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Sources of Inspiration: Writing Itself

Sometimes I’ve found the best source of inspiration is to simply pick up a pencil and start writing. Or to force myself to start typing at a keyboard. There’s something about moving my hands, putting words down on a page (or screen) even if those words are garbage. I may be tired. I may to do something else. I sit down, groaning and grumbling. I stare at what I’ve written or an empty page. I try to think of few sentences, even if they’re jarring or not quite right. I’ve found that stopping at an exciting moment, at the height … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Just a Feeling

Every once in a while, I walk by someone. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. My skin crawls. I don’t know why. I don’t even know him. I just want to get away from him as soon as possible. Other times, I look into a stranger’s eyes and find myself smiling. She smiles back. We’re instantly at ease with each other. I don’t know why. Some of my favorite moments on television remind me of these moments. I remember a scene in the very first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy approached a shy, … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Creativity vs. Practicality

Too often, my desire to write, my creative impulse outstrips my ability to perform. My hands simply can’t move fast enough to put all the stories into words. Ideas come and go too quickly to transmuted into stories. I’ve got so many I’ve begun which I’ve put on hold, due to constraints of time or my own physical limits. I can only take sitting for so long. I have other things that need to get done. Many a practical concern awaits, ready to distract me from my manuscript. Practicalities often dictate what project I choose to focus. I need to … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Activity Inspires Activity

April is coming. A month in which I do more writing than any other time of the year. First there’s Camp NaNoWriMo. I love this kind of creative, online camping where we share a cabin with a bunch of other writers, letting ourselves inspire each other, pushing ourselves forward. Camp works best for me if I combine it with a pragmatic goal, a submission goal, or a Work in Progress that requires attention. I haven’t always made my Camp goal. I always get some work done even if it’s only a few words. Not to mention there’s a positive rush … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Shiny!

  Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed. Trying to make deadlines. Finishing projects. Trying to market myself. Trying, trying, I’m so very trying. (rueful grin) I think I’ve been trying too hard. I need to find the fun again. After all, if I’m not having fun finishing my projects and marketing myself, how can I expect anyone else to appreciate my efforts? This is one of the reasons Quartz mouths off to on varied social media. We’re attempting to have a little fun while marketing…and venting. :) He expresses a lot of my own doubs and irritations about my journey as a … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: What Does This Mean?

Talking about what inspires me is not a subject that can never be done to death. Not for me. It involves my very creativity, the well spring for which I get all my ideas from. Every story I’ve ever written and will write in the future exists because I got inspired. I don’t use this energy just for stories, although stories are a major part of my life. I often draw direction for what I want to write about and how I live my life from inspiration. For me, it’s the spark of creativity. This spark comes from myself as … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: What I’ve Lost, What I Have

It’s curious talking to all the readers who loved holiday tales and the writers who craft them. This time, I’m one of the writers. Seven Tricks definitely counts a holiday tale. Curiouser and curiouser. This isn’t a time of year when I focus primarily on writing. Don’t get me wrong. I do my best to stay in practice. I write something every day, working on polishing my craft. My focus is on other things, though. Christmas shopping. Decorating the tree. Writing an annual letter (this is one of the major projects of the season). Above all, spending time with my … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: Seven Tricks, by K.S. Trenten

Seven Tricks

QSFer K.S. Trenten has a new MM holiday fantasy out: Some say a mouse king has seven heads. Hah, trust a human to get our legends wrong. A mouse prince must perform seven tricks before the twelve days of Christmas are up. It’s how he wins his crown, but I’ve got my whiskers set on something else. A stiff beauty with a magnificent jaw, waiting for me under the holiday shrub. I caught his scent in a dream, which I’ve been sniffing after ever since. Scamper with me through my adventures and misadventures, dodging traps, cats, and giants, while I … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: Once Upon a Rainbow Anthology

Once Upon a Rainbow

QSFer K.S. Trenten has an FF fairytale story in a new queer anthology book: FAIREST: On the eve of my sixteenth year, I’m cursed to prick my finger on spindle and fall into a hundred year sleep. This is what the witch with the snow white skin and haunting dark eyes promised me, as I lay in my cradle. I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind, since. She haunts my dreams, steals into my quiet moments, when I think I’m alone. Everyone thinks she’s my enemy. Everyone thinks I need to be protected from her. I … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Music

One of the earliest memories is of hearing Albioni on Sesame Street. The viewer observed a close up of a dandelion while the music played. This moment stayed with me along with many of Sesame Street’s more humorous numbers. Years later, I watched the original Cosmos, open mouthed, while Vanglis’s ‘Alpha’ played to a series of images showing evolution. Music had always had a profound effect on me. It didn’t end with listening and feeling. I remember listening to Depeche’s Mode’s ‘Music for the Masses’. Images played out in my imagination along with David Gahan singing ‘Never Let Me Down … Read more