Upon the Wings of Greater Things

The creative endeavours of Starla Huchton

Milestones and Reflections

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Two of my minions had checkups today, and as I was chatting with the doctor amidst her typing in medical things, she asked what it is I do. I gave my usual answer of freelance graphic designer and author, as that’s become my knee-jerk reaction rather than stuttering, self-conscious response, at which point she asked me if I’d published anything.

This is what gave me pause, not because I was asking myself if I should give the “self-published disclaimer” (this is not a post about that because I am OVER that discussion), but I couldn’t remember what number to fill in for the “I’ve published ____ books” part.

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Jumping Genres: Reflections

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At Balticon this past weekend I was part of one of the very last panels of the con. The audience was tiny, which was to be expected for a panel taking place the last day of the con, but I thought you might like to hear my thoughts on the subject.

The title of the panel was “How Hard Can It Be? Jumping Out of Genre,” and was actually one of my suggested ideas this year. Over the last few years, my writing has been all over the place, and I wondered if other authors had experienced some of the strangeness I feel when I talk about writing in multiple genres, or how scary that can be, especially if you don’t know if your audience will follow you.

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The State of Starla: Release Schedule and a Hypothesis

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So, back in January, I decided that 2014 would be my Year of No Queries. Admittedly, it’s been a hard habit to break, but, so far I’ve only slipped twice, that being responding to a reply to a query I’d sent out last year (which I reluctantly backed away from), and a what-the-hell Twitter pitch I threw out that I immediately regretted doing. Anyway, I embarked on this year with a little hypothesis I wanted to test.

The idea was that rapidly releasing books would make a large impact on my career as an author.

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Release Update: MASTER OF MYTH

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So, last week Thursday was Talk Like a Pirate Day. Around about eleven p.m., I was sitting around wondering why more people didn’t release pirate-themed books on that day.

And that’s when it hit me. Uh, I have a pirate book. I could potentially do that.

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Antigone’s Wrath: Excerpt, part 3

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The third installment of my winning entry for The Sandy writing contest. Find part 2 here.

 

CHAPTER TWO

As Iris approached the mahogany desk in the Captain’s quarters, Rachel placed the ring and confiscated dagger on its surface. At the sight of the ring, Iris clasped her hands tightly behind her back in an effort to restrain her excited grasp.

Danton strode in with his usual swagger, hands deep in the pockets of his brown, pinstriped trousers, tweed jacket swaying loosely about his waist. At ten paces from her desk, the Master-At-Arms came to a dead stop, his eyes fixed on the hilt of the knife she had taken from the fight.

“Danton?” Rachel said, but he seemed not to hear her. “Monsieur DuSalle?”

Iris laid a hand on his arm and his entire body recoiled. A trained killer’s reflex tightened his face and shoulders, but only briefly. He had not lost himself in thought so much as to lash out at a friend, but the Frenchman’s knuckles were white in his clenched fists.

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Antigone’s Wrath: Excerpt, part 2

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The second installment of my winning entry for The Sandy writing contest. Find part 1 here.

 

Without so much as consideration for what price she might get for it, she scooped it back into its bag and shoved it in her pocket. She grabbed her cloak before throwing open the door and bolting out of her quarters. As she raced down the gangplank, Iris called to her, but Rachel had no time to waste. The ring had to go. She would simply return it to Mrs. Tweed and forget the whole thing had happened. Rachel hated magical items. She would not allow it to remain in her possession. Iris would be livid when she learned of this, but Rachel’s tolerance of Iris’s obsession with Aether Manipulation did not extend to this degree. As the Captain, it was her right to say what would and would not be on board her ship. The argument about the legality of transporting such things was hardly the issue. Nowhere in the twelve years she’d been Captain had she run across such an item. No, she would not allow it this time.

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Antigone’s Wrath: Excerpt, part 1

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I thought perhaps folks might like to see what a first place winner looks like. Specifically, what I submitted to The Sandy that netted me the top score in the Fantasy/Science Fiction, the second highest overall score (only one scored higher, and only by 1 point), and a full manuscript request from Jim Frenkel. I’m so proud of this story! It has a little bit of everything for everyone; romance, adventure, action, bad guys, steampunk tech, a vast array of multicultural characters, and a touch of magic. Even if you’re not sold on the whole steampunk thing, this is still a story you can get into!

In the interest of space, I’m breaking up the excerpt into multiple parts, so you’ll have to read multiple posts to get the whole thing. Without further ado, may I present part 1 of the Antigone’s Wrath excerpt…

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Writing Project Update

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You may be wondering why I’ve not posted anything new regarding my writing or projects since… OMG, January? *facepalm*

Truthfully, there hasn’t been a lot of news on this front. I’ve been concentrating mostly on my freelance book cover work at Designed by Starla, and I’m also getting ready for a big cross-country move in a few weeks. I am still writing, however, along with continuing to search for a home for Antigone’s Wrath.

I did have some news regarding that project recently. Twitter saw my joysplosion, as did Facebook, but I forgot, in my elation, to post about it here.

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