Anthologies & More
April 9, 2025
Anthologies!! Can you tell I'm excited? These are so fun to be a part of with my fellow Solstice authors. I never dreamed any of my short stories would be published. These two are available on Amazon. There's another, Secrets, Adventure, Fear, & Love: Book Three, in the works!! I'll let you know when it's available and which story of mine is included.
Speaking of short stories, Nanobots Unleashed wasn't selected as a finalist in the AutoCrit Destination Unknown Challenge. They received 139 entries! That number was whittled down to a short list of 19 and then to the final 4 prize winners. Unfortunately, they didn't identify all those selected to the short list, so I'll never know if my story made it to that level. Such is how challenges go, but the result for me was a fun story. It was well worth the time and effort! I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Next, I'm participating in a Build A Character Mini Challenge. They've shared a Character Deep Dive Worksheet for us to complete for a character. The theory is by completing this you get to know and understand your character. Why do they act/react the way they do in your story? You'll gain insight into their personality and learn what makes them tick. Much of the information you come up with may never make it into your story.
I've never done this before for a character because they develop as I write my story. That's because I'm a pantser, i.e., I write by the seat of my pants. I don't plan every aspect of the story; it just happens as I write.
Since the challenge is only two weeks long, I thought I'd give it a go and maybe have some fun and learn something new. I'm using my character, Jake, from the story I never finished, When Dolly Met Teddy, retitled to Resolved Regrets. The worksheet includes a character overview, questions to answer for the character, backstory of their life, their role in the story, wants vs. needs, goals vs motivations, fears & flaws, stakes & consequences, the character arc (the type of transformation or journey the character follows in the story), and relationships & other notes. I need to put on my deep-thinking cap for this one!
Bourbon Neat is progressing nicely. I know what I want to happen for the ending, and the writing up to that point is moving along. I still need to go back to Chapter Fifteen and add a couple of hospital scenes I came up with. I've been hoping to reach at least 50,000 words. The word count is already 47,536, so I think I'll reach my goal. 😊
Happy reading!
Elaine