Yesterday (a poem)

I wrote this on May 11, 2022. Might have been a bit depressed (probably forgot to take my meds.)

Reality in pieces
bite-sized seconds
of minutes, of hours, days
slurring into rain-washed pastels
blurring into tie-died eddies
along empty sidewalks of memory.

Chalk drawings on pavement
almost remembered
but not quite right
crooked
bent.

Sepia-darkened
blots taking over
ink-stained fingers.

Forgotten until tomorrow
when darkness creeps
and steals the light
of the past.

Like Second Skin (a novel)

This is a sci-fi novel that was published earlier this month (4 March 2025), and I forgot to post about it. Go me! Honestly, so much was happening that it’s not a big surprise that I forgot.

In 2114, the future is bright and the world is burning.

Kaalinda is studying botany to rebuild her family’s farming legacy, but making it work in this scorched world.

When she’s drafted into the CFoR, it offers an opportunity to seek vengeance against the rebels that destroyed her home, her community, her family.

Not a typical recruit–more petite, not as strong or as fast–she passes the initial test.

She’s not the only person who notices that she’s different. Someone thinks she shouldn’t have been recruited in the first place, someone thinks she has ulterior motives. And they intend to make sure she fails out—or dies—before training is complete.

~~Determine to be the RIGHT in the WORLD~~

The first draft of this novel was finished so long ago (I am not actually going to use the number because it’s been so long). I was taking a creative writing course (like, the fourth one from this professor) and he told me I wasn’t going to get a passing grade unless I finished the manuscript (I’d been workshopping the first few chapters in class for a while).

So I did, and I got an A.

He told me that he pushed for “THE END” because too many writers get mired in the weeds of edits and never finish – and he wanted me to finish.

I’m sure he never imagined it would take me this long to finish the edits and get it out into the world.

Interested in purchasing? You can buy it directly from the publisher (DreamPunk Press) or from your favorite LOCAL bookseller (they may need to order it for you). And as always, if you do read it, let me know what you think.

3 Important Questions for your Beta Reader

Beta readers represent your target audience. They should be regular readers of the genre you are writing. They shouldn’t be reading first drafts; they should be reading something that you have worked on and think is final, though before you get an editor. Your beta reader is helping you get that manuscript ready for edits.

But, what do you do with a beta reader besides ask what they thought? An “I liked it” or an “I didn’t like it” don’t really help you hone your story. (Been there, gotten those answers; they are frustrating to receive.)

Here are 3 questions to give your beta readers BEFORE they start reading to help make the exercise productive. Giving them before they start reading helps them pay attention to the story so they can give you an answer that is going to help you.

1. When did you decide you liked the main character?

Not just did you like them, but specifically when. They should like the character within the first few pages, ideally on page one. If they like the character, then they will care about the character, and that is what makes someone keep reading. Alternately, and especially, if the character displays a big flaw in those first pages, ask when did you connect with the character? A connection can also lead to caring.

If the answer is in the middle of the story, you need to ask why your beta reader liked them at that point, and why they didn’t like them before. These answers can help you craft an amazing main character that will make your audience want to know what happens to them next.

2. Was there a time you didn’t want to keep reading?

This can indicate a couple of things:

• the story got boring

• the story got too intense

Again, you need to follow up with why–because these are opposing issues and are fixed in very different (if not opposite) ways. A story needs ups and downs in the plot, small conflicts need to be resolved but the bigger conflict needs to intensify; a reader might need a break from the action (as might your character), or they may need something to happen to push them to keep going.

This feedback can help with pacing and making sure that there is enough plot to make the story a worthwhile read.

3. Did anything not make sense or was not explained by the end of the story?

In a standalone story, this is super important. The main plot needs to wrap up, and any loose ends should be minimal (although a secondary plot left unfinished is always a good way to bring your characters back for another round.) However, the reader needs to feel like the story they just read is complete. For example, in a romance, the couple should be together in the end, or in a mystery, the mystery needs to be solved.

Now, in a series, you need something left open. Maybe the minor or side plots wrap up, but the main plot remains unfinished (this can be seen in a lot of fantasy or science fiction series). Conversely, the main plot can wrap up, but a secondary plot gets bigger, or hints that there is more to that main plot than the characters thought. Something that I’ve seen work well in cozy mysteries is the mystery is solved, but a secondary romance plot remains unfinished. In fantasy, a small quest is completed that fills in the first stage of the larger quest.

You have to provide satisfaction to your reader. You don’t want them so chuck it away and decide it’s not worth reading.

BONUS QUESTION (Maybe you need to ask or maybe you don’t.)

4. Did anything not sit right with you?

This question is especially important when you are writing about a sensitive subject, or your story includes an act of violence (on or off the page), or it includes another controversial element (think bad stuff happening to children.) The answer to this question could indicate that a content warning is warranted (put it at the back of the book with a note at the front that anyone needing a content warning should look there) or that you may also need a sensitivity read by an appropriate sensitivity reader.

The answer to this doesn’t automatically mean it needs to be removed, just that it needs to be reworked.

And if your intent in including this element is to make the point that it should not sit right with readers, then follow up with what does that “not right” feeling make you want to do now? This will tell you if your story is successful in that regard.

Happy writing! and Happy reading!

What are some questions you like to ask your beta reader, or if you are a beta reader, what feedback do you give that helps the author the most?

3 Reasons Word Sucks for Formatting (and how I’m dealing with it)

I have been formatting documents in Word for at least 30 years, and I made it easy for myself by modifying Word’s styles to format the way I need them to. I have different sets of styles in my own Word templates.

Recently, I’ve found it frustrating to use Word and the templates I’ve developed (and I’m blaming Word).

Here are the top three issues I’ve been having using Word to format a document right now. (I just installed the latest version and am trying to navigate the “upgrades”).

1. It tries to think for me. As I mentioned, I have been doing this for over 30 years now, and I know what I’m doing in Word. I really don’t appreciate when a tool that I am supposed to be in control of does its own thing instead of doing what I’ve directed it to do. This issue started about a decade ago, and this last iteration of Word seems the worst. I understand that some folks need help but I don’t want it. Please, let it be easy for me to turn off a function when I don’t want to use it (which for me would be never). When dealing with a specific style guide or formatting instruction, it is important that I am the one in control, not the tool.
2. Upgrades mess up what I’ve already made. Every time there is a Word upgrade, it seems to mess with my templates. Unfortunately, I never know what part is going to be changed, and so I have to go through each element and check. Sometimes, a feature is turned off for one upgrade of the application, only to be turned back on in the next (I’m looking at you insert alignment tab). And often, one client’s file will work fine in my template, while another will not. While this is probably due to their use of a different version of Word, it would be nice if Microsoft could provide a comprehensive list of what is compatible (and more important for me, incompatible) between versions, especially when it comes to its inherent functions (like autonumbering and those styles I keep mentioning).
3. Word Online. I mean, in my opinion, just don’t use it. I understand why it was developed (everyone is shifting to work in “the cloud” but it has a lot of limitations. Especially when it comes to Word’s styles (which I think is one of Word’s strengths when used properly). It doesn’t recognize customized styles, so I can’t even begin to format the way I like when using it. And if I have used one of my templates, and a client opens the file in Word Online (i.e., we’re using One Drive), it changes the format. Page numbers will be blue and shaded, so will other items in the header and footer, and it is a painful process to correct these back to how the client needs them to be. Indenting won’t display properly (inciting the client to try to fix it), which only makes it worse as it would have printed properly if left alone. It should come with a warning to only use it online and without ever opening your file in a desktop version. Microsoft put out a notice that they weren’t entirely compatible, but I think users need a little bit more information. It took a lot of time and effort for me to compile a list of formatting to ignore when viewing a document in the Online Word to help make it easier for my clients moving from desktop to online and back again.

My biggest peeve about all of this is that I used the functions available in Word (I didn’t code my own macros). I thought I was following the “rules” but apparently I’m not. Or I’m just not keeping up with them.

So, what am I doing about it? I deal with it, grumbling the whole time.

The first task I perform when there is an upgrade or update to Word is make a copy of my templates and play with them in the new version. I make note of what’s “broken” and what works differently. I check the Miscrosoft website forums to see if there is a notice about any of the functions I rely on, and add that to my personal notes.

And then, once I have a good understanding of what any issues are, I update my templates (again, by making a new copy so I can always go back to an unmodified template if a modification doesn’t work as I expect or breaks something else).

I also look for how to turn off any functions I don’t like or won’t use. Sometimes, this takes me a while to figure out, so, if anyone knows how to turn off the new AI ‘I’ll write for you” function, please tell me. I really need to save my sanity for my editing.

Editing Services

I will edit a lot of things: fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, short stories, creative nonfiction articles and essays, theses, and dissertations. With a 25+ year career as a technical copyeditor, in theory, I could copyedit technical documents. I have also been editing short and long fiction for about 15 years.

But honestly, where is the fun in that?

I am a member of ACES: the Society for Editing and the EFA (the Editorial Freelancers Association), and ask that you comply with the editing rates for copyediting, proofreading, and formatting listed at the EFA website, https://www.the-efa.org/rates/.

I will edit the following:

• Fantasy – long and short

• Gothic Horror – long and short (however, I also write in this genre)

• Thrillers – long and short

• Romance – long and short

• Sci-Fi – long and short (however, I also actively write in this genre)

• LGBTQIA2S+ – long and short in any of the above genres

I WILL NOT edit:

• Gore or Slasher Horror

• Erotica (I’m just not good at editing this in large amounts)

• Anything with gratuitous violence or torture, especially against women or children

I have had a limited number of editing clients in the past since I also worked a day job, but now that that era in my life has ended, I am available to take on more clients. If you are interested in having me edit something you have written, feel free to contact me at taramoeller.editor@gmail.com to inquire about my schedule and to provide a short description of your project to help determine if I am the right editor for you.