Thursday, June 10, 2010

Blogiversary? Already?


Has it really been an entire since my first post? A year spent spewing forth my own special brand of writing madness? A whole year that I've been fending off the demons that try to plague my writing? *checks calendar* Yeah. Wow.

Happy Birthday, Blog. You look great for your age.

Just wanted to write a quick thank-you post to everyone who's been listening to my inane ramblings over the past year. Your comments have definitely helped me gain a greater understanding of my own writing process, which is something I can never hope to repay. Thanks again, y'all!

Okay, I'm getting all sappy, so I'll switch gears.

With hurricane season coming, and a massive rewrite for Evangeline pending, my posts are probably going to get even nuttier. You have been warned. ;) But until that time, I'll leave you with one last coherent post.

A lot of people have asked me why I named the blog The Lesser Key. I wanted something that would reflect the kinds of stories I write, which are usually based on some esoteric true story or myth. The Lesser Key of Solomon is a 17th century book on demonology. It's the kind of reference I go to in order to flesh out the details of my worlds.


I find inspiration in all sorts of old books, but this is the best one for demon names—minus the weird ranks like "prince" or "president". For the demon names in Evangeline, I smashed part of one demon name with another to make it sound properly demonic.

I've also drawn on local legends to make Evangeline even spookier, like the tale of the cruel Delphine LaLaurie and the French Quarter mansion she lived in.


The truth of this story is shrouded in mystery and is probably one of the earliest "urban legends" because of the way the facts were distorted over the years through rumors and in order to entice people to come to the most haunted city in America.

Come back next week to see me complain about the heat index and how it's probably going to wind up costing us 100bucks in gas alone to evacuate if we need to this summer. But I still wouldn't live anywhere else.

And be sure to check out my fledgling blog devoted to all things Evangeline!

10 comments:

Abby Annis said...

Happy blogiversary!

a massive rewrite for Evangeline pending

What does that mean?! I'm almost done with my crit. I'm hoping to get it back to you today.

Love the new blog. :)

Tere Kirkland said...

Heh, I'm probably over-reacting, but I'm second-guessing the ending for the first time since I finished the first draft, so I'm exploring my options. Also, I figure between you and my other critters, there'll be a ton of stuff I need to rewrite for clarity.

I'm definitely rewriting the City Park scene between Evie and Penny for that reason, but I'm not sure how to fix it yet, lol.

Don't worry, I'll wait to hear back from you before I start freaking out too darn much. ;)

Thanks, Abby! I couldn't have gotten this far without your help!

Shannon Messenger said...

Aw, happy blogoversary. I look forward to your posts getting a little crazier!

And may I just say, I think you did a better job naming your blog than I did. If I ever sell my book I'm probably gonna have to change it, since I won't be a wannabe anymore. I never thought that far ahead. #shannonfail :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Happy blog-birthday to you! You've done a fabulous job and I love the story of how you named it. Good luck with the revisions.

Krispy said...

Congrats to you and happy birthday, blog! Will definitely check out the Evangeline blog too! Sounds fascinating.

Laura S. said...

Happy Blogiversary!

The Delphine LaLaurie story is chilling. Eeeek, I think I'd have nightmares writing such horrific stuff! Good luck with your novel. :)

Plamena Schmidt said...

Yay! Happy 1 Year!

I'll have the comments done for you soon (probably Saturday).

Good luck with revisions for Evangeline, especially if you're changing the ending!

I have most of the Ivory Promise planned out but I can't settle on an ending : ( The main story I can end but I'm struggling with the romantic component. There's two characters that are possible romantic interests for my main character and I was so sure it was going to be one of them but he's turning into a bit of a loser (potentially) and the other guy I don't know very well and I'm totally freaking out. It's so bothersome that I'm actually considering crossing out the romantic component or watering it down a lot but that's upsetting too. Ughgh. So yeah, you're not alone : P

Zoe C. Courtman said...

Ah, the Goetia. That sucker's always somewhere nearby (that and anything by, yanno, Waite or Agrippa), lol. Thanks for visiting my blog the other day - I thought I was a follower of yours, but wasn't. Fixed that and am happily following. Thanks - and happy blogoversary!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Happy first, and many many more!

Is that the mansion Nicholas Cage bought?

Tere Kirkland said...

LOL, Angie, yes, that's the mansion Cage had to sell to pay some 6 mill to the IRS. It's awesome being rich and famous, huh?