writing advice

Halloween Tarot, Books, and Editing Special! Oh My!

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

If you follow me anywhere, you probably know that I read tarot. It’s a tradition passed to me by my mother and something that I’ve come to love once again.

I enjoy reading tarot and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Obviously not everything is going to be spot on and sometimes the messages can be vague, but for the most part, my interpretation of the messages have been accurate for the client in front of me.

If you follow my blog you know that I offer readings to those who seek them out. But now I’m tossing my proverbial hat on the corner and setting up a table to ask for clients. I’m trying to raise a little extra money because I need to do something about my office. It has become a mess and not the most comfortable place to work in.

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Crazy right? We live in a tiny house that is nearly one hundred years old, which means it wasn’t designed with modern tastes in mind (in fact my office was added on to the original house in the 70s or 80s and you have to go through one room to get to it. It’s weird). There are no open floor plans or high ceilings here; everything is compartmentalized and a bit small. Which also means there’s not a lot of room to spread out.

As I run my business from home, so does my husband. So he has clients here six days a week, which means I’m often closed off in my office to work. Which is totally fine! But if it could been better organized with a little more comfort for the times when I’m researching, outlining, or editing, that would be amazing. When I’m just writing, my desk works for me, if not the ancient chair that I slouch in (heh), but it is often the catch-all for all things paper and business related. Which means it’s not the best place to edit, critique, or outline.

So, I find myself in other parts of the house, only to scurry out of the way when clients come through. Nothing less professional than a harried writer in her pajama bottoms just hanging out with pens in her hair and papers spread everywhere.

Now to the fundraising. If you’ve read this far, I am hoping to raise between $500 and $1,500 total (low end, I just get to  make this a little more comfortable to do all my work in one room, high end I can also replace my desk and be more organized).

The first thing I’m offering is tarot card readings. Three levels.

The first level is a One Card Draw. This is $5 and suitable to basic questions, usually yes or no answers.

1 card

The second level is the Three Card Spread. This is $10 and suitable to slightly more complicated questions, nothing too life-changing but bigger than a simple yes or no.

3 card

The third level is the Five Card Spread. This is $20 and suitable to complicated questions. It can help you with pros and cons of a situation.

5 card

All you need to do is email me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com with your question and any details you think are pertinent if you’re going with one of the two larger spreads and which spread you’re looking for. If your question is time-sensitive, definitely let me know and I’ll do my best to get back to you as quickly as possible.

And, secondly, I am offering to sign and sell personalized books! I have a few copies of my books, which make excellent holiday gifts! Books are so easy to wrap you know.

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I have 10 copies each of Earth, Book One in the Elemental Series, World of Ash the first in the Ash and Ruin Trilogy, and Wytchcraft the first Matilda Kavanagh Novel. And 5 copies of Dandelions and Blackbird. They are $10 each with $3 shipping–signed and personalized to who you’d like.

And I have 5 full sets of the Ash of Ruin Trilogy for $25 and $7 shipping. And just 2 full sets left of The Elemental Series for $45 and $9 shipping. Again, just email me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com with your order and what name you’d like inscribed (see below for payment options).

Thirdly if you need a manuscript critique, check out the price page for that and see what you’re looking for, reach out to me and mention the Office Fundraiser and get 15% off the regular price!

And, finally, if you need a content edit, check out the price page for that, reach out to me and mention the Office Fundraiser and get 20% off the regular price!Supernatural, prophet, Chuck

Please review this page to see which service, critique or content edit, is more what you’re looking for.

I am planning on doing this through the end of the month, but I think I will accept requests for these prices through November since October is already half-gone.

I accept Venmo (preferred), bank-to-bank supported by Zelle (preferred), and PayPal (least preferred).

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Shauna-Granger

Bank-to-bank supported by Zelle: shaunagranger82@gmail.com

Paypal: paypal.me/thegrangers

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Writing Help: Updates on Services

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

Hello my darlings. I just wanted to give you an update on the services I offer outside of my own fiction writing.

Many of you know that I offer manuscript critique services, if you don’t, check out that link and find out! But now I am also offering content editing! I realized that, while I enjoy doing MS critiques, I often found myself offering more insight than the writer was looking for, so, since I can’t seem to help myself, I am now offering it as a service.

Supernatural, prophet, Chuck

I have updated the prices to better reflect the service offered and hopefully they’re affordable to you.

Check out my page explaining the two services and then pop over to the pricing pages for critiques or content editing and decide what is a better fit for you. I have openings now and I’ve been in a reading slump, so if you’ve got something cool, magical, or scary, or all of the above(!) hit me up!

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Also, I’ve updated my benefit tiers over on Patreon with some new, exciting rewards so I would love it if you checked that out as well. You can be as helpful as a tiny sprite or become one of my Best Witches or be a magical creature, whatever level you’re comfortable with and know that I appreciate all of it! And you’ll get some cool, even magical rewards in the process!

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Book Witchery

/ Shauna Granger / 3 Comments

If you’ve been following along, you know I want to write something both witchy and epic. I’ve been talking about it for a while now. Witches and magic are my jam. Witches are my aesthetic in all their iterations. From pointy hats and shoes, to smokey-eye and stomping boots with silver jewelry. I love it all.

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But I wanted this book to be different than my other witch books. Which is probably why I started thinking Epic Fantasy.

And I kinda got hung up on the epic part. So when I set out to flesh the story out, it became a war story, more cold war style, but still, a war story. I realized I was forming a very familiar story, even if a witch is in the center of it. It was still going to be two kingdoms battling it out with men on the thrones. Good vs Evil. Maybe the good guy is really the bad guy, gasp!

It’s been done, yo.

So I backed away from the story yet again. And hated myself for it. I want this cool, dark, witchy tale. I want to write it. I want to send it to critique partners and hear their thoughts. I want it. But I don’t want a war story. Why does epic always somehow mean war? And kingdoms?

Then, the other day, I heard something that made me think, “I do love a good revenge story.”

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Revenge. Ooh. That goes nicely with magic and witchery. Suddenly, I was cautiously excited about The Book again. I can still have this epic world, something different than I’ve ever done before, but maybe focus on a small universe inside of it. A story of revenge.

I’m not sure what the point of this post is, other than to say, if your story doesn’t feel right, if you feel stuck, if you can’t seem to figure it out, there’s a chance you’re just not ready yet.

I was really letting this block get me down. I was getting ready to forget about it for another year while I worked on other, more formulaic and familiar things until that sneaky thought whispered in my mind. I still don’t know where it’s going just yet, but having that thought, seeing my MC in my head in a really cool outfit, on a dark and creepy street, I have that spark of excitement I’d been missing for a long time.

Looks like the witch is back.

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YSO: The Best Writing Advice I’ve Ever Been Given

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

In college I took Creative Writing: Poetry. It was a junior level class, but I took it as a freshman, because obviously I was a fantastic writer who knew everything and would ace upper level classes.

Our first assignment was to write a poem. Any poem. Any form. Any subject. No direction or limitations whatsoever.

So I wrote my poem. It was amazing and poetic. The best poetry that ever poeted.

When the prof returned my poem it had a huge “YSO” written across it in red ink. No grade, no comments. Just YSO. Lots of poems in the classroom had this strange notation on them.

The professor, an old Irish poet, grinned back at us and asked how many people had YSO written on their paper. Most of the hands went up.

“Years ago,” he said, “I assigned this same assignment to another class, just like this one. And one of my students couldn’t think of anything to write about. Eventually, he went to his window in the middle of the night to try to think of something, anything to write. And then he saw it. A full moon, bright in the night sky, and he was inspired. So, he set down to write his poem about the full moon, bright in the night sky.”

We all waited as he paused, taking in our faces.

“And the first line of the poem read: ‘Yon sailing orb!'”

And we all burst out laughing.

Dr. Ledbetter looked at us and said, “Sometimes the moon is just the damn moon.”

So when we ever wrote something so over the top, so difficult to understand, so ridiculous that it made him laugh or shake his head (when that WASN’T the reaction you wanted), he would write YSO on our work.

Because sometimes the moon is just the damn moon.