New Website is Ready to GO!!!

This site is now officially just my blog... I have a new website at www.CynthiaLMoyer.com where all of the content is ready to go, the pages are in place, as well as my art, and so I am officially unleashing it onto the world. I changed the design several times (of course) since first putting it together, but I really like how it's settled now, so I'm stepping away from the edit site and taking a bow.

*TA-DA!*

My husband and I spent last night having a fabulous dinner with our three children celebrating our 15th Wedding Anniversary. It was a fantastic night, the food was great and we all came home stuffed.... them more than me because of my new no-bread, no-sugar thing. LOL
That is one way to cut down how much you're eating!

Here's to another 15 years.... and another 15 years beyond that and on into the future!
Peace and love from the Pacific Northwest,
Cynthia

The Lucky 7 Meme Game -- TAG, YOU'RE IT!!

I was just tagged by Stephen Penner for the "Lucky 7 Meme" Game.

THE RULES:
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms.
2. Go to sentence 7.
3. Copy and post the next 7 sentences as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims, er, authors.

Okay, then...

Current mansucript: THE MISFORTUNE OF THE EMERALD CAVE

77-7-7 excerpt:

“Don’t call me that, Grandpa.” I rolled my eyes. “It sounds like I need a cape or costume or something. I can’t take this seriously if I have to be called that.”

“Call it what you will, it all amounts to the same thing. You are the last male River, and that means you and I are the only ones able to open the entrance to the Emerald Cave.”

“Unless Uncle Ladarius figures it out first.”

Seven other authors:
I'm being HORRIBLE and not tagging anyone... when I'm tagged for things, it sends my anxiety level up, so instead.... if you happen to read this?? --- consider yourself TAGGED!! :-)

I *was* insane! #ThingsYouRealizeInTheShower

I played around with the first chapter of Emerald Thief last night and wrote it in third person, sent it to some friends to see what they thought, read it again, woke this morning and read the new version again, and I hate it. I mean, I *like* it, but I really hate it. I believe this story works in first person, as told by Denim River, and that's all there is to it.

BUT -- I do think it still needs to be popped up a notch. I still think my first chapter can be even better than it is now, and so that is my goal. I don't even care if I have to drop all of my favorite parts I've carried through eight million revisions already! CUT! OUTTA HERE!!!

Before any of that happens, however, I must go out to dinner with my husband and our three adorable children. It is our 15th Wedding Anniversary today and so we are going to go celebrate.
Bring on the salmon!!

Peace and keep reading,
Cynthia

Rewriting Emerald Thief? Am I crazy?

Yes... The Misfortune of the Emerald Thief is out with four agents as I type this, but something another agent wrote in a detailed rejection letter resonated with me enough that I have decided to take a break from my other projects and rewrite Emerald Thief in third person and pump up the narrative.

I know. Crazy.
Maybe.

I love my story. I love the plot, the characters, the pace. All of that is great. But I want it to *SING*... I want it to scream, "OMG! WHAT A FUN STORY!" and I don't think it does that now. Not yet.

It all boils down to voice. I want the narrative to hold the story up six feet off the ground, but right now it feels like a tether. And I still have not read the book to my own children -- a sure sign that other part of my brain knows it can be better.

So.... that is my goal anyway, no matter how many agents read it.
I want it to be the best book it can be.
Onward!
Peace,
Cynthia

New Faux Cover for Paisley Clan

 

I was up LATE last night working on my new website that is currently being hosted on Weebly, so I am definitely dragging tail today. But I've been wanting to take a step to the side from Goo.gle, and I was thrilled when my *other* name was available as a domain when I checked! 

I've had "CLMoyer" for a few years now, but when I checked earlier this week, "CynthiaLMoyer" was available, so I've scooped that domain up, too. This blog will remain my blog for now, but the new website is being built at www.CynthiaLMoyer.com, and I love it so far. 

The above cover doesn't mean this book is being published at this time. I do this for my own mental health as I work on a project. I like to have a visual target... like, "Okay... that's my cover, now let's get a book under it." 

I also think it might have to do with me being part woodpecker or something. Certain woodpeckers must spend copious amounts of energy banging away a tree trunk in order to first make their nest. Without expending that energy, their bodies literally do not go through the necessary physiological changes needed in order for them to reproduce. This is why they HAVE to build a nest. They can't just lay eggs in another hollow that's already there.

So... no chopping into wood = no fertile ground = no next generation.

I like to play on Photoshop, have access to buttloads of photos from the MorgueFile, and so for every project, I like to put a cover together. 

It's my book's nest. 

THE CURSE OF THE PAISLEY CLAN is clipping along. Real life gets in the way a bit, but I keep moving. The last two days consisted of me making a lot of notes on character motivation and the plot itself, so no real writing. I'm nearly to the halfway mark on my mapping, and it's exciting to see what comes out of my head as the plot develops and thickens. I think that's why I like writing novels so much -- you can add layer upon layer, weaving clues through the story, and come up with something at the end that's as flaky as a biscuit or a piece of baklava. 

Layers, motivations, reactions, revelations... knead it together and stick it in the oven. 

Later today I'm heading out to watch the Hunger Games. I think my children will survive. It's a GORGEOUS day after a very weird wet, snowy, rainy winter (yes, more than normal for SW Washington), and the neighbor kids are next door today, so I think my husband will get off easy with his child-sitting duties and I have no problem going to sit in a dark theater on such a sunny day.

Peace,

Cynthia

Yes, I *AM* going to see Hunger Games!

I never read movie reviews, because why? I never get to go to the movies. My youngest hardly lets me out of her sight long enough to go to the bathroom -- how could I go to an entire movie by myself?

But once in a while a movie comes out that I must see in the theater. By myself, or a friend or two, but I would go alone just because I know I will enjoy it that much.

I see maybe two movies in the theater each year. Sometimes one. For several years it was the Harry Potter movies. (Those you have to see in the theater when they come out, obviously.) I also saw three of the Twilight movies in the theater, gladly leaving my family at home so I could enjoy my shape-shifting wolves without interruption. (I didn't see Twilight in the theater because I didn't know about it when it came out, but saw the next three, fwiw, even though the last one I could've seen on DVD and been fine with it.)

And now here comes another movie that yes, I will leave my family for a few hours so I can go enjoy this movie with no interruption -- I will go see The Hunger Games this weekend. I loved the books and read all three over last Thanksgiving weekend, and I thought then, "Wow, these would make GREAT movies!!!"

But I like explosions and don't mind when fictional characters bite it on the big screen, so I was glad to see they were making the movies. I waited and waited along with all of my friends for the premiere date to HURRY UP!

And now that the movie has been released, here come the reviews. People whose job it is is talk about whether they like this movie or that and why. I have no idea why they think their views are important or influence anyone. I never see the reviews until someone posts the review on Facebook, where they either agree or disagree with it. But this time, my friend Mary posted one because the headline had her riled up due to its sexist overtones, and I have to agree. It really frinked me off, too. The title, not the article itself, really. Well, not too much.

The title is "Single Cat Ladies and Soccer Moms will Beat Teens at the Hunger Games Box Office." You can find the article here. It appeared in Forbes, and I think the title was supposed to be funny, but coupled with an earlier comment from someone on my Facebook, it only pissed me off.

Why is it that when women collectively decide to like something and support it with our cash, it is treated as being less significant than anything else? Have I mentioned I rarely get to the theater? It takes a lot to get me to darken the doorstep of that building with its overpriced snacks and blood-pressure-raising salty popcorn (not to mention the inhumanly sized soft drinks guaranteed to rot your body from the inside out) which is being run by several local incredibly bored teenagers.

I have to leave my bawling 7-year-old and two 9-year-olds who keep asking when I'm coming back, and my husband who also keeps asking me when I'm coming back, and the cats who also meow when-R-yous-coming-backs-to-us-merp-our-foods-dish-iz-half-empty, and then get in my car (which I can barely drive when it's THAT QUIET because I am literally never alone, so I think the kids must be dead when it's THAT QUIET behind me), and drive to the theater, go to the Glass Window to pay the first child $8 million dollars to get in, pay the next child Behind the Counter another $8 million dollars for a diet Coke I won't finish, hand my ticket to yet another child standing at the Velvet Rope looking rather uncomfortable in his little ill-fitting vest and bright red bow tie, and then go find my seat in a darkened screening room down the hall.

Oh -- at this point I've walked past giant poster after ginormous poster for films I've never heard of and won't see, and then I find myself sitting in a theater room that is too dim to read in.

What?!?!?!

Okay, see, in Seattle, everyone reads. Everywhere. On the bus, standing and waiting for the bus to come, before your meal is delivered, hell.... I even used to read walking to and from school, using my peripheral vision to make sure I stayed on the sidewalk and didn't miss the curb. And they read in theaters before movies start. Seriously! Before children, in Seattle, I used to go to movies, and before every movie I would look up from my book and see the theater full of people usually sitting alone or with one friend, but everyone was reading. Everyone. You're supposed to read before a movie starts.

But theaters on the outside of Seattle don't leave the lights up high enough to read by, which is basically insane. Of course, now I solved that problem by getting a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and THAT has a lit screen, so this time I will be all set when waiting for the movie to begin. *excellent*

So yes, I will be joining my Sisterhood in watching the Hunger Games this weekend, and I will love it. Even if it has flaws or deviates from the book somewhere I don't agree with. I will gladly pay them money to entertain me for a few hours, because this is what I get to do for me. And it is RARE.

And maybe someday we will live in a world where we are not chalked up as The Soccer Mom Vote and be seen as a force to be reckoned with --- women buy more books than men in this country, we blog about what we like, use word-of-mouth and Facebook to round up our forces, and why? So the rest of society can sit there poo-pooing our choices as pedestrian and less-than-worthy of their time?
Well....who cares what they think?!?!


Now.... should I be TeamPeeta or TeamGale.... I haven't made up my mind yet......

Happy Hunger Games watching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace,
Cynthia

Mapping and Snowing

The Curse of the Paisley Agate is clipping along nicely... I am trying something new with this ms and mapping it out scene by scene. Not really an outline, and shorter than a first draft, my map includes links to photos and websites where I found my research, and many, many notes to the side where I'm tracking my characters and other details. I got through another 8 scenes today, which brings the ms through nearly all of the second act.

I need to more about Scottish history, because from what I was reading tonight, it's pretty horrific what they were going through in the 1690s and early 1700s. No wonder you can still pick up on the Scottish/English rivalry even today at a football match. I don't blame the Scottish one bit. Because it ten years, the people of Scotland were dealt widespread famine that killed 15% of their population, witch trials, a mass exodus to points outside their borders in order to find work and food, economic and political upheaval at the hands of the English, and a complete loss of their independence. Holy Flaming Kilts, Batman!!


And on a final note..... I have another inch of snow in my yard. SNOW!!!!! It's been snowing all evening, so now the morning will bring that dreaded.... "Oh, great...do we have school? Is there a 2-hour delay????" And our school district is so technologically advanced, that in order to find out if we are delayed or cancelling, we have to CHECK OUR EMAIL to see if the school EMAILED US.

Yes, we are there. Most definitely there.

I think I will take my Kindle Fire to bed just so I can check my email in the morning without actually getting out of bed. (Yeah... I don't have one of those fancy phones that does that well. ROFL)

Peace,
Cynthia

I made my own fan art

 

It was either play on Photoshop tonight or do dishes, so I chose this. 

I was inspired by this photo I found on DeviantArt.com 

(with all credit for the original portrait by Mary Fenja)

and so there you go. 

But I love the colors and slamming out a piece of fan art, 

even if it's for myself and no one else, 

helps get my creative writing juices flowing again, too.
Or, rather... keeps them going. :-)