How to write a novel

By Holly Lisle

Oh, ghod. I wish I hadn’t heard wannabee writers say every single one of the things you’ll hear here.

Thanks to Jim Woosley, who sent the link.

(For the queasiness, too, dude.)

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


I’m changing templates

By Holly Lisle

The next couple of days may be a bit rocky for the writing diary. I’m changing templates to match it to my main site, (which is now MUCH upgraded, take a peek) and it’s a completely new template, which means I can’t use anything I have set up from the current one.

Please bear with me. The result will be cool.

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


The butler did it

By Holly Lisle

531 words tonight, a few more earlier in the week.

Jace has now met Quin, the butler.

Butlers in space. Who’d’a thunk?

Anyway. There was writing, I got words, and if I seem to me to be drifting a bit off track, I am acknowledging that this is first draft, and first draft always sucks to some degree.

I will joyfully embrace the revision when Help Wanted is done.

How are your words coming?

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


A new character arrives

By Holly Lisle

I knew Jace Winter would be meeting Kih Soh Hohito in this section. What I did not know was that a new character, Quin, would appear.

Yet his arrival makes perfect sense. I don’t know him yet. I have an idea of what he’ll have to do in this story and the ones to follow, but I don’t yet know who he needs to be.

Again, in first draft this feels way too expository. But it IS first draft, and I’ll do a brutal once-over before I submit it.

527 words tonight. How about you?

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


The funny thing about humans

By Holly Lisle

I’ve been working on Help Wanted on and off as I’ve had the energy. Last time I updated the WIP bar, I had 6013 words total in the story. I now have 7654, so that’s 1641 since I last posted. Not 500 a day by any means, but still something.

Today I got to figure out what is cool enough about humans that we’re sought out for … well, something that would be a spoiler if I explained it. So I won’t. But I like what I got. Chapter 3 is done. Three more to go.

How are you doing with your words?

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


Two New Links

By Holly Lisle

Haven’t done anything with my blogroll in ages, but today I added both my daughter’s hippie jewelry, and my younger son’s toy review site.

Thought you might enjoy both of these.

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


“Not Quite Who I Had In Mind”

By Holly Lisle

518 words, bringing me over 6000, so halfway done.

What I got tonight is too expository, and I’m going to have to fix it in revision, but the bones of it are pretty good—and it sets up the “reason why” for what I hope to write as a a series of short stories.

How were your words?

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


Facing Devastating Failure

By Holly Lisle

My heroine has been going through hell in hopes of achieving a tremendous goal, only to have everything she worked for ripped away from her because she chose integrity over compromise. 754 words tonight. Story, Help Wanted.

Headache is pretty bad right now, but I finished out scene two with a nice cliffhanger.

How are your words coming?

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


Back To Fiction

By Holly Lisle

I’ve had to take a bunch of days off, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

However, when I’ve been up to it, I’ve been working. On Rebel Tales, on NovelWritingSchool.com, and also on fiction.

I was doing pretty well with TalysMana, but my daughter has some scheduling problems right now, so we’re having to put that on hold until she gets her schedule worked out.

Meanwhile, I’m putting together some shortish serial fiction for Rebel Tales. The current piece is Help Wanted, introducing a new heroine in a new SF world. I also want to write some Cadence Drake shorts for Rebel Tales. And I’m considering what I could do in the way of Tonk short stories for Rebel Tales Fantasy–probably not Talyn, probably not Hawkspar.

You can watch the progress on the progress bars to the right.

ADDED LATER: Got 581 words on Help Wanted tonight.

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved


Halloween Tonk

By Holly Lisle

Got an email from a reader who loved Talyn and wanted to make herself a Tonk Shielder uniform.

She used Talyn as her basic reference, and got a lot of the rest of the details from the Tonk Stuff I’ve posted online.

She asked me a few additional questions, though, I provided details, and she sent me her Halloween pictures, along with permission to post them here. I thought this was really cool, so I present to you, EJ, Tonk Shielder.

Start with the clan mark tattooed on her left hand. You can find ALL the Tonk Clan Marks here:
https://hollylisle.com/images/tonk_clans_&_clan_symbols.jpg

You’ll note that EJ is Clan Berdaa, (pronounced bair-DAY-ah) one of the New Clans.

I was able to provide a good description for the insignia on the beret–I hadn’t gone into detail on the battle ribbons, so EJ had to wing those.

And finally, the full Tonk Shielder uniform with cap and beret.

If you ever do a costume from one of my books, I’d love to see the pictures, and I’ll be thrilled to post them here.

(With, maybe, an exception for the bodyart in Hunting The Corrigan’s Blood. Nudity and all, you know.)

Contents © Holly Lisle. https://hollylisle.com All Rights Reserved