50,000

With a little over two days to spare I passed the 50,000 word mark yesterday. Still have the ending scenes to flesh out, but I'm almost there. Wow, Others is almost done and it's a month sooner than my original deadline.  Cool beans!

Ten days 20,000 words

After ten days I've written 20, 047 words.  Awesome!  I'm keeping a 2,000 word average, which isn't bad for a working stiff.  I outlined all of the plot points I want to hit in the story, which is helping. The plot points are only rough guidelines and I end up writing events and subplots that pop up along the way.

This has turned out to be a good move. So glad I signed up.  Just hope I can keep up the pace.

Ambitious or Insane?

I just signed up for Nanowrimo.  That's 50, 000 words from November 1st to November 30th.  OTHERS must be finished.
It's gonna be a challenge, but I intend to eat, sleep, and breathe OTHERS come November 1st.  The plan of attack during the week will be to jet right after work to a bookstore/coffeehouse and write for several hours each day.  It will be easier to carve out time over the weekends.
I'm gonna do some heavy outlining over the next couple of days so I can jump in right away.

When the gates open, I'll be ready.

Here's  the link for more information if you're interested. Nanowrimo

What a ride!

Ghostwalk was awesome.  Tons of people attended and tours were selling out hours in advance.  Got to go on a two walks.  It was cool to see our stories come to life.  Everyone had a blast and it was great to be a part of it.  Went on the last tour of the Mission Inn catacombs, where my story NEPOTISM was performed.  The actors did a great job and everyone seemed creeped out.   So cool.

Countdown to Ghostwalk

The final week of Ghostwalk preparation is hectic I tell ya!  Rewrites, production details such as lighting and sound effects, telephone calls with actors regarding story background and details, meetings with venue owners and management regarding set up.  It's a blast, but there aren't enough hours in the day.  It will be Friday in a flash and then the show's on.  I can hardly wait for the feedback.

Ghostwalk Update: Nepotism Makes Three

Ghostwalk update!

The Mission Inn has allowed Ghostwalk Riverside to use the Catacombs beneath the Inn for Ghostwalk, and I've been commissioned to pen the story!  They wanted a vampire theme for this one, so I wrote a gruesome little tale entitled NEPOTISM.  It's good fun and should scare the dickens out of them.

I'm really looking forward to this event. It's pretty thrilling to know that 5,000 people are going to hear my work.  I can hardly wait to get the feedback first hand as I check out Ghostwalk and hear all of my fellow writers' chilling tales as well.

If you're free October 22nd or 23rd, stop by Riverside for a night of fun-filled fright!

Here's the ticket info  2010 GHOSTWALK RIVERSIDE

Ghost Walk Update

To say this is totally rad is an understatement.  I now have two stories that will be used for the Riverside Ghost Walk!  They're entitled SILK and HOLCOTT.  I read them to two members of the committee last week and they want me to perform SILK.
I wasn't sure about it at first. I'd imagined sitting in the back and watching my story be acted out with the sound and visuals, but I decided to go for it.  Now the research begins for a costume that resonates 1927.
After the Ghost Walk, the stories will be published in an anthology and sold, and the proceeds benefit the Riverside Ballet.
The agreement is That The Riverside Ballet gets first print rights, then everything reverts back to the author.
When this is all over I intend to submit SILK and HOLCOTT, or perhaps even craft several more stories and publish an anthology of my own horror tales.
Cool?  No, WAY COOL!

Big News!

This is BIG!
I, along with the other writers from my critique group, have been commissioned to write a story for the Riverside Ghost Walk that takes place at the end of October.  There are four walking tours. We can use audio and visual components to enhance the story telling, and actors from the local playhouse will perform if the story warrants it.
This is totally freaking rad! It's like being hired to orchestrate a ride a Disneyland.

There are so many ideas flooding my brain I can't keep a thought in my head.
I was told five to six thousand people go through the Riverside Ghost Walks each year. It's such an amazing opportunity as a writer.
I'm gonna work my butt off and write something that will blow their minds!

My Short Story

So, I am a Forties Finalist in the Clarity of Night Contest, which means my entry scored at least 40 out of the possible 45 points awarded by the judge. Pretty cool.  There are a total of 74 Forties finalists, and the stories I've read have been pretty impressive.
Now everyone who's participated can vote for the readers choice award.  I think all of the winners will be posted sometime next week.

Here's my entry.  It had to be 250 words or less based on this photograph.

Adorn
by C. Sonberg Larson


Four sisters raced to the shoreline.

“SkyGod will choose me as his wife.” Rhianna’s long, red hair flowed behind her.

Enid scoffed. “SkyGod will prefer hair the color of the clouds. I will adorn the throne.”

Leyla smiled. “Fools. SkyGod will desire a raven-haired maiden with striking green eyes.”

Sophia was silent. Her beauty could never equal that of her sisters.

They reached the sand.

Enid called out. “SkyGod, we’ve arrived!”

A bolt of lightning cracked the sky.

“Dance!” A voice commanded.

The sisters danced, but Sophia noticed that the lightning struck a bird and it fell into the sea.

Sophia pointed. “The bird is drowning!”

“We saw,” Enid said.

“Nothing you can do,” Leyla yelled.

“Dance!” Rhianna shouted.

The sisters twirled, their hair and skirts flowed.

Sophia dashed forward and dove into the waves. She swept the animal into her arms and carried it back to shore. “I won’t let you die, little one.” She knelt and placed the bird on the wet fabric of her dress.

The bird swelled and stretched. Within moments, it transformed into a beautiful man.

The sisters froze, faces agape. SkyGod raised his hand and struck them with shafts of brilliant light.

Sophia ran toward them, but they were gone. Nestled in the white sand were three gleaming jewels: one red, one white and one green.

SkyGod stepped forth. “They will adorn the throne, as the ornamental beauties they are.” He took Sophia’s hand. “I have found my wife.”

**********

This has been a great experience.  I love reading the other entries.  There are so many amazing writers out there.  Glad to be in their midst (digitally).

Cheers and keep writing!

C

A Contest!

Just entered a contest. Contests are great because they sharpen the writing tools. This particular contest is for short fiction (250 words or less) and it's hosted by a writer/photographer who seems to have garnered quite a following.
Here's the link if you want to check it out.  Clarity of Night Writing Contest  

LURE to OTHERS

So LURE 1850 is done...again.  Hahaha. How many times have I said that?  Enough to double the size of the book.
Right now I have it out to an editor who's giving it a final go through.  I've given serious thought to how I want to approach getting the work out there, and I've decided to roll with it this way:
I haven't queried or sent the book out for over a year, and even then it was to one agent and the Delacorte book contest. Since then the book has doubled in size and taken on a new life (who knew?)
I'm not sending LURE out to a gazillion agents. There are a handful of agents I feel would be a great fit with me as a writer. I'll query them and see what happens.  If nothing happens, then I'll get things going myself. 
The book is great, the time is right, I have no fear!

Now it's time to finish OTHERS.  Ahhhh, dystopia. Gonna get my sci-fi hat on and start cranking!  No rest for the writer.

Time to realign

I attended a conference this past weekend where four editors from big houses talked about books and what they're looking for.  Two of the four are not interested in gritty YA. That leaves two editors who are willing to read a query for the type of books I write. 

I learned early on that seeking writing as a career is not for the impatient.  It could take the better part of a year before a manuscript is requested.  Then more waiting before finding out if it's been accepted.  If it's a no, you start over again. This got me thinking about how much my writing career is in the hands of others, and how perhaps I should change that.

On the eve of the upteenth  Lure 1850 rewrite being complete, I'm considering more unconventional avenues for getting the book out there.  It seems like the traditional method of getting an agent, then an editor to get published is going the way of the dodo anyway as digital media permeates the market.

I'm seriously considering taking control of my own writing career more aggressively rather than waiting for someone to pick me.

Checkpoint

Wow! It's march already!  Time to take stock and see if the writing goals are being met.
As of now, I have only five more chapters to complete before the LURE 1850 rewrite it ready to go.  Should be able to hammer that out within the month.
Another project I have yet to mention, working title 600 DAYS, is going strong.  It's at about 20,000 words right now and seems like its going to be a longer project.  I think the draft will be done toward the end of summer, but who knows.
When LURE is done I'm going back to look at KIT, OTHERS, and SILENT OBSERVER to see which one takes hold. 
I'm pretty pleased with the amount of work being produced in 2010. I'm working on my projects almost every day.
Hope your writing progress is going well.
Remember, a page a day is a book a year.

C

What's in a Name?

A good name is good, but the perfect name is priceless.
Ever struggled with naming a character?  I have many times. Like it or not, the name you choose for your character holds value with your reader.  For many years I've used baby books to learn the origin and meaning of names for my characters.  Of course, one can always delve into the past to find a good one.  Nothing like using a modified version of the name of a childhood bully when you need to kill someone off  or you're searching for the name of your story's spineless traitor.
Recently, when researching 19th century sailing ships for LURE, I came upon a few sites that contained passenger lists of the ships that traveled during that time.   I felt as though I'd struck gold.  These sites listed entire families' names and ages, births, deaths, and doctor's anicdotal notes (which was a GREAT resource when reseaching the lexicon of the period).  Honestly, it wasn't as though I found any new and exciting names, and I already had the common sense to know that a 19th century English boy would probably not be named Racer or Chad.  It was just seeing those lists, those families who took what they could carry and risked life and limb to start anew.   Those names had value to me, they were real.
I chose to mix and match first and last names from these lists to name the few characters whose names weren't working for me.    If you're having trouble with names, you may want to try it too. if your work is historical make sure you include the time period in your search.
Let me know if this post was helpful and if you have any tips for naming characters. I'd love to hear from you.   Happy naming!
C

Saving the Best Stuff For.....

My grandmother used to save clothing she really loved for that ‘perfect event’  You know, that special luncheon, the holiday when certain people would visit, the afternoon we would go somewhere special.  When she died, my mother cleaned out her closet and discovered many articles of clothing that still had the tags on them.  So it seems that the ‘perfect events’ my grandmother was waiting for either 1) never came to pass or 2) went unrealized.
As a writer, I used to be of the mindset that  I have to save certain sentences, ideas, descriptions, characters, etc., for “The perfect manuscript.”  You know, the one that would later become the Great American Novel that would be discussed long after my passing.
I would save compelling things as hole cards, waiting when it would be most advantageous for my writing career to release them into the world and dazzle my readers.
What a load of crap!  I least that’s what I learned.  After a while I got sick of waiting, so I started playing my hole cards, and guess what?  My writing got better!  Not only that, but the well of ideas, character sketches, and compelling thoughts that I thought was so finite, was replenished with new stuff.
I’ve come to realize that writers are observant beings, registering things of note on a regular basis that may come in handy…A fly on a screen, a guy scolding his cowering wife in Costco, a bird swooping customers who unwittingly pass by her nest on the way into a restaurant.  These observations are the new tasty morsels that will end up in tomorrow’s works.  So there’s no need to ’save’ stuff, writers.  There's a lot more where that came from.

My Agent Story

I was totally on fire after my first book, The Skater Chronicles, was written in 2002.  I joined Writers Market.com and queried a bazillion agents, and the rejections started pouring in.  I started calling my submissions ‘boomerangs’ because I knew when I sent them out they would probably come right back to me.
I gave myself one year to find an agent.  If I couldn’t find one after a year I would look into self publishing.  As the year went on and the rejection pile grew, I felt that I wouldn’t make my one year agent goal.  But, to my great surprise, I got a phone call on December 29th from an agent who wanted to represent me.
I screamed,  yelled,did backflips,  I was over the moon.  I found this agent on Writersmarket and he was in the Writers Digest Book of agents, so I thought this is it, I’m gonna hit the big time, baby. 
The next step was the contract.  That took a few months because the contract that was sent to me was photocopied and hard to read.  We went back and forth about it, and finally my new agent said, “You just write it and send it.”  Lucky for me, it just so happened that an editor/lawyer team spoke at a Sisters in Crime meeting that month.  I contacted the lawyer and got the contract thing reworked and sent it off.  Contract signed.
This agent didn’t require me to pay anything upfront, but I did have to reimburse for postage and copying, which I later learned was a red flag.
I knew agents were busy, so I didn’t call the guy often, maybe once a month.  He rarely returned my calls, if ever.  Once in a while I would get a rejection forwarded to me by his office, along with a billing statement with all of the places he’s sent my manuscript, but I really had no idea where my project stood.
On this went for…three years. 
Then I joined a critique group.  After running my manuscript, and agent story by them I realized my manuscript had errors that a writing 101 class could fix.  I started to realize that no quality publishing company would publish my book in its current state which was basically a first draft.
I started to wonder if it would be better to not have an agent at all, then to be in the dark about my own project.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. I was in the bookstore with a friend and I picked up the latest edition of Writers Digest to check on my agent (check his client count, etc.), but he wasn’t listed.  Went online to Writers Market, he wasn’t listed.  Emailed Writers Market explaining I signed with the guy and want to get the 411, the response was something like ‘we have certain standards for the professionals we list, he’s no longer listed, you do the math.’
Then I checked the Predators and Editors site.  My agent was listed as ‘not recommended.’  Super
I terminated the contract, thanked him for his time, and went on my way. 
But what was learned here?  Was it all a waste?  No way!  Here’s the deal.  Although that author/agent relationship went south, it gave me hope for that period of time.  It may have put me back at square one in terms of being an unagented writer, but I became a lot wiser and honestly, I don’t regret it.


Got a weird agent story?  I wanna hear it!

C

The Best Writing Advice I've Ever Heard

In 2002 I made a promise to myself to finish my first novel. After all, I'd been writing stories since I was a kid and always wanted to finish a 'real book,' but day jobs, rent, and family responsibilities took over and my dream was put aside.
Finally, I decided that writing was important in my life and I committed. I joined the mystery writers group, Sisters in Crime, and faithfully attended their monthly meetings. Sisters in Crime was perfect for me. I drank in every meeting and left inspired to write.
The speakers in these meetings ranged from police officers talking about crime scenes and dead bodies, to industry people talking about marketing or submissions, to authors talking about their experiences and the craft of writing.
It was here that I heard a piece of writing advice that is, to date, the best advice I've ever received. The speaker was mystery writer Martha Lawrence. She said the advice was given to her by someone else, but I'm giving her the credit since she relayed it to me.The message was simple--- "Find the butt and the mind will follow."
Crazy simple, huh? Put your ass in the chair and write, and the ideas will come. The ideas do NOT have to come first. Prior to that I thought I had to be "inspired" to write, after all, I'm an artist, and art must be inspired by something deep and ethereal. Um, no. My projects would never be completed with that mindset.
I learned that writing a book is work, and it has to be treated that way. Sometimes I have inspired moments, but often I put my butt in the chair and say to myself, 'just get the character out of the room,' or, 'just have the two characters say something about what just happened.' Before I know it I have several pages written.
I did keep my promise to myself. I finished my first book in December of 2002, and I even got an agent for a while (that's another fun blog for later). The book still hasn't been published, and it's not the most compelling thing I've ever written. Funny thing is, it's my favorite book because it's the first. If it didn't exist, the projects that came after it probably wouldn't either.
So thanks, Martha! You helped a newbie get a first book, and several others, finished!
Booyeah!

C

Seven Months

So I've started working toward my writing goals with a fire in my belly. Been working every day on a manuscript, six to ten pages a day so far this week. Funny thing is, this story ISN'T one of the ones listed in my new years resolution list. No big, though, this story, working title SEVEN MONTHS, is already finished in my head, so I'm just spitting it out piece by piece.

I got a digital voice recorder for Christmas and I've been using it to throw down my thoughts about the manuscript. It's a great resource and really helps save ideas that would otherwise be lost forever. How many times have you had an awesome plot idea and swore you'd write it down when you got to it, only to find you forgot what you were thinking? I've done that a bazillion times.

I'm hoping to crank out a first draft by March. At the rate I'm working now it should happen, even with days off.

Hope you're working toward your writing goals. I heard from another writer once that a page a day is a book a year, when I about it that way and work toward finishing my projects scene by scene, goals go from a far off dream to attainable.

I'd love to hear your comments and writing prorgress so far this year, so drop me a comment.

C

2010

It's new year so let's talk writing goals! Yep, most writers make them, some even reach all of them. Last year I didn't finish Kit as I'd planned, but I think it's helpful to list the things that were accomplished in 2009 before citing new goals. So here goes.
In 2009 I:
Finished another draft of LURE 1850
Wrote the first four chapters of 2nd LURE-1924
Got the Csonberglarson website up and running
wrote the entire outline of the fourth LURE book
Finished another draft of DECOMPOSER.
Came up with the idea and wrote the bones of KIT, most of the climax scenes,and the first few chapters
Added chapters to OTHERS and THE IRON DOOR.
rewrote the short story Lillith and the Rain of God
worked on many other WIP (works in progress) to a lesser degree

So.... I guess that wasn't so bad for someone with a day job.

Here are the 2010 goals:

Finish the final rewrite of LURE 1850 and get it published
Finish KIT
Finish OTHERS

So there ya go, a horror, a suspense, and a sci-fi.
It would be gravy if there's time left to hammer out THE SILENT OBSERVER.

Hope you reach your goals this year!

Happy 2010!

C