Home Articles posted by Erin Zarro (Page 9)

Filling Plot Holes For Fun (and Profit)

So, I’ve been doing edits on Fireborn, our August release. This book has had an interesting life. I wrote it in January 2015 as a sequel to Reaper Girl, the novelette that was published in the Under Her Protection anthology. It was 23,000 words, too short on plot, not enough murder (lol) and I set it aside to work on other things. Then last year, it was time to work on this year’s production schedule and I thought, hey, if I just expanded it, I could have a novel to publish in one of our empty slots. Never mind that I had about five months before the deadline (January 1st) and had hardly any ideas about what precisely I would expand it with. (I’m pretty sure my fellow TDPers thought I’d lost my mind, but I saw it as a challenge). I wrote like a madwoman for three or four months, then submitted it on time, no less, on January 1st. I was supposed to get editorial feedback on March 1st, but there were some delays, so I got it on April 1st, with a revised release date of August 1st. With me so far? In late April, I had a panic attack because I was sure my next deadline was May 1st and I was pretty sure I couldn’t finish on time (for health reasons) and emailed my people and asked for a two-week extension. I believed I could finish it by then. Ha, ha. Hahahahaahahahahaaha. Nope. (But, good news:…

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This post is brought to you by the word “Sleep”

Ah, yes. Sleep. Curling up in your bed, under your covers just so, your brain refreshing and resetting for the next day. It’s awesome. Except when it’s habitually interrupted. Say what? Well, you see, my mother just had her second knee replacement surgery. For those of you who don’t know, it’s incapacitating those first few months. So my sister and I are helping her with things. She also has an elderly, sick dog who needs practically round-the-clock care. And he sometimes gets up as early as 5am. And sometimes doesn’t go back to sleep after he eats and is let out. Luckily, that’s not a regular occurrence. However, there’s his feeding/medication schedule: he’s fed three times a day and given various medications also three times a day. I had to set alarms for everything or I’d forget something. Now I’m a bit better, but if I get absorbed in something I still may forget. And then there’s letting him out to do his business. He could theoretically go out ten times in a row and only pee once or twice. But because we’re afraid to have accidents, we let him out every single time. And that’s exhausting because you have to watch him and then make sure he gets a treat afterward. But I am not complaining. Honest. He’s a sweet dog, and loving, and I know somewhere in that little brain of his he appreciates our love and care. He’s a former puppy mill dog, and when my mom…

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Sun Touched

a free serial story set in the Fey Touched universe by Erin Zarro Part 3 Get caught up: Part 1 | Part 2 Part 4 | Part 5 DAY ONE – CONTINUED I didn’t sleep that night. I heard Ry moaning, tossing, and turning on the floor and I did nothing. I didn’t know what to do. I was beginning to feel sorry for him. Which was probably his plan. Wear me down until I agreed to heal him. But I simply couldn’t. It would mean excruciating pain and suffering for me. And if things were different, maybe I’d consider it. But he was a rogue. But he claimed that he didn’t choose to turn. That it was somehow forced on him. I had never heard of that happening, ever. So, was it possible, or was it a lie? Ry cried out, and I couldn’t ignore him any longer. I kneeled by his side. “Are you in great pain?” Ry’s hand cast about, and I took it in mine. “Feels like ants are crawling inside my skin. They won’t leave me alone.” “I’m sorry.” “You don’t sound sorry,” Ry said, disgust in his voice. “You’re an exalted Hunter of rogue Fey. You couldn’t possibly lower yourself to help someone in need.” My blood boiled. “Listen! It’s not about lowering myself! I can’t do it, okay? I’m weaker than I look.” The last was a whisper, but he’d heard me. “You’re right, Ivy. You’re weak and cowardly and I wish I…

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Forty-two: the answer to life, the universe, and everything

So, next Tuesday, March 27th, I will be forty-two years old. To this I say: Wut is this madness? I was JUST twenty last year! No, I haven’t done any time travel shenanigans. I just can’t believe how much time has passed since my twenties. When I was twenty, forty seemed decades away. Millions of years, really. A really long time. When I was thirty, I was definitely creeping up there. But it still felt like an eternity. When I turned forty, I really didn’t feel any different. Forty is the new thirty and all that. But now…I must confess…I feel older. It could be that I have been coping with chronic illness for many years. It could be that I divorced my ex-husband when I was thirty (how’s that for a birthday pressie?). Or it just could be the realization that gee, I graduated college TWENTY YEARS AGO. Gulp. Yep. I have done a lot, though. No doubts there. But when I think of my life then and my life now, it’s eerie because I have completely changed in almost every way since my twenties (except my hair. That hasn’t changed at all). For example, in my twenties, I didn’t really care about health stuff. I was thin, I could eat anything I wanted, and health problems were clearly for older people. But then I was hit with severe anemia (the worst my doctor had EVER seen) when I was twenty-two and I also was in a car accident…

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Lessons Learned

I have been unemployed/self-employed for seven months now. It seems like just yesterday that I was laid off. But time has gone by, and I have learned a few things. I had originally decided to focus on editing and virtual assisting, things I can do from home. And I have applied literally everywhere. And, for the most part, I haven’t had much luck. Have I given up? Hell no. Here are some things I have learned from this experience so far: 1. Anything that is worth it is worth fighting for. I have a number of health issues, and I knew once I was laid off that the type of work I was doing wasn’t going to work for me anymore. I took a risk in not pursuing that type of work in favor of work from home jobs. It’s not that I don’t want to work. I realized I was in a unique position to try to change careers. It hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been fun, but I still believe this is the best thing for me at this stage of my life. And so I keep keeping on. 2. Sometimes you simply need a break. My former job was very stressful, especially toward the end. I had been living in a constant state of stress so severe I had lost 2/3 of my hair. I just realized about a month ago that gee, my hair came back. Because the stress was mostly gone. I had been working through severe…

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Trigeminal Neuralgia: 5-Year Update

Technically, February 3rd is the actual five-year anniversary, but close enough. When I first began talking about my mysterious eye pain, I couldn’t handle the idea of having it for a month, let alone years. But apparently, fate had a different idea. It’s been five very long years. So…after a year pain free, I was plunged right back into my nightmare again. My neurologist and I are still trying to get a handle on the pain. It’s not constant anymore, which is a good thing, but I still have horrible pain attacks. I’ve had to spend less time on the computer, doing things I love, because the screen does make it worse sometimes. But one good thing has come of this. I have been able to tackle my extensive paperback/hardcover To Be Read pile. Unfortunately, other things, like Guild Wars, have gone by the wayside. I am still hoping to get back into it at some point. Writing-wise, I’m doing well. I can’t not write, pain or no pain. Been trying to get up the energy to dictate/transcribe so I don’t have to look at a screen all the time. There may be a visit to a neurosurgeon in my future. I am scared, and worried, and not wanting to have surgery. There’s Gamma Knife, which isn’t invasive and uses radiation, but I’ve read that some people have worse pain afterward. Some are helped, but not forever. The pain always returns as the nerve regenerates. So…I just don’t know. I’ve…

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Tis the Season to Be Jolly

…Or something like that. This year for my family, it’s a bit different. My mom is recovering from surgery, so we decided to make this a very low-key holiday. None of us felt up to the task of hauling our huge tree up from the basement, decorating it, and then taking it down at the end of the year. So we have a very small tree that my husband bought. We decorated it and put it in the kitchen, where the cat can’t get at it (that’s one thing I won’t miss this year — keeping the cat away from the tree). And while I will sort of miss Mom’s  beautiful tree, I will not miss the stress in getting it up and decorated. Because technically, Christmas is not about the tree. The tree is important, yes, but it’s not everything. The most important thing to me is family. That’s right. We have traditions — Christmas Eve at my in-laws, unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning, etc. — and those are the things that comfort me and make me feel good. I may not be employed full time yet, but that doesn’t even hit my radar (well, we did scale back on gifts a bit to compensate) because Christmas is not about grandiose gift giving gestures or fancy things. It’s about being with the people you love most in the world, the people that are, in essence, your world.   My mother-in-law (and now, mother) has a thing on her wall from…

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I Write

Continuing with my theme of things I am thankful for, I want to talk about writing. I realized today, as I was contemplating what I am thankful for this year, that I am thankful for the gift of words. It’s not something I consciously think about much, because I have literally been writing my entire life. But it is a true gift, and I am thankful for it. I’ve always said that I wanted to touch people with my words, be it poetry or novels. And I have, because people have told me. When I was a member of Job’s Daughters, the youth group I was involved in from the time I was fifteen until I was twenty, I was promoted to the state chapter, which was a great honor. My job was to be a pen pal to the girls in Missouri (this was before the Internet. Wow, I am really showing my age!). So we wrote back and forth and sent each other stuff. For the big State convention, there was a contest to see who had the best depiction of their assigned state (and an essay). I made a cool map of Missouri and made it into a collage with all the stuff I got over the course of the year. And I wrote an awesome essay. Well, I won. And was asked to stand up in front of hundreds of people and read it. Apparently, I made some people cry. I had touched them that much.…

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So how’s the job search going?

…Yeah. It kind of isn’t. Don’t get me wrong. I am applying for as many jobs as I can. But I don’t drive due to medical reasons (basically? Screwed up eye muscles) and I have to take the bus, which only serves my hometown. (This is a special program, doorstep to doorstep, that costs a dollar a ride. And the drivers are so cool). So that brings down the list of possible places considerably. Then there’s the fact that I literally learned nothing new at my former job — as far as technology goes, anyway — so I’m finding job postings with stuff like, “Must be an expert in Excel” or “Must be a Mac user” or “Must be able to do PowerPoint presentations.” All of this except for the Mac I can do theoretically. But I don’t feel very confident about it, so I tend to skip those postings. So I’m left with stuff that isn’t even remotely in my field. I have no problem with that, if I can’t find anything else. But I would really like to stay within my field. Then there’s the freelance stuff, which is going okay. It’s still not steady enough, but I have every confidence that I can make it happen. And if not…well, I tried. I can continue to try even if I do get a day job. It might be hairy, and busy, but it’s not like I haven’t done that before. It’s scary. I mean, we’re used to a certain amount of…

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Starting a New Chapter in My Life

So, as you may or may not know, I was recently laid off from the job I’ve held for sixteen years. I was the Sales Secretary at a food brokerage, working with food distributors and vendors. It was a good job, and I was pretty damn good at it. I’d had some inkling that it was coming, so I wasn’t completely blindsided. However, I didn’t know when and that added a whole new level of stress and complication to the mix. And, as time ticked down, the stress got worse and worse. So, as sad as I am to not be working there anymore, I am happy to be free of the stress, which wasn’t good for the fibro or trigeminal neuralgia. I do want to say one thing, though. That place was like family to me. We had our rough patches, and disagreements, but at the end of the day, I was treated very well. And we were like a little family, the six of us. They had my back and I had theirs. Two of my former co-workers passed away, and both were good, decent people. One former co-worker retired. So at the very end, it was just me and my bosses. I will miss them. It hasn’t been that long, and I already miss going there every day. Taking the bus. The vendor reps and buyers I worked with on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes, I can’t believe that it’s over. But…things always change. My bosses were of retirement…

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