Synopses scare me.

A lot of that is because of my experience in writing the synopsis for Mouse. That poor novel was so overburdened with plot tangents and excessive description that I had trouble discerning what my main plot actually was. That really showed in the query letter and the synopsis.

It wasn't that bad with The Locked Door. I had my synopsis ready before the writers' conference last year, just in case. I think I spent a week or so working on that one.

Then there is the synopsis for Normal. I psyched myself up for it all week. My main concern was how to handle the flashback chapters. Where do I include that information without breaking the flow of the story? As I sat down to begin typing it out last night, I decided the order needed tweaking. The opening paragraph focuses on Celeste's onset of power as a baby, defines how her healing works, and that her skills were honed at Camp. Then in the next short paragraph, I do the hook - she wakes up and her power is gone. Essentially, I flip-flopped chapters 1 and 2, but it gives her power loss some immediate context.

I also use as few names as possible. Only major recurring characters get named; others are merely referred to as friends or by their Guild ranking.

I edited the synopsis last night and then showed Hubby. "That's the story of Normal," he said, nodding. I brooded over it in my head as I fell asleep last night, and then did a few more edits as soon as I turned on the computer this morning.

This was an undertaking I thought I would work on for the entire month of July. Instead, I wrote the rough draft in an hour and spent probably another hour on editing. I'll have a few other people read it, but it's as done as I can get it right now.

Oh, and I don't think I've mentioned the reason for my July deadline. I've booked the services of a published fantasy author to be my writing mentor in August. She'll read about the first 1/3 of Normal and my query and synopsis. I guess with this unexpected surgery on Monday, it's a good thing I finished it so quickly. Even if I'm out of it for the next week or two, I can still have everything ready by the end of the month.

The contest? I won.

Thank you to everyone who voted, even if you didn't vote for me. The folks at Crossed Genres are super-nice, and this contest brought them a lot of traffic and attention. My three favorite stories ended up being the runners-up, so I guess most people had similar taste. I'm still amazed that mine came out on top. I think there's an underground selkie-lovers club or something.

This evening I sat down and somehow churned out the Normal synopsis in about an hour. It's a page and a half, single-spaced. I'll need to reduce that as I edit.

I also began jotting down notes for the Normal sequel with the ever-so-subtle working title Abnormal. The main plot arc is resolved in the first one, but there are two dominant loose threads I can continue. I'm still not sure how to end it, but I have time to figure that out.

My surgery has been postponed until Monday due to the holiday weekend. I suppose that's a good thing. I now have a full weekend to prepare instead of a single day. I'm not in any pain, though there is a risk of bowel perforation and fun stuff like that, even though this condition has probably existed for several years. This is standard fare for my family. We always get the most obscure side effects possible. We're a fun group, let me tell you!

I'm aiming to finish up this reading of Normal before Monday, and I think I can do it. I made it to chapter 19 today. Still just minor fixes here and there. I'm feeling really good about my progress. Now I just hope that the pain medication doesn't make me too whacked out; it's imperative I complete that synopsis this month. Maybe I can start that this weekend, but I have a lot of other things that need doing, too.

The results of the Crossed Genres contest will be up later tonight, so I'll post an update and link tomorrow.

I have a wacky little story on Miss Snark's First Victim that only makes sense if you follow internet memes. Judging by the comments, though, at least three people got the jokes.

I had a worst case scenario realized today and got "the call" from my doctor saying I needed to go in for abdominal surgery. Friday is looking most likely. If all goes well it'll be a snip-yank-stitch and I'll be out in an hour. I'm not sure how the recovery will be, though.

The most annoying thing is that I'll be in the awesomest position possible to glean details for Normal and I'll be rendered unconscious. GRR.

I'm finding few errors in this read-through of Normal. Mostly typos or redundant words, things like that. I'm doing very little editing, which is a good thing. This is enabling me to really follow the story rather than nitpicking.

With my past two serious novel endeavors, my readers all had the same complaint: it started slow. I tried to fix that from the get-go on Normal by making sure to avoid an annoying prologue and by having the conflict kick in on the very first page. But is that enough? Do I rely too much on my flashback chapters? It's not a smash-bang battle sort of novel like other urban fantasies. There's only one scene that is an actual battle-to-the-death, and that's closer to the end. The healings are the closest thing to a battle otherwise.

There is some sort of balance that must be achieved between "reworking old tropes into something new and exciting" and "this is too different and can't be neatly categorized, so we can't sell it." I just hope Normal succeeds.

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LESS THAN THREE HOURS LEFT. All of my posts this week will link to the Crossed Genres contest that includes my short story "Father's Daughter." Enjoy some super-short fiction and vote!

After my last post, I managed to force out some 700 words before bed. Yesterday I did about 1300 and finished the rough draft of the story. Today ended being something of a medical appointment day, but this evening I edited and added about 500 more words.

I think I have an actual title for this thing, too. The working title was "Hooves of Mist," which I hated. The title is now "Horses White and Brown." 3,595-words. Now to have family read it and see if it's worthy of sending anywhere.

I need to switch gears like this. Edit the novel for a week, write for a week, and so on. That means next week I need to dive into Normal. I need to spend much of July on Normal, taking breaks to write when a story strikes.

Anyway, here's the first paragraph of "Horses White and Brown":

Long lines of cumulus clouds glided across the sky like dandelion puffs set free. One was shaped like a turtle, a large mounded shell with stubby extremities. Another, a snake, a zigzagging contrail bisecting the heavens. Then there were horses with dark thrashing legs and wispy cirrus manes, galloping in wild herds across the eastern sky. They trampled the turtle and scattered the snake, sweeping over the Sierras in an infinite band.

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All of my posts this week will link to the Crossed Genres contest that includes my short story "Father's Daughter." Enjoy some super-short fiction and vote!

I was really hoping to make a post yesterday for SF & F Writer's Day, and it just didn't happen. I may still write up my intended post sometime soon. The days feel long and sluggish, yet I'm still not getting as much done as I'd like.

Today ended up being poetry day. I wrote a poem based on the weekly prompt and did a haiku for a group effort. I wanted to get more progress made on my new short story, but it's already evening and I haven't even opened the file.

I'm frustrated. I need to do better than this. Normal needs work, too. And I need to start preparing for NaNoWriMo (yes, that's bugging me already). But I also need to play and read with the child and keep my floors pee-free. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to do it all and I'm accomplishing nothing.

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All of my posts this week will link to the Crossed Genres contest that includes my short story "Father's Daughter." Enjoy some super-short fiction and vote!

I've managed to make some progress today, even with a super-clingy child. Critter has a new obsession with the washer and dryer because he loves the timers, and he's made tearful pleas all day for me to do laundry. I even just dealt with the drama of him cutting the top of his foot with a toenail, which made him freak out because of the blood. That's always fun.

I started a new short story. It doesn't really have a title yet, just a temporary one for saving purposes. I seem to be continuing a theme of short stories set in my home region of the San Joaquin Valley of California, only with added magic and mythical elements. This one features horses - which I know will make my husband roll his eyes - but none of them will speak in this story. I'm at about 800 words right now and I hope to make it to 1000 today.

I read as far as chapter ten in Normal with my mom. She found occasional typos or issues of clarification, but no major problems. She described it as a "smooth read." I need to continue editing where we left off. One of the big goals for July will be to write the synopsis; I'm not looking forward to that.

All of my posts this week will link to the Crossed Genres contest that includes my short story "Father's Daughter." Enjoy some super-short fiction and vote!

I entered the Crossed Genres Flash Fiction Contest a few weeks back. When their blog post mentioned they had 80 entries, I thought, "Well, crap. I'm out."

So I was genuinely surprised today to get an email informing me that I was a top ten finalist. Sometimes having little self-confidence brings about very pleasant surprises. (Every time I'm SURE I have a winner, I don't even place.)

The editors chose their top ten, but now it's up to the public to choose the top four prize winners. Gulp. All the stories are less than 500 words. I would greatly appreciate it if you could go to the contest page and vote. My story is "Father's Daughter," but if you feel another story is more worthy, that's fine. I had three favorites.

I'm alive. I'm just enjoying a family visit and attending an abnormally-high number of appointments this week.

I've been working on editing Normal with my mom, though, so I am getting some writing stuff done. I'm not totally slacking off.