FOX

Hello again, Blogger world! Time for a long overdue update, that I might do in bullet points to save space. Impending time will tell. 1. Almost done with my WIP. It was going to be a novella, but kept growing so now it's a novel. Dark, erotic, and very gay. It's being written under my pseudonym, Fox Lee, and I'm very happy with the progress. In fact, 2. This is the first novel I'm consistently happy with/look forward to writing. I made a discovery this past year, my muse wants to write gay characters. In horror, in erotica, in any other genre I decide to write in. I feel at home writing about gay men, I feel weird and stilted writing about straight people. Maybe it's the Aspergers talking, but in the end all that matters is that I'm writing : ) 3. For those who missed it, I have Apspergers. It came out in therapy for OCD, the reason I have been so absent (the OCD, not the therapy). I had my last session last week. I still struggle with OCD constantly, but my ability to manage it is much higher. 4. Prozac is the best thing ever. It didn't cure my OCD, but it kicked my depression in the nuts. Kudos to my therapist, to figuring out the root behind my anxiety. When you've been depressed all your life, you don't think you're depressed, so being closer to normal is sweet. I have much more energy, zest for life, and all that crap. 5. We got a puppy. I now get up early (by seven), go for many walks, and deal with poop and pee on a daily basis. This has brought my anxiety down, quote frankly I have no time to be neurotic. Crap...he's tell me he wants to go out again. I'll end things here, and take him out one more time. Gay erotica doesn't write itself. -Sin

Sacrifice

MY story, "Sacrifice", is in the Spring 2012 issue of The Red Penny Papers! This is my first published story of 2012, and the last good story I wrote before my OCD got really bad. In related news, my husband read the latest two chapters of my WIP and said that I got my groove back : )

"Sacrifice is a story that's very close to my heart. For one, it's set in Japan and that's always special. Also, I really let myself go on this one. I took some risks I wouldn't have taken before, and I pretty much hung all my hopes on The Red Penny Papers. The subject matter isn't for everyone, and I needed to submit it to someone who would get it. Even then the story could have sucked, so you can imagine how excited I was when it got accepted. So if you like your horror mixed with love and gender issues, check out "Sacrifice." Or hell, if you just like Japan!

In other news, my friend in Thailand sent me a bunch of really cool stuff including this Naga ring. It kicks ass:

Moving Forward

Writing progress continues. As you know, I submitted two stories ("Leatherboy v. the Zombie Horde", and "High School Reunion"). Since then I wrote another short story, "Caterpillars" which I have yet to edit and submit. I got distracted with other things, and since it only needs a light edit I don't feel a great sense of urgency. I started another short story, realized it sucked, and went back to the drawing board. Stared yet another story and realized it should really be a novel. So I'm pretty focused on that now, which will be a big test of how far I can heal my OCD. I'm on medication now, but now enough to really take a bite out of it. That will take a few weeks, so we'll see how my writing is in a month! : )

I've realized that I really prefer to write gay main characters. Probably because I love to write about men. I struggled with that for a long time, since there is that idea that if you're a woman you should write about women. But by that logic, men should only write male characters, or we can take it even farther and say that people would stick to their own gender and race when they write. And that would be stupid. I will say that I always try to write a variety of women, both strong and weak, and that they belong in horror just as much as men do. And I'm sure that there are male writers out there that prefer to write about women, so it all evens out. Huzzah!

The inspiration for the next short story I want to write : )

The video behind it

Super!

Last week, I finished my first super hero horror story. It's was also the first story I've written since my OCD got too bad to even read, let alone create anything. Long story short, I am now in therapy with an OCD specialist and will soon go on medication. I get homework to do every week or so, such as charting my anxiety level at various times of day and arranging my schedule to help combat my stress. I imagine that is all very boring to read about, so lets move on to the writing!

My story, "Leatherboy v. The Zombie Horde", can be called the story that got me out of my slump. It might have helped that it was based on a real person, who as far as I know does not have any actual super powers, or it might have been sheer frustration at my OCD reaching a boiling point. In any case, I love the story and I hope I wrote it strong before sending it off. I think I did, and my husband agrees, so fingers crossed that it gets accepted! In the mean time I have other stories and novels to write, not to mention edit. I do have a novella ready to shop, I'm just procrastinating when it comes to doing anything about it. I don't know why, maybe I'm nervous or maybe I have the memory span of a goldfish. Or it could be that, now that my OCD is being treated, I have a lot of ideas to sort through and it's a little distracting *lol* I did write a new short story this week, called "High School Reunion". It's set in Japan and involves a nice young man named Toma, who had a very rough high school experience. Unfortunately, sometimes bad experiences catch up with you.

This is Toma, or the person I thought of when I wrote the story. May he never find out *lol*

Communication

Spider hole. That was what I called the picture (in Japanese) of a funnel web. I don't speak Japanese, but thanks to Google translate and the internet, I can communicate. In fact, some of the people I talk to the most live on the other side of the world. It's a humbling experience. There are a lot of things I can't say. Everything has to be simplified, and it can take a long time to say what I mean. Even then, I have to hope I didn't mess up.

As a writer, it's incredibly frustrating. We take pride in the words we use and the way we use them. But sometimes we forget the most important point: the message.

Writing Stuff and Ranma

I got a lot done this week, story wise. Mostly it was editing: I got through the pile, including the gay erotica, and realized that a lot of them need a lot more work than I expected. This is frustrating, since it means I can't do the computer edits and submit them in a week, but on the plus side I have a stockpile of stories whenever a new magazine/anthology comes out. Before, I wrote stories specifically for markets (which I still love), but it's nice to have a safety net. I also submitted two stories, on old one and one brand new one. The other new story I wrote, "Sacrifice", is waiting for August ; ) The story was a risky one, for me. While I don't shy away from controversy, I also don't court it. I have to be in the mood to write something "edgy" and it isn't always something you can plan for. The original plot for "Sacrifice" was much tamer, and I'm really happy that it ended up the way it did. I love these characters, and I can't help but hope that I get to see them again some day.

In other news, there are one and a half months left to enter my Grand Contest! Based on comments, I think people are going to need it. It seems that people are intimidated by how many Ranma pictures I already have. In addition, there is some confusion over which one is Ranma and which one is Show-yan. I went to find a picture of the two of them together, and realized that they actually don't stand in close proximity to each other than often.



They're both on the left. Show-yan is in the back, Ranma is in the front.

Shorts

I'm editing this week, which makes me want to write, which I'm not supposed to do because I'm editing. Today I did paper edits on two short stories, one that has already been accepted and one that needs more work before I can submit it. I have a stack of other short stories that need my attention, and I'll get to as many of them as I can this week. There's no rush, but I do want more stories out in submission land (or at least ready for submission land) before I edit THE B-TEAM. I really miss Fuji. He's one of my favorite characters, and writing about him makes me think of Japan.

But first I have shorts to edit. And maybe some gay erotica, though I already have several of those that are ready to be submitted. Which reminds me, the four gay anthologies I am in are now all available for purchase on Amazon, including "The Handsome Prince"(Cleis Press), which you can win if you send me the best picture of Ranma. The other anthologies are:

1. Rock & Roll Over (STARbooks Press)

2. Gym Buddies & Buff Boys (STARbooks Press)

3. Brief Encounters (Cleis Press)