". Altogether better word choices. 

All in all, I'm quite happy with the way that it is right now. Will it change before it is published? Maybe. But I'm really excited to see the rest of the novel be just like that snippet, if not better. 

Sooooooo....whatcha think of this crazy post? Like it, not like it? Alphas/betas, what do you think of my surprise? 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine

Femininity is a rare commodity for a book character. 

As I re-engage with the reading world, I am surprised anew at the sheer lack of femininity in many supposed "female" characters. Many blog writers have already written about the over-presence of "kick-butt" female characters, so I believe a restatement of that is pointless. What I want to address, however, is the erasing of the "truly feminine" and how it affects portrayals of women in literature and art. 

In older novels, we see no shortage of likeable, good feminine characters. I think this has to do with the fact that femininity was respected and practiced among general society. But as feminism took mothers out of the home, very suddenly the feminine role model disappeared. The feminine journey of success - which is usually tied intrinsically to the family or to sanctity - was altered forever. Feminine attributes, such as we find in role models like the Blessed Virgin, simply were forgotten. In a sense, second and third wave feminism have contributed greatly not just to the absent mother syndrome but also to the explosion of choleric, kick-butt females that are more masculine than anything. 

That being said, there has been some pushback from the Christian market. Recently, I came across a book called Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman in my local discount store. I had read Sleiman's work before and had been curious about this one...and the price was right. 

Through the first third of the book, I wanted to shake both the author and the protagonist. Lady Gwendolyn wants to become a knight in order to escape being forced by an abusive father into a marriage to a toxic male brute. This was a classic case of feminist thinking in a medieval setting - unfortunately a common fantasy trope. I was quite annoyed at the lack of femininity, not just from an emotional standpoint but also of historical accuracy.   

However, Sleiman did something unexpected. She made it clear that Gwen was, in fact, ignorant of what the feminine role was. What she had was bad example from her parents, as well as a lack of spiritual education. In Gwen's case, Sleiman drew out an arc of (partially) discovering the feminine role through Scripture and a book of sermons. While I hesitate to recommend this book as pleasure reading material (especially to my Catholic friends, as it has some rather dubious spiritual messages in it), this "ignorance of femininity" is a fascinating concept and one that bears more exploring  

It is also a concept that I relate to. As a convert into traditional Catholicism, I had legitimately no clue as to act in a feminine manner. I was a tomboy then (which was rather inevitable, considering I had four brothers). Years of study later, I claim to be no expert. Yet, I am a person that is better led by example. Hence, seeing the dump of feminist-like lead female characters, really drives me nuts sometimes. 

Therefore, my goal is to create truly feminine characters - starting with my protagonist in my upcoming debut novel, The White Rose. As I look to revise Janina's arc I have been looking at the Hero's Journey method of character plotting. And in my research, I came across this video by a YouTuber called Professor Geek, which talks about femininity and story-telling in the context of a cartoon character named She-Ra. 

The comments about emphasizing the gender distinctions and the recognition of the feminine hero's journey as "taming the masculine" are two points that I would emphasize highly. But the Professor's last comments about the societal effects of femininst branded media really shook me at the core.  

I want to stress that to us Christian and especially Catholic writers, the need to explore femininity and apply it to our characters is paramount. Piggy-backing from my last post about Archbishop Vigano's words on the subject, we have a duty to write feminine characters into our stories, as a means of preserving the feminine role in society. 

That will mean studying femininity. That will mean studying Proverbs 31. That will mean looking up saints like St. Zita, St. Louise Martin, St. Therese Lisieux among countless others. That will mean imitating Mother Mary and her virtues. 

It's important that we get this right. Because if we do, then chivalrous male characters are sure to follow. 

And now, tell me your thoughts! What do you think about feminine portrayals in literature? What are some good examples of feminine characters? Tell me in the comments below! 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine