The musings of ED Martin

Moving my blog - please update your links!

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:59:00 +0000

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you may have noticed that I like to change my website theme. A lot. One of the things that entails is making sure my blog matches my website. And that was just getting too difficult with Blogger. I'm a decent enough coder, but I was way over my head.

So I've moved my blog to Wordpress. All the posts are still readable, and any links to http://blog.edmartinwriter.com should automatically move to http://www.edmartinwriter.com/blog.

So please, update your links and continue to follow my blog! I really appreciate all the support and feedback I've gotten over the past couple years!

Weekend Writing Warriors 12/1/13 & Giveaways! #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 11:00:00 +0000

My women's fiction novel, The Lone Wolf, launches tomorrow!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Andrew tends to blame himself for all the bad stuff that's happened to those around him - his stepdad abusing his mom, relationships with women gone wrong, fellow soldiers dying in combat, and now not able to help Kasey with her marital problems. In this scene, his PTSD is flaring up pretty badly, and Kasey is trying to console him.

“Let me help you.”

“You’re fighting your own battles,” he said, looking through me as if he’d had this conversation a hundred times already with a hundred other women. Maybe he had. “And you and I are so different, I don’t know how you could help me. You don’t know what this is like.”

“No, but I still want to help you if I can.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m going to, Kasey. I’m going to hurt you bad, and I don’t know how I’ll live with that.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And make sure to enter my giveaway for a free copy of The Lone Wolf!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaways!

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:18:00 +0000

My novel, The Lone Wolf, launches Monday! And to celebrate, I'm giving away a couple signed paperback copies and some ebooks.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Lone Wolf

by E.D. Martin

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekend Writing Warriors 11/24/13 & Giveaways! #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Just one week until my novel launches!

“Think you can behave yourself now?” His face revealed no hint he’d done anything out of the ordinary.

“I think so,” I said, equally earnest.

“Good, because next time you misbehave you’re getting a spanking.” Still the straight face as he went back to his magazine.

My eyebrows shot up, and a shiver of warmth permeated my body as I said, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.

“Guess I’d better be good then.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And make sure to enter the two giveaways I'm currently running!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Lone Wolf

by E.D. Martin

Giveaway ends December 01, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekend Writing Warriors 11/17/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Just two weeks until the official launch of my first novel, The Lone Wolf!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

New to town, Kasey wandered past a bookstore and caught Andrew staring at her. She kept going back, hoping to run into him, and in last week's excerpt, she finally did. Over the following month or so they've spent time at the bookstore getting to know each other better, but they're just as likely to butt heads as to have a nice chat.

In this scene, they had a disagreement that Andrew solved by physically putting Kasey in "time-out" - a big overstuffed armchair in the back of the store. All she can focus on is how close he is to her.

I struggled to get up, but he hovered over me, pinning me with his presence.

“You think too much, you know that?” he said.

“You make no sense sometimes, you know that?”

“You ever give your mind a vacation, just let yourself feel instead of overthinking all the time?”

“I don’t overthink.”

“Yes, you do; right now, for example.”

“What am I overthinking?”

“Everything.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you keep checking back, because I have some giveaways coming up soon to celebrate the release!

Free bookmarks!

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I'm gearing up for the launch of my first novel, The Lone Wolf, in just a couple weeks. I've already made a book sell sheet, which I gave area booksellers when asking them to sell my book. It had all the information they needed to order my novel from their supplier.

I'm also planning some giveaways: a Rafflecopter contest here on my blog, a day to interact with my publisher's street team on Facebook, something at this week's NaNo write-in, and who knows what else.

And just this weekend, my The Lone Wolf bookmarks arrived! It took me about an hour or two to design them, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I plan to give them out like candy. :D

Want one? Add The Lone Wolf on Goodreads, and then use the contact link above to send me your address and a link to your bookshelf.

And make sure you keep checking back, because there'll be a lot going on between now and launch day on December 2nd!

Weekend Writing Warriors 11/10/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Three weeks until the launch of my first novel, The Lone Wolf! I'm planning some giveaways for the week of December 2nd, so make sure you're checking back.

While browsing McKay’s history section, walking backwards reading the titles, I bumped into the blue-eyed man, who was engrossed in the military history section.

He scowled at me for a brief moment, but as recognition dawned in his eyes his expression softened.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as heat rushed to my face. “I wasn’t paying attention, and I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“No harm, no foul.” The corners of his lips drew back into a smile, or perhaps a smirk. “You come here a lot, right? I’ve noticed you around.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

#NaNoWriMo WhyNoMeNo

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 06:01:00 +0000

It's November, which means that thousands upon thousands of people are sitting down to write a 50,000 word novel as part of NaNoWriMo.

It also means that thousands upon thousands of people are sitting in front of their computers, eying their word counts, and thinking, "Crap, it's only day seven and I'm how far behind?"

I'm in that second group.

I started off strong. I went to a local write-in on the first day. I sat at a table where a fellow writer took away another NaNo'er's phone to minimize distractions and may have threatened to disconnect my internet connection. I hit my word count. Days 2, 3, and 4, I hit my word count.

But then on day 5, I came home from my evening class with a migraine/mild diabetic reaction to too much flan, and a bug bite that I had an allergic reaction too (funny story; it's called Skeeter Syndrome, and it means bites swell up into itchy 3" in diameter welts). I tried to write, but ended up just going to bed, at 9:00, and sleeping it all off. I planned to catch up today, but between an unexpected trip to the mechanic's (headlight went out this morning) and my son's 7th birthday party tonight, I didn't have time for it.

I'm hoping to catch up soon, but this weekend I'm headed out of town, which means not much writing will get done Friday, Saturday, and possibly Sunday.

And then I have a 20-page policy analysis paper due in a couple weeks, followed by an 8-page paper on my family's ethnic integration in America. And a book launch in less than a month.

It's not going to be pretty this month.

If you're doing NaNo, how's your progress coming along?

Weekend Writing Warriors 11/3/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

My novel, The Lone Wolf, launches four weeks from tomorrow! I got a box of copies Friday, which is super exciting. And nerve-wracking. Four weeks!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

During September, I posted about Kasey's mess of a marriage. October brought snippets of Andrew's failing relationship. Which means that for November, it's the perfect time for them to meet!

In this scene, Kasey has just moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and is exploring downtown. She's paused outside a bookstore, examining the window display.

After a few minutes, I sensed someone staring at me and looked through the window into the café section of the store. A dozen or so people dotted the tables, some sitting alone and others grouped together. Near the back, three people clustered around a table. A balding man and a plump woman had their backs to me, and facing them, facing me, an attractive blond-haired man, maybe mid-thirties, watched me intently.

Most people would have the decency to look away when they’d been caught staring, but not this guy. Our eyes met. He took a drink from his coffee cup and laughed at something but didn’t break eye contact.

I dropped my own eyes back to the robot in front of me, my face on fire, then glanced back at the stranger; he was still watching me.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

I'd like to thank my editors

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:32:00 +0000

As I sit here waiting for my first shipment of The Lone Wolf to be delivered to my house (UPS's website tells me it's currently "out for delivery"), I'm still kind of amazed that I have a published novel. I started writing it in February 2010, so it's been quite a long journey from initial scene (which actually didn't even end up in the final draft) to the book (almost) in my hand.

I've had a ton of help with it, especially from my great editors at Evolved Publishing. Lane Diamond and Mishael Witty pored over my manuscript for five months, getting rid of superfluous proper nouns and I-bombs.

Both Mishael and Lane are also writers, and I highly suggest you check out their books.

Shadows of Things to Come

Believe in Me

Forgive Me, Alex

Lane also has several short stories available: "Devane's Reality," "Paradox," "The Well-Suited Sentry," and "Wind Tunnel."

Book sell sheets

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Earlier this month, Indies Unlimited had a great post on book sell sheets, which are basically flyers with all your book's relevant info on them: author name and contact info, ISBN and price, description and genre, etc.

Click for a bigger view

My first novel, The Lone Wolf, is launching in about a month. It'll be available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and my publisher's website, but I want it available locally too - and a lot of bookstores are willing to sell local authors' books. So I made a sell sheet.

And I'm really glad I did. It was great to walk into a bookstore and hand the order person all the information. They had the ISBN right in front of them to enter into the computer, and any questions they had were answered by the info on the sheet.

It paid off, too - Barnes and Noble agreed to stock my novel, BAM was a maybe (not a no!), a mall chain said they'd stock it if they can find space, and another said they'd most likely take it on consignment (but the guy I need to talk to is on vacation). And the library is getting a couple copies for circulation!

If you have a book you'd like to get into stores, I highly recommend you make a sell sheet too.

Weekend Writing Warriors 10/27/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

36 days until my novel, The Lone Wolf, launches - that's only 5 weeks!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Last week, Andrew made the decision to move with his girlfriend to North Carolina. She moved right away, and he joined her a couple months later. In this chunk, he just got to her apartment for good - and found her in bed with another guy.

“What the hell, Lauren?” I said as I stared at her, pleading for this not to be happening, not another relationship ending this way, not after I’d just given up everything in Kentucky for her.

“You can hate me, if you want,” she said to me as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “I wouldn’t blame you, but he was just fun in bed. You’re the one I want to be with, Andrew.”

I pulled her door shut behind me and calmly walked down the hall out to the parking lot; calmly pulled out my keys and carved “WHORE” into the driver’s side door of Lauren’s car; calmly got into my truck and drove off.

I was in a new town, with no place to live and no job for another week. Just me and a cat and a trailer full of all my shit. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

Bite-size ebooks

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I don't exactly have a lot of free time. Between working and grad schooling and writing and kid-chasing, there's not much opportunity for me to read. Which is a problem, because one of my goals this year is to read 100 books (so far, I'm at 62 for the year).

I can squeeze in 15 minutes before class, or half an hour before bed, but it makes reading novels and longer books difficult (until the point I get sucked in and neglect everything else so I can finish the book), because it can take weeks to finish a couple hundred pages.

So lately, I've been turning to short stories on my Kindle phone app. I've published a couple short works - "Tim and Sara" and Us, Together: A Short Story Collection - that have done pretty well.

Fellow Evolved Publishing writers have written tons of short stories that are just what I'm looking for. Another fellow writer, Inge Moore, is super prolific and always seems to have something good for a quick read. And the Indies Unlimited website has Thrifty Thursday and Freebie Friday, great for discovering new shorts.

But of course, I'm always on the lookout for new short stories. Any suggestions?

FREE Writing Feedback During the WHW Amazing Race

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi at Writers Helping Writers (formerly The Bookshelf Muse) have added two more books to their Descriptive Thesaurus Collection: The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes and The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws. To celebrate, they are hosting a race, and not just any old race, either. It's the...

Writing is hard, isn't it? Create the perfect hook. Make your first page compelling. Craft an amazing 25 word pitch. Knock out a query that will blow an agent's mind. On and on it goes. And sometimes, well, you just wish someone would help.

WISH NO MORE!

From October 21st until October 27th, Writers Helping Writers is posting an OPEN CALL for writers. Fill out a form to request help with critiques, book visibility, social media sharing, blog diagnostics, advice, and more.

An army of Amazing Racers are standing by (me included), waiting to help with your submissions. How many people can we help in a week? Let's find out! Did I mention there are Celebrity Racers too--amazing authors and editors who know their way around a first page. Maybe one of them will pick your submission to help with!

Each day this week, there's an AMAZING giveaway, too. So stop in at Angela & Becca's new Writers Helping Writers website and find out how to take advantage of this unique, pay-it-forward event for writers.

Weekend Writing Warriors 10/20/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

43 days until my novel, The Lone Wolf, launches - that's only 6 weeks!

Nine months ago, when I’d gotten back from my latest deployment, I’d resumed my job at the police station. One weekend we’d had a basketball tournament against teams from the hospital and fire station, and Lauren had been there. A mutual friend introduced us, we’d started talking, and we just clicked. A lot of people assumed it was just sex, but there was more to Lauren than her looks; she was smart, funny, and great with people. We’d been together for six months, and I liked her. A lot.

I wasn’t sure if it was love, if she was The One, but I would never know if we ended things now. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

Stepping outside your comfort zone

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 04:36:00 +0000

As my official bio says, "she draws on her experiences to tell the stories of those around her, with a generous heaping of 'what if' thrown in." And of course that means I have to have experiences to draw on.

That means holding different jobs, talking to random people (which is sometimes hard for an introvert like myself), living in different parts of the country, traveling wherever and whenever I can, and embarking on whatever adventures I can just for the sake of why not.

My next major trip will be to India shortly after Christmas, where I'll take a three-week class on working with international nonprofits to help the poor, eat lots of delicious food, and attempt to sneak over to Sri Lanka without getting in too much trouble.

In preparation for this trip, as well as satisfying basic curiosity and using the experience for a class paper, I attended a Diwali festival at a local Hindu temple.

Wow.

My diversity class talks a lot about the concept of privilege, about how it's generally unconscious for the privileged person. And while I know that on an academic level, it's hard to divorce yourself from that concept completely, because wherever I go, I always take privilege with me. I know I'll always be served in restaurants, and I won't be harassed by cops (except at immigration in Canada, when I'm trying to go against my privilege), and even if I stick out I'll always fit in, because I'm part of the dominant culture/power. It's just a given.

Until Sunday, at the Diwali festival, when I was one of five white people and two hundred plus Hindus/Indians, all speaking languages I didn't know, having a great time, ignoring me completely based solely on the color of my skin, even though their priest had specifically invited me to their event, because they had no need for me, nothing I could offer them or hold over them because of my privilege.

I felt uncomfortable. Vulnerable. And it's not something I can remember feeling before, in this context.

It was powerful. Empathic. Something I want to use in my stories, to help my marginalized characters come alive.

And I'm really glad I went.

Weekend Writing Warriors 10/13/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Just 50 days until my novel, The Lone Wolf, launches!!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Continuing on from last week, Andrew had a fight with his girlfriend Lauren and stomped out. It's the middle of the night, and he's gone back to their apartment to try to patch things up. She wants him to move with her from Kentucky to North Carolina, but he's concerned about how difficult it'll be for him.

“This head nursing position is a really good thing for me, for us, for our future," said Lauren. "I’m taking it whether you move with me or not, but I want you to come with.”

That woke me up. “You’re accepting the job? You said you’d wait until we agreed on what we were going to do, that we’d figure it out together.”

“Well, when you told me how selfish I was and stormed out, I decided you were right, I am selfish. So I called the hospital and accepted the job, which means either you’re coming with me, or you’re staying here by yourself.”

“You woke me up in the middle of the night to give me an ultimatum?”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

Help me read outside my genre

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:58:00 +0000

When I was a kid, I lived about a mile from a small branch library - perfect biking distance. This was before computers, and I didn't really know about interlibrary loans, so it's probably fair to say by the time I graduated high school I'd read most of the sci-fi/fantasy, children's, mysteries, YA, and classics they had, as well as a ton of general adult fiction. Some of it was great, and some of it sucked. I read it anyways.

Today, my time is limited, and I can't read as much as I'd like. When I do find time, I stick to novels that've been recommended to me, or books by authors I know. Nonfiction is usually something that relates to my thesis (education or low-income economic policy stuff). If I'm feeling adventurous, about once a month I might randomly pull something off the new shelf at the library. Extra time is given to reading women's upmarket fiction, as that's what my upcoming novel, The Lone Wolf, is.

Recently, though, I've been trying to read outside my comfort zone, and it's a bit overwhelming. I'd like some good thrillers, romances, and mysteries, but I have no idea what's good. Suggestions?

Looks can be deceiving

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Most people hate icebreakers. That said, they're often a necessary inconvenience, so you may as well sweeten the deal with food. My favorite/least hated one for the classroom involves giving everyone a handful of Starbursts, then requiring them tell something about themselves based on the color. Red is a hobby, yellow is a random fact, orange is a goal for the class, orange is your bucket list. Or something like that.

I always include the bucket list category because it's so telling about my students, to find out what they want to do in life. And they love learning about me.

Last time I did it, I used my orange Starburst to tell them I want to both pick up a hitchhiker and be a hitchhiker. And when I say this, the kids universally freak out. "You can't do that! That's not safe! That's really f'ing stupid!" Yeah, whatever.

A year-and-a-half ago, I found myself wandering around Door County, Wisconsin. I took the ferry as a passenger, no car, to Washington Island, which really confused the ticket lady. "You realize it's a three-mile walk to town, right?" Yeah. No problem. I didn't tell her this, but I figured if I got tired of walking, maybe someone would give me a ride back to the docks.

Washington Island stavekirke

Sure enough, after I'd checked out an awesome little church in the woods and was heading back, an old guy in a pickup stopped and offered me a ride. It's not quite what I had in mind when telling my kids I wanted to hitchhike, but concerned friends assure me that yes, it was hitchhiking. One thing down.

Since then, I've been trying to find someone to pick up, but it never works out: either my kid is with me, or they have too much stuff/dog for me car, or I'm going the wrong direction.

Last week, I was at the gas station airing up my bike tires when I noticed a scruffy kid and dog, surrounded by scruffy gear, sitting in the shade. I asked him if he needed a ride, and where he was headed.

"South."

"How far south?"

"As far as you can take me."

"I can take you to the next town. Let me ride home and get my car. I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

I was absolutely thrilled by this. I wrote a story about an inexperienced hobo, "Riding the Rails," which was published by Hobo Camp Review in 2012, but I'd never really had a chance to talk to anyone about their experiences. This would be my chance for some great research.

"Cricket," as he preferred to be called, was very quiet at first, barely answering my questions. He'd been traveling for about nine years (I'm guessing he was about twenty-five), had been to forty-eight states, and was making his way south to train to become a truck driver.

As the miles passed, he opened up more. He explained how to hop a train, why people in Massachusetts are crazy and Indianapolis is not a nice place, and the best ways to deal with asshole police officers on power trips. He didn't finish high school, he said, and had been traveling since, staying with friends and working odd jobs, but he was getting tired of it and wanted something more permanent. I told him a little about the students I worked with, the at-risk kids everyone gave up on, and how sometimes they just needed someone to put things in a perspective they could understand. Sometimes, they just needed someone willing to give them a chance.

And then I got to see his sense of humor.

I asked him who gave him more rides, men or women. He told me I was the first women to give him a ride in nearly two years, and I mentioned people thought it was a bad idea because he might be a serial killer.

"If I was a serial killer," he responded, "don't you think I'd have my own car? Or five or six of them?"

As we neared our destination, nearly seventy-five miles from where I'd picked him up, we discussed the best place to drop him off. Downtown was out, because it was mostly just college kids walking or biking.

I asked him if he'd considered getting a bike.

"Well, actually," he said, "I'm gonna get five more dogs and hitch them to a sled, to pull me around. I do too much walking."

I was really kind of disappointed to drop him off. I'd had a great conversation with him and learned a lot. For his part, he told me it was the best ride he'd had "in a long minute" (he told me that most rides he got were about two-five miles, just from one tiny town to the next, usually in the back of a pickup with no one talking to him). If it hadn't been for his dog frequently licking my face, and me needing to pick my kid up, I would've kept driving him.

I make a point of talking to people who are different from me. Everyone has a story, everyone can teach you something, if you're just willing to give them a chance.

I know I am; are you?

Weekend Writing Warriors 10/6/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Holy hell, it's already October, and my novel, The Lone Wolf, launches in less than two months (57 days, to be precise)!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

For the past month I've been posting about Kasey, but she's only half the story. In this chunk, Andrew and his girlfriend Lauren had a big fight, and he stormed off to his brother's house for the night. Lauren called him and asked him to come back, to try to work things out.

It felt good to be outside, just me and the night. I glanced up at the full moon high in the sky as I drove. A poem I’d heard as a kid popped into my head: I see the moon and the moon sees me; God bless the moon and God bless me.

I laughed under my breath. God and I didn’t have much to do with each other anymore.

I hesitated outside our apartment door. When you’d been kicked out of your place, should you knock, or just go right in? Either way, Lauren would find a problem with it.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

I got this covered

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 19:47:00 +0000

As I've mentioned several times, I'm currently in grad school, working on a master's of social work. The program I'm in is great, but it's basically a professional program, and while there are a couple research classes, it's generally pretty light on methodology and stats and all that fun stuff. I'm strongly leaning towards a doctorate in educational policy, and so I've decided to do the optional thesis (also, because I love research papers).

I recently met with my thesis committee. I have two of the profs for class this semester, but I'd never met the third prior to our meeting.

We fleshed out my brief proposal outline (PTSD and educational response to intervention in socioeconomically-disadvantaged high school students), and the third prof expressed concern that I'd be writing the lit review without first taking any graduate-level writing classes.

"I was first author on a couple academic articles I published with a professor as an undergrad, and my thesis won the psych department's award for best senior thesis."

She nodded.

"As for creative writing," I continued, "I have a novel coming out in December."

Everyone stared at me. "A novel?"

"And, uh, I've had almost two dozen short stories published."

They all smiled and agreed that yeah, I have the writing part of the thesis covered. Now to just do the actual research and hope my proposal gets past the review board next year.

Fall goal review

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Every three months or so, I take a look at the progress I've made on the goals I set for myself at the start of the year.

~~Publish my novel, The Lone Wolf.~~
Average a short story acceptance each month, with the majority of them in paying markets.
~~Put out a short story collection.~~
Get another novel ready to query - either 2012's NaNoWriMo novel, or the one I've been working on for a couple years, A Handful of Wishes.
Read 100 books this year.
Kayak the entire length of the Hennepin Canal.

So, how am I doing?

Yes! Evolved Publishing picked it up, and release date is just two months away, on December 2nd.
I've pretty much sucked at this. Grad school is taking up a lot of my time ("ambitious" is how one of my thesis committee profs described my academic aspirations), and between reading, class papers, and thesis research, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like, and I don't even currently have any submissions out.
Us, Together: A Short Story Collection came out in June. I'm really hoping to have another one, The Futility of Loving a Soldier, out by the end of October, and definitely by the time The Lone Wolf launches.
The first chapter of A Handful of Wishes will be included in the back of The Lone Wolf, so I guess I have to keep moving with it. The semester ends at Thanksgiving, so I'll have a month to really focus on it, then 3-4 months for edits, before the April deadline for a Christmas 2014 release.
I'm at 57 books this year - 16 books behind. Again, I'm hoping to knock a bunch out when the semester ends. I currently have hundreds on my Kindle to choose from, so this shouldn't be difficult.
Yeah, not happening. No fulltime permanent job = no new vehicle to transport a kayak = no kayak. Grr.

If you've set goals for yourself, how're they going so far this year?

Weekend Writing Warriors 9/29/13 #WeWriWa

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I'm continuing on with my soon-to-be-released women's fiction novel, The Lone Wolf, out December 2nd from Evolved Publishing.

“I never meant to hurt you. She was there, and I was stressed, lonely, I guess. She provided an outlet; I don’t know. She didn’t mean anything though, because I love you and only you.”

“Who is she?” I asked, my voice still cold, my fists clenched, fingernails cutting into my palms.

“The one in the pictures? She was—”

“As opposed to who, the one taking them?” I pounced on his choice of words; after years as a lawyer’s wife, I’d learned the importance of paying attention to the nuances of someone’s speech. “What do you mean, the one in the pictures - there were more?”

Want to read more? Sign up for my publisher's newsletter in the next week, and you'll get a 5 chapter sneak peek! (And sign up for my newsletter too - link over there on the left - for updates and giveaways - plenty to come as the launch approaches!)

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

5 writers that have inspired me

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:53:00 +0000

One of the great things about my publisher, Evolved Publishing, is that we have a street team - a group of people who love our books and are committed to sharing them with others. Not only is it great for promotions, but it gives readers and fans a chance to meaningfully interact with authors.

This week we were asked, "Which 5 authors have most influenced your writing choices, style, and career aspirations?"

Thinking about this, there are two things that stand out in my choices - ordinary people not always coming out ahead, and prose that conveys their emotions well.

1. Ernest Hemingway.

When I was a high school junior, our crazy English teacher, Sr. Betty, had us read The Old Man and the Sea. And by read, I mean dissect every single freaking sentence in the book. Needless to say, it really turned me off Hemingway. In fact, I didn't even teach any of his stuff in my own HS English classes. While picking books for my students' book bingo assignment, I decided to give him another try. I picked up For Whom the Bell Tolls, and then promptly read everything else he's written. The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite books, and I love Jake Barnes.

The thing I love most about Hemingway is his sparse style. He manages to deeply and vividly convey characters and emotions with stripped-down prose. This is something I try to do in my stories, and it's part of the reason I write so much flash fiction - with a smaller word count, every word has to count.

2. Annie Proulx

She's most notably the author of The Shipping News (much better book than movie, of course, and I really liked the movie) and a couple books of short stories set in Wyoming, Close Range and Bad Dirt.

Her prose is beautiful and alive. It flows and dips, rolls and hesitates, with a life of its own. And she writes about ordinary people in bad situations, which sometimes work out but most often don't - something that readers say I'm guilty of as well.

3. Anton Chekhov

Speaking of writing about ordinary people in bad situations - that's pretty much all mid-late 19th century Russian lit. And Chekhov is one of the best at it, telling the slice-of-life stories of ordinary people so that they matter just as much as royalty and warriors. "Lady with a Lap Dog" is my favorite of his stories. He was one of the first to do this, focusing even more on the rustic peasant than his contemporaries Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. And his short stories are more approachable for ordinary people than their massive tomes.

4. Nikolai Leskov

Probably the best Russian author you've never heard of, he mixes Chekhov's everyday characters with Gogol's satire and offbeat sense of humor. His short stories are painfully real, with emotions that come alive as he makes his characters suffer for goals they'll never reach; again, something I try to do. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is one of his best known, thanks to Shostakovich's opera based on it.

Leskov's influence is evident in the works of later Russian writers I admire, especially Soviet-era authors Mikhail Bulgakov and Ilf and Petrov (both of whom you should read).

5. Brian Jacques

Jacques is best known for his Redwall children's series, about woodland creatures waging war. I've written about him before; basically, he was the first author I read who killed good guys, either for the sake of the plot or for no reason at all. For a fourth grader reading books with happy endings, this was profound. Bittersweet, is the word I'd use to describe his books.

What writers have influenced you?

The 99-day plan

noreply@blogger.com (E.D. Martin) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:49:00 +0000

I've been a bit swamped the past week, between reading for class and papers and a big project and a thesis proposal and a brief trip out of town. So for today's post, I'm copying author Christopher C. Starr's post about ninjas following their dreams in the 99 days left this year.

Basically, it comes down to three questions:

What results do you want to get over the next 99 days?
What sacrifices will you make to get these results?
If something is going to stop you, what will it be?

1. What results do you want to get over the next 99 days? I want to sell a ton of copies of my novel, The Lone Wolf, which comes out December 2nd. I also want to sell a ton of copies of my other stories,"Tim and Sara," Us, Together: A Short Story Collection, and The Futility of Loving a Soldier, which I'm still editing. Possibly another longer short story as well. Which means I need to write.

2. What sacrifices will you make to get these results? Basically, it comes down to time management. I need to stop wasting so much time on the internet and just write and edit. And I especially need to get this down because after my novel comes out, I'll need to focus on finishing and editing the next one (due the end of May), as well as really hitting the research on my master's thesis (due in August).

3. If something is going to stop you, what will it be? Two things, probably: procrastination and just too much going on, especially when I start working again. I'm taking two classes this semester, which generally aren't bad if I stay on top of them, but that's the problem; the readings can pile up very quickly.

What's your 99-day plan?