Raven O'Fiernan

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Weekly Update: May 26, 2021

May 26, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

So, to continue from last week’s revelation, I have been working on the Rookery idea. I set up a World Anvil private world for it (so, no link yet — it is very rough), and have been working in Scrivener, going back and forth among the three main areas: plot, character, and setting. I am mostly putting in stuff about the setting that I used to have, but now can’t find (thought it was in another Scrivener project, actually). It’s not a huge deal, though, since it always changes overtime anyway. So, I am not too worried about having lost it.
The plot will probably stay loose, because when I get too detailed ahead of time, I tend to end up going off track and then it’s just a waste. But having a general sense of the main points is often useful, so I know where I am going and what I need to get there. But mainly character and setting. I have five characters established so far: a female main character, the Snape/Sherlock-like character, the main antagonist, a mentor, and the main character’s partner.
For setting, I have played around with religion and government a bit, but mostly explored magic, which is entirely divine magic — that is, there are real Gods who grant aid to their followers. Some of the aid is what in video games would be called buffs/debuffs, and this is what prayer and ritual can help — though in the end it is always the God’s decision, and so prayer/ritual is never a guarantee — but it is more likely than the other type of magic, which is essentially miracles, and where a God would step in in a much more dramatic and direct way. These are rare, and entirely at the Gods’ whims.
I have not yet decided how many Temples there are. Obviously, there’s the Rookery, which worships the Twins of Twilight and Dawn, though I had thought of it being the Goddess of Darkness, but I realized that the Goddess of Darkness is about exploring the Mystery of the Dark, whereas the Rookery is about hiding in the shadows, so they are different. Just because they get conflated in pop culture doesn’t mean I need to conflate them.
Anyway, that has been my work this week, and I am planning to continue it.

Filed Under: Reflection

Weekly Update: May 19, 2021

May 19, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

So, I did not get much writing done; I have been watching Sherlock and playing chess against computer bots. When I play real people, I get tense and lightheaded, so I don’t do it often, and it’s true online as well as in person, though in person is definitely much more stressful.
Anyway, that is actually rather relevant because I made a revelation this morning. You may know that I have had a world idea for some time involving what I call the Rookery. It’s a play on the word “rook” which has several meanings: the bird, the chess piece, monks, thieves… Anyway, I thought: what if there was a religious organization with multiple deities/practices that were kind of all connected, and one of them is the Rookery, which, in addition to serving the Goddess of Darkness, also functions as a secret organization of spies, assassins, and thieves? And they leave a rook chess piece when they are recruiting, but other chess pieces when they have committed a “crime” (but because they are sanctioned by the state, it’s not exactly a crime, though also not exactly legal either — in a kind of grey area).
But that is just a setting. I didn’t have a story for it, so it has just been sitting there, waiting for the right moment.
I don’t know if this is the right moment, but I do know that I finally have a character for this setting. I’ve always been drawn to unlikable, intelligent types. For a long time, my two favorite fictional characters have been Madame Defarge from Tale of Two Cities and Severus Snape from Harry Potter. We can now add Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock to that — I haven’t read the real Doyle fiction, nor have I seen any other actual interpretations, so I don’t know whether I would have the same reaction to actual Sherlock Holmes, but that is rather moot. I have a type of character I love, but have never written.
And that, my friends, needs to change. And they would fit perfectly in The Rookery world. I think I know what I am doing for NaNo this year!

Filed Under: Reflection

Weekly Update: May 12, 2021

May 12, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

So, I did not get done as much as I would have liked this week. Once again, I ended up working on covers. I had meant to do website and platform work — specifically figuring out new playlists for my Sunday streams and resuming the website class I am taking through Udemy, but I guess those are still on hold. June and July will be revision months, and probably August, too — at least the first part of August, because I am going to a writer’s retreat then, and that is perfect for revision. And three months really isn’t too long for revision. I should really do it almost every month, really.
Anyway, so that was that week, derailed a bit by overtime at the day job. This coming week should be more productive since I won’t have the extra overtime.
I write these on the Sunday before they go live, so today is actually Mother’s Day, and I am looking forward to visiting my mom (which I do every weekend anyway) and spending time with her. I hope all the mothers who read this had a lovely day as well!

Bright blessings!

Filed Under: Reflection, Writing

Writing v. Revision, May 2021 Edition #IWSG 05/05/2021

May 5, 2021 By ravenofiernan 6 Comments

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Weekly Update

So, this week has been all about the torch marathon for Camp Nano. I am one of the organizers of a month-long event called the NaNoOlympics, which pits different writing groups agaist each other in different events. The last event of the month was the torch marathon, and the rules were basically this:

  1. You try to “carry the torch” for as long as possible.
  2. A single “leg” of the marathon is one hour of writing (or editing, or other writing activity).
  3. At the end of the leg, the current writer can either keep the torch and write for another hour OR pass the torch to another writer.
  4. The switch has to be visible — that is, the first writer must say they are passing the torch (either to themself or to the next person) AND the next writer must say they are picking up the torch (unless it is the same person — they don’t have to post twice to say “I’m passing the torch to myself” and then again “I am picking up the torch”).
  5. The person picking up the torch must respond to the first writer (if 2 different people) within 5 minutes.
  6. The actual hand off needs to occur within 5 minutes of the top of the hour (if not, the person with the torch needs to finish that hour as well).

I was a participant in one of the competing groups, and we had some extremely dedicated writers (I was 4th on the list, but in terms of actual time, the two at the top did an INSANE number of hours). One of them regularly did 5 hours every days, and on at least two occasions, did 11 hours. Because of this, we were never really in any real danger of dropping the torch, so I ended up helping out when I could, and, according to the posted stats, wrote 20 hours during that week, mostly one hour, then a break, then another hour or two, but I did have a couple of uninterrupted 2-hour legs.

The problem with this is that my Camp goal was revision, but I got swept up in the excitement and ended up writing instead. Part of this was due to the earlier Weekend of Writing Wildly, which was a similar event, except done as streaming on Twitch, and when I am streaming, I prefer to write because people can hear my typing and see words appear, even though they are very tiny. So, anyway, I’ve been writing and I have started a new novel/novella (thinking it will be shorter, but too soon to tell), which is a paranormal ghost story. It may end up paranormal romance, but not typical paranormal romance, and it will probably be a lesbian romance at that.

So that’s this week.

Now that we are in May, I am focusing more on the “business” side of things, which I have been completely neglecting since January. I am also planning to organize my life better. Then, June and July will be revision months again, and maybe August, too… As long as I can avoid the temptation of writing lots of new words!

Optional Monthly Question

May 5 question – Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn’t expect? If so, did it surprise you?

Yes, but I actually can’t remember it. It was a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was really cool, that they got this thing out of my story that I could see, now that they pointed it out, but did not deliberately put in. It was very eye opening. It made me realize how alive our stories are, and how they can grow and change with each reader, while the actual words remain the same. It made me question authors who tell their readers that their reading is “wrong”. I’m not saying they are wrong, but in my case, it was clear that the reader was right, that I can’t decide what the book is actually about, that I can’t tell a reader they are wrong for seeing something that IS there, even if I didn’t put it there. But I also think there are readers who see what they want to see, and maybe it isn’t there. I haven’t experienced that personally, but I could believe it could happen.
Anyway, this is the number one reason I will not be upset about any fan fiction that might occur. I’ll be flattered and curious to see the different ways people see my world and characters… if that even happens. Of course, I have to finish stuff first, and that means NOT writing new first drafts, and instead finishing the revision of Cipher.

Happy writing, other insecure writers, and I look forward to seeing you all next month!

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

The awesome co-hosts for the May 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, PJ Colando, Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine!

Filed Under: Reflection

Storytime Blog Hop: VI – The Lovers

April 27, 2021 By ravenofiernan 6 Comments

Welcome to the April 2021 Storytime Blog Hop!

This April, I am delighted to share with you the next story in the Tarot flash fiction series. For the last blog hop, in February, I shared III – The Empress. I have been less neglectful of my blog than in the past, so IV – The Emperor and V – The Hierophant have already been posted. I am leaving them up in case you missed them.

VI – The Lovers

It’s always a pleasure to come to Heritage Park in the springtime, when the birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming. All kinds of flowers pop out as soon as the rains in April have finished, and the air is fragrant with dew and lilac. I have come in my best suit, to avoid the decisions waiting for me at home. Life seems to be just an infinite string of endless possibility, and yet I need to decide. Three large envelopes came in the mail today. I was hoping to talk it over with Valerie, but she was gone, visiting her aunt in another state. What do I choose? Music at Saint Olaf? Russian at the University of Illinois? Or pre-law, like my dad wants, in Madison, WI. I shake my head, adjust the guitar on my shoulder, and head up the path that leads to the pond.

A group of kids is there, playing tag. I sit down on a bench overlooking the water, and pick up a smooth stone. It’s a great skipper. I raise my right arm, and let it fly, watching as it jumps out of the water once, twice, three times . . .

Time. I haven’t been paying attention to the time, but the sun is setting. I hear boots behind me and turn to see Karen. I haven’t seen Karen in some time, not since Val and I started going out. I fling another stone. Karen sits down next to me, her dark hair whipping in front of her face. I hadn’t realized it was windy.

“Haven’t seen you, Adam,” she said.

“Yeah.”

We sit in silence. I toss another stone. She tosses one, too, but she doesn’t know how. It just goes plop in the middle of the lake.

“I, um, I’m staying here. Going to Heritage University.”

“Heritage?” Why couldn’t I make a decision as easily as she has? Just go with what’s here? Just follow the mainstream? Do what my dad wants?

“Yeah, they have a great early education program.”

I nod. She’d make a great elementary teacher. I toss another rock. One, two, three, four.

“I don’t know, Karen,” I say. “I want so much. I want to make my dad proud, want to keep learning Russian, want to make something of my singing. I want it all. I know I can’t have it all.

“Come here,” she said getting up off the bench. “I want to show you something.”

I follow her back to the main entrance of the park. “Look.”

Two old men are playing chess, swearing in Russian. A woman in a red dress is playing a polka on an accordion. And two college students are debating health care.

“No matter where you go, you will find what you need.”

Then she is gone. I go back to the pond and take out the guitar. I know what I will do.

The End.

Want to read more? Check out the next story in the blog hop!

  • Grit Nearly Succeeds by Bill Bush
  • Love’s Sweet Prick by Sabrina Rosen
  • For a Breath of Air by Nic Steven
  • Pitch by Sandra Llyn
  • Bees by Barbara Lund
  • Unknown Title by Juneta Key
  • Bullied by Elizabeth McCleary
  • A Day to Remember by Katharina Gerlach
  • Were’s the Rabid Rabbit Jemma Weir

Or, if you want to read the first five stories of this collection, you can find them here:

0 – The Fool

I – The Magician

II – The Priestess

III – The Empress

IV – The Emperor

V – The Hierophant

Filed Under: Flash Fiction

April 21, 2021: Weekly Update

April 21, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

Just a weekly update again this week.  I am working on setting up the post for the Storytime Blog Hop next week, so this one is short.  Also trying to make progress on my revision of Cipher.  I haven’t finished Katherine Neville’s book, The Eight, yet, but I am about half-way through and it is quite good. But it does mean I don’t have a review for you yet. It will have to be next month.

Happy writing and reading, everyone!

Filed Under: Reflection, Writing

April 14, 2021: Just a Weekly Update Today

April 14, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

Work is getting better. I did scheduling the Friday before last, and it really helped, so I spent a lot of time scheduling again this Friday, and things are starting to settle.

That means I am expecting my non-work time to begin to settle again, too, and I can get back to some of the things that I know are good for me. And I can get back to doing some writing in the evenings again, too. Which in this case, is revision. I am working on revising Cipher.

Technically, that is also my Camp NaNo goal and my general April goal, but I haven’t been doing it much, so, well, it hasn’t been happening. I’m in a bit of a rut, actually. But hopefully with the job solidifying, the reast can, too.

I have been watching TV lately. I watched The Irregulars, which I really liked, and I am almost to the end of Cursed. These are both on Netflix. On Amazon, I am watching Scott and Bailey, which I am really enjoying. I like that it is a little shorter than Cursed, even though I like them both. After Cursed, I am thinking about watching The Woman in White. I will see.

I’ve also been reading. I’m currently reading The Eight by Katherine Neville. It’s about a powerful, mystical chess set hidden over the years. I haven’t read The Da Vinci Code, but I suspect it’s similar to that. It’s not much of a surprise that I picked this one to read as the TV thing actually started with The Queen’s Gambit. I love chess, and I love France and Russia, so both that show and The Eight go into all three quite a bit.

Anyway, I guess this is a little longer than usual, and I don’t have much else to say. Next week, I hope I will be done with The Eight, so I can give it a proper review.

Until then, happy reading!

Filed Under: Reflection

Risk-Taking in Writing #IWSG 04-07-2021

April 7, 2021 By ravenofiernan 4 Comments

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Weekly Update

So, another long, tiring week at work, and not much done to show for it. But I will share the current covers anyway — these were made last year. Since this is an #IWSG post, it’s possible other people will see — these are just my very first attempts at this sort of thing, so feel free to offer any feedback and/or tell me which one(s) you like most.

The story is about a woman who is a funeral director whose husband has just died. She is preparing his body when something exceptional occurs. It’s not romance and there is a paranormal element. It’s connected to my Hazel Kanetzki series of cozy paranormal mysteries, but it is not a mystery itself.

Optional Monthly Question

April 7th’s question, if you’d like to answer it, is:  Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

Oh boy. This is a can of worms, isn’t it? Absolutely. I don’t deliberately add controversial topics, but they end up sneaking in because I mainly want to write what doesn’t exist yet. I love reading, but when I write, I want to write what I want to read but can’t find. And so that leads into what I personally and uniquely find missing, which, by definition means it’s not the usual.

And I have the problem where I like to read, and therefore write, in many different genres. At least, I have heard that is a problem. People searching on my name might run into drastically different stuff, so my Also Boughts are going to be a mess… Assuming I even get something finished.

My riskiest novel is one that has been set aside. It is a retelling of Snow White. The step-mother is only a few years older than Snow White, and the prince is her former lover who curses her, and unleashes insanity (basically the archetypal world warping everyone into archetypes — so it forces the step-mother into the evil stepmother role, for example). So all three of them are slowly going insane. It’s written in alternating first person from these three unreliable narrators. I want to get back to it at some point, but not sure when I will. Oh, and then there’s the idea (not even a first draft yet) of the sister of an abused girl who frames the abuser of serial killers and goes insane as she begins to become addicted to killing… Um, yeah. That one might never get written.

Even when I am in more mainstream genres, like the aforementioned cozy mysteries, I find myself wanting to play with the tropes and avoid the most common things (on the other hand, as far as tropes go, I love vampires, just not vampire romances, or at least not the typical brooding/protective male vampire with human female romances).

I think I am starting to ramble here, though, so I will leave you with these oh-so-amateur book covers!

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

Thanks to our awesome co-hosts for the April 7 posting of the IWSG! PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton!

Filed Under: #IWSG, Covers, Reflection, Writing

V – The Hierophant

March 31, 2021 By ravenofiernan 2 Comments

V – The Hierophant

My, how time passes. I am still living in the castle we built after the garden was completed, and people have come and gone. Family. I don’t remember getting married, but suddenly, I have grandparents and great-grandparents, what seems to be millions of cousins, and children and grandchildren of my own. I don’t even feel old enough to have grandchildren. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was a bored teenager, chafing at the banality of my country life? And yet, as I speak of family, my mom is not here.

But Spot, the dog has family here, too, and the garden has changed over time. No longer the strict French garden I crafted the last time we spoke. There are still sculptured hedges and geometric patterns, but now there are overgrown areas with little niches for privacy, and a few areas where new wildflowers have sprung up. Yes, wildflowers, not weeds.

And there is a little cottage surrounded by a copse of birch trees. The Elder lives there. I don’t know when he showed up or how long he has been there, but he writes in a ledger every day, making note of the changes and the things that have remained the same. And now, it is time for me to talk to him because I think he knows our own traditions better than I do, and I’ve received an offer for the garden and the land. I don’t want to sell. We’ve made this place our own, but it’s true, there are starting to be some struggles. The young ones want to make everything modern. The grandparents don’t want to change anything at all. We need to find a way to move forward without giving up what makes this us. We need to know which traditions to keep and which to let go.

But when I get to the Elder’s cottage, I find the door open and the room empty. Oh, there’s a bed and covers, a well-stocked kitchen, no sign of hurried packing . . . and yet, there is no Elder. I make my way to the back porch, where I know he likes to swing on the porch swing, but nope, not there either. Is he out in the garden? I am about to leave when I come face to face with the door. The entrance door, but now, the exit door. And it has a mirror on it. I see my face: old, wrinkled, with a twinkle in the eye. And I understand. There never was an Elder. I am the Elder.

I return to the main room and take out a large black binder. In it are all the comments I’ve made over time. I know now that I’m the one who has to decide: this is a tradition we are keeping. This is an area where we can modernize. Ethics and family are of utmost concern. After that are the little idiosyncrasies that seem purposeless to the newer generation, but that I know links us together. That is their purpose.

Everything else can go, but these, this is how we do things in Heritage Park.

The End.

Filed Under: Flash Fiction

Four Covers for Grief’s Thorn

March 24, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Weekly Update

So this week has been all about the covers. Last week-end, during my stream, I finished XIX – The Sun and realized, wow, that means I only have two left before the Majors are done. And since I’d already been adjusting the covers I made previously, I decided to go ahead and start making covers for the Major collection. Obviously, I will also need to revise them and format them, and in other ways make the stories themselves good enough for publication, but since March is covers month, well, there you go.

But I am still getting feedback on the covers for the Hazel Kanetzki short story, so here are the four I made for the title Grief’s Thorn. To be honest, these are definitely not my favorites, but hopefully will show my process of learning.

Covers

So, there you go. Next week, I will have the next Tarot flash fiction piece up! Have a great week, everyone!

Filed Under: Covers, Hazel's Series, Reflection, Writing

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