Terms of Endearment: Mummy/Daddy Issues #amwriting #scifi #romance

One of the issues I run into occasionally is that, as a British writer who has taken to writing in US English (it was a requirement of my first publisher, and since at the time I expected all my work to be released through them - oh, the naivety! - I stuck with it) I quite often get little notes from my editor of  'too British' or 'non-US term'. It's not just the lack of 'u's in words (though I have my dictionary set for US so that's a rare occurrence). It's everyday stuff like the US call chips fries and crisps chips, fringe is bangs and curtains are drapes, petrol is gas and weights are in pounds as opposed to stone or, for someone like me from a science background, grams and kilograms. Sigh.

With my recent revisions on book three for Keir, I ran into a question of what is the most common US term for 'father'. I know that mummy/mum here is mommy/mom in the US, so I assumed that 'daddy' was an entirely British thing. I'd picked up Rogue One on Blu-ray the previous week, where Jyn calls her dad 'papa'. In the previous SW films, 'mother' and 'father' were used, terms I find rather formal, and in the case of one of my characters, she uses 'mother' in a rather derogatory sense since they don't get on. Her half sibling uses the formal titles because that's how his own father talks. So what would she call her father, if the formal version is intended as an insult but she's a real daddy's girl?

The answer, according to willing US volunteers on Facebook, is...daddy. The term I'd assumed entirely British ownership of is, in fact, also popular in the US (though not everywhere or in every case). This shouldn't seem so weird, but it does. When you get used to the idea that certain common terms here are different words even in an English speaking country, you kind of expect it to apply to everything. Or maybe that's just me...

Anyway, it's answered my issue of daddy/father/pop/papa (which incidentally is going to also save me a whole lot of find and replace since I used the British term in the first place) but made for a rather fun topic, especially when it comes with interesting personal and/or regional twists. By permission, I'm going to copy and paste some comments from the discussion here, or you can join in with your thoughts either in the comments below or on the FB post HERE.

Cali C Hicks: Daddy usually. Girls are more likely to call their father "Daddy" into adulthood, especially if she is a daddy's girl. Boys tend to opt for the more mature "Dad" by the time they're teens or tweens. Of course, there are exceptions. Neither my husband nor I liked being called "Mommy" or "Daddy" so we have been "Mama" and "Papa" to our kids. Papa is usually a term for a grandfather, as is "Pop-Pop." Grandparent names tend to vary by region.

Pippa Jay: Perfect (and yes, same here when they hit teens. Older boy calls us Mum and Dad in public/in front of guests).

Cali C Hicks: Mum is definitely British. It's most definitely "Mom" in the US.

Pippa Jay: Yeah, that one I knew. I guess knowing that was different I kind of expect dad to be the same (also watching Rogue One and she's using papa).

Cali C Hicks: Papa is an archaic form of address and not in use as much these days for the father. It's my husband's family tradition that the father be called "Papa." He refers to his father as "Pop." And likewise, it's my family tradition that mothers be called "Mama" rather than Mom or Mommy. I think that's more of a Southern thing.

Cali C Hicks: And in BLS, Blade's son calls him "Papa."

Chris Hayes: Here in south Louisiana in my family it's Mama and Daddy until we get embarrassed by the infantilism and switch to Mom and Dad. The age when that happens varies. Tends to be earlier for boys than girls, I've observed. I still occasionally use the infantile form and I'm 53. : )

Laurie Green: Yes, I grew up with Daddy and Dad, too. Some of my friends from European-American cultures used Papa.

Status Update
I appear to have got my mojo back, or at least some of it. Edits have been progressing well as part of Camp NaNoWriMo, as has revision on book three for Keir. I've also been adding to a short story I thought was done, but on a re-read as preparing for edits, I felt it was missing something. As part of my apparent revival, I've even gone to the lengths of booking slots with my editor for 2nd round edits on the two novellas and a story analysis on Keir's Shadow. So now I have DEADLINES! Eep! I've even been reading, though sadly for my towering TBR pile, it's another book I bought recently rather than an outstanding one. Oh well. At least I'm reading?
My Tumblr blog where I post all my cosplay is about to undergo an overhaul and rename, but I'm keeping that under wraps for now. The Tauriel cosplay is almost complete and details will be posted once the transformation is complete.
I've had a fabulous spring break with my family - perhaps a big part of why my writing mojo is back - including a visit to Cressing Temple History Fair and the Anglo-Saxon burial site of Sutton Hoo (not far from Rendlesham Forest and the UFO trail). We even came home with a sword!

Anglo-Saxon fashion

Vikings went on to use Anglo-Saxon ship design for their legendary longboats

The famous Sutton Hoo mask

Viking warriors

Anglo-Saxon

slug armour

Pre-loved replica sword, bought for cosplay

Chook Update
Spring break has been absolutely glorious, and my girls have had long hours roaming the garden. Excuse the view - when foraging, it tends to be very heads down, tails up. :P Plus random spring flower.

#CampNaNoWriMo Help - OneLook Reverse Dictionary

This week I'm on spring break with my monsters, but I also signed up to Camp NaNoWriMo (yes, I'm a sucker for self punishment, ha ha) and yesterday was my first day because I can't work weekends. And in the first hour I'd set for myself, I ran into that age old problem - having a word on the tip of your tongue but not being to actually recall it. Know the feeling?

But it reminded me of a handy tool a fellow author shared to me - the OneLook Reverse Dictionary/Thesaurus. This little gadget allows you to type in a concept/phrase/sentence related to the word you want but can't quite articulate, and generates a list of alternatives. It might not be exactly the word you wanted, but if it can't provide you with a good one maybe it can nudge you toward that elusive collection of letters you were really looking for. You can find it here: http://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/

Status Update 
It's day one of spring break and my first official day at Camp even though technically it's day three over there. Sigh. I'm already running into difficulties with one of my two novellas scheduled for revision during the event, and an email has gone to my editor. I may end up doing two versions of this novella until I can settle on how I resolve one of the hero's issues.

Chook Update
A few quick pics, including an amphibious visitor!

It's #CampNaNoWriMo Time Again! #amwriting #amediting #amrevising

Yes, it's that time of year again when the Camp cabins open for NaNoWriMo. As often happens, I said I wasn't going to do it. I said I was leaving writing to find a real job. But here I am, setting up camp, while my job hunting has been pretty barren and discouraging. I've got several works hanging over my head and I feel the desperate urge to finish something and get it off my chest, out of my head, and maybe...just maybe...out earning some dosh (ha ha!).

Reunion's cover reveal was over a year ago!

The great thing about Camp NaNoWriMo compared to the normal November version is that you can set your word count, and even what kind of project you want to work on (revision is now an option when you go to set up your project). While NaNo for me is usually a 'get an idea out of my head and into a Word doc', the Camp ones are quite often edits. Last year I used the April Camp to revise and re-edit Gethyon for re-release after the rights reverted to me last June (my last work still tied to a publisher).

This year, I decided I need the accountability of NaNo to complete the edits I've already paid for on my two SFR novellas - Revived, my RWA LERA finalist and a follow on to Terms & Conditions Apply, and Reunion at Kasha-Asor, a novella set directly after Keir (Book One of the Redemption series). Both have been languishing on my hard drive for over a year now, when they could, with the necessary work, be out earning their keep. I've picked at them and Keir's Shadow over the past few months but not made that much progress. Time for me to just sit down and get them done!

Of course, there are complications with the April Camp NaNoWriMo. My monsters will be on their Spring Break for the first two weeks (oops) and usually I commit my time to them during school holidays. But these so close to finished novellas are driving me nuts. I figure an hour or two a day is a fair compromise - my older two are self sufficient and often arrange their own social diarys these days, while youngest generally only requires a cooked dinner since he can even make his own sandwiches now. And short of someone standing over me with a cattleprod (any volunteers? I'm serious!) I think Camp might be just the kick up the pants I need to do these projects. Wish me luck...

Status Update
Last week I went back into the cobwebby depths of my hard drive in search of an old story. I had quite a shock on seeing I hadn't opened the doc for exactly two years (to the day!). Wow. I had some beta reader notes to look through and make changes, but overall it didn't read too badly. It even made me smile, then a bit teary at the end (let's hope it works on readers). Would you believe I'm about to make a submission to a publisher? I haven't done this in a while, but I happened to see a sub call that was a perfect fit for this story - a f/f paranormal short I wrote for a sub call in 2015 but that later got cancelled due to too few entries. Since I wasn't doing anything with the piece, I figured I might as well give this a shot.
While I was there, I found myself looking at some other pieces, including a completed SF short written for another anthology that I pulled out of. I'd like to release it, but at the moment I think I'd better finish off the stories I've already paid for edits on rather than putting yet more stuff into edits. Especially as this one is going to require a rather specialized cover...
Sunday was Mothers' Day here in the UK, and we celebrated by hubs doing his best to feed me into submission, and another trip to the beach and rather tempestuous seas. Enjoy!

Too close!

Sea-ing the Stories #amwriting #inspiration

I talk a lot about how where I live influences many of the settings in my stories, but especially the sea. For someone who is supposedly a fire sign, I have a much greater affinity for water. Perhaps it was all those childhood holidays by a Welsh river or the annual camping trip to nearby Aldeburgh for the yearly carnival followed by fireworks on the stony beach. More recently it's the wide, golden beaches of Frinton-on-Sea, the mud and stones of Mersea, or hunting for prehistoric shark teeth at stony Walton-on-the-Naze. Alien mudflats, marine worlds, and tropical island paradises have all been created as a result.

Mud flats and weird sun shots at Mersea

Frinton

Odd stone formations at Mersea

Shark's tooth

Whichever, I love to be by the sea, and apparently for good reason. It's been proven scientifically that a trip to the beach changes your brain. It reduces your depression, makes you more creative, de-stresses you, and changes your perspective on the world. I guess that's why I not only find it calming but good therapy for the muse, as well as the sea ending up featuring so often in my stories.

But although we've had some glorious weather in the past two weeks, it's not quite warm enough to spend a day at the seaside, even though I was itching to do our first visit for the year, and you can guarantee it'll be colder on the coast than inland. However, Sunday's forecast promised a dry, warm, if somewhat cloudy and windy day for last Sunday, so I suggested a walk and a picnic.

Not exactly sundrenched...

The two boys weren't particularly enthusiastic, but it wasn't cold, we bribed them with an ice-cream, and apparently the conditions were perfect for an odd phenomena I'd not seen before and made things interesting...

Spooky, huh? It reminded me of a scene from Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp, where faithful servant Masbath is watching the woods from his wooden hut and the mists creep out, reach up ghostly fingers and snuff out the torches. *shudder* In this case, it's just very dry sand being blown across by the wind, but a great effect, right? And it leaves cool patterns on the beach too.

We also picked up some interesting shells, including some Turrids (the long, pointy shells) which we'd never seen there before (great spot by my husband). Shells of that kind were the inspiration for T'rill's coral palace in Keir - a fact hubs actually remembered as I asked him to try drawing it for me many moons ago. I'm not sure what happened to the picture though... Unfortunately you can't see the glorious play of colour in the mother of pearl interior on the broken topshell in this shot.

Turrids and topshells

Something like, but imagine it as a giant shell in pink coral

Despite the high winds and heavy cloud, it was warm with patches of sun, and I definitely felt the benefit. Even a couple of hours at the beach has the same effect as going on holiday for me (although the scrumptious blackcurrant and clotted cream ice-cream helped a bit too), and it was blissfully quiet - something that won't last once the temperatures rise! I can't wait until we can go more often, even though it'll also mean busier beaches. Oh, for that private tropical island all of my own!

Status Update
We had some truly gorgeous warm spring weather last week, so I spent a large part of my days sitting in the back room with our patio doors wide open to enjoy the garden, and letting my chooks have the run of the place. So it's probably a bit odd to have spent some of that time working on a winter solstice SF mystery set on an icy planet that I started a couple of years back but still haven't finished. I hadn't touched it since May 2016 (what did I do last year?!). I have no idea when I might finish it, if I do, and I don't have any finances for edits on it anyway (though I do have a cover). But since I'm still very iffy about my writing and finding everything hard, even adding a few words I don't completely hate is progress, so I'm not going to complain about that.

Also, I've caved and decided to do NaNoWriMo. Yes, I know I said I was quitting writing. Apparently I'm not done yet. Camp NaNoWriMo will be used to complete edits on two projects I've already paid for so maybe I can put them out and start earning an extra pittance from them. And just maybe I'll feel a little less under pressure from all the unfinished WIPs I have hanging around.

The dress part of the Tauriel cosplay is done, as are the arrows. I'm moving onto her fighting daggers now - my first time working with foamboard - then all she needs is a quiver and sheaths. I'll post pictures again when it's complete. Then I'll be moving onto middle child's Witch-King of Angmar cosplay.

Chook Update
We're now getting two or three eggs a day (yummy!), and the girls have been out and about enjoying the nice weather with me. Or making themselves at home inside MY home!

Ah, this dust bath is going to feel soooo good!

Scoop

Pitch

Chook incursion!

This week I be like... #amwriting #amediting

...although not with my writing. I'm pleased to announce I've already 'won' Camp NaNoWriMo with edits on my 50K June project, and I'm now adding in some scenes suggested by my editor. Reunion is still untouched since it came back after a major revision, but that was deliberate.

No, the empty brain refers to blog posts. I started two others before getting to this one, and quit both after deciding they were just too BORING! Problem is, I haven't come up with anything else either.

So I'm going to share a scene from Reunion that may end up on the cutting room floor, then finish with a status and chook update. Enjoy!

The sea called to him. It hissed and whispered over the sound of Quin’s breathing, over his own heart beating a rhythm in his head. Moonlight clothed the hut’s interior in silver light, fiercely bright. He lay on his back and stared at the ghostly outlines of the furniture.
Quin slept curled in a huddle, her back to him. For a fleeting instant, he considered waking her, but decided against it. This was something he wanted to do alone.
He slipped from the bed and reclaimed his sarong, knotting it around his waist. The chill sea breeze stroked his skin, and he shivered at its touch. With a last glance at Quin, he pushed aside the canvas covering of the hut door and stepped outside.
The beach lay empty, a dark, glistening ribbon scattered with weed and shells abandoned by the withdrawing tide. Silver tipped the edges of the black waves beyond. No sounds came from any of the other huts, but a few lone lanterns glowed along the walkways joining them, and on the docks close to S’rano’s ship. The sea’s whisper rose above the rustling of the trees behind the village. The white disc of the moon glared down at him. He stared up at it for an instant, following the pattern of craters and scars on its surface. Metraxi’s single satellite looked lonely compared to the double moons he had known on Salusan.
His gaze returned to the sea. The waves beckoned him, teasing as they swept in and out. Just a few days earlier, he had given into their embrace and tried to drown himself. Could he step back into the water? Did he dare?
His heart raced, his mouth gone dry. The sea lapped at his toes, and he staggered back, the cold shock shooting through every nerve. It set him gasping, squeezed his throat as if he were drowning all over again. His knees shook.
I cannot go back into the water. 

Status Update
A new shiny thing! Well, not for me exactly. I entered the cover for When Dark Falls into the EPIC Ariana Award Contest, and it won! Kudos to my artist Victoria Miller. Isn't it pretty?! (And as close as I've got to winning an EPIC other than being a finalist in 2015 for science fiction with Gethyon).

But wait! I did get a shiny. My Star Performer medal from the SFR Brigade, along with my Certificate of Appreciation arrived in a big box from the US (along with a secret project). I'd have dressed up for the occasion but I HATE taking selfies. Lol. Maybe I should have posted my speech?

I've 'won' Camp NaNoWriMo with editing my June project, and I'm now adding in scenes suggested by my editor. Reunion awaits second round edits. Revived is ready for edits but I've no idea when I can afford to do that one, while my winter SFR (which I'm now convinced probably isn't a SFR but a SF mystery) still needs finishing. I've also been working on book three for Keir.

The Redemption series (Keir and Keir's Fall) finally got a series page on Amazon. Yay!

Chook Update
The new girls have finally settled in and we're getting eggs. Both Pitch and Spaghetti are definitely laying, but we're not sure if any of the others are. They're slacking!

Left: Fizzgig, Back: Pitch, Right: Spaghetti

Pitch

Small but perfectly formed!

See you next week!