Writing

17 posts

To Keep The Darkness At Bay

Cast A Shadow Of Doubt In Sleep You Know On Creating Writing

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.

Interviews, Revisions, and a Street Team

Events Writing

Interviews are a LOT of fun to do, let me tell you! I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Wendi Van Camp of No Wasted Ink. I talk about how I became a writer, my writing style and inspirations, and some of the background behind the world of the Eleriannan and In Sleep You Know.
Please click through to read the interview, then stick around to read the rest of the interviews, plus poetry and more!
https://nowastedink.com/2021/09/23/author-interview-christiane-knight/

As I continue to worn on Cast A Shadow Of Doubt, I have decided that now is the time to open up my street team, the Fae Council! What’s a street team? It’s a group of friends and fans who agree to help spread the word about me and my books, in exchange for special access, ARC opportunities, swag, giveaways, and more.

It’s a pretty casual affair that gives you lots of opportunities to get rewarded for telling other people how much you love my writing… aka a win-win! There’s a Facebook group and a private Discord channel, so sign up now!
https://www.christianeknight.com/street-team/

Speaking of writing, I’m actually finished the first draft of CASOD and I’m well into the revision/editing stage! Things start to move faster once I’m in this part of the process, so expect to start seeing excerpt shares and teasers soon. Yay!

I can tell you that if you love Lucee and Vali, you will really love this story. There are new characters and creatures and of course lots of music, food… and bad guys. There are always new bad guys, right?
I post mini-updates a lot on Twitter, for those who like chatty platforms.
Link is at the top of the website 🔝

ps – I’m going to start planning my event schedule for 2022! As it stands now, Cast A Shadow Of Doubt is scheduled for launch in early 2022, and I’ll be looking to make appearances after that. Do you have suggestions? Anywhere you’d LOVE to hear me read, or get a chance to talk about my books or writing in general? Drop suggestions in the comments! 💜

Why I Chose to Self Publish My Book

Writing

“Why did you decide to self publish In Sleep You Know?”

I get asked about my choice to self publish all the time! Usually, it’s people who preface the question with a variation of “But your book is so good,” as if only shitty books get self published.

There are some interesting notions about self publishing. Some of the biggest ones I’ve noticed? The idea that all self published books:

  • are poorly written
  • are poorly edited, if at all
  • have cheesy covers
  • cost more to publish
  • are lower quality
  • are drowning out Trad and Indie published [implied, “good”] novels

The prevailing thought here is, that without the gatekeepers of agents, editors, and publishers, the market just fills up with bad books. Well, I am here to tell you that while these things can all be true, there are MANY great books out there that prove the stereotypes wrong. And here’s a truth that a lot of people don’t want to talk about: not every book that is published through those other routes is a good book! *gasp*

Seriously though – each route to publishing has its pluses and minuses, and plenty of great and awful examples of what’s out there via those methods. Yes, the lack of gatekeeping in self publishing means that if you’ve got the money and wherewithal, you can put a real stinker out there. But guess what? It’s probably not going to sell, especially once a few reviews get out there and talk about poor editing, lack of clarity, or multiple typos. The market will take care of itself in that regard.

By now, I think it’s clear that I think the claims of “flooding the market with poor quality writing and taking attention away from quality product” is overblown hokum.


***HOWEVER***


I want to stress that it is extremely important to not go at self publishing alone. What do I mean when I say that? Simply put, get some professional help on your side. Hire the editors you need, pay for proofreading, find a competent cover artist and don’t go cheap. This is how you avoid adding your novel to that “flood” of poorly done books.

About now, you’re probably thinking, “Okay, I get it. You are pro-self-publishing, blah blah. So tell me why you went that route already!”
Sure, you’re not wrong, or at least you’ve got part of it right. I am for whatever road to publishing makes the most sense to you. But let me explain why I decided to do it myself – or more accurately, me with a team to help me.

Trust me when I tell you that my manuscripts look nothing like this.
Image by Nile from Pixabay

First and foremost: time.

What does that mean? In my case, I had a wake up call two years ago, when I almost died from an unexpected illness that turned out to be the calling card of Crohn’s Disease. I’d been sitting on these stories for my whole life, outside of some fumbling attempts to serialize them in the late 90s. I knew I had the skills to publish myself, as I’d already done some homegrown small press publications. And now, I felt like time might be in short supply, so I had the motivation to Get It Done.

I didn’t want to go through the endless struggle of trying to find an agent, trying to get through slush piles as a complete unknown, trying to somehow catch the right eye at the right time. I’ve always been the type to look around and say “fuck it, I’m doing this myself,” with a pretty good success rate. I’ve also worked in publishing and owned small businesses, so I had a decent background in skills I’d need to put things together and then market them.

Obviously, not everyone has these things in their back pocket. That’s something to consider when you think about who you’ll need on your team if you go the self publishing route.

Other things in my favor

I had the money to invest at the time. Self publishing isn’t cheap if you do it right, although you can do things to make it more affordable. * I had the time to pour into getting it done pretty quickly, as I’m still chronically ill and fairly housebound. And I already have a pretty big community behind me, as I’ve been gathering people online for at least twenty years. That definitely helps!

That doesn’t mean that you can’t do it without that setup already in place. But in the interest of being transparent, I wanted to mention all of these things. They offset my feeling of being afraid to wait for things to happen organically, aka trying to get picked up by a traditional publisher or even an indie publisher.

Here’s another thing to think about: as a self published author, you are responsible for everything. That is both extremely freeing and also a burden.
You can market yourself however you want! Yay!
You have to come up with all the marketing schemes, boo.
You can hire someone to do marketing for you, huzzah!
You have to pay that person, aw dang.
You have to pay for everything yourself.
But all the money you make, less fees taken by printer/distributor, is yours.

* I have a LOT more to say about choosing Self Publishing as an option, and it isn’t all going to fit in this blog post! Lucky for you, if you are interested in this line of thought, I cover this topic and more over at my Ko-fi. If you choose the membership tier “A Writer’s Life and Craft” then you will get all my posts on these subjects, plus a lot more. You’ll also have the option to ask me questions directly and have detailed conversations!

Rooted In Reality – Setting a Fantasy Novel In a Real City

In Sleep You Know Uncategorized Writing

aka: What parts of Baltimore are fiction in your novel, Christiane?

Using a real city as the setting for In Sleep You Know was a fun challenge! I am a firm believer in building off of what I know when it comes to writing – even if it’s Fantasy that I’m crafting. I also believe that Baltimore is a treasure trove of undiscovered magic, often overshadowed by its reputation. [Ask me how I feel about The Wire. I have opinions.]

There was no question in my mind that I would be using Baltimore as the backdrop for where my Fae, the Eleriannan and Gwyliannan, lived. But trying to decide on what version of the city I would build from? That took a bit more thought. When I started writing about these characters originally, it was the late 90s, and the way I saw the city in the story was built on my memories from the 80s and 90s. Looking over the story as the platform for In Sleep You Know, I realized that I needed to unmoor the tale a bit from a specific time in order to give it the feel I wanted. It also meant that I could blend experiences, fashions, music from different eras and have it feel cohesive and timeless.

Some of the places mentioned in the story are based specifically on real-life analogues – the nightclub is definitely based on a well-known club that caters to specific subcultures in Baltimore [one that I DJed at for a while, shhh] – but it also draws from some other clubs with which I’m intimately familiar. I wanted that feeling of familiarity for readers who have haunted those sorts of clubs. Same for the Frisky Bean – if you’ve been to this sort of non-corporate community coffee shop, the kind with comfy chairs and bookshelves piled with tattered paperbacks to read and board games, you will picture it in your mind right away. The Frisky is also built on the memories and experiences of so many coffee shops like it, in Baltimore and other places I’ve lived in and visited.

Photo by Henry Guan on Unsplash

There are other places featured in the book In Sleep You Know that are actual locations, but may not quite resemble the Baltimore of this consensual reality. I talk about the Gwynns Falls area, for example, but I paint the scene with a bit of a muted brush, leaving the exact location unidentifiable. It is absolutely based on a few houses hidden away there, but none specifically. Maithe House is indeed exactly as advertised, but only on the outside. I have a lot of tidbits about The Maithe, but I’m saving them for a future blog post. 😉

The first place we go in ISYK is a party at a big house. Traveling outside of the city, down Falls Rd – which runs from close to where Club Marcada is located in Midtown, almost to the Pennsylvania border – it’s obvious that the house isn’t a place one can just stumble upon, it is off the beaten path. I’ve again softened the border between our reality and book reality when it comes to exact location and the ease of getting there without a vehicle. If you’re in the know and driving around the Greenspring Station to Ruxton Road area, you might find yourself traveling the road that Merrick takes to crash a party.

Both Merrick’s apartment and Lucee’s place are based on places where friends lived, in the Mt Vernon neighborhood. Sousa’s place isn’t too far from there. The pic above shows a little of what that area looks like. It is a great neighborhood for artsy types, though perhaps a little more affordable in the fictional version of Baltimore!

Using a real-life place, even one I’m familiar with, gave me some things to think about before I proceeded. I’ve seen it done really well, and also not quite as well. It can be easy to let the setting overwhelm the story by putting the city’s character and descriptions too far forward. For me, Baltimore is an important part of the tale, but not the most forward part. I wanted it to lurk in the background in some ways – interesting but ignorable in detail until the right time. And of course, it is all about timing!

I can’t wait until you travel to my version of Baltimore, and you get to meet the folks that live there.

Keep tuned for more In Sleep You Know news, coming soon!

Elizium

Oneiromantic Writing

In Elizium I found a home.

Do not believe what they say, the tales are all exaggerated – there is magic to be found, sure… for the right price. 

No one sleeps at night here. The dusty streets are filled with the wraith-like folk from dusk to dawn, and no one ventures forth into the sunlight. There are too many truths to hide.

We are desperate here. You can see the once-finery; splendid jewel toned stained glass now obscured by filth, awe-inspiring architecture eroded by the ill-educated hands of the rabble. Once fine storefronts are now boarded over, their wares abandoned for cheaper pleasures.

No sane person stays in Elizium for long. 

This is where I belong.

Advice, Criticism, and Knowing Who You Are

On Creating Uncategorized

Receiving advice and criticism isn’t easy. I like to say you need a Teflon-coated ego if you’re going to put yourself out there in any creative field. And if you’re a sensitive soul [like me, I fully admit it] that can be difficult to achieve. How do you get there?

“Knowing Who You Are” is the key to everything: that’s how I interpret and take in the advice and criticisms given to me in a way that doesn’t break me, and that allows me to actually glean the important, useful parts.

Being able to gracefully take advice and criticism is one of the most important skills that any creative person can possess. As someone who finds herself in creative roles that have thrust me into the public eye over and over, being able to roll with the punches when it comes to how people receive my work has always been a battle, but one worth waging. You just can’t get up in front of people, on *any* platform, and put yourself out there without expecting razzes with the praise. It’s what some people just do. In fact, I recommend preparing yourself for the possibility that the jeers will outweigh the good words! I firmly believe in the idea that it’s easier to be prepared for disappointment with the hope to be pleasantly surprised, than the opposite. Not everyone is going to like or appreciate your work. That doesn’t mean your work is bad!

The trick is to be able to separate valid criticisms from a general “this is not my jam” reaction. Same goes for advice, especially advice that goes against your instincts or raises a pushback reaction. That’s when it’s important to sit with those words for a while, and really take some time to reflect on why they are triggering that response in you.

Photo by Vadim Fomenok on Unsplash

I’m going to use myself as an example here, because that’s how I roll, and I have no problem sharing my vulnerability and ego weak points. [please do laugh here!]

I threw a piece of writing out there recently to get some editing advice. I read the suggestions returned to me and my heart sank. The editor I was most interested in took my writing and ripped it apart.

Except… they really didn’t. They ripped into it, sure – but not to destroy it, rather in order to point out all the places where mercilessly editing it would tighten it up and make it a better read overall. Was it brutal? Sure, to my ego, for about five minutes. Then I got over myself and paid attention to what was being suggested. Some things I didn’t agree with, but I earmarked them to revisit in a bit while they tumbled around in my head. Other things were “duh” revelations, like a continuity problem here or there, or an overlooked grammar mistake.

After I sat awhile with those suggestions that I didn’t agree with, I went back and re-read with the edits in mind, and with a sincere effort to read the story like it hadn’t been living in my head for a while. Did I end up using all the suggestions? No, I did not – but I did use some of them, and the whole experience caused me to go back and look over the rest of my story again with fresh eyes, and make changes in other places. I came away feeling that my writing was improved, but still felt like mine. It’s still not perfect, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the writer who is 100% satisfied with her work, but that gives me glorious room for improvement, yes?

That’s what I mean when I say “know who you are.” I know what I want in my work. I am pretty confident in knowing my strengths and weaknesses – and I’m also aware that I have both of those that I might not see because I’m too close to the material. That doesn’t make me a bad writer [musician, artist, whatever] – it makes me a human one. I know who I am, what I want out of my work, and what I’m capable of; knowing that gives me the space to allow others to offer words that can help me improve. And knowing who I am also gives me the strength to reject or ignore the criticisms that aren’t designed to be helpful.

Does it always work? Hell no! But keeping grounded in that knowledge can help me weather the worst and keep growing. And that helps me to improve my craft, as well. Win-win.

The Longest Night

Uncategorized

Every season is a chance for renewal.
Every day is a gift of redemption.
Every moment is a secret salvation.
I may dance alone, but I am surrounded by stars.

Give me a minute of wild abandon, more precious than gold… I treasure the random moments, the secret glimpses and stolen seconds in that world that hides between the bricks and mortar of what we accept as solid and real.

I reject your morality, your mortality, every minute of mundane and disappointingly binding concepts that you think you cannot live without.

If only you would close your eyes for five minutes, spin around three times – this would melt away and reveal what you knew as a child… it is all a game. It is fake, and we all agreed to make it our lives – instead of what we really want to do – because we secretly think we don’t deserve better. Because we think we don’t have power. Because we have forgotten how to dream bigger.

Your dreams can become reality, but first you must dare to believe in them – and in yourself.
[C. Knight, 2014]

Yule is a time of hope – seeing the light appear after the longest night of the year. Yule is when we begin to plan for rebirth, to take stock of what we accomplished in the year-passing-away and dream of the seeds we will plant in the Spring. Take time to snuggle in and recharge, to go to ground for a while and plan of what is to come.

May the Light touch your life in every way.