Best laid plans by Vanessa Finaughty
Blurb:
Asterion the Minotaur might look like he’s as dumb as an ox, but don’t let anyone feed you any b.s….he’s as sharp as the horns on his bovine head. You’d be better off tying a steak to your neck and trying to get past the Nemean lion than to try and put something past him.
King Minos finds that out the hard way.
Grumpy Old Gods Volume 2
The Grumpy Old Gods are back in this second installment of mythical fun. Join us for 13 new tales of deities that are retired, reborn, waning, or AWOL from their assigned posts as they hilariously navigate life, death, and everything in between.
Drunk on Writing
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury
This is my favourite writing quote and it’s oh so true. Any writer who writes because it is his or her passion will know the truth in these words.
There have been many periods in my life during which I’ve been unable to write – work and family responsibilities and just ‘life happening’ have often kept me from writing. At first, it feels mildly annoying, like when you can’t watch your favourite TV series due to a sports match or other event airing in its place. After a few weeks, it becomes more like an itch that needs to be scratched, making me feel a little agitated. If I am still unable to write, that agitation begins to make me feel crazier by the day – sort of like when you are quitting smoking and denying your body the nicotine it craves. If that crazy ‘climbing the walls’ feeling is not banished by writing, it won’t be long before depression sets in. Now I don’t mean ‘feeling down’ – I mean full-on depression, the kind where you feel tearful for ‘no reason’ and not much seems to make you feel truly fulfilled and happy anymore. For me, the only way to get rid of that is to write.
This is why I must give Juneta Key, Grumpy Old Gods editor and author, a heartfelt thank you! Juneta and I ‘met’ years ago when I needed a launch team for my Wizard of Ends series, and she played a vital role in helping me to spread the word about my new fantasy series during my launch blog tour. During the last few years, I haven’t had much time to write… you can guess how that made me feel. When calls for submission came out for Grumpy 1, Juneta sent me the link and asked if I would like to submit a story to the anthology. My first thought was that I don’t have time! My next thought was: But it’s only a short story. It won’t take long to write… I wrote the story and lo and behold, it was accepted! The act of writing again, even a short story unrelated to my series, has motivated and inspired me to the point where I have finally finished Wizard of Ends, Book 3 (I am in the process of my self-edit before sending it to my editor). So thank you, Juneta, for getting me out of that slump with something as simple as sending me a submission link – I owe you my sanity (no really)!
You are welcome, Vanessa. You are one of the first I thought of that might be interested in writing about Grumpy Old Gods. ~Juneta
About Vanessa Finaughty
Vanessa Finaughty is an editor by profession and author of many genres who now focuses on fantasy and science fiction. She has published 20 books, and is also published by Oxford University Press South Africa. Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and still lives there with her husband of 20 years (this April!) and her five children (two human and three furry, four-legged).
Vanessa has always been passionate about books, and knew from a young age that she wanted to write them one day. She loves animals, coffee and the smell of wet grass, and hates, sweltering weather, long queues and liars. Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, mythology, aliens and outer space, ancient history, life’s mysteries and martial arts, of which she has five years’ experience.
Links: Author blog ~ Facebook ~ Amazon ~ Smashwords ~ iBooks ~ Barnes & Noble