I’m up to something fun! I am going to make a reoccurring series where I “interview” the characters from ISYK/CASOD and see what they have to say. Questions will range from ridiculous to deadly serious.
And YOU will get to play a part in this, if you like! You can leave suggestions for future questions to ask the entire cast or just one of the characters here – https://freesuggestionbox.com/pub/gnxfwvl
Our first question is already here and ready for you! Today, we have a question for Lucee Fearney, your favorite waffle-loving guitarist and once-mortal Fae leader!
Lucee, the readers want to know: how did you learn to play guitar?
Lucee: Wow, that’s a cool question! Actually, you can blame it on Merrick, just like most of the best things that’ve happened in my life. Back in ninth grade he decided that he wanted to learn how to play guitar. He kept telling me that he knew he was destined to be in a band and he wanted me to be in that band too. He also knew that my father would never go for any of that, so he used his “I have rich parents” connections and pulled some strings with the dean to get us a private guitar teacher. He managed to make it so that it was listed on our curriculum as required, so Da would have no reason to be pissed that I was taking a music class instead of an academic class.
Funny thing was that Merrick struggled with guitar, but I picked it up like I was born to play. It just made sense to me, you know? Our teacher Max (Mr. Max, we used to call him) is the one that suggested to Merrick that he should try switching to the bass, and pointed out that if he wanted to sing, that might make it easier. He was a great teacher! He made us both feel like we could do anything. He’s the one who taught me what makes an instrument sound good, and how to develop my own style and tone. Everything else I learned from trial and error, like you do!
Lucee, you’re the best! Guess I owe you a waffle now, right?
Enjoy this? Expect another Q&A next week! And don’t forget to submit your questions!
I’ve talked about the soundtracks [aka mixtapes] to my books a couple of times here, and how the music is part and parcel of the atmosphere and story — integral, if you ask me. You could read the stories and never listen to the tracks I chose to go with each chapter, but you’d be missing out on some of the nuance and thematic references. I mean…it’s up to you, I guess…
Seriously though, the concept of a soundtrack for my stories comes in part from the longstanding tradition in visual media, sure, but even more so from my longstanding tradition to make mixtapes for people I care about, or who I want to care about. I’ve been making mixtapes since I was about ten years old; at first, I used one of those old cassette recorders with a condenser mic and buttons that would make a loud CLUNK every time I would stop the player. My very first foray into learning how to make a proper mix was figuring out how to eradicate that CLUNK from the recording.
[The secret sauce was using a pencil to roll back the tape just enough to start the next recording over the bit of tape where the terrible noise had been. That trick served me well for years of making mix tapes without a fancy mixer!]
Mixtapes are my love language. Even though I make them these days using CDs or Spotify, the general aesthetic and motivation is still the same. I make them for people I care about, or that I’m really into. Often they’ll have a theme or mood, and I choose every song carefully to match that. The songs build and ebb and flow, creating a journey that needs to be followed from beginning to end in order to get the overall effect properly. It’s funny, because I approach DJing in the same way, and it’s served me well. There’s a real art to building the energy of a dancefloor, and the same with a weekly show, though the energies are generally different between them.
The same applies to my book soundtracks, and it makes sense, because the plot of a book has that same sort of organization: rise and fall, ebb and flow, with an overall theme and direction. And the best mixtapes I’ve made, like my favorite novels, have covers that I can’t forget. I am a firm believer in making cool covers for my mixes. That’s part of the aesthetic, too.
Fun fact: I used to be the person that people brought their cassettes to for repairing. Photo by Dan-Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash
When I started dating my partner, I gave him a mix CD on our very first date. [We’re coming up on six years together, and I would put money on the mix being part of that.] One of my friends digitized a mixtape that I made for him back in 1986, and it’s just as good now. The music isn’t new but it feels fresh. It’s a testimony to the power of mix tapes that he’s kept it for 36 years and cared enough to rip it to newer formats.
Want to win me over? Make me a mixtape. Bare a little of your soul with it. Create a cover that says something about the mix — it can be a drawing, a collage, something digitally manipulated. Whatever feels most honest.
That’s what I did for all of you with my books. I put together a couple of mixtapes and gave you stories to go with them, and pretty covers that reflect what’s inside. The mixes are as important as the novels. The stories are as important as the music. It’s all full of love.
BTW, if you want to read more about the philosophy of making mixtapes, you can’t do much better than going to one of the masters of talking about music and its importance, Nick Hornby. High Fidelity, of course, but Songbook not only goes into great detail but has its own mixtape to listen to.
On just taking the leap, and what I’ve achieved in 2021
The end of the year is a classic time for reflection and taking stock, and that’s always one of my favorite activities! A lot of writers right now are posting their #AwardsEligibility posts on Twitter, which is a great tag to follow if you’d like to check out new works from authors in SFF. I only have one book published, and I feel a little foolish joining in with just that – but thinking about the whole concept prompted me to compile a list of everything I managed to accomplish as an author in 2021. It’s a lot!
Step right up and claim that [participation] award
First and foremost: I published a book!!
My debut novel, In Sleep You Know, was published in May 2021. It is eligible for any of the awards for fantasy novels including first novel awards.
Tags: fantasy, hope, community, fae, music
Merrick Moore is just a regular guy with dreams of making it big with his garage band, but not much else – until he crashes a party thrown by reclusive eccentrics. He gets more than he bargained for: new powers, a girlfriend who can visit him in his dreams, and a seven year bond with the local Fae court. When the mortal enemies of his new friends show up to his band’s first gig, Merrick finds himself trying to prevent the start of a war that will have consequences for everyone, Fae and human alike. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1736850318
Get on the other side of fear.
Here’s the thing: I don’t expect to win an award, not in the least. That’s not keeping me from listing this accomplishment, though! It doesn’t matter if I win anything at all. The win was getting this story into the hands and minds of readers!
This whole year has been a series of leaps of faith for me. I started the work on publishing ISYK in 2020, because it takes a while to publish a book, especially a debut book. And especially one that’s being self-published by someone who is a hard taskmaster on herself and desperately wanted to get it right.
I have—quite publicly—suffered from impostor syndrome. I have been really open and public about it, because I know that I’m not the only one who goes through this or will in the future, and I think it’s really important to normalize talking about things that make us uncomfortable or make us feel weak or vulnerable. [I recommend my Twitter feed if you want to catch posts about those subjects. I am openly oversharing there!] I’m scared all the time, but I close my eyes and jump, or hit enter, or make the call. If I don’t, I won’t even get the chance to get the things that I want.
I decided that although it’s ridiculous for me to expect to win anything for ISYK [and that’s okay!] it is a powerful thing to compile and share a list of everything I achieved in 2021. So without further ado, here’s my list!
2021 Author Successes
Writing
💜 published In Sleep You Know, my debut fantasy novel
💜 wrote, edited, in the printing process for Cast a Shadow of Doubt, the sequel for ISYK. [launch date 02/2022]
💜 started work on my third novel, A Third Kind of Madness
💜 Joined Broad Universe and Maryland Writers’ Association
💜 Became a member of The Badasses writing/support group
💜 My books are now available to borrow in Maryland at Baltimore County Public Libraries, the Enoch Pratt library system of Baltimore City, and the Washington, D.C. library system
💜 My book will be available to purchase in person at The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore, MD
…whoa. That’s a lot for my very first year as an author officially!
Here are my questions for you, readers: where would you love to see me show up next year? What is a new book that you read in 2021 that you would recommend? [Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is amazing] And what’s something that you achieved this year that you’re especially proud of and want to share?
One of the questions I get asked a lot, and I’m sure most writers do as well, is one that cuts to the bone of our motivations.
What made you want to become a writer?
It is a well-meaning question, asked by those who truly don’t understand that writing is less of a choice than a drive or a need, at least for me. I’ve been writing stories since I learned how to print my letters. Stories have been in my blood from the very beginning. I learned to read when I was two years old, and I was writing before I started school. I’ve mentioned before that in first and second grade I had a following of girls who would join me in the grassy field during recess while I told them tales that I created on the spot. We would make clover chains and discuss faeries and talking animals and creating magic potions. There’s a meme out there about how little girls instinctively form covens and I’m here to tell you that, at least for me, that was so true.
I wrote my first book at age six, and it was a total rip-off of E.B. White’s The Trumpet of the Swan – okay, okay, it was inspired by it. I even illustrated it, and made it into a stapled chapbook, foreshadowing of my ‘zine days to come. I loved every bit of doing this, and from that moment on, I was hooked on being a writer.
To me, it made sense. I was a voracious reader. I told myself stories all the time. Why wouldn’t I be writing books?
I had a lot of stops and starts on my path of sharing my words. I wrote poetry, music, short stories. I published them myself in my ‘zines, and had them published in other ‘zines and small press publications. I blogged online, fairly religiously. I wrote in my personal journal daily, and some of the things I crafted there became shared pieces.
And I started abortive attempts at novel writing. None were successful, at least not for a very long time.
I like to keep the magic alive outside of the book, too. This is what came in the original deluxe signed paperback packages.
It wasn’t until I revisited my notes for the world of the Eleriannan, as I looked for inspiration during the pandemic lockdown, that I started to see how the stories I’d begun and then abandoned could be fleshed out. They’d been waiting for me to get to the right place in my mind and in my life.
Everything is terrible! Let’s write a book!
Now that I’m into the editing portion of Cast A Shadow Of Doubt, I have time to read for pleasure. That’s a good thing, because I have a BIG stack of TBRs, and the one on the top of the stack is Never Say You Can’t Survive, by Charlie Jane Anders.
I’ve been dying to read this, and so far it has not disappointed. The subtitle is How To Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories, and if that isn’t directed straight to my heart, I don’t know what is. Chapter five in particular has hit home for me, because it talks about writing the things that comfort you when the world is burning. One sentence in particular jumped out at me and brought tears to my eyes.
“Write whatever you need to survive.” – Charlie Jane Anders
Her point is that we get a lot of messages about what we are “supposed” to be writing. Some of those are external, others internally designed to make us feel like we’re not good enough as writers. [yay for that, brains] However, our actual job as writers is to bring forth what we need in the world. And not what we think everyone needs – no, I should write what I specifically need or want. You should do the same. Write the thing that gives you heart to go on, that allows you to get up in the morning, that fills a space in your life that was lacking before you addressed it with your words.
YES PLEASE.
THAT is when writing brings joy, when it rings out clearly across the empty spaces that needed those words, those ideas, that specific story. Writers who embrace this philosophy are easy to spot, at least to me. Reading their stories is an authentic experience.
Conversation between me and Christopher, which is when it all became clear to me about why I write.
And that is why I was able to write In Sleep You Know, when before I’d never been able to finish writing a novel. It was something I needed, a moment where possibilities exist and magic is real but what really matters are the choices that one makes… Especially the choices that bring friends together and create family and community.
And Cast A Shadow Of Doubt embraces those values even more. I cannot wait to share it with you, because these stories are what I need to see in the world, and I am hoping that they are for you, as well.
Hello Magic Seekers! I’m checking in with my current word count and State of the Novel update, as promised.
I’ve been writing away, and I am pleased to tell you that I am at 93,907 words, or at 78% complete on the first draft. My base goal is 120,000 words, give or take. Just for comparison, In Sleep You Know came in originally over 127,000 words and I trimmed it down to about 125,000.
The task of getting the word count under control happens during the editing and revision process, which is coming SOON for me! I’ve found that once I get close to the end of the story, things start speeding up and before I know it, I’ll be blasting through the action like I’m riding a speeding bobsled to reach the conclusion. It’s always a wild ride!
After that, I’ll take a small break to let the story rest and to give myself some space and fresh perspective. After I’m ready to dive back into the story, it’s time to re-read and start looking over the plot to see what should be tightened up, moved around, or deleted. Some things may be added, like extra scenes or observations, things that will stitch the subplots together with the main plot seamlessly – that is, if I do it right! In this time frame, I’ll also have some trusted beta readers look over the story and let me know what they think and if there’s anything I’m missing.
Next up is all the line editing and proofreading, first by myself, then by a professional. This is really when my hands start to come off the reins, and the pros take over to make sure that the finished product will be the best that it can be. My job changes at this point, and I will start concentrating on things like writing my back cover blurb and elevator pitch and all those good things that will help my book get into the hands of readers.
But enough about that! Want to see some fun character avatars I threw together via Picrew? They aren’t perfect, because I had to work with the limitations of what Picrew offers, but they are adorable.
The Fae as Comic Style Avatars
Aisling
Tully
Morgance of The Ladies
Camlin
Karsten
Merrick
Lucee
Vali
Sousa
Cullen
Like I said, not quite perfect – for one, I couldn’t do green hair for The Ladies! But hopefully you can see the spirit of the Eleriannan, Gwyliannan, and Mortals in these cute comical avatars!
Check back in next month for the next update, Magic Seekers!
I’m definitely not the first person to create a playlist that goes along with their book, or even to promote that fact. But I can tell you that anyone who knows me was not only not surprised that I did, but chances are good they would have been flabbergasted if I hadn’t!
Music infuses every part of my life, so it’s no wonder that I have songs connected to each part of the story of In Sleep You Know. Not only does each track that heads a chapter give a bit of the mood for that chapter, but some of the tracks are connected to specific characters and their personality or story arc. There are also some tunes that aren’t chapter headers, but are part of the action, like songs that The Drawback covers, or that get spun at Club Marcada.
You might note that the songs span timelines from the 80s to current time, and are all Alternative/Goth/Darkwave acts. That’s also informed by my personal tastes, but these characters are all people I would have known at the concerts and shows and clubs I’ve gone to over the years, and this is the music they listen to and identify with.
When I hear “What We All Want” by Gang Of Four, I see Sousa striding down the street, full of drive [and possibly beer], headed off somewhere to solve problems and talk sense.
Merrick’s got the Joy Division in his personal soundtrack, of course – I mean, he’s the one who named the band The Drawback. And he does a mean cover of “Heart And Soul” too.
When I hear Siouxsie and The Banshee’s “Love In A Void” my mind immediately pictures Lucee doing those yelps and jumping around on stage.
“Wild World” by Love Is Colder Than Death is very much the state of Genaine’s mind, and everything she’s been through, especially in that chapter.
Severed Heads “Heart Of The Party” isn’t so much a track that would get played at an Eleriannan party, but it sure does describe what Merrick’s feeling like while he’s there!
And you might notice the preponderance of songs about dreams or dreaming – which you might expect from a book entitled In Sleep You Know. Merrick and Aisling’s relationship and how she triggers prophetic dreams for him are referenced in many of the tracks.
If you’re interested in hearing some of the other playlists that I put together as part of my Radio Xiane project that also are representative of the music favored by the characters in the Eleriannan stories, you can search “Radio Xiane” on Spotify and listen to my collection of playlists there.
What other books with a playlist are your favorites? I’d love to hear about them! Please leave a comment below on on the Facebook page!
Joseph Sousa, aka Souz, is a good friend to Merrick and Lucee, and the drummer for their band The Drawback. He’s known to characterize himself as a “dirty punk dude” who loves a sleeveless shirt and drinking copious amounts of beer.
He also, inexplicably, is the owner of The Maithe, a giant brick building in the heart of Baltimore City. The Drawback practices there, and he lives in the practice space with all their equipment and scooters that he loves to repair for fun. He is raucous and funny and stands up for what he believes in loudly and steadfastly.
“To these folks, the city is a wasteland of negativity and should just be abandoned to the Gwyliannan. Which is ridiculous. There’s so much good in the city. The fight is there, the real reason we should be gathering together.”
Meet the rest of the characters in this ongoing series, then order the book now!
note: photo is a composite created by me and containing some of the excellent photography work of Karey Nation [graffiti photo]
With the release date for In Sleep You Know coming up quick [May 1st 2021, in case you’ve forgotten!] I thought you might want to have some introductions to characters from the book – so I’ll start posting some glimpses of who they are and how they look in my head over the next couple of weeks. When you read the book, come back here and see how your mental images match with mine!
By the way, there’s no right answer, once you calculate in the descriptions in the story. 😉 You may find that your inner vision is a little different from mine, and that’s okay! You get to see the world through your own eyes.
There are many characters in the tale, but of course the most important is Merrick Moore [aka The Blackbird], your cover model and aspiring musician. Merrick is in a band called The Drawback with Lucee and Sousa, and other than that, doesn’t seem to have much motivation to do anything else with his life. He’s always just skated by, until the fateful night he decides to crash a party at a mysterious house outside of the city, where secretive, strange people live.
Despite Merrick’s lack of drive, he’s got some great qualities: manners, cleverness, and loyalty. The question is… are they enough to get him through a war between Fae factions?
Theydies and Gentlebeings, The Drawback
“I want to know: why are you chasing me around? What do I have that is so important to you and your people that you will go out of your way to haunt my dreams to get me back?” – Merrick
I’m so excited to invite you to the Baltimore Faerie Faire, happening VIRTUALLY this weekend!
It is happening on Gathertown, which is a graphics based, virtual interactive space – it feels a lot like playing an RPG type game! You will be able to make an avatar, then walk around the event virtually to check in on musicians’ performances, do some shopping in the tents of the vendors, and even hang out with some mermaids.
The main faire will be happening between 11am and 5 pm EDT on April 10th, though there are also events happening starting at 7pm on April 9th, including the magickal Faerie Ball – come dressed in your best fae garb!
What it will look like inside the Virtual Baltimore Faerie Faire!
Navigating GatherTown
This is a pretty easy interface to use, but I thought I’d give you a few pointers to help you feel comfortable!
When you click the link, the first thing you’ll do is create an avatar. It takes just a moment, and there are plenty of visual choices for you! Once you enter the Faerie Faire, take a few moments to wander around and get a feel for movement. Use X to enter tents, and G will make you into a “ghost” so that you can move around without accidentally starting conversations with other Fairegoers or bumping into them.
You’ll note that as you get near people, you’ll be able to see them on video if they have their cameras on, or hear their conversations if their mics are on.
To find a specific person, click on their name in the participants tab on the left, then click “follow” to have your avatar automatically run up to them. Once you find them, you can unfollow. It’s a great way to locate friends!
I’m going to recommend that you do that to my avatar to find my tent! Just find Christiane Knight in the participants, and click follow, and you’ll travel right to where I am. Easy-peasy!
To come inside the Three Ravens Press tent, just walk up to the table and press X and you’ll enter right in! There, you’ll find my website, and if I’m there you can talk to me. I should be there all day Saturday except when I am doing live readings. In fact, if you come to my tent, there’s a good chance you might catch me doing random readings there, too! Expect some chapters from In Sleep You Know!
You can see that there’s a spot with the link on the left, so you can invite others, or get help. You can also see my avatar and my tent. I’m in a nice location next to the statue!
The cover features our protagonist, Merrick, aka The Blackbird. He’s just an ordinary guy with hazy, ill-defined dreams of making it big one day with his post-punk influenced band. He’s got a couple of good friends, but no drive, direction, or goals – just a crappy job and good style. [“Style counts for a lot!” says Merrick.]
That is… until he crashes a party hosted by mysterious people who are rumored to be interesting, eccentric recluses that almost never let people into their house. Merrick is about to get a lot more than he bargained for… new powers, a girlfriend who can visit him in his dreams, and a seven year bond with the local Fae court.
Want to know more? You can pre-order the Kindle version of the book NOW! It will be automagically delivered to your Kindle or device on May 1st 2021, which is the official Launch Day.
Want a paperback version instead? [why not both? 😉] You can pick that up on May 1st at the same link. I encourage folks to grab copies right on May 1st if possible, because that helps me get seen – and gets you my undying gratitude!
