Category Archives: Writing

January 27, 2012

Fractured

Oops. Haven’t posted here lately. I’ll chock that up to my fractured sense of time. Or, instead, to the many times I’ve thought about blogging, but other shiny things have distracted me. Either way, shame on Pia. So, let’s chat now.

I sent out the punk rocker story for consideration. I still think of it as “the punk rocker story” instead of its title – A Hound’s Love – because I’m not in love with that title. I sent it to Loose Id, so I’m not holding my breath just yet. I had to submit Summer Lust (which became Make You Sweat - Loose Id, August ’11) three times before a contract arrived in my inbox. I think I’ve learned some things since then, so I’m hoping to cut that down a bit. Either way, I used the waiting as an excuse – “I’ll post to the blog when I have an acceptance.” Uh-huh. Yeah.

Onward! Currently, I’m meandering about in my WiP folders. I have a synopsis for a Coming Out call (LI), plus two outlines for A Sexy Mind call (Silver). Both of those calls have deadlines, and in the meantime, instead of working on those, I’m fiddling with the second book in the Personal Demons series (the sequel to Man Whore) which, while overdue, does not have a deadline.

See… lovely sense of time. Yes? Laugh away, I’m used to it.

And now for a few quickies:

Freedom’s Souvenir is approaching a milestone. It’s just under 300 downloads from Smashwords. If you haven’t read it yet, you can get your copy HERE.

The Little Birdie rumor mill says Man Whore should go to audio production soon. I’m not looking forward to listening to the entire thing to approve the recording, but then I read it a gazillion times to get it ready for publication. I may be sick of it, but if you’ve been waiting to hear it, all I can say is… some time this year. Yep. Helpful. I know.

The running is coming back to me, little by little. With running comes the writing. The Muse is optimistic… and teasing… and still a pain in my a—

When the heck did I fall down the rabbit hole?? My Sunday to Slash & Burn is coming up this weekend. Stay tuned as I track down winter.

I’m singing out loud while I work. Perhaps I should write a series of blog posts inspired by random songs playing on my iPod. Interested?

Have a great weekend, dear Readers.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

Leave a comment | posted in A Hound's Love, Blog, Excuses, Writing

November 30, 2011

Setting Goals

By piaveleno

Today is the last day of November.

Hey, I’m good. Huh? Yep, last day.

And then I reflected on what I’ve done (or rather, what I haven’t done this month) and I can see why I’m amused at even realizing the month is over.

I’ve done nothing.

Nothing.

So, shut the eff up, and do something about it, Pia.

Yep, I heard you. I intend to. I’ve been intending to… right after I stop berating myself for falling for the annual lure into hibernation.

Each year, as the days become shorter, I give in to an apathetic laziness that I can only blame on lack of sunlight and willpower. This year I tried taking extra Vitamin D to combat it, but it hasn’t helped. Much.

Okay, so it has helped my mood, but not my productivity. I could also blame the productivity levels on the healing foot (I’m still not running more than two or three minutes at a time) or my neck (sitting around, instead of running or other exercise is affecting my entire body,) but when it comes down to it, I go through this every fall.

I’m working on that. Really I am.

Last night I moved three manuscripts to my Kindle so I can read through them, refamiliarize myself with the characters and story, and make a list of notes for the next round of edits. I’m setting a goal of having one of them ready to share with my editor by the end of the year. I’m also setting a goal to have a rough synopsis ready to share with her for a fresh story. The latter is sketched out, but needs some concentration to flesh out details that have been rolling around in my head. Lastly, I need to read through the original CRANK posts so I can take notes on ideas for rewriting it in novel format.

That’s right, dear Readers, for those of you who missed the first year of that online story, I fully intend to release CRANK in ebook format some time next year. Never mind if you’re already reading CRANK as it’s released each Sunday, because this ebook will fill in the background and show you how Crandall and Mike got together and got stuck chasing vampires. It’ll be setting it up to be read either before or after the current installments since there are readers on both sides of the spectrum.

Okay, enough goal setting. Now I need to buckle down and attack those goals. Please excuse the return of Placebo lyrics tweets, as Mr. Molko’s is one of the few triggers that can drag my motivation out of the Winter Blahs and back into the wonderful world of Make Believe.

Leave a comment | posted in Crank, Excuses, I am, Writing

August 26, 2011

Broken

By piaveleno

It’s been an interesting month.

To put it mildly.

I haven’t been writing much at all in August, and I’ve mentioned here and there without really telling the story. The thing is, to take the effort to write a blog post about it would have been wasting precious droplets of creativity. I don’t say that because I don’t take this blog seriously – on the contrary, I love chatting with my dear Readers — but because I wanted to save what little energy I had for the commitments I’d already made.

On July 31st, I broke my foot. Now a foot injury, you’d think – and I did too – would make for MORE time to write. The foot had to be propped up constantly, and I certainly couldn’t walk on it, let alone spend hours a week running nowhere for the sake of being healthy. So, perfect for cuddling up with the laptop and a few cute men, right? Alas, no. Without my running catharsis, my mind shut down too.

A physical injury is never just physical. I was (and still am, at times) mentally exhausted. I’m sleeping a lot, and I still struggle to put in a full forty hours a week at the Job That Pays The Bills. That Job is very challenging, so needless to say, I crash hard after work each day.

I’m coming around now. Little by little. I’m moving more, and while I’m still in pain, still healing, I’m inching my way back to my feet. The Doc has cleared me to use a stationary bike, but made me swear on my FiveFingers to not stand on the pedals, and to use my heels, not my midfoot. Yes, yes, I agreed. Anything to MOVE again. Besides, I love running too much to risk slowing the healing, or worse, reinjuring the foot, by pushing too hard too soon.

With this little bit of physical output, I find my Muse wandering by too. I’m playing around with an idea for a sports themed story, and I put on Crank’s playlist to toy with the next few scenes. I suspect it’ll be another two to three weeks before I’m ready to pick CRANK back up because I need that to be right, and I need to be in full creative mind to write more than blog posts. In the meantime, I’m reading through a couple of other projects and making revision notes. Revisions need a different part of my mind – that part between pure creativity of writing from scratch and the pure technical section that helps with line edits and proofreading.

It’s a start, and it’s not a bad way to ease back into things since this is a manuscript I’ve been avoiding to concentrate on getting Make You Sweat ready to read. Now that Sweat is in the readers’ hands, I should be working on another project. Next week I’ll work on a blog post to update you with those projects, and maybe – just maybe, because my memory (and energy) is still faltering – I’ll run a giveaway for Sweat. I’m not sure how or where yet, but I’m considering a GoodReads location since the M/M Romance Group has been such as wonderful place for me as both a writer and a reader.

Keep your eyes out for a post about it. I’ll announce it here (too) regardless of where the entries are requested.

I think that’s enough rambling for one day. I still have a bit of energy, but I’ll put those towards the revisions. Punk rocker anyone?

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

Leave a comment | posted in Excuses, I am, ramblings, Writing

July 14, 2011

Blog What?

By piaveleno

So I wrote this long-winded rambling blog post about how I need to blog more often. That morphed into updates on various projects. So one, I failed at actually blogging about something besides the boring status update, and two, I really didn’t think anyone wanted to read five hundred words about why I’m writing about projects and what those projects are doing.

Blech.

I’ve been too busy, and when that happens my blog suffers. I know. I’ll work on that.

In the meantime, here are some things to watch for in the near and more distant future:

Make You Sweat (formerly known as Summer Lust) should be out mid to late August barring any catastrophes (Loose Id). I hope to see some cover art (and share it with you) in the coming weeks.
My Ghost has been accepted by Silver Publishing for part of their Halloween celebration.
City Cowboy (title bound to change) is in final revisions to be queried within the next 4-6 weeks.
Fallen and Bound By Love are currently being recorded to release in audio format. (Dates still to be determined.)

Also remember, the M/M Romance group on GoodReads.com is still running their Hot July Days free reading marathon. Every day of July (and into August thanks to so many participating writers) there will be at least one (and often two or three) free M/M stories to read. See my post HERE for more information on how to join and enjoy. My story, Freedom’s Souvenir, hasn’t been posted yet, but many, many great stories already have.

Happy Reading, cari miei!

Ciao,
Pia

Leave a comment | posted in audio, Loose Id, Publishing, Reading, Silver Publishing, Writing

July 3, 2011

Writing Updates at S&B

By piaveleno

Today is my day at Slash & Burn. Drop by to visit while I ramble out a mid-year writing update…

July: I Disbelieve

Ciao,
Pia

Leave a comment | posted in Publishing, Slash & Burn, Writing

June 30, 2011

Hot July Days (AKA Free Reads!)

By piaveleno

How would you like two to three free stories every day in July (and probably well into August)?

Okay, okay, I’m not really waiting for your answer because who wouldn’t?

Nope, no catch. No hidden fees. Nothing more than over 100 free stories written by the authors of the M/M Romance group over on GoodReads.com. These free stories are available to read for any member of the group, and you only have to like reading M/M stories to join (oh, and verify you’re at least 18 years old). Some time later this year, the stories will be released as an e-book anthology, but why wait?

Join the M/M Romance group by clicking HERE, and then clicking Join Group.

I suspect some of you are wondering why all of these authors would be giving away free stories. Everyone has their own reason for participating, but overall, the group members are a lot of fun, and the author members enjoy giving back to the community that supports them. The theme for this project is the group’s new slogan:

Don’t Read In The Closet.
Stories of coming out in love, being out in love and committing out in love.

Each freebie story started with a photo and a Dear Author letter written by a reader member. Authors snagged photos/letters on a first come first write basis, writing stories from 5k to 25k (ish) and from contemporary to paranormal and more.

Once a member, you can view the photos, letters, and stories HERE. I shouldn’t have to warn you that the stories may be NSFW, but also be aware that the photos, too, might be a bit racy for several of the story threads.

The stories will be posted starting July 1^st, and then every day thereafter until every story has been shared. There will be no schedule of authors, because we want readers to try new authors as well as their favorites, so please drop by daily (or as often as you can) to check out these great stories.

The thread for my story is HERE. Check out the photo, reader’s letter, and then return soon to read the story. Some great names are participating in this summer fun.

Happy reading, cari miei, I have no doubt you’ll enjoy some amazing stories.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno
http://piaveleno.com/

Leave a comment | posted in Fiction, M/M erotica, Publishing, Reading, Writing

May 1, 2011

Quickie News

By piaveleno

Today I’m over at Slash & Burn discussing the symbiotic balance of mental and physical pursuits. Drop on by to read about: The Runner and The Writer.

Also, Loose Id authors are visiting the Love Romances Cafe today. You can join the group and chat with your favorite authors through this link: LRC YahooGroup (I won’t be there this month, but possibly for June or July’s chat to announce the official release date and blurb for Summer Lust.)

Last, but not least, I’ve pulled the first story arc from the CRANK website with the intention of rewriting it in novel format. But, the second story arc is still running with free weekly updates, and you don’t need to read the first story to enjoy the second. If you’ve yet to experience this weekly tale you’re missing out on vampire stakings, sexy rockers, steamy manlove, and a man aptly nicknamed Crank. Check it out here: About CRANK

It was 62 degrees in my house when I woke up, but I refuse to shut the windows. It’s spring, and I’m going to enjoy it, even if I have to wear my fluffy winter socks and bundle up my favorite fleece throw blanket. Happy Beltane, dear Readers!

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

Leave a comment | posted in Crank, Loose Id, Slash & Burn, Writing

April 24, 2011

Great Combinations

By piaveleno

Like chocolate and peanut butter, or condoms and lube, running and writing has gone hand in hand for me over the last year. When I was running, I was writing. When I didn’t write, I didn’t run. And so forth.

For the past month, I’ve been impatiently waiting for a minor injury to heal enough to run properly. By properly, I mean hitting the road for more than twenty minutes. I don’t want to jog around the cul-de-sac and back. I don’t want to do run/walk intervals. I want to run.

When a story bugs me, I set it aside and I run. Mentally, I’m focused on stride, pacing, breathing, cars, dogs, people, muscle strength, and energy level. Underneath all that, and away from my conscious mind, I’m working out whatever issues stumped me on the story. Likewise, when my body gets regular attention, my mind is more focused when it is time to sit down and write. I have the mental energy when my physical energy levels are regulated through regular workouts.

Lately, I’ve only been able to manage short workouts, usually of mediocre quality. This morning consisted of: walk ½ mile, run ½ mile, walk ¼ mile, run ¼ mile, walk ¼ mile, run ½ mile, walk home. Boring. Miserable. Not the energetic, enjoyable runs I looked forward to every other day last summer and fall. Nothing close to the 10k goal I had when the first snowfall hit. And not close enough to the 7k race I’m registered for next month.

The writing is coming back to me. It helps that I have a hard deadline for LI. My own self-imposed deadlines are nothing compared to one resulting from a contract I signed. As I work through edits, my mind whirls with other characters and the stories they have to tell. The injury will heal. Whether that’s sooner or later, the passion for storytelling cannot be completely subdued, but I do look forward to the moment when running and writing are truly reunited.

Leave a comment | posted in fitness, Inspiration, Writing

April 20, 2011

Free Fiction and other Updates

By piaveleno

Today is usually the day for a free quickie – flash fiction, that is. I never intended to write the Silver Flash stories weekly, though as inspiration hits, I run with it. I do, however, have a freebie that I write every Sunday.

I promise I’ll get back to the free fiction in a moment. First, a handful of updates.

There is a lovely email in my inbox with the first round of content edits for Summer Lust. I’m extremely eager to start on this. I haven’t opened the document, because once I do, I’ll stay up way too late working on it. I’ve satisfied a brief itch by reading the summary email from my editor, and now my mind is churning with just that little bit of inspiration.

Man Whore started off stronger than the others in sales, but the reviews are slow to come. I hope to have more news on that soon. In the meantime, I’ve shelved the sequel. I’m not feeling it, and I have plenty of other projects to write. This is not an unusual tactic. When I’ve had too much of a set of characters, I ignore them until they demand attention.

I’m fiddling with a number of things while I wait to see how much of my time the Loose Id edits will consume. That is, after all, the priority. As time permits, I’m toying with cowboys, twins, and a queer young adult novel that I’d set aside a couple of years ago. Plus, it’s almost time to pick up my musician draft again. Almost.

Okay, okay, I promised to remind you about the weekly freebie, didn’t I?

CRANK is my baby. I started posting chapters to this story after I finished a grueling licensing exam in the summer of 2009. It was an experiment and I didn’t expect it to catch on, but it has. Thank you, dear Readers!

Every Sunday, I add to the story (which can be found here: CRANK). It started as Mike’s tale about hunting vampires and being hopelessly (and secretly) in love with his good friend and band mate, Crandall. Since that day, Crandall not only learned Mike was gay, but has discovered the addiction of sex with his best friend. It wasn’t happily ever after however, because a vampire attacked them, biting Crandall, and forcing him into Mike’s world of supernatural prey vs predator. Now the vampires want something from the hunters, and their request defies the instincts of both beast and man.

While the first story arc has been removed to rewrite in novel format, the second story arc is designed to be read without the first, so please feel free to dive right in. CRANK may have started as an experiment, but it has evolved into a passion.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno
http://www.thecrank.wordpress.com/about

PS Silver’s authors are still flashing. Did you read someone you loved last week? Drop by their blogs to find a new offering.

2 comments | posted in Crank, Loose Id, Make You Sweat (formerly Summer Lust), Silver Flash, Writing