Labotomy of a Writer

I HAVE MOVED

2011-06-23T10:14:00.001-04:00

Well, I had this post scheduled to go up this past Monday but it didn't go up, so here it is now!

Yes, as the title says, I have went ahead and made the move! You can now find this blog at http://labotomyofawriter.com.

I've got Beth Barany on the blog today so make sure you head over there and say hello! She's a great writer and definitely an inspiration to me!

Possible Move?

2011-05-24T13:35:00.003-04:00

Due to the recent issues with blogger, I'm thinking about moving this blog to my author site powered by Wordpress.

What do you guys think? If you follow this blog, would you follow it still if I moved it? All the same follow features would be there - in fact it would be pretty much the exact same blog - design, look, layout, everything..it would just be at a different address really.

I've been thinking about making this move for a long while now, but with the recent problems with blogger, I'm more set on the idea than before. But, I don't want to move if my followers think it's a waste of time or a bad idea. So please let me know what you think! (As soon as blogger allows comments again! *sigh*)

Query Letters (Fantastic Friday Writers)

2011-05-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

For this round of Fantastic Friday Writers, we're talking about query letters. It was my original intention to share my recent query letter, but since I did that for the A to Z challenge in April, I'll just talk about how to write one.

Now, I'm no expert at this by any means. I'll be honest and say I totally suck at it. But, I do know how it's SUPPOSED to go.

Query letters give the agent/publisher/editor a look at your book in a very short amount of time. It needs to draw them in and make them interested enough to read your whole book. Obviously right?

Well just how do you do that? You just wrote a 75,000 word story (or more!) and now you have to talk about all the wonderful things in just a few paragraphs!?

Where to start? Well what I do is write the synopsis first. After all the synopsis is longer than a query but shorter than your novel. But, how to write a synopsis is for another post. Also, I write the synopsis and query soon after I'm done with 'final' edits. Why? Because the story is still fresh in my head.

Some say that you should describe your story in only three paragraphs, others say five is okay. The one thing all my research agrees on is the entire query letter shouldn't be longer than one page - including your signature at the bottom.

To get your huge novel down to three to five paragraphs, start with writing down the major plot poitns in your story. The MAJOR ones mind you. This is the hard part for me. Figureing out the plot points that are the most important. Also, during the preplanning phase here, list a few side plot points or character plot points (used to fill in the gaps).

Also, try to stick to mentioning only one or two characters, three at the most. (Three would cover the hero, heroine/sidekick and the villian.)

So here is what the process looked like when I wrote the query letter for Cleanse Fire

Major Plot Points:

1. The teams Commander tried to kill them
2. The team discovers the Commander is only the beginning.
3. The wizard is trying to kill them all for revenge.

Character Plot Points:

1. Dearc's wife died in a terrible fire and it haunts him
2. The wizard's wife was murdered in front of him
3. Derac is falling in love with Kie.

Character's to Mention

1. Derac
2. Kie
3. The wizard
4. The commander (possible)

So you have your three or four major plot points, two or three character plot points, and two or three characters. Now comes the time to write the information out in complete sentences. You can read my finished query letter here if you like.

Of course, after you write it, I highly recommend getting someone else to read it over for you. It is a good idea to have suggestions come back from both people who have and haven't read the full story yet as they both will have vaulable insite for you.

There are many other things to think about when writing a query letter, like word usage and such, but I think I'll save that for another post on another day! I hope this post at least helps you get started and headed in the right direction!

Hop to the other members of Fantastic Friday Writers and see what they say about Query Letters!

T is for Title

2011-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

All right, so today we are going to talk about titles. How do you decide what to title your book or your chapters for that matter?

I love play-on-words and symbolism in my titles. My book Cleanse Fire doesn't have chapter titles, instead it's just the chapter number (Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc). But in my story Burden of Prophecy I do.

For an example on the symbolism and play-on-words thing I like to do, one chapter in Burden of Prophecy is titled "Fire Drinking". In that chapter, Letarri who is a goody two shoes type of girl get's very drunk and then the tavern burns down. So, you can see how a title like "Fire Drinking" fits well there. Another chapter is titled "Red Envy". The symolism here might be easily missed when reading the chapter - at least part of it. Etharas is jealous because Letarri has turned her affections toward Chakor. (Envy) In the chapter, Chakor gives Letarri one of his red velvet pillows to keep as she continues her journey, because she liked them so much. (Red) Plus it's a little play here as usually the phrase is "Green Envy" instead of "Red". Fun huh?

I do the same play on words and/or symbolism for the titles of my books also. Burden of Prophecy isn't really a play on words as the story obviously is about the heavy burden the characters have to carry because of this prophecy that none of them want to be a part of. But book 2 of the series is titled Tutelage of Mortality. The play here is the book focuses on the faeries time with the elves where they learn to fight and weaponry skills. (Tutelage). The main character in this book is Karina, the youngest of the travelers and she is promised to marry the elf Prince, Shezar. Well, needless to say she is almost killed by Shezar's jealous ex toward the end of the book. (Mortality).

I would tell you how I came up with the title for Cleanse Fire, but I think that would give away too much! And since I'm trying to get it published right now, you'll just have to wait to read it to find out!

What about you? How do you come up with your book and chapter titles?

S is for Support (Fantastic Friday Writers)

2011-04-22T08:00:00.004-04:00

I have made numerous posts about my crit partners, but today I think I'll talk about my husband.

I'm very lucky to have a man that supports my writing. He gives me plenty of time to write by letting me stay up late (and then sleeping in) while he cares for our son. He'll even take the little man out of the house for a few hours on his days off so I can work in peace.

I know many people whose spouses don't support their writing at all and it makes me realize just how lucky I really am. Sure, my husband does get a little jealous sometimes as I do get caught up in my work and forget to spend time with him. But he never tells me I can't do it or that I need to stop doing it or that I shouldn't do it. He just reminds me (and sometimes begs in his own way) for me to spend some time with him.

It's great to have that kind of support. Sure, he doesn't crit my work or help me with plot issues really, but it's nice to know he supports my dream in his own way. Like I said, he doesn't crit my stories or anything like that, but he does give the time and space to write the stories in the first place.

And after all, isn't that what every writer needs? Time and space to write?

Do you have any support like this from your spouse or friends or family? For those that don't, how do you keep writing and following the journey?

Hop over to the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers to see what they say about today's topic.

R is for Romance

2011-04-21T08:14:00.004-04:00

Romance. Ya know, when I started writing I told myself I'd never write romance. I love to read it but to me all the books I've read sort of blur together. I don't remember most of them that I have read because they all seem to follow the same pattern and have a similar enough style that I don't remember each individual book. Romance writers out there, please don't take offense to this! It's just me and my head, not your writing skills.

I prefer books that have elements of something else going on in the plot, not just straight romance. I don't know why this helps me remember the book or the plot better. Perhaps because of the extra tension added or element of mystery. Who knows really.

Anyway, even with my promise that I never would write romance, everytime I write a book, a romance blooms along side the plot! It happens beyond my control.

So, how do I keep myself from becoming just another romance novel among the masses? Well, since I love books that are more than straight romance, I write my books the same way. The romance element in my books is a sideplot, not the main plot. It's more of a "on top of everything else, the characters realize they love each other" sort of set up.

So - what are some things I've learned about writing fantasy with a romantic element? Well, for one thing, the romance and the plot have to work together. I hate random scenes of kissing or sex. They must make sense to the characters and to the plot. It bothers me when characters kiss at the wrong place and time. I think the only time I've seen a kiss in the middle of a battle scene that didn't irritate me was in Pirates of the Carribean when William and Elizabeth get married. That's an example of a perfectly timed kiss in a not necessarily good situation. And they waited until the third section of the series to do a scene like this so that might be why I was more forgiving. It was more like "About time!"

In the movie Prince of Persia, Dastan kisses the Princess right after she saves him from an Assanssin. But I thought it was so cliche of him to do so. I mean, he had to go stop his uncle and every second counted and he's going to stop to kiss her? And not just a quick peck or anything -- he laid it on her good. (As a note, I really do LOVE this movie!)

So make sure your kisses (and even the full steamy sex scenes) make sense.

Up the tension! Yes. I've said this before in posts. Sexual tension is important. I'm all for love at first site and things like that, but tension is just awesome when reading a story. So even if they do fall in love at first site, throw in some tension to keep them apart for a little while before their love explodes in some scene of passion.

With writing a genre with a hint of romance, this can be hard to do somethimes. You are upping the tension and conflict of the main plot in the first place! Adding sexual tension here needs careful placement. I do it with looks or heated touches. I have one scene in Cleanse Fire where Kie is injured and Derac and putting a bandage on her. But he's thinking about how soft her skin is under his touch as he does so. So, there is abit of tension, but the main plot is still moving forward as now she's injured and unsure how they can continue fighting.

Another thing I consider is the characters. I've said this before also. The romance has to make sense. If your character isn't the type to just jump into bed with a guy - don't let her do it. If your hero is trying to avoid a relationship of any kind, don't let him jump in too soon. And of course, if you hero is like Derac, then he's more thinking of the taboo of him being with Kie. I mean, he is her superior officer!

The fourth and final tip is to remember to wrap up the romance at the end of the book too. Sure, you can have this be a carry over to the next book in the series. But you need to at least find some closure to their romance to end the book. Don't just leave it hanging open and unfinished. Get them together at the end or if they aren't together, make sure to leave it set up that they might be in book 2. Leave the reader satisfied but make them itch for book 2 as well!

Do your books have a romantic element in them? How do you add sexual tension?

Q is for Query Letters

2011-04-20T08:53:00.003-04:00

So I'm going to take care of two posts in one today Q for Query Letter and the Query Letter blog fest (which technically was yesterday!) and post up my Query Letter for Cleanse Fire. This is actually a full "cover letter" that one of the publishers I'm submitting to asks for, but it's the best query letter so far I think.

Enjoy! And please tell me what you think. (Unedited first draft)

Dear [Agent]:

Captain Derac Vidor would die for his country but before he can defeat a vengeful wizard, he must first open his heart to a love far deeper than he’s willing to explore.

Derac sacrifices everything for the sake of Kinir’s people. Haunted by those he could save, he throws himself into mission after mission. His world shatters when his own Commander tries to kill him and his team.

On the run, Derac and the team try to discover why their Commander betrayed them. Treason is only the beginning. No place is safe as their footsteps are shadowed by something even more sinister.

A wizard out for revenge, plots to kill them all. But he and Derac have more in
common than they realize. Who better than Derac to convince the wizard revenge
will not bring his wife back or each the pain of her loss? If only Derac can
face his own past in time to save the Kinir Elite.

CLEANSE FIRE: THE KINIR ELITE CHRONICLES, a Fantasy Adventure novel, is complete at approximately 75,000 words. It is the first book of a continuing adventure series. I currently have six more books planned, with plenty of room for more.

I plan to market this book on my own website and all three blogs I write for. I will also
be using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. The Kinir
Elite have their own website, where the characters roam free and write their own
blog. I also have plans for a virtual blog tour, a virtual book signing, and a
live book signings in Columbus, Georgia and surrounding areas.

A new author with a growing fan base, I have many large projects in the works. I am
owner of Inkwell University Writing Workshop, a place for writers to gather and
learn from each other online. I’m an avid member of the online writing
community, writing two blogs to support writers and share my experience in this
industry. I also design websites for authors, to help them set up their online
presence.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Anastasia V. Pergakis

P is for Partners

2011-04-19T08:06:00.003-04:00

My original plan was to do P is for Plot, but recent events made me decided to talk about critique partners instead.

Let me tell you how awesome my two crit partners are. I sent them my MS on Saturday -- Got one back on Sunday from Charlene A. Wilson and the other on Monday from J.D. Brown! They stayed up late and did none of their own writing to crit my book. And not just my book either! But the synopsis and query letter too!

I couldn't ask for two better friends and partners in this crazy writing industry. While I've never met either of them in person, they are my best friends and I would bend over backwards to help them when they need it.

It is hard to have my friends also be my crit partners. The best part is, since they want me to succeed, they don't sugar coat the crits or blow smoke up my butt. If anything, they are harder on me than other people would be. Seriously! Also, since we talk to each other everyday, I get a chance to ask them about their crit, clarify a few things, AND they are more than happy to listen to my ideas on how to fix a scene or a paragraph.

I recommend to anyone to find at least one crit partner that you can work with. It's a great experience. I have been in crit groups before, and while I think they are great, it's nothing like working with just one or two people on a personal basis. I know their stories and they know mine inside and out. It's great to say a random scene without much detail and they know the one I'm talking about!

So, finding a good crit partner. That's hard to talk about. I found mine by accident really. I met both ladies at a writing site a while ago and we sort of just talked in the chat room there. Now it seems we are inseperable! LOL

First, I say you should have good chemistry with the person outside of writing. I don't mean you need to be best friends with them or anything like that, but ya know, just you get a good vibe or good feelings when around them.

I would recoomend if you are shopping for a crit partner is to find someone that writes, or at least loves, the same genre you do. Even if you have great chemistry with a person, if they happen to not like the genre you write, having them as your crit partner won't work very well in my opinion. My crit partners and I happen to all write fantasy - different types of fantasy, yes, but all fantasy none the less. And we all love fantasy too. So at least find someone who loves the genre you write, even if they happen to write another one.

Another thing is to see if their writing skills are about the same as yours. I know this sounds harsh but think about it. If someone isn't up to where you are in skills with plot, character development, and even grammer, how fair is it to you? Their crit would fall flat pretty much and you'd be no better. Find a person or people that can teach YOU something too! The best crit partners are the ones that help you improve - not just read your work.

Make sure you make time to crit their work too. I know that sounds obvious but I have to say it. So many times do hear about someone critted one persons work and then never heard from them again. If you want to KEEP your crit partners, then you have to "pay them back" for critting your work too. Now, I know some that do an exact tit-for-tat type of trade when it comes to crits. Jen, Charlene, and I are close enough that I will automatically crit their work because I know that when I need a crit later, they'll be there without hesitation. It all depends on what type of relationship you have with the person. Either way, just make sure you return the favor and help them too!

What do you think? What other qualities should a crit partner have? Do you like crit groups or do you prefer just one or two people as partners?

O is for Organization

2011-04-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

For N, I talked about Notes and how I organized those. So for today's post I'm going to talk about organizing your life -- or in a sense schedules. I'm a firm beliver in schedules even though I can never follow them! LOL

So since I can't follow a schedule even though I try really hard to do so, how do I keep up with everything in my life? (Kid, Hubby, Writing, Two Businesses, School, and MORE!)

I have a HUGE to do list. Seriously, I use the windows in my office as dry erase boards. The to do list takes up four windows.

One of the windows is a regular calender where I keep track of my husbands work schedule, doctors appointments (since we go two to three times a week since the car accident), when my homework for school is due, and when some of my blog posts are due.

Another window is split into two sections, one for each business where I highlight things to be done. This is sort of like a real numbered to do LIST for each business on what I need to accomplish. Some have due dates some are "when I get to it" types of things. Either way, they are on the list so I don't forget.

A third window has a list of workshops I moderate for Savvy Authors. Pretty self explanitory there, just helps me remember when one is coming up. I don't mod as much as I would like to anymore, but I still have a list that spans the entire year.

The fourth window is my "Mommy" to do list. While many of you might think I don't need such a thing, I do. This list helps me remember to do things like the dishes or mop the floors or start the laundry. I will seriously forget it I don't. (Note: I haven't kept up with this list in about a month so...need to do that...yea)

Now, in addition to my awesome window/erase boards, I also have two tack boards hanging up next to my desk. Phone numbers, blog post topics, and website codes on notecards or post its are all scattered up there, but I can find the info when I need it really easily. The other board is used for random notes and ideas I have about my books. It keeps my desk from becoming a pile of notes and scribbles.

Then of course there is the shelf with all my writing books, novel notebooks, and office supplies. And last, my computer itself.

SO - pretty crazy huh?

It might seem a bit overwhelming to someone just looking at it but it's the only way I do anything. I know I miss stuff every once in a while, but it would be SO much worse if I didn't have these things at all.

How do you organize your office/busy life? Do you have a strict schedule or just a "To Do List"?

N is for Notes

2011-04-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

This post is going to be another short one for you. How do you keep your story notes organized or your reserach notes? I'm a huge fan of folders and binders (with awesome labels!).

My series are kept in a three ring binder. I have dividers labeled "Characters", "Setting", "Language", and "Misc". Then I have a section for each book where I keep copies of the query letter, synopsis, outline, and other plot things I look at often.

The Characters section contains all the character sketches I make. It also has the timelines I make for each character. If I can, I'll include pictures I find that look like the characters or print out the avatars I sometimes create.

The Setting section includes all the setting sketches - for the different countires, notes about the cities, descriptions of the specific buildings the characters might visit. I also include any notes about the history of the country.

The Language section is where I keep any notes and translations for the languages I make up for my characters. (My L post from a few days ago can tell you more about what goes into this section.

The Misc section is where I keep stuff that doesn't go anywhere else. Perhaps a poem, random pictures that make me think of the story, songs that inspire me, etc.

As the series progresses, all of these sections get pretty thick with all the notes and sketches I make. I like keeping all of it in one place lik this, rather than having each book in it's own notebook. (It also prevents me from having multiple copies of things as the same characters and locations sometimes appear throughout the series).

Now, for research notes, those are all in their own notebook. Since most all my stories are set in times similar to the medieval ages, I keep all of that information in one place. Again to keep myself from reprinting the same information over and over again.

The research notebook has the following sections: General, Ranks/Titles, Weapons/Warfare, Slang/Talk, Lifestyles, Sea/Sailing, Clothing, Living/Houses. I will surely add more as time goes along and I write more books, but this works for now. It's jam packed with information and pictures that I use (and reuse) throughout my books. I would die without this notebook!

What about you? How do you keep your story notes and research notes organized? Do you even print them out or keep them just on your computer? (I have the notebooks I described above and also have the same set up in files on my computer).

M is for Maps

2011-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone recovered from my post yesterday! :) Today we are talking about maps. I promise this one is really short today.

When I create any world for my stories, I always draw a map. I have to - otherwise my characters start heading south when they should be going north!

I use a free program called AutoREALM in combination with Paint.Net (which is also free). Here is the most recent version of the world map for The Kinir Elite Chronicles

This one I made it black and white then added the fancy little border there so it can look nice in the front of the books. But AutoREALM allows you to make them in color if you like. The program comes with great little icons and markers so you can make your map as detailed as you want to. I made this one pretty general, leaving out rivers and such as I only have one book done so far. As the series contiues and the characters travel around their world more, the map will no doubt be added to to show the new locations.

Do you make maps for your worlds? I know some people draw them by hand! Crazy. I much prefer using programs with fancy icons and such to help me. Besides, it's much easier to edit on my computer than it is by hand (especially if I decide a city needs to change location).

L is for Language (Making your own!)

2011-04-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, I know I've posted about this a few times but today I'm going to tell you what I've learned about making up your own brand new language! (This post might be longer than my other A to Z challenge posts, but I still have had to leave out a lot of info. In the future, I'll put together a more details post or series of posts about it.)

Yes! It can be done. The first thing to decide is if you are going to make up a few words to sprinkle through your MS or create an entire, fully functional language. The following steps can help you do both...just repeat them as often as you need to depending on what you choose to do.

First thing, no matter what, that I recommend as a fantasy writer is to have your world built first. I know many other authors who write the language first, but for me it just works easier to have the world (culture, religion, etc) established first. This way I can make the language fit the culture, rather than the culture fit the language. That's me. You can do it however you like of course, but for this post, we're going with the idea that the rest of the world is already there.

Step One: The Alphabet and Sounds

On a sheet of paper, list all the letters of the alphabet. Now, look at it and decide if there are any letters you can take out (or even add). Think about sounds here too. Like how T and H together make it's own unique sound. Or how certain vowels repeat or join to change the way a word it said. (Realistically, this is more like 2 or 3 steps, but for this blog post, I'm putting it all together here). Take out and add what is needed.

Germanic runes (which is actually only a written language) has specific symbols for the "th" "ng" and "ei" sounds but it doesn't have the letters Q or X in the alphabet at all. So, consider what sounds and letters/symbols to add or take out.

Step Two: Making Words

Okay, again, in a real lesson this step would really be about another 3 steps, but I'm trying to keep this brief for the blog post here! I promise to make more detailed posts about this in the coming months.

So, now that you have a working alphabet and a few sounds figured out, it's time to make a couple of words. Keep them all in present tense and singular for now. We'll figure out plural and past tense verbs in the next step.

Begin creating a few words. I usually begin with very common things like hello, yes, no, thank you, please, etc. I can say "yes" in like 8 languages so keep in mind those common words that people just know in any language. Now, depending on what you did with your alphabet and sounds will depend on how you put this together. You can create a brand new word entirely - as in putting random letters together that could make a coherent word...or if you changed your alphabet enough, you can simple rewrite "y-e-s" with your new letters. I prefer the first way as it just makes sense to me to do so.

The hard part (or the fun part depending on how you look at it) for this step is deciding how compact your going to make the language. In English we have a ton of different words to say basically the same thing. Beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, hot, fine, bodacious, etc. When you create your own language you can simply have one word (and only one) to mean all of those things together. This really helps in the long run, as you don't have to create a HUGE vocabulary for your characters to use.

Also keep in mind ideas - like love, honor, etc. Again we have many different words to say the same thing and it is up to you how you want to convey those ideas and emotions in your language.

Step Three: Adding to your Words

Remember I said to keep your new words at present tense (for verbs) and sinuglar (for nouns)? In this step we'll figure out how you get the words to be past or future tense or plural.

In English to make a noun be "more than one" we add an "s" or "es" at the end of the word. (Yes there are twenty exceptions to this rule..but just go with me on this one.) What about in your language? What suffix or word ending will you tack on to the end of the word to mean more than one? OR You can make up a brand new word to add to a sentence that literally means "more than one".

With past tense verbs, we add "ed" to the end. Same thing with your new language - how will you show this? A new suffix like "ed" or a brand new word that in literal translation would mean "in the past"? Future tense verbs, the same thing.

Don't forget those adverbs and adjectives too!

Step Four: Syntax and Sentence Structure

Okay, going to give you a short English lesson here. Syntax in English (or sentence structure) is subject - verb- object. In German (if my memory serves) it goes subject-object-verb. So how does your language work?

For this step, I'll just give an example.

English: I walked to the store.

Made Up Language: E al tora ort-em mea.

Literall Translation: To the store walked I.

So the made up langauge line I made up on the spot, but hey, it still shows you what I'm talking about here.

Step Five: The Script

Now, what fun would it be if you made a language and had no idea what it looked like if your characters happen to write it down?

This is a pretty fun part of the language building process (at least to me). Sit down with a scratch paper and make some lines and curves. See what pops out at you. Also think about how your language sounds. Soft (curvy text) or more harsh (angles and points). Decide how each letter would look when written by them selves. Then decide how it would look in a sentence. Puncuation marks? Spacing? To they write it left to right or right to left? Top to bottom even?

So there it is. A general (very general) post about creating your own languages. I promise to expand and give lots of more detail about this later (remind me if I forget!).

Do you think you could create your own langauge?

K is for Kissing

2011-04-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Raise your hand if you don't like kissing! (If your hand is up right now you are either a liar or never kissed before.)

Now, since I blog about writing here, let's talk about when your characters kiss and how to write the scene in a good way. First, I'll admit, I don't think I have any real talent with this type of scene - but I do know how it's SUPPOSED to go. LOL

Do you know that part in the movies when the characters look at each other, and the music plays and you think "They're going to kiss."? You just know it! In writing it's pretty much the same. Everything in the scene is set up to give the reader the tingling feeling of "OMG! They're going to kiss!"

First thing to do, before you get to the scene, is build up the tension. Specifically, the sexual tension. Make it so that when the reader gets that tingling feeling, it's exciting! Build up the tension throughout the story up to that point with heated looks, touches, and maybe even those teasing almost kisses. That way, when you get to the scene, the reader (and the characters) breathe a sigh of relief and think "Finally!"

The actual scene can very depending on your characters, the plot, and location. In Cleanse Fire, the first real kiss happens in a brothel!!! (What better place right?! *laugh*) In another book of mine, titled (for now) The Adventures of Ryn and Cyime, the first real kiss happens in the middle of the woods. It all depends on your plot and the characters. Remember to have it make sense though! I hate reading stories where the characters kiss randomly at the wrong time and place (and I don't mean like those quick "I'll see you later" kisses - but the real passionate, steamy kisses). So make sure it's the right time for it to happen.

Erotica writers can have the "kiss" happen earlier if they like as the tension can continue up to the big steamy sex scene. But for writers like me where the romance is sort of the side-side story, the kiss usually happens later in the story. Of course, that's me. You, your plot, and your characters might say oh no, this needs to be earlier. Like I said, make sure it's the right time and place based on the story.

All right, so you have the tension, the right time, the right place - now what? Well, make the characters kiss each other duh! Okay, there is more to it than that. The same kiss can feel totally different depending on whose POV you're in. My male characters usually tend to focus on what her lips feel like, what his and her hands are doing rather than what emotions he's feeling at the time. While my female characters focus more on the effect of the kiss and the emotions she feels while it's going on. So, with that in mind then you can write the scene effectively, depending on whose mind the reader is in for the scene.

I love kissing scenes so much, I decided to share the scene from Cleanse Fire to end this post - okay, no, it's not the brothel scene. Sorry, you'll have to read the book for that one! But I'll share the almost kissing scene with you at least. :)

Derac held his arms out to her and she stepped into his warm embrace. She breathed deep, inhaling the scent of ginger on his body.

“I always feel safe in your arms,” she mumbled into his chest. She snorted. “Gods, that sounded stupid.”

His chuckle vibrated against her cheek. “No, it doesn’t. I like holding you too.”

She titled her head back to gaze up to his face. His emerald pools entranced her and she couldn’t look away. A sliver of moon light shine on his face and made his eyes glow.

His hand rested on her cheek, his thumb tracing small circles. Kie’s lips parted of their own volition. Her breath hitched as he leaned closer. His mouth hovered just above hers.

A small whimper escaped her throat. His lips brushed across hers in a feather light touch. Her chest ached from holding her breath. She pressed against the hard planes of his chest, urging him to keep going.

A twig snapped. Derac’s body stiffened. He gripped her waist and threw her over his head into the tree. She choked down a scream and grabbed the nearest branch. Her leg wrapped around it and she settled on her stomach.

(Yes, I'm well aware that I am evil to my characters.)

J is for Jargon

2011-04-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Jargon peoples! Yes, the lingo, slang. Jargon. What types of special jargon or lingo do your characters use?

One of the things pounded into our heads as writers is that every character has their own unique voice. Unique voice includes the catch phrases or special words they might say. Jargon can come into play based on where your character grew up, what type of education they have, or what job they work.

The warrior elves in my series the Kinir Elite Chronicles have a very military sounding voice, each unique of course, but in some circumstances, everyone has that clipped, sharp voice of military command. (Or maybe the stealthy silent hand signals!)

YA/MG writers need to pay attention to this also! We all know that teenagers seem to have their own language. But what about teenagers in a fantasy type setting? Or from another planet? The future of our own? How would they sound then? What phrases or words would they use as slang?

Research is very helpful here, especially if your characters are military, doctors, (or some other profession requiring technical and specific phrases and words). Also looking up different cultures can lend a hand when it comes to writing an accurate voice for your characters. Looking up history (not just for historical writers) helps also. My elves and faeries in almst all my books have an air of medieval about them and the way they live. So do research all the time to learn about speech patterns and how people talked back then so my character reflect the same atmosphere.

Interviews help a lot here too! I live in the US but I have plenty of UK friends that are always too glad to help me with British slang should I need it. My Dad is military so I not only grew up with the lingo, but I can always call him up for more specific things when I need it. After you have all the lingo for a job or education level, then it comes time to decide how much of that jargon each character would use. For example, Derac, the captain of the Kinir Elite is pretty much always in Military mode. Even the way he walks/stands suggests this, but that's a different topic for another day!

So, how do you decide how your characters talk? How much research do you do regarding this? Or do you just make it up depending on the story?

I is for Industry

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gents! Continuing on with the A to Z challenge here. Has anyone lost their mind yet? I think I'm getting close. After all, I let the hero of my book Cleanse Fire join the challenge too, so that's DOUBLE work for my tired fingers. But my keyboard is holding up just fine so far!

Today, I'm talking about industry - as in knowing it. Research your market and the current industry trends for your genre is very important.

For example, take me - a high fantasy author. Looking at things on the surface it might seem like I'm wasting my time as Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance seems to be the HUGE hits right now. But, further research has told me that High Fantasy is making a rise in popularity as Urban Fantasy has run it's current course of huge demand.

No, I don't mean UF is fading to oblivion, far from it. But, High Fantasy is tends to stay toward the back of the trends, even when it's at a high point. I had a few agents tell me last year while I was trying to submit my book Burden of Prophecy, that High Fantasy was "coming back" as many editors and agents are looking for something other than vampire and werewolf stories that has been a huge popular topic as of late for obvious reasons.

Now, why would knowing this be important? Well, if you get your book out during a time when your genre is in high demand, the more likely people are to search for your genre (and thus find your book) to read. I also find, based on talking to other authors, that it is harder to get your book accepted if the trend doesn't show a need for your particular genre/story.

So, knowing what the market and industry trends are will greatly help you get your book out there - at the right time when it can reach the most readers. At least that is what my research has shown me.

Do you research your market and industry? I am constantly looking and reading for information about it. It's an ongoing thing. Keep in mind that most of the stuff you find on blogs and websites is about two years old. That is why constant research is important so you can keep up with the changing trends.

H is for Hero (and Heroines)

2011-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Continuing on with the A-Z challenge, Day 8 is H so I'm going to talk about Heros and Heroines.

The key to making a realistic Hero(ine) is to give them flaws. I mean, no one is perfect right? So why would your heros be?

Flaws can come in many forms, and I thought up a few for this post here.

Internal Flaws

Mental deficiency (like a learning disability)

Emotional problems

Social problems I include this on this list since phychologists do have a thing called "Social Anxiety Disorder", (I suffer from this by the way.) that makes it hard for the person with the disorder to talk to others, be in a crowd, or other social types of activities without having an anxiety - or in my case a panic attack.

External Flaws

Physical disabilities like a missing limb or other types of permanent injuries from a long ago accident can prevent the hero from always being able to do what they need to.

Baggage - and I don't meant the emotional kind here. I mean heros or heroines that say, are married to a total evil person intent on bringing them down, something tangible and physical that haunts them now, not just emotional baggage inside their head/heart sort of thing. This can also include single parents, as children can often prevent or delay the "quest" of the hero/ine because they must be cared for first. So, this aspect isn't always negative, perse.

Magic

I put magic in it's own sort of category here, because depending on your world and how you write, magic can be internal or external for the hero. Sure, magic can help your hero but it can also be a huge burden for them, if you happen to give them a power they can't control (yet or ever), a power that doesn't seem to help them on their journey, or a power that conflicts with say the power of their companions.

These are just generalization of course. I hope to put together a more detailed explanation of these things in the future.

What sort of flaws do you put into your hero/ine to make them more realistic? Do you decide this based on the plot - or on the character themselves?

G is for Genre (Fantastic Friday Writers)

2011-04-08T22:23:00.005-04:00

So, this post is super late, but it's still technically Friday, so it's counts!

Today's topic is Genre - more specifically, the High Fantasy genre. I did a post a while back defining different types of fantasy works, that you can read here. This post will focus on what I write, high fantasy.

Fantasy is a huge genre, split up into many subgenres. Fantasy fiction uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as the primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Most (not all) of fantasy fiction takes place in another world besides our own where magic is common.

As a fantasy writer, I have to say that fantasy is different from sci-fi and horror (even though they are often put together for groups, magizines, etc). This is because fantasy doesn't use the scientific and macabre themes that sci-fi and horror do. There is some overlap between all three of these genres of course, but they are different in many ways.

High Fantasy spefically, is fiction set in an alternative, fictional world ("secondary world") rather than the real world as we know it (the "primary world".

Nickki Gamble, co-author of Exploring Children's Literature says there are three subtypes of High Fantasy.

A setting in which the primary world does not exist. (ex. The Wheel of Time)

The secondary world is entered through a portal from the primary world. (ex. Alice in Wonderland)

A distinct world-within-a-world as part of the primary world. (ex. Harry Potter)

Purists, if you want to call them that, say that high fantasy is only #1 on Nikki's list there, the others falling into some other sub genre of fantasy. I tend to agree with this, but I have found through research that many of the stories dealing with #2 and #3 are classified as High Fantasy also, only because they really don't have anywhere else to go. Perhaps one day, they'll have their own subgenre to themselves, but for now, it's all High Fantasy as far as the publishing world is concerned.

Wikipedia says that High Fantasy is one of the most popular subgenres of fantasty fiction. However, Urban Fantasy is probably the #1 at the moment. High Fantasy has always been around in the background sort of thing, always with devoted fans, readers, and writers. Is it really one of the most popular? Well, with games like D&D, video games, and Magic the Gathering - those areas, sure. I definitely agree. But in actual novel writing, I'm not really sure on that one. I have to do more research!

High Fantasy is usually epic in nature, the theme often being a good vs evil battle to the death or destruction of all. Some stories can have coming-of-age themes also, but as a reader, I only see htis in YA fantasy, rather than adult. But one could use the theme in an adult story, if written correctly! The mark usually of high fantasy stories come with certain types of characters and elements like elves, faeries, dwarves, dragons, demons, magic or sorcery, wizards or magicians, invented languages, quests, and multi-volume narratives or series.

My favorite thing about writing High Fantasy, since I'm a "purist" I guess and think that High Fantasy has nothing to do with the "real" world at all - is that I get to make up everything! I basically get to play God (without reprocussions!) and built a brand new world the way I want to. Rules, governments, religions, people, land, everything! But, I'm sure my readers already knew that I devote many of my blog posts there talking about world building and characters.

What about you guys? Do you read a lot of fantasy? What do you like about it - or don't like about it? Are you a "purist" like me and say that High Fantasy only deals with fictional worlds with no relation to our own?

And since it's a Fantastic Friday Writers day, please check out the other members of the group to see what they say about Genre.

F is for Fin

2011-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Endings! Yes, those awfully awesome cliffhangers or happily ever afters (or even a happily for now).

The final scene is important and should wrap up all the plot threads you have going. Even in a series, each book should have some type of ending to it that leaves the reader satisfied. Of course a series can have a few side plots still open to leap into the next book, but I stress that each book should have it's own beginning, middle, and END to it. (I learned this the hard way people! Don't make the same mistake I did!)

And endings is more than the final scene of your book. I mean chapter endings too. Each chapter should end with an air of mystery, impending doom, or some other unsavory thing. (Am I the only one that hears Da da DUNNNN!!! in my head everytime I think "Impending Doom"?....) Ending a chapter on a happy note isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a "cliffhanger" ending forces the reader to keep reading, to discover how the character can possibly get out of their current predicament.

I often worrya bout endings later during the revision process. While writing the first draft, I just make chapter breaks about every 2,000 words or so, just to help keep my sanity when revising later. Having the novel broken up into 2K chunks, is much easier to deal with. During the revision stage is when I really look at what place would be good to end the chapter. I often move a paragraph or two from the end of one to the beginning of another to make it end on a note of suspense or tension.

Here is an example, again from my story Cleanse Fire. This is the end of chapter four. Derac and Kie are in the dwarf mines, trying to escape.

His quick reflexes didn't help when the wall next to them exploded. They both sprawled over the edge and slammed into the stairs below. He covered her body with his own until the rocks and debris stopped raining down on them. Derac glanced up and saw a group of dwarves rushing towards them. He craned his neck further to see the level above.

"Get them out of here, Tyn!" he yelled.

The dwarves swarmed them and dragged them further down into the cavern. They were thrown into a small cell; the solid iron door slammed shut behind them.

That is how I have the ending after revisions. In the first draft, the scene continued for a few paragraphs and had Derac wondering how they were going to get out. I moved it to start off chapter 6 instead, having this one end with the slamming door.

So how do you plan your chapter endings or the final scene? Do you make the reader hear da da DUNNNN at the end of your chapters?

E is for Editng

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

I took an editing workshop at the beginning of this year that tought me a few things about editing. It made it much eaier for me to edit as I actually had an organized plan of attack. No, editing is always hard but with an organized approach it can be less stressful, I promise!

Here is what I learned in the workshop.

Step 1: Print a copy of your MS in some other font than you normally type with. If you type double spaced, make it single spaced before your print. (or vise versa). I usually print it out as a booklet format, as it feels almost like a real paperback. Make sure you have a pen and note paper handy too.

Step 2: Read through your MS and take small notes! Don't make any major changes! Simpley make notes for each scene or chapter as you need to.

Step 3: Now, not everyone can do this step, but I found it extremely helpful. This is also good for those that don't outline before hand, it's sort of like a post outline to help you keep on track as you edit. Go through each scene and figure out the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict of your character. Write down a one liner about each scene -- EACH scene that means all of them! When you're done you'll have a nice little outline to work with! (And guess what, you can use this later to help you write a synopsis too!)

Step 4: Now is the time to begin making changes. Look over your notes and add or take out as needed.

Step 5: Check the beginnings and endings of your scenes and chapters and make sure everything ends in a suspenseful way or begins with some sort of action. The outline will help you with the beginnings and endings to determine the best place to end or begin a chapter.

Step 6: Look at your characters - dialogue, development, etc. Make sure they aren't flat. Add or take out as needed to really make your characters come to life.

Step 7: Okay, now that you feel you have a solid plot, character development is good, and you have great beginnings and endings, go through your MS one last time to get those pesky spelling errors and grammar.

Step 8: Get someone to crit it for you. I have a few crit partners that I absolutely love and I recommend this to anyone. I know crit groups aren't for everyone, but having a specific partner or two is fabulous!

Step 9: Make any changes you need to based on the crits you get.

Step 10: Write that query and synopsis and SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT!!!

So, how about you? How do you edit your work? Do you have a set out plan or do you just go at it?

D is for Dialogue

2011-04-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

Specially, dialogue tags!

Many writers out there firmly believe that one should never use anythign other than "said" or some type of action as dialogue tags. I am not one of those writers. I think it's perfectly okay to use the occasional "murmured", "mumbled", etc. However, it is important to use them wisely!

Take this section of dialogue from my story, Cleanse Fire. In this scene, Derac is talking to Lynusion a faery about the group of faeries they just rescued from the dwarves.

"Thank you, Captain Vidor for rescuing our fellows." Lynusion, Captain of the Tinally Elite said.

"It is our pleasure. They have been fed and given water. A few needed basic healing treatment but will need more care to fully heal. Sadly, many of their feather have been plucked. Do they grow back? Will they be able to fly again?"

"Plucked out?"

"Yes. I assume the dwarves did it as a form of punishment. Maybe even a souvenir."

"They do grow back, but it takes years."

"But they will be able to fly again?"

"Eventually."

Here is the scene again with some action and more than just "said" dialogue tags. See how the scene is much more powerful this way.

"Thank you, Captain Vidor for rescuing our fellows," Lynusion, Captain of the Tinally Elite said.

Derac smirked at his friend. The faery’s jet black hair shined in the sunlight – as always. Derac ran his hand through his own hair and cringed at the dirt he felt in the black strands.

"It is our pleasure. They have been fed and given water. A few needed basic healing treatment but will need more care in order to fully heal." Derac paused and lowered his voice. "Sadly, many of their feathers have been plucked. Do they grow back? Will they be able to fly again?”

Lynusion’s eyes watered and he swallowed hard. “Plucked out?”

“Yes. I assume the dwarves used it as a form of punishment. Maybe even a souvenir.”

“They do grow back but it takes years," Lynusion whispered.

Derac hung his head. “But they will be able to fly again?”

“Eventually,” Lynusion murmured.

See the difference? Using dialogue tags other than said is okay in my book, just don't do it too much! If you have one character "whisper" don't make anther one "whisper back." Also keep in mind to make sure it matches with the scene and the character. If the scene requires them yelling, no one should be whispering or murmuring. Also, if you character is one to never talk in a soft voice, don't have them mutter or murmur either.

What do you think? Only "said" or is it okay ot use other tags when writing dialogue?

C is for Conflict

2011-04-04T07:41:00.000-04:00

The conflict is also known as the antagonist. Since I talked about the villian during A for Antagonist, I'll cover the other types of antagonists or conflicts you can have in your story today.

Here are a few different types of conflict you can have in your stories:

Hero vs Nature

Hero vs Technology

Hero vs Himself

Hero vs Someone Else (aka the Villian)

Hero vs God

Hero vs Society

Hero vs Ideas

The important thing with conflict, no matter which one you use, is to gradually increase the tension of your conflict until it basically explodes into the final climax of the story. Keep your readers turning the pages by throwing block after block into the hero's way.

Conflict makes tension, by opposition between the hero and the antagonist/conflict. Balancing the opposing forces will keep your readers glued to the pages wondering how the story will end!

In my series, "The Faery's Tale" the actual villian doesn't show up until Book 4. In th first three books, the antagonist of the story falls within Hero vs Society, Hero vs Himself, and Hero vs Ideas as the character struggle with their own inner demons and each other. I think this adds tot he tension as the series goes along, as each book becomes more tense and has more conflict as things just get piled up ontop of each other until the huge final showdown with the villian and everything else!

What about your stories? What type sof conflict do you use? Which ones are your favorite? Do you use a combination of them for increased tension?

Don't forget to head over to Derac's blog, the hero of my book Cleanse Fire for his C post today, about Combat Techniques!

B is for Beginning

2011-04-02T08:00:00.005-04:00

It is said that readers lose or keep interest in a story depending on the first lines, paragraphs, or chapters of your book. So how do you keep their interest? Make your beginning fabulous!

Start your story with a bang! I don't mean it has to literally begin with an explosion or a fight scene or something like that. Your first line should usually hold a punch of some type though, whether it is a line of dialogue, a character doing or feeling something, make it reach out and grab the reader.

"Act first, explain later." Often times, and I see this more often in fantasy really, writers begin chapters with a description of the setting in some flowery words in order to put the reader in the story. However, think of how much stronger a beginning if you start with that snarky line of dialouge or burst of action? Then sprinkle the setting details through the rest o fth escene. The reader still gets plopped into the new world, but hey also have the sense of excitement or impending doom!

"Act first, explain later." I can't say this enough. It's true. This also applies to all beginnings, not just the very beginning of your book but chapters too. Keep the reader begging for more! Don't le tme get bored at any time and they'll read you're story till the end! Here is an example, a beginning paragraph from on my novel Cleanse Fire. This is the beginning of chapter 23.

"I ask you again, why did you sell secrets about the Kinir Elite to Wizard Ackda?"

Rahder still said nothing. In a flash of movement, Derac leaned back on the table, planted his boot in the General's chest and shoved the elf and his chair backwards. The force of the kick caused Rahder’s feet to go over his head. The elf flipped into the wall.

Now, think of how different if it would be if the started the chapter like this:

Derac sat on the edge of the long table in the center of the room. General Rahder sat in front of him, hands tied together, resting in his lap. Sunlight steamed through the ceiling high windows, shining directlyl into the General's eyes. He squinted aginst the harsh light, making the scar on his cheek wrinkle.

"I ask you again, why did you sell secrets about the Kinir Elite to Wizard Ackda?" Derac said.

See the difference? So sit down and think how you can grab your readers attention with a great beginning.

A is for Antagonist

2011-04-01T11:09:00.004-04:00

Yes, the antagonist. The villians we love to hate (or maybe hate to love). While the antagonist (or sometimes called the conflict) isn't always a single person in a story, today that's what I'm going to talk about for the A-Z challenge.

So, how do you create your villians? I give my villians almost the same amount of attention as I do my heros. They have a full character sketch and timeline made out. I talk to them often (they seem to be nice to me..) to learn about them, their past, and what makes them tick.

Now, my villians are never evil for evil's sake. Some writers do this, and that's okay, but I prefer villians that have a "good side" to them or ones that have morals somewhere - even if they are a bit twisted. For example, the villian in my book Cleanse Fire, doesn't hurt or kill women, even though through the entire story, he's been trying to murder the hero and his friends.

Villians need to be just as three dimensional as the hero! While my villians never take over my body for chat sessions like my hero does nor do they show up on The Character Cafe to make a post, but I know them just as well as my hero. Every detail of their lives, of who they are.

What about you? Why type of villians do you like (or hate)? What sort of villians do you create in your writing?

Oh, check out my new website for The Kinir Elite from Cleanse Fire. Captain Derac Vidor is participating in the A-Z challenge too, so check out his posts! Captain's Log

Fantastic Friday Writers - Languages

2011-03-25T05:53:00.002-04:00

Another edition of Fantastic Friday Writers. Today we are talking about languages. As a writer, you have many option on how to convey languages in your story. You can simply tell the reader the characters are speaking a different language, use a few sparing words throughout the dialogue, or create a brand new language entirely.

I'm going to talk about an important part dealing with the last two options. Any time you create a new word, phrase, or entire language, one thing you must consider is how you want your language to sound. Soft and smooth, or more rough and harsh?

Soft sounds include letters like d, s, l, m, b, while harsh sounds include k, t, g, p. So, when creating your new words or language, you can clue in on certain letters to make your language sound the way you want.

For example, when cretaing new words for the faerys in Burden of Prophecy I wanted their language to be very soft sounding. So I tried to avoid using k or t in the words, or if I did, I used them very sparingly. So, I came up with words like verlina (a flower that has addictive properties but most often used for healing purposes) and faena (woman).

So what about your characters in their own worlds? What languages do they speak and how do they sound?

Now, for a bit of fun, I like to doodle on paper to see what my new language would look like in text. For a soft sounding language, like the faery's in Burden of Prophecy, I decided to go with something with lots of curves, loops, and long tails to add to the softness and elegance I wanted to show for the language. I never actually made an official text of my faery's language or I'd show you a picture. However, it is still fun to figure things like that out, even just for a feel of how your characters would write a letter or a note.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers to see what they say about languages! Our group has more than doubled since the last post, so please make sure to stop and welcome our newest members! They are all great fantasy and sci-fi writers, and you can learn more about them here.

Fantastic Friday Writers - Magic

2011-03-11T09:44:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. Here is another installment of Fantastic Friday Writers. We are talking about magic this week.

How do you define magic in fantasy writing? Spells, powers, things that cannot be explained. All of the above?

The elves in my book Cleanse Fire having keen eye sight, hearing, and can heal rather quickly. While that is beyond normal abilities for humans it is the norm in my elves' world - so that's not magic. But the faery's in Burden of Prophecy are born with powers and they attend school to learn and master them. While it is the norm for them in their world, it's magic. I would say magic to me is something beyond normal human capabitilities, but that would include more than I wanted.

Now, when you have magic in your stories one must consider the rules. Rules?! I know, I hate rules too, but in order to make your magic seem realistic it must have some sort of restrictions. Ask yourself the following questions: 1) If my character uses their magic what happens to them? Do they get tired, weak? If they go too far can they die? 2) Where does their magic come from? Inside the character? From nature? Some other force? 3) What culture aspects come into play with my character magic? Meaning are there laws against using it? Perhaps religious consequences/rewards? 4) Who has magic and why? Only the first born? Only women or only men?

Once you have those questions figured out then y ou can begin to shape the magic in your world into something tangible. Then you can determine at what age does their magic show up and how do they learn to master it. Do their powers show at birth or closer to puberty? Do they attend school or do their parents simply teach them control of their powers? If you have spells in your story rather than powers, the same questions apply. At what age do they begin learning the spells and who teaches them?

Since magic is a huge part of writing fantasy and even sci-fi sometimes, you have to consider all the rules, restrictions, and other considerations of your characters magic. If a character can use their magic willy-nilly with no consequences and has the ability to do anything, it takes all of the suspense out of the story. After all, an all powerful character can fix and get out of anything right?

Don't forget to check with the rest of the Fantastic Friday writer team at their blogs and see what they say about magic.

JDBrown ~~~~ Elizabeth Mueller ~~~~ Deirdra Eden-Coppel ~~~~ Alex J. Cavanaugh

Updates and Stuff (Vlog)

2011-02-11T11:32:00.002-05:00

Another vlog to enjoy. Sorry for the glare on my glasses - recorded with the webcam instead of the digital camera but the lisp is gone!

Fantastic Friday Writers - The White Rabbit

2011-01-28T02:00:00.004-05:00

I know I’ve been absent as of late and I apologize! I announced a while back that I was going to enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award so the editing has taken up all of my time outside of family and school.

BUT, I’m here now and that’s what counts right? This week, for Fantastic Friday writers, we are talking about how we find the time to write especially since many of us have jobs, kids, and school. Heck, some have a combination of all three!

I’ve talked about my crazy schedule on this blog before, but for the new readers, I’ll give a brief recap.

I’m a stay at home mom – just me and the little man most of the day while hubby is at work.
I am going to school to earn my bachelors degree in business.
I have created two online businesses, one of which is open! (Check it out! Anastasia Creatives). The other is nearly there and will be open in by the end of February.
I moderate writing workshops on Savvy Authors.
I participate in 3 different blogs, including my own. (Okay, mine falls behind a bit a lot of the times but with everything else can you blame me!?)
I belong to a solid critique group that I talk to every single day. (Okay, they’re my best friends, but seriously, they rock.)
AND I write and edit and create cover art and build book trailers and make websites for my friends.

I’ve had many people ask me how in the world I find the time to do all these things and the answer is quite simple.

I JUST DO IT.

I don’t have a set schedule, (like I could follow one anyway), I don’t have a nanny or a babysitter, or a maid and my son isn’t old enough to be in school yet. I just do it. Because I love to do it, because I have to do it, because I want to do it.

Sure, I do go a few nights without sleep but I’m willing to sacrifice a little sleep to follow my dreams.

So, if I was to give any advice to my fellow writers out there, here is a bit of wisdom I learned from AA of all places.

If you want it badly enough then you’ll make it happen. (In AA we add, “Remember the lengths you would go to get a drink and apply that same energy to something positive.)

And one last note - Don’t make excuses! JUST DO IT!

Blogiversary Winners!

2011-01-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I know I said I would get this announced earlier in the week, but school started back and it's been a bit crazy here.

But! Now that the first week insanity is over, I'll get back on schedule here.

First thing, the results of the vote were 7 to 2 for having posts every other day, so that's how things will go from now on - at least as much as I can! Sometimes I might still have some posts a few days in a row, but only for important or funny things, I promise.

And, without further ado - the winner of the blogiversary giveaway!! I'm not going to beat around the bush here so, the winner is -------

Annie McMahon!!

Congratulations Annie!! Send me an email at harleydpalmer[at]gmail.com and I'll send you your prizes!!

Thanks to everyone for participating! I'm going to try and get some more prizes together for a 200 follower giveaway, so come back for that for another chance to win some awesome stuff!

Fantastic Friday Writers - New Year, New Goals

2010-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's almost a new year, can you believe it? I feel like 2010 just flew by! I dug around my old blog posts and found a list of my 2010 goals/resolutions. Let's see how much I accomplished shall we?

1. Quit Smoking
--I didn't even attempt this.

2. Gain a substantial income from writing.
--Tried it and failed. The money just wasn't enough to make the research and time worth it.

3. Let my husband live
--Yes, he is still alive.

4. Get my teeth fixed
--Didn't get this one either. But hubby assures me it'll be this year. We'll see.

5. Learn to write legibly with my left hand. (I'm ambidextrous but if writing with my left hand, it looks like a 5 year old)
--I totally forgot this goal was on the list, so I didn't make this one either.

6. Finish my 3 part novel series "The Faery's Tale"
--Well, this morphed into a 4 part novel series and I did get book 1 and half of book 2 done - so to speak.

7. Learn to wake up before my son does. (This means waking up at like 6 or 7 in the morning by the way.)
--HAHAH! You guys didn't really think I could do this one could you? Come on.

8. Start my own business. (Doubt it'll really be this year, but I put it here to make myself get the ball rolling at least.)
--I did get the ball rolling and started a second business too!

9. Find some really cool layouts for this blog!
--I totally got this one!

10. Write an Epic Poem. (For those that don't now, epic poems are ones like Beowulf - a huge epic thing that tells a story. Always wanted to write one of those.)
--Well, I didn't get this one really either - partially, my NaNo poem rocked and did tell a story, but since it was themed after another poem, I don't really count it.

So that leaves what? NOTHING accomplished!? Well, I did let hubby live and I did try to write freelance for money. Just didn't work out on that one. And there are a few that I sort of accomplished if I bend the rules a little.

I still feel like I accomplished a lot this year though! I blogged pretty regularly - at least more than I thought. Started TWO businesses, made some new friends, started school, joined the National Guard (but obviously that didn't pan out...)

So, now on to the real point of this post for Fantastic Friday Writers - our resolutions or goals for 2011. I'm going to make mine more realistic this year for sure! At least, I hope so.

1. Submit "Burden of Prophecy: The Faery's Tale Saga". (More than once!)

2. Get "Cleanse Fire: The Kinir Elite Chronicles" ready for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Deadline: Feb. 6.

3. If "Cleanse Fire" doesn't win the contest, submit it!

4. Finish writing "Tutelage of Mortality: The Faery's Tale Saga".

5. Start writing "Death Air: The Kinir Elite Chronicles".

6. Finish setting up my business - Inwell University Writing Workshop.

7. Join my buddy Shawn in writing a novella anthology. (aka Write, Edit, and Submit my half of the collection - 1 Novella)

8. Learn to write with my left hand. (We'll give this one a go again, because I bet it'll be fun.)

9. Get my teeth fixed. (Hubby assures me this year is the year....)

10. Write an Epic Poem. (Still really want to give this a go!)

So there it is! I'll repost this list this time next year to see how much I accomplished! I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Day and I send many blessings your way for 2011.

Make sure you check out the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers to see what they are doing for 2011.

The Princess Bride ROCKS!

2010-12-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I followed a link from twitter to the most amazing article EVER! Jael McHenry talks about how The Princess Bride and Publishing match up! You really should read it because this article just continues to prove that The Princess Bride is one of the best movies ever!

You can log-in to the Intrepid Media site to leave a comment on the article or just leave one on here too if you like! (I always like comments anyway!)

"Publishing and The Princess Bride: What Aspiring Authors can Learn from Florin"

Heroine Archetype - The Waif

2010-12-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Waif or Magician is the counter part to the hero archetype, The Charmer.

For a recap, here is what I said before about the Waif.

The Waif/Magician
The damsel in distress. She holds child-like innocense that brings out the protective urges of even the most hardened heros. She does have her own strength though! She won't 'fight back but she'll endure - survive.

And of course, let's dig a little deeper into what makes up the Waif type of heroine.

The Good Side

>Dreams of "happily ever after"
>Waits for the "right man" to come to his senses
>Easily adapts to situation in order to meet her needs
>Kind and gentle
>Damsel in distress

The Bad Side

>Submissive
>Dependent on others (emotionally speaking)
>Falls in love fast
>A day dreamer type

Of course you can have fun mixing these traits up so that the good ones are bad and the bad ones are good. I just merely list them this way as for a general idea.

Examples

>Bridget Jones from Bridget Jones Diary (played by Renée Zellweger)
>Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (played by Judy Garland)
>Gillian from Practical Magic (played by Nicole Kidman)

What other examples of a Waif can you think of? Do you have a damsel in distress type in one of your stories?

Remember that these archetypes are simply the basic materials to help you mold your characters. Many characters fall under more than one archetype. Think about some of the great combinations you can create for your characters as these posts continue.

Coming Next: Heroine Archetype - The Librarian

Guest Author - J.D. Brown

2010-12-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today, we have my very dear friend, J.D. Brown as a guest! So happy. I gave her a specific topic for today regarding world building. In her novel, Dark heirloom, she has her vampires living among humans in a "world within a world." So I asked her to talk about how she went about doing that and making it believable.

Thanks for having me, Anastasia.

A classic example of a world within a world is the Harry Potter series. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exists on modern-day Earth, but is hidden from “muggles” by magic. The professors and students who attend Hogwarts follow a very different set of rules and customs than the rest of the modern world, yet, when the students leave Hogwarts and return to their homes, they are expected to continue following regular human laws – no magic allowed. That is because Hogwarts is a world within a world.

Words within worlds are most commonly used in the different Fantasy genres, especially High Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Urban Fantasy. The fictional words don’t always have to exist on contemporary Earth. They can be on a parallel universe, in a different realm, or in a different point in time. But usually there is some co-existence between two or more worlds in which the character travel to and fro.

In my novel, Dark Heirloom, my vampires live on contemporary Earth, right alongside humans, without them ever knowing. However, my vampires have their own history, their organizations, their own territory boarders, their own laws, their own customs, etc. Yet, they share the planet with humans, making their world very interwoven with ours.

Anastasia asked me how I came up with my fictional vampire world and how I was able to weave it into our own real world. The truth is, it was a long and grueling process. I made matters more difficult for myself as I stubbornly clung to the idea that my vampires would not be undead immortals. My vampires are a living, breathing, species fully capable of being destroyed.
Since I wanted my vampires to be as old as humans, I started building their world around the same time our human world came into light. The year was 6,000 B.C. and the Mediterranean was growing with intelligent human life. Home of the first written language, the first irrigation systems, the first human civilization, made it the perfect starting point for my vampires as well.

I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes, I really did go back that far. I have a timeline I keep in a black binder on my desk that highlights every major event that ever happened in vampire history, spanning black 3,990 years. Yes, I am insane. No, I didn’t have anything better to do – at the time. How did I come up with enough crap to cover that many years? Easy; I opened up a history book and did my homework. I studied our own timeline of major events until I started to find loopholes. For every loophole I found, I filled with something my vampires did until a very complicated, deeply entwined history grew, one in which vampires were to blame for much of our losses AND successes! This was exactly want I wanted; a history that would fall apart if not for our vampire neighbors.

Laws, territories, secret organizations, customs, etc, all came very easily afterwards since these things are often the result of events that took place in the past. With a solid history, my modern-day vampire world fell perfectly into place. It’s gotten to the point that anyone can ask me a question about my vampires and I’ll have a snap answer ready for them. It’s very cool. Totally makes all the sweat that went into the timeline worth it.

Typealyzer

2010-12-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

I saw this tweeted and had to check it out! You enter in your blog (or any blog) and the program analyzes the content to see what type of person the author is!

Here is what it said when I put in Labotomy of a Writer

The analysis indicates that the author of http://thelabotomyofawriter.blogspot.com is of the type:

ISFP - The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

VERY accurate I say! Head on over to the Typealyzer with your blog and see what it says about you! I'd be curious to see if all us writers get the same answer!!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!

Heroine Archetype - The Nurturer

2010-12-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Nurturer doesn't necessarily mean a mother, so we'll talk about what make up this heroine archetype today. She is the counter part to the Hero Archetype, the Best Friend.

Here is a reminder of what I said in the first post when the ladies stripped.

The Nurturer
Not necessarily "Mom" or "Suzy Homemaker" but she definitely takes care of everyone. She's the best listener and very optimisitic. She works hard to make sure everyone around her is happy.

Now, let's dig a little deeper into this type of character!

The Good Side

>Very optimistic type of person
>A great listener
>Always sees the good in people and situations (the silver lining so to speak)
>Keeps her cool in an emergency

The Bad Side

>Often suffers emotionally for a long time
>Never gives up (ever)
>Has a need to fix everything and everyone
>Too generous (door mat)

Again, some of the good side and bad side can be used the opposite way if done correctly (or incorrectly!) So when creating a character that is a nurturer, see which of all of these traits you can use to create a unique and 3D character.

Examples

> Maria in The Sound of Music (played by Julie Andrews)
> Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins (played by Julie Andrews too!)
> Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (played by Julia Roberts)

What other examples of a Nurturer type can you think of? Do you have any nurturers in your stories? Tell us about her!

Remember that these archetypes are simply the basic materials to help you mold your characters. Many characters fall under more than one archetype. Think about some of the great combinations you can create for your characters as these posts continue.

Coming Next: Heroine Archetype - The Waif

Interview of "Cornerstone Deep" by Charlene A. Wilson

2010-12-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today I have the honor of talking with author Charlene A. Wilson again about her debut novel Cornerstone Deep. She sent me a free autographed copy of this book and I read it in one afternoon! It grabbed me right from the first page and I couldn't put it down!

Here is the backcover blurb of the book

They outlive their loves by thousands of years. Reincarnation doesn't exist on this plane. Yet they continue to accept others for whatever time they have together. Save for Cole. His love for his last wife burns in his soul four centuries after her death.

When the service they render to the Lords of Cornerstone Deep brings him face to face with Anna, something unexpected happens. In a realm of silent souls, hers calls to him. He reponds with a kiss; one that joined with the spell of servitutde, binds her soul.

He trieds desperately to undue his wrong, despite the determination of the Lord to keep her.

This book really goes deep into true love - the ultimate love that I can only compare to stories like Romeo and Juliet and even The Princess Bride.

So Charlene, tell us how did the idea for Cornerstone Deep come to you?

As in my youth, I have vivid dreams and have to write about them. The core of Cornerstone Deep was taken directly from one of those dreams. Originally, this book was written as a short story and if you are one of those who followed my portfolio on writing.com or heard of it at jessenovels.com, you’ll know it as The Transformation of Anna. I received so much feedback on it that I decided to let the Shilo brothers shine and this amazing spectrum of dimensions be known.

What was the inspiration for the characters Cole, Vincent, and James aka the Shilo Brothers? And Anna/Mianna? Did they appear to you in a dream too?

Yes, the three Shilo brothers came from my dream. They were ancient beings and I, or Anna in the story, feared them. As the leader, Cole, came to me, my spirit recognized him. I translated this to being an eternal soul reincarnated. Mianna and Cole were soul mates separated by her death. Though Anna didn’t recognize Cole, her soul did.

Ahh, soul mates. That is such a wonderful thing that few people get to experience. This novel is complex in its world building and character depth you put into it. How long did it take you to write Cornerstone Deep?

The whole process took about nine months before I decided to submit it to a publisher.

Only nine months? Wow. I'm impressed. Did you self-edit this or have any beta readers? How helpful were the comments?

I had some very helpful critique partners. J.D. Brown was one of them :). I found their comments invaluable.

Great critique partners is important and I'm glad you found a few that really helped. J.D. is a great crit partner as she has been very helpful with my works too. Since this is your first novel to be published, what was your experience like with the professional editor after the story was accepted?

Class Act Books has some fantastic editors. Rochelle Weber was mine. I enjoyed her insight, advice and great personality. I found it to be a wonderful experience.

That's great that you learned from the editor and were able to work together. Now, I know that you have plans to add more to this story. Give us a little preview of Echoes, the sequel to Cornerstone Deep.

Cornerstone Deep is filled with hints of what is to come. But in Echoes families are united, albeit dreadful for some, truth from the past threatens the peace Cole has found, and Lord Dressen’s revenge proves to be more dangerous than the Shilo brothers ever expected.

Oh! That sounds like another great read. I can't wait till that is out on the shelves too so I can get a copy! Will you provide an excerpt from Cornerstone Deep to post up?

I’d be happy to.

Thanks so much Charlene for being here today and yesterday! I had a lot of fun interviewing you!

It was a pleasure being here, Ana.

Head over to Class Act Books to pick up your copy of Cornerstone Deep! The excerpt is below and one of my favorite scenes! I love the detail here.

Cornerstone Deep
Excerpt

She stared at the forms as they overtook the narrow alley. A man led center, his companions flanking. Each unified stride caused their capes to furl with controlled motion. Their focus was on her. The bleak lamp lit their approach–a dark trio. Reapers, all of them–black hair, black eyes, black cloaks. Curfew breakers are never seen again. At that moment, she believed. Anna held her breath as if to ward off the imminent danger.

They stopped a few feet from her, and the leader stepped forward.

The other men waited.

Endless time filled her as she gazed at their resolute faces. She swallowed hard to ward off the want of air.

With graceful motion, the leader lifted his hand as if setting a butterfly free. A mist, the brilliance of snow crystalline encircled her and lingered in the air.

Anna struggled to withhold a gasp.

“You have to breathe sometime.”

The voice sifted through her mind. Her lungs burned, begged for relief. Fear gripped her as she succumbed to need, and the tiny crystallites flowed past her lips.

The taste of divinity touched her senses, and the promise of bliss sang in her mind. The invitation was overwhelming, irresistible. A wave of serenity coated her emotions.

She met his gaze.

A small smile touched his coal eyes. It penetrated her soul. Opposition dissolved.

He inhaled the sparkling mist and leaned close. Cradling her face in his hands, he touched his lips to hers. They were warm and seductive, unexpectedly tender. The aroma of licorice and cream flowed through her. She accepted his attention, intoxicated by the offering. In a gentle motion, she felt the loving caress of his tongue on hers. Eternity echoed in her heart.

With a breath, the magic spell filled her. Heat steamed her lungs and filtered throughout her body. Every wave carried with it memories; the last words of her father, the aged photo of her mother she clung to as a child.

Subjection engulfed her mind. All wonderment ceased under its capture. Rapture sealed her senses and final will vanished

Interview with Author Charlene A. Wilson

2010-12-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

I am so happy I get to interview Charlene today! I first met her as "fancie" on writing.com, but did not really get to know her until later. We were connected by our common fantasy type novels and now rarely go a day without speaking to each other!

C: Thank you so much for having me here today.

A: So Charlene, let's start off with a little about yourself.

C:Well, I live in a small community in Arkansas with my two beautiful daughters. They’re my biggest fans and untiring giggle partners. I write paranormal romance and dabble in poetry and short stories. I love to watch people and having worked in many different settings—from bookkeeper to detention deputy—I’ve met a myriad of personalities. Some of these come out in the characters of my books.

A: I love watching people too. It really helps get those quirks and twitches into the story just right. What made you decide to become a writer?

C: I started writing in my teens. It wasn’t really a decision. I never had a moment when I thought, “I’m going to be a writer.” I just wrote because I loved it.

A: I love writing too, but I knew at a young age that it was what I was going to do for my 'career'. What inspired you to write?

C: I’d have to say my dreams inspired me to start writing. They were so vivid and the people so memorable that I had to give them life and make the worlds real.

A: I have very vivid dreams too and many of them have spurred stories or scenes. Your debut novel, Cornerstone Deep was released not too long ago. How has your life changed since you've been published?

C: I never realized how much goes into being published. I have a deeper respect for the publishing industry and those who work behind it all. Editors, executive editors, copy editors, printers, cover artists, marketers… The list seems endless. And I’m having to overcome my shyness. Lol. Being recognized by people I don’t know will take some getting used to.

A: I'll bet it will - but it's still pretty cool isn't it? So, about how long does it take you to write a book and what is your schedule like when writing?

C: The time it takes to write a book largely depends on my muse. Cornerstone Deep was written, revised, and edited in about nine months. My other series—four books—was written in about five months but I have yet to revise it all. Book one, Blessed of the Gods, is nearly completed then will undergo edits.

A: Wow. Lots of projects going on. With that in mind, do you character plot a great deal or have a detailed outline before you start writing or do you write on the fly?

C: Characters tend to introduce themselves to me. Lol. As I write their story, their identities show. I add little quirks and actions according to their personalities and they take shape.

A: It's the same with me. My characters show up and tell me their story. Do you have a critique group, and if so, what is your opinion on the help they give?

C: Yes, I had some wonderful help ironing out Cornerstone Deep. Some writers don’t care for critique groups, claiming they take away from their individual writing style. But I find having extra eyes and opinions very valuable.

A: I agree. Those extra eyes make a huge difference. What is the hardest part of writing that you've struggled with?

C: I would have to say keeping myself from intruding the story. I write in third person limited. Which means the story happens from one character’s point of view at a given time. I know what happens in the story and have to keep myself from spilling it out with narrative instead of letting the reader experience it through that character. Sometimes, for me, weaving the information into dialogue and actions is difficult.

A: Yes, I have to catch me from putting myself into the story too much. Some of my characters are 'me' in a sense, but they do have their own unique voice and quirks. Thanks so much Charlene for letting me interview you today!!

You can find Charlene at :

Her Website
Facebook
Twitter

Fantastic Friday Writers - Character Bible

2010-12-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week for Fantastic Friday Writers, we are talking about what things we put into our character bibles. Now a character bible is basically everything you write down or collect about your characters.

My character bibles are HUGE. As I said in last weeks post, I start off with a small interview of the character to get the basics. I type this up, print it, and put it in the notebook. (All my novels are in a 3-ring binder (for series) or a noteb0ok (standal ones) with dividers for "Characters", "Setting", "Extra Notes", and "Plot")

Then I fill out the character sketches. This takes some time as I am constantly updating it. I fill it out initially and print it. Then if some new information presents it self, I hand write it onto the page. When the page is finally cluttered with hand written notes, I'll type up a fresh copy and replace the old one. The character sketch contains things like physical description, to twitches and mannerisms, to what their favorite food is. Every detail I would ever need to know about them (and more) goes into this sheet.

Recently, I have begun to create timelines using excel. These are really interesting as they list by date (or even time) important events in my characters life - even things that happened before the novel started. I go all the way back to when they were born! (Which for elves and faeries that live a few thousand years, that's A LONG time.)

I also make timelines of the plot with each major character side by side on the same sheet. This one I actually add to the "Plot" section in my notebook, but it could be in my character bible too.

At some point, I begin creating avatars. None of my characters really like this process much, as it does make them look rather cartoonish, but I still have lots of fun with it. I print out the avatars and make notes about their style of dress in major scenes in the story. For example, I would make a note of every day attire, then notes about what they would wear to the wedding or funeral or whatever event that takes place in the story. If time permits, I might make extra avatars with the different style of clothing, making small notations of where this outfit shows up in the book. Mostly, it's not the characters' looks perse but the clothing style that I use the avatars for.

Like I said in my last post, I'll let my characters have fun outside of my head by chatting with other characters or authors. I don't print these out as they get rather long (and I use up a lot of ink with the avatars anway...) but I do have them in the folder on my computer where the actual MS is kept. (Basically, the folder on my computer is a duplicate of what is in my 3-ring binder.)

What about you? What goes into your character bible? Check out what the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers put into theirs!

I'm Gonna Do It!

2010-12-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, as the title says, I'm going to do it. I'm going to jump in feet first and hope for the best! What am I talking about you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is coming up and I plan to enter this year.

Here is what Amazon.com says about the Award:

Amazon.com, along with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. The competition will once again award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.

The Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. If you're an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to sign up for regular
contest updates. Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 24, 2011 and run through February 6, 2011.

I'm really nervous about this, as will be the first novel contest I've entered. I made this decision actually a few days ago, to enter, but I wasn't sure which novel I would submit. Logic told me to submit Burden of Prophecy from the The Faery's Tale Saga that I've been slaving over this year, but I also have Cleanse Fire from The Kinir Elite Chronicles that is at about the same point in editing as the other.

Finally, it came down to which novel did I think would make it in a contest like this. I read all the rules and visited the CreateSpace site also to learn every detail of this contest. In the end, I decided to submit Cleanse Fire.

Why? Well, BOP doesn't actually end perse. It 'stops' and book 2 picks up to continue the story since the full story spans 4 books. CF, while part of a series too , is it's own novel and could stand alone if it wanted to, seperate from the rest of the series. With that in mind, I thought CF would be the better story to submit. I might be crazy for thinking that, but hey. It enabled me to make a decision at all! LOL

What about you guys out there? Anyone else entering this huge contest? Let me know in the comments and we can cheer each other on. I'll be working my fingers to the bone from now until Jan in order to have Cleanse Fire ready in time, but it'll be worth it!

I will of course keep you all updated on my progress before and during the contest.

If you want to learn more about this, see the official contest rules.

Guest Author - Mia Hayson

2010-12-15T07:00:00.005-05:00

Today, I'm honored to have Mia Hayson visit my blog! She was able to get away from the zombies long enough to write a great post about dialogue for you guys to enjoy! Make sure you pay a visit to her blog at My Literary Jam and Toast. Beware the zombies! Glitter, hot dogs, and Lady Gaga will distract them enough for you to read her posts in peace, so stock up before you visit!

Dialogue Tag Options Other than SAID or ASKED

Hello! I'm Mia and today I'm going to talk to you about dialogue. I'm so very lucky to have the chance to guest post for Anastasia, she's awesomesauce. I'm sure you already knew that though!

Anyhoodles, let's get to the bottom of this, yes? Dialogue tags, hmmm. Mention them at a table full of writers and you're sure to have at least twenty minutes of conversation slammed down. No lie. Tell the writing police about your liberal abuse of some tags and they will shut you down. But why not mix it up a little and keep it interesting? It's totally your writing. Hands on learning is fun. Here are some things you can do to really shake things up and bring that spark back into dialogue tags, in a list form because I love lists!

1. Substitution.

Go with what's appropriate but don't be afraid to substitute words. For example "cried" can go probably anywhere if the moment requires it. When in doubt, just write cried!! That might add an interesting dynamic to the whole exchange. Perhaps don't use it all the time though. And something like "purred" might have to stay in the special locked "we're-not-writing-that-yet" box for a while yet.

2. Action.

Instead of talking shop why not discuss what's going on around the dialogue? She picked up what now? If you have no idea what tag to put, and I'm not condoning this sort of thing all the time, but why not put in a little action instead? It can add a whole new dimension to the writing if funny things are happening as they speak. Or normal things. They work too.

3. Distraction

Shouting "OMG, IS THAT A MONKEY OVER THERE?" usually works for me but what I really mean is more like a character speaks and then the narrator writes "and then I decided to shoot him" kind of thing. For shock value. For funsies. To distract the readers from the speaking and mix it up a bit.

4. Withold-itution

Don't put anything there. This is especially useful in action scenes. It really speeds things up and increases tension.

5. Observation.

I love love LOVE this one because it's something I think we all do when we listen. We're listening but we're also thinking about the person we're talking too. Perhaps one speaker mentally notes that the other's shirt is particularly fine today, maybe they're thinking about how their hair resembles a nest. Go crazy. Have fun

And there you are! Five things you can do to mix it up. Any suggestions? What do you do to make your dialogue sparkle? Whatever you do, be sure to enjoy the ride.

Interview of "Excelsior" by George H. Sirois

2010-12-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome back George! Today we are talking about his great book, Excelsior. At the end of this post are links on where you can buy this great book for yourself OR you can enter my blogiversary giveaway for a chance to win a copy!

Now to start this off, I'm going to do a mini-review, since I had the honored privelage to read this book as George gifted it to me. (Best holiday present EVER!)

Excelsior tells the story of Matthew Peters, a somewhat lonely teen drudging through high school. He lives in a world he created from vivid dreams about Excelsior and the epic adventures that befall him. At least, he thought he created it. When one of his comic characters shows up, live and in person, Matthew soon realizes that his dreams were really memories - and Excelsior is a real person from Denab IV!

I was immediately drawn into this story from the first line and it kept me hooked until the very end! With action and more action in this story, it's sure to keep you on the edge of your seat, just like it did me. I read it in one shot, fearing that if I put it down, I would miss a vital piece of information! The world of Denab IV that we visit in this story is truly magical. George put exquisite amount of work and detail into describing the new world and the culture of the Denarians and Krunations. I was sucked into the world and instantly felt a connection to the Denarians and their fight for survival.

I was most drawn to Matthew of course, because I could completely relate with him. Becoming lost in a story and almost obsessed with characters the way Matthew does with this comic, reminds me so much of myself in High School it's not even funny! There is one moment where Matthew has his nose a few inches from the page he's working on, not paying attention in class and I instantly remembered practically the same moment as it happened to me!

All parts of this book pulled me in and I became totally immersed into Matthew's adventure! This is one of the best books I've read in many years and I highly recommend it to anyone - not just sci-fi lovers like myself. I think anyone will fall in love with this book because of it's simple yet complex twists that just suck you right in!

Okay, that ended up longer than I thought! Now, I get to ask George a few questions about the book and his experience with self-publishing.

Okay, George, to start this off today, tell us how did the idea for Excelsior come to you?

I originally created Excelsior in 1992, when I wanted to add someone new to my universe of characters. I wanted to bring in someone special, someone with mythic characteristics. After watching the John Boorman film Excalibur, I wanted to use a sword as a starting point and added a superhero element to the new character, combining elements from Jesus Christ, King Arthur and Optimus Prime. I always liked how the word “Excelsior” sounded and I thought that would be the perfect name for this guy. In the next two years, his backstory came into focus when I was encouraged by my English teacher to write more about him.

That's wonderful that you had such a supportive English teacher. It seems that you have multiple elements help you inspire this story. The combination is truly amazing! Especially in your character development and details. What was the inspiration for the character Matthew? And Jason?

Matthew started out as someone I wanted to use to honor the memory of my cousin Matthew Henkel. He passed away five years ago, one week before his 25th birthday, but before he left us, he accomplished more in his life than most people who live to their 70s or 80s. Matt was the ultimate example of someone who looked very ordinary but did extraordinary things.

I didn’t want to take actual moments from his life, so instead I used Matt’s life as subtext to match what Matthew Peters goes through, how he was never looked at as a hero and yet became one of the greatest ever seen. When it came to the backstory of the character, I used elements from my own life such as the mentioning of having an office in his closet and the conversation he has with Mrs. Webb. (That was a true story. My English teacher gave me two points of extra credit because of the journal entries that mentioned Excelsior and the other characters in my universe.)

Jason was a character born from necessity. When I started developing the story with a 17-year-old high school senior in mind for Matthew Peters (he was originally in his 30s and becoming a superstar in the comic book industry before I thought the Young Adult genre made for a better fit) I couldn’t fathom the idea of Klierra telling Matthew’s parents about the hero he is destined to be. Plus, since I wanted to add in the mythic elements from Joseph Campbell’s writing, it worked better for the story if his parents were out of the picture.

But he had to have SOME kind of parental figure, so I brought in an uncle who has a lot of problems of his own while trying to be “cool” to his nephew. I used the name Jason as a tribute to my friend and cover artist Jason Goodman, since it was his web comic that inspired me to have Matthew writing and drawing his own for Excelsior.

At the end of Excelsior, George wrote a beautiful "Afterward" explaining more about his cousin, Matthew Henkel. It made me cry and I fel honored to learn even a little about such a great man. Since I'm sure this story was a bit emotional for you to put together, how long did it take you to write Excelsior?

After writing the first draft in only 30 days, I was under the belief that I just needed to touch up the book a bit and then shop it around. I got shocked back to reality when a good friend and former co-worker JeriAnn Geller got as far as Chapter 1 before she told me, “There’s a lot of work to do.” We spent over two months completely overhauling that chapter, and during that time we decided that she would come aboard as my editor. After that, it took almost two years of re-writes before the book was ready to go.

Good friends like that can really bring you back to reality with crits! It's great that you had someone so honest to help your improve. What made you decide to go the self-publishing route?

I was originally going to seek out a traditional publisher, but I felt way too attached to the character (can you blame me?), and I felt it best to hold onto his rights and still get the book out there into the world.

I'm sure you're not the only one that has felt that way. Since you had to find your own, what was your experience like working with an editor?

Working with JeriAnn was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. She was the ideal editor, meaning that she was incredibly helpful without doing all the work. Right when we started, she was asking me questions about Denab IV, about the Denarians& Krunations, about their lifestyles, all these elements that I never thought of in the eighteen years that I had known Excelsior. By asking me these questions, she forced me to come up with a much more complex mythology than I imagined. It was great.

That is great that she was able to help you breath so much life into the story. It really shows as I was immediately drawn to the culture of the Denarians and Krunations. Now, since you self-published this, did you share Excelsior with a critique group or beta readers before the editor saw it? Or did you self-edit?

The beta readers came into play during the last rounds of editing. My wife was the first one to read the whole thing cover-to-cover, and her suggestions were fantastic – especially for Chapter 1. After she had done her part, our proofreader Susan Yacker came aboard and helped out with some re-wording here and there.

After that, over two days, we read the book out loud and marked up all the necessary changes. JeriAnn and I read through it again to see how the changes worked, and at the beginning of June, we finally agreed that the book was ready to go.

Oh! You're so lucky your wife read your work. I can't get my hubby to read my fantasy stories to save my life. But, it's just not his thing. I did however recommend Excelsior to him, since sci-fi is a love of his. Do you feel the marketing and promotion you have to do is harder than if you had a traditional publisher? Why or why not?

It is harder, since working with a traditional publisher would have allowed me access to local Barnes& Noble and Borders stores and I wouldn’t have to try and sell my book to each of the indie bookstores. But at the same time, I would still be doing the blog tours to promote Excelsior no matter how this was to be published. Even if I didn’t have to do it, I still would since I knew I was going to have a lot of fun with it.

I bet all that work is worth it though in the end. Especially if you write more about Excelsior. Speaking of which, will there be a sequel to this story or a continuation of some sort?

There’s not only a sequel in mind, but a Part 3 to finish what I’m now calling “The Excelsior Journeys.” The end of Part 3 leads into another series of stories, and that one’s going to be really special for me since I get to introduce to the world the very characters that started out as squares and rectangles in 1985.

Oh fabulous! I can't wait to be able to read that too! Is there an excerpt that people can read to give them a taste of this wonderful story?

Absolutely. You can read Chapter 1 of “Excelsior” on my web site, by going here: Excelsior 2010: Chapter One. Afterwards, you can click on the Amazon link at the bottom of the page and purchase the eBook for 99 cents (price change after December 31) or the paperback for $13.95.

Thanks so much George for coming back to answer more questions for us! It has been a joy to have you here on my blog for these two days! I look forward to reading more of Excelsior for sure!

It was a pleasure, Anastasia. Thank you again.

Interview with Author George H. Sirois

2010-12-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

While on Twitter the other day a friend of mine Eisley Jacobs re-tweeted something about a sci-fi writer asking for blogs to add to this blog tour schedule. I clicked the link and landed at the blog for Excelsior, a novel written by George H. Sirois. I was immediately intrigued by the comments others made about the book but still wasn't sure about joining the tour.

I had never volunteered for such a thing before and didn't know if George would even be willing since he didn't know who I was at all. But, I thought what the heck and left a comment.

And then, the most amazing thing happened! George tweeted me and offered to send me a free copy of Excelsior! He agreed to appear on my blog too! So, I got the book and even had to download an epub reader in order to read it.

And OH MY GOSH! The world weaved by George here is simply amazing!

We'll talk more about Excelsior tomorrow, but today I have the honored privilege of asking George a few questions about himself as an author.

So George, to start this off, tell the blog readers out there a little bit about yourself.

Well, I grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York and moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1988. I’ve been a lover of science-fiction all my life, with a lot of credit going to my dad for introducing me to Star Wars& Star Trek. He made sure I was home for the HBO premiere of Star Wars, he and my mom always provided me with plenty of Star Wars toys every Christmas, and he would make sure to tape specific episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series that aired at midnight on WPIX-11, when I had to be in bed.

At first, I would jot down ideas for different battles I would play out with my Star Wars characters, but as I got older – and was introduced to TransFormers in 1984 – I wanted to create my own world of characters. So in 1985, some friends and I started drawing a group of robotic characters inspired by the movies and shows we loved at the time. There was very little detail to them in both name and design; they were as complex as a square for a head and several rectangles for the body, arms and legs. But at the same time, I had a feeling that, even though the definitive versions of these characters were a long way away, they had potential to reach an audience.

When I went to Marymount Manhattan College from 1994 – 1998, my love of writing really took off. I was there to study Theatre with a concentration in Acting, but I found myself gravitating more toward my writing classes in my junior and senior years. When I took “Intro to Creative Writing” and “Writing for Television,” I brought my old characters from 1985 into my assignments and my classmates and professors really responded to them. So my feeling back then seemed to be justified for the time being, but in the next few years, I worked on other projects instead.

My first book, “From Parts Unknown,” came out in 2002 through iUniverse after it was suggested that I self-publish that story instead of seek a traditional publisher. It wasn’t that the story was lacking, it was just catering to a very niche market. An agent wouldn’t exactly see dollar signs with a sci-fi / action / comic book character take on pro wrestling. That same year, my friend Joe Pospisil and I co-wrote the book to a children’s musical called “Halloween at Belvedere: A Monster Musical Adventure.” That show became a big hit in Central Park when we and our friends performed it on Halloween weekend from 2002 – 2004. We brought it back one more time this past Halloween, which was especially fulfilling since we hadn’t done it for so long.

By the time I started writing this novel, I had been a weekly columnist in the Movies/TV zone for 411Mania.com, an independent pop culture web site that had gained a very strong following. I wasn’t writing fiction, but the columns and news reports allowed my writing to improve since I had to constantly write something twice a week, and I realized that I worked very well with deadlines. I retired my columns at 411Mania, but I still write there occasionally with DVD reviews or roundtable discussions.

Wow. You're life sounds so much more interesting than mine! With a life so full of adventure, what made you decide to become a writer?

When I moved to Richmond, I kept working with the characters my friends and I created in grade school, and adding more and more detail to them, changing their backstories and making them cybernetic instead of completely robotic. It got to a point where I couldn’t draw them anymore and do them justice in the form of page-long comic strips, with which I started filling pages in notebooks. So the writing was started purely out of necessity. I wanted to tell the stories that were really gaining momentum in my head, but I didn’t have the artistic talent to tell them in a comic form, so instead of using the same notebooks to make comic strips, I started filling them with short stories with the occasional piece of accompanying artwork.

Necessity is why I write for sure. I have to do it or I'll go insane. I'm inspired by music a lot when I'm writing, that helps to calm the chaos of plots in my head. What inspires you to write?

Two major elements: movies and music. I always considered myself to have a cinematic mind, meaning that I could visualize major moments in my stories as if they were on the big screen. And because of that, I would sift through my film score collection and find the right piece of music to match what I was putting together in my head. If the music worked, then it would enhance the idea and be so strong that it would give me chills. After that came the hard part: getting what was in my head down on my computer screen and making sure the reader could feel the same rush that I did, relying solely on the text without the music or the images to help them.

I think that’s why I always read movie tie-in novelizations when I grew up. I would have seen the movie first, and then read the book to see if what was written could match what I had seen. Novelizations take something cinematic and make it literary, and if I could pull that off with what I write, it would be a success. If I couldn’t, then it would be a failure.

I think you really pulled it off with Excelsior. I can't wait to see that as a movie, as I'm sure it will get there! How has your life changed since you've been published?

Well, since I took the self-publishing route, my life hasn’t changed very much. I still have a day job that I’m very proud of, my wife and I are still doing our best to make ends meet, I’m still correcting people on the pronunciation of my last name and my mother’s still telling me that me being a lawyer isn’t such a bad idea.

But there’s one element that has changed my life for the better since this book came out. I’m hearing from people that I otherwise wouldn’t have known, and they’re telling me how much they enjoyed reading “Excelsior,” and how they want to know what happens next. It makes me feel like a proud parent since this character and I have such a long history together. I’ve often joked to friends that if Excelsior were literally born when I wrote the first story about him, he’d be in college now.

Ya know, I never thought about how my character would age if I thought of them as children that grow up. I'd have teenagers by now with a few of mine, which his rather scary thought! Speaking of time, how long does it take for you to write a book and what is your schedule like when writing?

In the case of “Excelsior,” the first draft was done from June 1 to June 30 of 2008. At the end of 2007, I read Chris Baty’s book, “No Plot? No Problem!,” which introduced me to National Novel Writing Month. I couldn’t write the draft in November, since that not only has my Thanksgiving, but also my wife’s birthday and our wedding anniversary. I couldn’t just say, “I want to write a novel” on top of that, so I decided to go with June instead.

The schedule for writing that first draft was simple: whenever I had time, I would open up the document and get to work. I had three computers on hand for it – the laptop, my desktop and my work computer. When I had free time at the office, I would fire out a couple pages just to keep up with my daily deadlines. I even took the laptop with me when my friends and I went to a horror film convention in late June. The whole month, I maybe fell behind a day or two at the most, but by 11:35 pm on June 30, I wrote “The End” and finished the challenge.

For any other writing, I simply write when I have the time and motivation. I need to set more strict deadlines for myself just so I can get the same kind of production that I had when I wrote the first draft of this novel.

That's great that you could still do the NaNo challenge when you had time. For some reason I just can't do the same challenge in any other month besides November. Luckily, my husband's brithday falls on the 30th, so I don't have to worry about his day ontop of writing too much. Do you character plot a great deal or have a detailed outline before you start writing or do you write on the fly?

I had this particular story sitting in my head for over fifteen years by the time I started the first draft. I really liked the concept of Excelsior being a symbiotic lifeform, an entity to enhance the host and give them the tools necessary to accomplish what needs to be done. I knew the basic storyline, how it would start and how it would end. What I didn’t know was the in-between, so it became a journey of my own to see how I would get the story from Point A to Point B.

It was only during the second week of writing the first draft when I re-introduced Grannik& Radifen and created the characters of Zorribis, Karini& Wilitar, since I was stuck after I finished writing Chapter 4 and needed to do SOMETHING with the story. So I brought the reader back to Denab IV and basically sent in the cavalry. These people not only assisted Klierra with Matthew’s training, but they assisted me with moving the story along. I’m not sure I would have done this if I didn’t write that first draft on the fly.

With the sequel, however, I thought it would be best if I did a full outline.

I did the same with my faery series. I wrote book 1 and part of book 2 on the fly then realized I needed to outline the rest of the series or I was going to lose myself in the details. It's great that you can use both methods to your advantage. Now, when you were 'done' writing your story, did you have a critique group, and if so, what is your opinion on the help they give?

I used to be a part of a large critique group, but there was very little focus on it and even less weekly participants. A couple of us decided it would be best to break away from the group - which quickly scattered anyway - and the two that were left proved to be incredibly enthusiastic about writing. Both of them took on the NaNoWriMo challenge and both successfully completed first drafts of their own novels. Their opinions on my book were also very helpful, specifically for the first few chapters.

It is sad when crit groups fall apart. I had a similar experience. It's great that you found a few people that were dedicated to your work to help you critique. What is the hardest part of writing that you've struggled with?

For me, it was all about patience. There were so many times when I wanted to say, “That’s a wrap” and send the book out for publishing. But JeriAnn wasn’t ready to agree until we had gone through every line in every chapter. We even read the book out loud - me, her and another friend of ours who took on the mantle of proofreader, Susan Yacker - and still found a whole lot to fix. You should have seen the manuscript, just bleeding red ink.

So yes, patience was the key. If I didn’t have it, then the book wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is now.

Patience is important in this industry for sure! Thanks so much George for stopping by on your blog tour! If you want to learn more about George and his great book, Excelsior, stop by his blog.

Thanks so much for allowing me to play in your sandbox.

Of course! It was my pleasure! Tomorrow I ask George more questions about Excelsior specifically, so tune in for a mini-review from me and more questions about the book itself.

Happy Birthday Labotomy of a Writer!

2010-12-10T07:00:00.011-05:00

That's right ladies and gentlemen! The 11th marks the 1 year anniversary of this blog. Okay, I really started it in like June, but I didn't really begin blogging until Dec 11, 2009. So, that's what I'm going with.

To kick off this great birthday celebration, I have going to give away some totally awesome prizes! Yes indeedy.

But first, let's talk about how to enter!

First thing, you have to comment on this post to get your name into the hat at all. The list below tells you how many times your name is entered into the hat, after you make a comment. (As in, the comment alone doesn't get you an entry into the drawing! It's the "entry fee" if you will.)

1. Followers of this blog before this post get 2 entries.
2. Any new followers get 1 entry.
3. If you tweet about this give away you get 2 entries. You MUST use the hashtag #WriterLabotomy or it won't count! Don't forget to link to this post!
4. Writing a blog post about this give away earns you 3 entries. (Link in comment on this post)
5. Having a note about the give away in the sidebar of your blog earns you 2 entries. (Link in comment on this post)

Sounds easy enough right? Okay, so now we'll talk about the prizes because that's the bestest part after all! (Yes, I just said bestest. It's awesome. Admit it.)

Shiny Prize #1

An e-book copy of Cornerstone Deep by the lovely Charlene A. Wilson!

Shiny Prize #2

An e-book copy of Vampire Vacation by the wonderful C.J. Ellisson!

In fact, I'll be giving away a free e-book copy of this great book every month! So, keep checking here for details each month on how to win this book!

Shiny Prize #3

An e-book copy of Dance on Fire by the great James Garcia Jr.

Shiny Prize #4

A e-book copy of CassaStar by the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh

Shiny Prize #5 (New Addition!)

An e-book copy of Excelsior by the fabulous George H. Sirois

Shiny Prize #6

A $15 dollar Amazon gift card from yours truly!

I told you the prizes were the bestest! I'll literally throw all your names in the hat and the little man will choose the winner! Enter by Dec 30 at midnight (EST). Little man will draw the winner and I'll post it up on the 31st!

Good luck!

Oh, and I have to say a super special thank you to Charlene A. Wilson, C.J. Ellisson, James Garcia, Jr., George H. Sirois, and Alex J. Cavanaugh for allowing me to give away copies of their awesome books!

Heroine Archetype - The Free Spirit

2010-12-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ahh the Free Spirit. The carefree girl that rides on the wind!

Here is a reminder of what I said in the first post when the ladies stripped.

The Free Spirit
This woman dances to the beat of her own drum. She is very playful and fun loving. She stops to smell the flowers whenver she caan and admires the colors of the world. Ruled by pure emotion, she follows her heart rather than her head.

Now, let's really get to know the Free Spirit!

The Good Side

>Full of charm
>Extremely helpful to others
>Full of seemingly endless energy
>She has great instincts, her gut leads her right
>Sees everything and everyone just as they are

The Bad Side

>Very often late for things
>Whimsical, head in the clouds
>Doesn't make good or solid decisions
>Can hurt those that love her as she lives moment to moment without thinking first
>Doesn't conform without a fight (a loud one)

Remember, some of the good traits can be bad ones and vise versa depending on how you want to use them. Take them to extremes and see what happens!

Examples

> Cher Horowitz in Clueless (played by Alicia Silverstone)
> Dharma Finkelstein Montgomery in Dharma & Greg (played by Jenna Elfman)
> Lucielle Ball in I Love Lucy

What other examples of a Free Spirit can you think of? Do you have a Free Spirit in one of your stories?

Remember that these archetypes are simply the basic materials to help you mold your characters. Many characters fall under more than one archetype. Think about some of the great combinations you can create for your characters as these posts continue.

Coming Next: Heroine Archetype - The Nurturer

Markings and Tattoos

2010-12-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

Today, we're going to talk about one of my favorite things - tattoos!!

I love tattoos - in fact I have 5 of them with plans for many more! Wanna see? (I love how my skin tone changes in each picture....it doesn't do that in real life, I promise.)

(left arm)

(right arm)

(outside right ankle)

(left shoulder blade)

(inside left ankle)

Also, I hate that the images are so fuzzy, as it makes my tatt's look all faded. But they're not! They still look brand new in fact, even though some are going on 6 or 7 years old.

Anyway, I didn't write this post just to show off my lovely tatts (though yes, it was part of it!). When writing, and your character has a tattoo, the same amount of thought must go into the design, location, etc as if you were getting a tattoo yourself.

Think about why your character would get the tattoo. They just like them? Is there a special reason, like to remind them of someone or some event? What does the tattoo mean to the character?

The dragon is the start of a full back piece! The one I have now represents the future (crystal ball). My other shoulder will have a dragon holding a scroll (the past). A third dragon will be in the middle of my back holding an hour glass on its side (the present). The words "The moment is now" written in Germanic Runes will be across my lower back. (Okay, I have to say, that's an awesome tattoo!) So, what symolism does your characters' tattoo have? A hidden meaning maybe or just a momento of a loved one? Perhaps they just like it! (The cross and rose on my arm is an example of two symbols I just like)

And of course, deciding where to put the tattoo is just as important. All of my tattoos are in places where I can cover them up with sleeves or long pants for professional reasons. Granted, now that my work is online, I don't have to worry about it too much anymore.

The culture of your world can affect the tattoo choice as well. Are tattoos only given to those of a certain status? Or perhaps people with tattoos are criminals or stricken with some sort of disease and it is a way to mark them.

I actually get disappointed if I have a character that doesn't have a tattoo! But, not every character will have the personality or the want to get one. So make sure the right type of character has a tattoo. Yes, anyo type of person could have a tattoo, so if your character does have one, make sure it fits them. My Dad also has tattoos but I can promise you, he'd never have a little moon like I do! (Unelss it was holding an AK-47 but that's another story.)

Recap: Think about location, design, meaning and your characters' personality before making a tattoo a 'permanent' thing!

Didn't think tattoos were so complicated did you? Haha!

Heroine Archetype - The Seductress

2010-12-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Seductress is also called the Bad Girl, the counterpart to the Bad Boy (obviously).

Here is a reminder of what I said in the first post when the ladies stripped.

The Seductress
This lady knows what she wants and gets it - her way. She sizes up every person whenever she enters a room. Her charming smile hides her distrust in people. Often mysterious and manipulative. Her survivial means she'll go to any lengths to make sure she comes out on top. Cynicism rules her actions.

Now, let's dig a little deeper!

The Good Side

>Is often cynical
>Has an understanding of her own and other people's motives
>Often uses her sex appeal to get what she wants (but not necessarily sex)
>Easily manipulates any man (especially those in her way)
>Her eye is always on the prize

The Bad Side

>Often comes from a poor family and trying to move up the chain
>Easily holds a grudge - for a long, long time
>Will stab anyone in the back to get her way or reach her goal
>Sort of a loner, doesn't have many friends
>Very possessive of her property (or people)

Now of course some of the good points could be considered bad if taken too far and the bad ones can be considered good if done the right way. It's fun to play with the traits that way, especially when it can create a plot twist or two!

Examples

> Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (played by Linda Hamilton)
> Selene in Underworld (played by Kate Beckinsale)
> Eva Perón in Evita (played by Madonna)

What other examples of a Seductress or Bad Girl can you think of? Do you have one of these types of girls in your stories? Tell us about her!

Remember that these archetypes are simply the basic materials to help you mold your characters. Many characters fall under more than one archetype. Think about some of the great combinations you can create for your characters as these posts continue.

Coming Next: Heroine Archetype - The Free Spirit

Office Tour and Character Cafe (Vlog)

2010-12-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Today, I decided to give you guys a tour of my office. Yes, it's spic and span just for this occasion, but normally, there are papers and candy wrappers scattered all over the place! Enjoy!

Important Links:

Guest Post at Elizabeth Mueller's Blog
Guest Post at A Gypsy Writer Blog
The Character Cafe Blog
Cornerstone Deep by Charlene A. Wilson (Seriously! Go buy it! I'll have a proper review later this week or next week.)

People Mentioned in this Post:

Fantastic Friday Writers - Connecting with Your MCs

2010-12-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! It is time for another Fantastic Friday Writers post! This one is one of my favorite things to talk about, as many of my older followers would know.

How do I connect with my main characters on a personal level?

Most all of my stories are very character driven. My characters come to me and say "Hey, I have a story I want to tell you." Then I just write it down as they tell me. I do think of plots and play the "What if" game, but usually those ideas continue to sit in the idea notebook. It seems I can't write any story until I have the characters talking to me about it first.

In order to get to know my characters after they initially introduce themselves, I do a short interview to get the basics. You can see an example of one here that I did for a blogfest about a character that showed up unexpectantly in one of my stories.

Then I sit down and write a very detailed character sketch. I did a few posts a while back about the character worsheet I write up and you can find the first one here. The character sketch also includes an avatar that I make for a general visual of what the character looks like. Sometimes I might also search for images for the character - either a protrait or just a symbol that represents them. I cut them out and glue them into the margins of the character sketch sheet.

Recently, I have also done timelines for the characters. The timeline (done with an excel sheet) covers every moment of their life from when they were born. Now, I don't get crazy detailed with this, but it does help to keep track of important things like graduations, weddings, or even a time when they broke their arm. You can read more details of the timeline setup I use here.

After the 'paperwork' is out of the way, I just sit down and talk to my character. I'm usually writing the story at this point. I always learn new things about my characters as time goes along. I take notes of anything new I learn that might be important or if it spurs an idea for a scene. Then I add in the scene or idea as I'm finishing the first draft or I wait until I'm editing.

I think the most fun I have with getting to know my characters is simply talking to them. My best friend Jen and I also have 'character parties' where she brings her characters and I bring mine and we watch the fun unfold as they interact with each other. It's great fun and I've learned a great deal about my characters this way - since it's all on the fly and in a situation that mostly likely won't happen in my actual book. (Esp considering my characters are faeries and her are vampires.)

But it is still information I can use. It helps me really get to the bottom of who and what their motivations are. Jen and I have way too much fun with this actually, and we even created a blog where our characters can let it all out. It originally was called Life and Times of Imaginary People on wordpress. But we have since moved it to blogger and changed the name to "The Character Cafe"

My characters are very real to me and they all have become some of my very best friends. I'm a firm believer that if you don't love your characters, than neither will your readers. And what better way to fall in love with them, then to talk to them and REALLY get to know them?

Now, I do conduct a little bit of research into some of my characters. I do this in order to try and break the "norm". Like my faeries for example don't help things grow or change the seasons and they are nothing like Tinker Bell or the ones in Fern Gully. I did this on purpose.

How do you connect personally with your MCs?

Don't forget to hop over to the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers!

Twas the Night Before NaNo Poem

2010-12-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's now the day after NaNo and while everyone is recovering, enjoy reading the NaNo Poem I wrote for the occasion.

How did everyone fair for NaNo anyway? I reached my goal and then some with a total of 53,549 words written! *throws confetti* Congrats to everyone to gave it a go this year! You're a winner just for trying!

Twas the Night Before NaNo

Twas the night before NaNo and all through the house,
every creature was stirring, including the mouse.
The pencils were sharpened and pointed with care,
the keyboard prepared for a lot of wear.
The paper was stacked all neat on the desk,
ready for the ultimate writing test.
With my butt in the chair, pencil in hand
Muse and I ready for a long writing stand.
First one page then two, and straigt on to three,
day one was epic, the words flowing free!
Day two arrived with a flourish of ink
I barely had time to breathe or to think.
Third day came and went with more on the page,
the plot unfolding with the actors center stage.
Day four flew in, I had to get crafty.
the light of my muse did dwindle, you see.
And then on day five, I realized too late,
it had been a few days since I last ate!
The sixth day I gathered supplies so sweet!
No longer will I forget to drink or eat.
Now Fruit Snacks! Now Chocolate! Now Candy and Chips!
On Soda! On Coffee! On Napkins for Drips!
Back to the computer, with hands on the keys,
with food and drink near, I can write with ease.
Days seven and eight flew by in a flash.
I prayed my hard drive would not die or crash.

I wrote with a frenzy, ignoring my chores;

I had no time to play or head outdoors.

The days melded together, lost track of time.

My house and child now covered in grime.

The words flowed out with no end in sight

as I wrote the story of characters' plight.

My fingers cramped up but still I wrote.

Continued to pour coffee down my throat.

Ten days to go, day twenty was here

but then my muse no longer appeared!

I panicked and cried. What would I do?

My word count stalled at forty thousand and two.

More caffeine! My mind demanded of me.

Oh Muse return! became my constant plea.

Day twenty-one, I rested my brain

in hopes inspiration returned again.

Day twenty-two, I was back in the game,

but the previous day filled me with shame.

I gave up sleep, I had to write more

and then suddenly it was day twenty-four!

Twenty-five, twenty-six, I fought the good fight,

as I sweated and bled long into the night.

Twenty-seven and eight were gone too fast;

Only two more days left, I thought aghast!

Day twenty-nine, was filled with panic

as my writing went from frenzy to manic.

Day thiry came and all I had to say:

I did it! I made it! I wrote fifty k!

Now that it's done, I yell with all my might,

Happy NaNo to all and to all a goodnight!

Will I Be Pretty?

2010-11-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

Enough said.

10K in a Day Blogfest Results

2010-11-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! How was your Thanksgiving for my fellow people in the States? Black Friday go okay? I was safe (and smart) and stayed inside on Friday! Besides, I'm not a shopper type of person anyway.

Now, on to the real reason of this post! Yesterday from midnight to midnight, a few of my new friends and I participated in the 10K in a Day Blogfest on Twitter. It was a lot of fun! Today, we are posting excerpts from what we wrote yesterday!

Guess what? I got an amazing 10,122 words written yesterday!!!! That brings my NaNo total to 53,549 and I still have a few days left!

How did you guys do?

Here is my excerpt! I hope you enjoy! Remember it's first draft so don't rip it to shreds too much!

Excerpt from "Tutelage of Mortality" Book 2 of The Faery's Tale Saga

Drache lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. He balanced his weight on one elbow, and smoothed her hair with his hand. Her blue and green eyes looked at him in adoration. She was absolutely beautiful. He ached to be at home with plenty of faes running around the castle. Faes with blonde hair and blue-green eyes like hers. Her chime-like laughter and bright smile.

"I love you."

The corner of her mouth curled up. "You do?"

He nodded. "Very much so."

"I love you too."

His lips brushed over hers in a feather light kiss. He gently nipped her bottom lip before deepening the kiss. Her lips tasted sweeter than anything he had known before. She definitely was addictive; but he did not mind the addiction.

The door to their room burst open, banging against the wall. Ten year old Karina raced into the room giggling madly. She froze in the center of the room to stare at her brother and his wife.

"Are you kissing? That's so gross!"

Drache burst into laughter. "Why is that?"

Karina's face turned serious as she leaned forward. "Cooties," she whispered.

Drache and Rosyani both laughed, clutching each other in their amusement.

The young fae put her hands on her hips. "Well, it's true."

"Maybe I want cooties." Drache chuckled.

"Gross!"

Drache and Rosyani continued to laugh as they sat up and threw their feet to the floor. "Now what were you giggling about when you rushed in?"

"Uncle Cadmus and I are playing tag."

Cadmus jumped into the room and growled. Karina screamed in delight and raced under his legs out of the room. Cadmus shot them a cheesy grin before he ran after the young fae.

Go check out the other excerpts posted by everyone that participated!

Heroine Archetype - The Boss

2010-11-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

As promised a few weeks ago when I had the guys strip and the ladies show the goods, I'll be posting more details about the hero, heroine, villian, and villianess archetypes. Today, we'll be talking about one of the Heroine archetypes - The Boss.

For a reminder, here is what I said about the boss in the first post:

The Boss
A take charge type of woman accepting nothing but respect. She doesn't care of she gets a few people upset on her rise to the top. Succeeding in her goals is the most important thing to her.

Let's dig a little deeper and talk about the good and bad side of The Boss. I also mentioned a few examples for you, to help you really understand who the Boss is and how her roles fits into the world.

The Good Side

> Head strong
> Full of strength and power
> It's her way or no way at all.
> Wants results yesterday!
> Resolves any conflict quickly
> In total control of any environment she's in (and some she's not)
> Works on her own schedule
> Quick to make decisions

The Bad Side

> Avoids time restraints and other people's deadlines.
> Avoids situations and places where she has no control as much as possible.
> Uncomfortable (nervous) in situations where she has no control (might even act out in anger).

Some of the good side points can be considered bad too, if they lead to unsavory results! Think of the conflict you can create combing this type of heroine with any of the heros or with a juicy plot twist!

Examples

> Cleopatra (a perfect example of a Boss)
> Queen Elizabeth (in real history and as played by Cate Blanchett in the movie Elizabeth)
> Murphey Brown (as played by Candice Bergen)

What other examples of a Boss can you think of (besides yourself)? Do you have a Boss in your stories? Tell us about her!

Remember that these archetypes are simply the basic materials to help you mold your characters. Many characters fall under more than one archetype. Think about some of the great combinations you can create for your characters as these posts continue.

Coming Next: Heroine Archetype - The Seductress

Guest Author - Anne Rainey

2010-11-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a super awesome guest, Anne Rainey. I stumbled upon Anne's blog, Three Wicked Writers (plus two) through a Twitter post. The post I read was astounding! Anne has graciously allowed me to repost it here for you all to enjoy! It really is filled with great advice and words of wisdom. Thanks so much Anne!

A Few Words on Professionalism

Over the years I've seen authors do a lot of crazy things online. Today I'm going to talk about just a few of them.

Being an author means that a lot of my business is conducted online. This means the internet is essentially my office. I communicate with my boss (editor) via email. I interact with customers (readers) via blogs and social networking sites. Instead of drinks after work with coworkers, I socialize with fellow authors through private Yahoo groups and Instant Messengers. As in any business, it's important to be professional. You don't roll into work and start cursing and ranting to the room at large about your crappy paycheck. You don't shout from the rooftops when you have grievances about the company you work for. If we're unhappy about such issues, we go to our boss and discuss the matter in a civilized and intelligent manner.

However, there are some authors who either don't care or simply forget that the internet is indeed a public place. Anyone who happens across your name can read everything you say. So, I'll start by sharing a few things I've personally seen or experienced that left me dumbfounded. A quick note. The review site references below are things I've come face to face with over the last year and half as I do happen to work behind the scenes of a review site.

Text speak. I’m amazed at how many use text speak to send a message to a review site. Authors, words are your business. Do not use 'ur' in the body of an email when requesting a review.

Complaining about your publisher(s) on Facebook. Social networking sites have never been and will never be the proper place to air your dirty laundry. If you have legitimate issues take them to the appropriate people. Your agent, editor, publisher. If that fails, if nothing is resolved, then consider talking privately with other authors with the same publisher. Discuss how best to proceed. If there are real problems with this publisher (Dorchester for example) then clearly something has to be done. A lawyer might be required. If you're concerned about other authors being duped by this same publisher, then let places like P & E know what's going on. Talk to Publisher's Weekly and Dear Author. It's definitely good to get the word out, but do it the right way.

Royalty whining. Again, going on and on about your low royalties on Facebook or Twitter is not going to sell more books. I've personally seen authors plead with their Facebook friends, 'please buy my book'. That's so far from professional it should be a given.

Angry emails. Please, think before hitting send. Stop and breathe before leaving nasty comments to reviewers because they didn’t LOVE your book. I can't believe how often this happens. I've had my share of blah reviews, but firing off a message filled with curse words to the review site is not a smooth move. One important thing to remember here is that reviewers are avid readers. They review because it helps feed their addiction for books. They have friends. They blog. Do you really want to shoot off at the mouth because you got a 3 instead of a 5? Still, if you feel this strongly about a review site, maybe all the reviews you get from them are tepid or lame, then send a note to your publisher and ask them to stop sending your books to that site, but do it in a civilized way. If the review site is buying your books and reviewing them on their own, then just suck it up and count it as one more book sold. In the end, remember that a bad review is not the end of the world. We all get them.

Read before asking. I've seen this happen on my publisher author loops, often. So many of us are in a hurry and we tend to fire of a message filled with questions to our publisher before taking the time to see if the question was already answered elsewhere. For instance, a new way to receive your royalty statements can be confusing. However, check the publisher's business loop, or ask on the author loop before filling your publisher's inbox with questions that she/he already answered. The publishers I write for are busy people. They're working on statements, formatting, marketing, new releases, etc. Don't hold that process up because you failed to do a quick check first.

Cursing. I have a dirty mouth sometimes, I admit it. However, I save those nasty words for private email. Using the F word over and over in your status updates is beyond annoying and you're likely to offend someone. Readers, editors, agents. Clean it up. Most of us want editors and agents to take us seriously. When they read your disgusting *&%$#@$ status updates she/he is definitely not taking you seriously.

That massive backlist. This is not something I see often, but a few authors do this so regularly that I'm betting any reviewer reading this will automatically know exactly who I'm talking about. Please, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT send a review site all 50 books in your backlist for review, then send them all again a month later when they don’t ALL get reviewed right away. And then again a month after that. And a month after that. I will not use names, but if you're reading this please please stop. They're in the database already!

Read those instructions. Every review site has a list of instructions on how to submit a book for review. They need certain information and they can't list your book until they get that information. So, sending a review site 50% of the info about your book and making them hunt down the other 50%, and then not even bothering to have said 50% on your website, yeah, that's incredibly annoying. We authors want those reviews completed yesterday, but that can't happen if they have to dig clear to China just find the ISBN or page count, or heat level, etc.

More about instructions. The same goes for submissions. Most publishers have specific writing guidelines. Please read them. You're wasting your time and theirs if you send them something that doesn't fit with their line.

Profile pictures. Oh boy. What can I say about this particular topic. I guess all I can really say is that using cleavage shots as your profile picture is...tacky. Potential editors and agents do not want to see your boobs. Keep your profile picture clean. Tess mentioned in one post about author branding. Definitely a great idea! Use an image that ties in with your website. If you don't have something of that nature, then do what a lot of authors do and use a nice headshot or book cover. Just please, keep those pretty D cups under wraps!

Be nice. Once upon a time, saying 'please' and 'thank you' was second nature. I've noticed that's not the case anymore. This is an example of what I've personally seen at the review company I work for:

My new RS bk called "Whatever Title". Pls review. Ty.

Okay, we all love our cell phones. And it's lots of fun to use text speak. But when asking for someone to review your book you might at least use complete sentences. And actually typing out the words 'thank you' is a good thing, trust me. Also, it never hurts to say something to the person your requesting a review from. If I submit my book myself to a review site--I don't have to very often because my publisher does it--then it's because I like their site. I've browsed their reviews and felt they were honest and well written. So, I let the review site know that in my email. Complimenting is not necessary, of course. It's simply a nice thing to do.

Those gorgeous signature lines. Yahoo Groups are a great way to promote your books. Talking to readers, getting to know them, sharing a little about yourself. It's all good. However, having 100 lines of stupid nonsense in your signature line that makes everyone on digest insane is NOT. You do not need a review quote for every book you ever wrote in your signature line. You do not need fifty banners either. Keep it short! One banner, your website/blog link, a few titles. That keeps the poor folks on digest from creating voodoo dolls of you.

And now some very good advice on professionalism from Ellora's Cave Editor-in-Chief, Kelli Collins:

Probably the most eye-popping examples of unprofessionalism I see on a regular
basis are in query letters and submissions. Let me just say this: Yes, I work
for an erotica publisher. And yes, I can discuss sex all day long…in the context
of your book. Please, for the love of all that’s virginal, do NOT give me
specifics on your personal life in your query letters. I don’t want to know
about the experiences that make you an expert in BDSM, or threesomes, or certain
ouchy sex acts. Really.

But the most shocking act of unprofessionalism
I’ve personally witnessed? It was in a submission that contained – wait for it –
visual aides. No, not the hot, somewhat tasteful nudes you can find in abundance
online. These were personal photos of a couple engaging in hardcore booty
knocking, complete with (*shudder*) the “happy ending” shot. If the author
wanted my attention, that sub definitely got it. In the worst way possible. Be
memorable through your stories, please, not by sharing intimate details or your
personal sex portfolios.

A final word about professionalism. The fact is, every publisher and editor I've ever worked with told me straight up that they did indeed Google me first. My agent as well. So, before you do anything online you should know that the internet is an essential part of your query letter. Would you really use the F word in a query? A cleavage shot? Hmm...

Thanks again Anne! Such great advice! Check out the Three Wicked Writers (plus two) blog. I have been browsing through past posts over the weekend and they have some great stuff to read! So go take a looksie!

Fantastic Friday Writers - What Inspires Me to Write Fantasy?

2010-11-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the second post for the Fantastic Friday Writers group. This week we are talking about what inspires our fantasy/sci-fi minds to write. For my take on this topic, I'll be talking about why I decided to write fantasy specifically.

I began writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. I wrote those little stories about the apple tree on the school grounds or about how awesome my parents were. As an older child and a teen, I got deep into poetry. It helped to ease the angst of those troublesome years.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I really got into novel writing. I had always wanted to write stories and full length novels, but I never really applied myself to it.

The first novel I ever wrote was a mystery/romance. It is salvagable but at the moment, horribly written. I don't think at the age of 16 I was ready or knowledgable enough to write a romance, much less a mystery. So, it's collecting dust at the moment and I might return to it someday.

Writing fantasy, just sort of happened for me. I didn't really make a concious decision about it. I just started writing and tada - fantasy novel. And it just stuck with me. I love building new worlds and cultures and races. I think it appeals to the side of me that never really grew up. The side that still believes in faeries and dragons and elves and all those sorts of things.

So, I guess what inspires me to write fantasy is my inner child. The part that still believes in real magic (not the stuff magicians do on stage, but REAL magic). I just love it! Crafting brand new worlds and all the things that go into just makes me happy.

Writing fantasy is also an escape for me in a way. I can leave behind the stress of my life and enter into a whole other world. While I do want to write other genres like mystery or urban fantasy, I think right now my true calling is High Fantasy. *shrug* It just appeals to me in all ways and I think I'm pretty good at it. It fits, plain and simple.

Sorry this isn't more indepth or with a shocking revelation about why I write fantasy. I just do. It's me. *shrug*

I think every writer should go with what 'fits' for THEM, not what the industry is demanding at the time. While I can understand the want to follow the trends and write for them because of the drive to be published, I think you're work will reflect that it's not really what you enjoy doing. I love writing High Fantasy and I think that shows in my work. And the readers will see it too. For me, enjoying - and I mean really enjoying - what I write is more important than anything else. Because let's face it, if you aren't enjoying what you're writing, then why are you doing it in the first place?

Don't forget to hop around to the other members of the Fantastic Friday Writers to read why they write fantasy and/or sci-fi!

Tune in on Dec. 3rd when the Fantastic Friday Writers talk about how we connect with our characters on a personal level!

Dana the Muse (Vlog)

2010-11-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Another video blog for you to enjoy guys!

10K in a Day Blogfest

Jareth the Muse (Vlog)

10K in a Day Blogfest

2010-11-17T10:08:00.009-05:00

Hi everyone! You read the title right, it's a blogfest of sorts (and a Twitter party)! In honor of this being my 150th post, I just had to have a party, so here is a great blogfest that's sure to be lots of fun!

The rules are very simple!

1. Sign up with the Mr. Linky below.
2. At midnight on Nov 28, start writing! (Start at midnight YOUR time)
3. Try to reach 10,000 words by midnight! (literally 24 hours of writing!)
4. On Nov 29, post an excerpt (small scene) from what you wrote on your blog! Don't forget to post your count for the day!

On the 28th, join me on Twitter as I post updates and encouragement! Use the hashtag #10KInADay. My Twitter name is @AVPergakis. If you want, leave your twitter name in a comment below so everyone can follow you!

Don't put too much stress on reaching 10,000 words in one day. Perhaps you can only get 5,000, that's great too! This idea originally started by Dawn Embers during NaNoWriMo to get going with meeting word count. I joined her in the challenge and it helped me get caught up! Use this blogfest as chance to get caught up on NaNo (or even just get a huge lead on your writing!) Just have fun with it!

Don't forget to sign up below and join us on Twitter on the 28th!

Thanks Christopher for the suggestion to make a button! Here it is! Enjoy!

Jareth the Muse (Vlog)

2010-11-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

Here is another video blog for you guys! I hope you enjoy it. I don't have any more of the NaNo poem as this week was a bit busy but I promise I'll have more for you next week.

People Mentioned in this Video:

Dawn Embers
J.D. Brown
Jareth the Muse (oh! I should give him his own page on my website!)

Guest Author - Elizabeth Mueller

2010-11-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

I met Elizabeth through the blog-o-sphere. She has been very helpful to me during moments of stress. She is very dedicated to her family and her writing and I am pleased to have her on my blog today! Elizabeth has great advice to share with writers of all types, so make sure you check out her blog for more. So without further ado, here is Elizabeth.

Changes in Writing

I’d like to thank Anastasia for the honors in being her guest today!

My name is Elizabeth Mueller. I’ve been writing for as long as I remember. I write into the night while the kidlets snooze or when they are out to school. I love to help others in beta reading, critiquing, bouncing ideas (brainstorming and philosophizing are my weaknesses!), and just about anything writerly.

Today, I’m posting about a particular struggle I have as a writer.

One thing that I do—which I believe is the bane for many writers—is every time I finish a how-to book on writing, and after I apply it, my writing changes. My book was thin, starving and gasping for rich oxygenated imagination. Well, I was able to apply the correct techniques to get it closer to publication, but I had to find a happy medium so that it wouldn’t stifle my creativity.

After reading a book on writing, I wrote an entire novel (Rock Star). I was so excited to get it all out. I finished at only 26, 442 words, approximately 109 pages. How bad is that? I remember as I wrote, I was so careful to apply the rules of dialogue—keeping it snappy, lively and natural. I also applied the speech tags: Editors/publishers, for the most part, like the ‘said’ word rather than their exotic synonyms. I had also learned about infodumping. That was my biggest downfall! My scenes were short and choppy. I didn’t go into character or setting description for fear of infodumping.

Yes, I was very frustrated with my book and confused on how I could fuse my newly acquired knowledge with my writing. I tucked it away and wrote an entirely different novel. After submitting Rock Star to my critique group, I was ready to fix it.

I grew a lot 2 novels later when I got back to Rock Star. I was able to apply the learned rules, plus more, without hurting it. Now it is 115,220 words, 371 pages! I’m slowly editing my novel and will submit it pretty soon. I’m so thrilled to do this!

Have you found that about your work, when you’ve just learned new writing rules? That it makes you write so differently, it almost feels forced? Stifling? How do you cope with it?

Anastasia, thank you for letting me share my passion for writing with your lovely followers!

Finding Support (Vlog)

2010-11-08T23:05:00.003-05:00

Here we go! Another video blog for you guys to enjoy! This one is much longer than the last one, so I hope you enjoy it.

People Mentioned in the Vlog: (PS I hope I said everyone's name right!)

Dawn Embers
James Garcia, Jr.
Kurt Chambers (His Post I mentioned)
J.D. Brown
Elizabeth Mueller
Kristie Cook

NaNo Poem:

Read the first two installments HERE and HERE. Remember, I'll be posting the entire thing together at the end of NaNo!

Day four flew in, I had to get crafty.

the light of my muse did dwindle, you see.

And then on day five, I realized too late,

it had been a few days since I last ate!

The sixth day I gathered supplies so sweet!

No longer will I forget to drink or eat.

Now Fruit Snacks! Now Chocolate! Now Candy and Chips!

On Soda! On Coffee! On Napkins for Drips!

Back to the computer, with hands on the keys,

with food and drink near, I can write with ease.

Days seven and eight flew by in a flash.

I prayed my hard drive would not die or crash.

Guest Author - Kristie Cook

2010-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Kristie was the first to volunteer to be a guest on my blog! I won't take up space here with a long, rambling introduction. Kristie has some great advice and thoughts here about plotters vs pansters so I hope you enjoy! I'll have another vlog up for you tomorrow!

Pantsing Through a Series – Is It Possible?

Plotter or pantser? What are you? I consider myself a pantser, although possibly I’m more of a hybrid. I know, from past experience, that I Can. Not. Outline. If I do, I know what happens. If I already know what happens, I lose interest, explaining all the incomplete manuscripts sitting in the attic from my early years.

On the other hand, I do have a climactic scene in mind when I start and a couple plot turns and twists for how to get there. And as I go, I jot down notes for more plot elements and scenes.

For the most part, though, my characters drove Promise and Purpose. What I originally had in mind changed drastically. Those key scenes I imagined in the beginning are still there, but very different now. And a lot of the fun of writing these stories was when something came together without planning it. When something seemingly random would flow out of my fingers and I really didn’t understand its purpose until 150 pages later, when it suddenly showed its meaning. Just like when reading a good story!

For example (not a great one, but the first to come to mind), in one of the last revisions of Promise, a character showed up in a scene that he had never been in before. I thought, “Okay, dude, why’d you decide to show up now? I mean, I’m about to wrap this up and you suddenly want to jump in?” But by the time I finished revising that scene, I realized he needed to be there for the new ending. None of the other characters would have worked. I couldn’t have planned it any better.

So I’m really hesitant about plotting and outlining. In fact, I’m actually scared of it. After all, pantsing has worked so well for me, when outlining has not. But I have a whole series to write and I don’t know if I can do it right without some extensive planning.

When you look at really good series – ones with planned endings – there are elements from earlier books that all come together in the end. Take Harry Potter. Each book brings in characters, objects, experiences, etc., from earlier books and they all accumulate, twist and turn together for the last book. You can’t carry that off so brilliantly without a plan. What if Neville had been killed in Goblet of Fire instead of Cedric? What would have happened in Deathly Hallows, then? If Rowling had been pantsing and that had happened, she’d probably be kicking herself as she’s writing the last book. But there’s nothing she could have done about it, but find someone else – someone less perfect – to pull the sword out in the end.

Writing a fantasy creates even more hazards. When you’re creating a world, you have to mind your own rules. So you can’t say in book two that Elmo can’t fly more than 50 miles at a time, and then in book five have him fly from New York to Moscow. If that lengthy flight becomes absolutely necessary for the plot’s progression, then it would have been nice to know while writing book two, right?

So the pantser faces quite a dilemma when writing a series. The answer seems to be clear: Plot. Outline. Plan ahead. Sacrifice the thrill of learning the story as it progresses to ensure it’s as good as it can be. It sounds so easy. It probably is easy.

But it frightens the comfy pantsing-pants right off me. What will I do if I lose interest? Will I be able to finish what I’ve started? Will I still love it or will I hate every minute of it? I suppose it’s like following the advice of an editor who wants you to cut a scene you love. You do it because you know it’s in the best interest of the story. As writers, that’s what we have to do – whatever is best for the story.

So what are you? Plotter or pantser? Are you writing a series? Have you had to change your methods? And any tips for this pantser who needs to plan?

Kristie is the author of Promise, released in July 2010, and Purpose, releasing in December 2010. She can be found at www.KristieCook.com and www.a-musedwriter.blogspot.com.

Fantastic Friday Writers - Introduction

2010-11-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am so excited about this new blog venture! Fantastic Friday Writers is a group of five writers in the fantasy and/or sci-fi genres. Every other Friday we will be posting blogs about the same topic. This is sort of like a group blog - a group blog has multiple writers posting about a weekly topic on the same blog. This group has multiple writers posting about a weekly topic on different blogs.

The linky widget below will allow you to 'hop' to the other blogs to read their posts! This is sure to be fun! Our first posts are merely introducing ourselves and this new project. As we are in different time zones, some posts might be up later than others on Friday morning. Regardless, you will still get five different view points on the same topic.

Now, myself, I write High Fantasy but I have a few ideas in the future for Sci-Fi and Urban Fantasy. My followers know that I am highly character driven in my stories and I post often about this topic. World building is a key component to writing Fantasy and Sci-fi stories, so I also blog about this a great deal.

This new group will blog about world building, character development - gearing all posts to fantasy/sci-fi genres. We will also discuss other aspects of writing such as critiquing, query letters, etc. This is sure to be fun for everyone and I hope you guys enjoy hopping around to the different bloggers in the group.

SO - without further ado, use the Mr. Linky below to meet the rest of the Fantastic Friday Writers!

Next week we'll be discussing what inspires our fantasy/sci-fi minds to write what we do! That is sure to be some great posts - see you then!

Queen of the Dorks Vlog

2010-11-04T07:00:00.004-04:00

I warn you now, in case for some odd reason you didn't already know, that I'm a huge dork. Now, enjoy the video!!

More lines of the "Twas the Night before NaNo" poem. Read the beginning HERE. I'll be posting up the entire poem together at the end of this month for you to read all at once.

With my butt in the chair, pencil in hand
Muse and I ready for a long writing stand.
First one page then two, and straigt on to three,
day one was epic, the words flowing free!
Day two arrived with a flourish of ink
I barely had time to breathe or to think.
Third day came and went with more on the page,
the plot unfolding with the actors center stage.

NaNoWriMo! And they're off!

2010-11-01T11:26:00.001-04:00

So, I wrote a little poem for NaNo, in the theme of "The Night Before Christmas" that I thought to share with you. I'll add more lines each day so that by the time NaNo is over, there will be a full length poem!

Today's post won't be anything super awesome (although the poem will be pretty kewl, if I do say so myself), so enjoy guys! I wish everyone luck in NaNo.

I'll be posting my progress in the form of video blogs!!! So day one I'll have up tomorrow for you guys!

Leave a comment to tell me your NaNo site username and I'll add you to my buddies list. I'm HarleyHoney. (Look for the infamous Sword pic!)

Tune in tomorrow for my video post about Day 1 and more of the NaNo poem! I'll post the whole together at the end of NaNo for you to read all at once! I hope you like it!

Ladies, time to show the goods!

2010-10-29T07:00:00.005-04:00

Okay, guys if you clicked here expecting "the goods", sorry to dissapoint you. We're talking about heroine and villianess archetypes today! Gotta strip down to the core of our characters so we can really write about them.

I hate to say this, but doing my research for these two posts, I was highly dissapointed to discover that their is more information on the hero archetypes and they are given more focus on the websites I read through. Why is this? Isn't the heroine just as crucial to the story as the hero is?

I feel that heroines should be given more credit! And villianesses too! So, they get their own posts on my blog today! Note I put them in the same order as yesterday, so you can see how they compare to the heros and villians archetypes (read it here). I have the information in nan excel sheet with four columns to see them really side by side. It's interesting to see the similarities -especially between the heros and the villians

HEROINE ARCHETYPES

The Boss
A take charge type of woman accepting nothing but respect. She doesn't care of she gets a few people upset on her rise to the top. Succeeding in her goals is the most important thing to her.

The Seductress
This lady knows what she wants and gets it - her way. She sizes up every person whenever she enters a room. Her charming smile hides her distrust in people. Often mysterious and manipulative. Her survivial means she'll go to any lengths to make sure she comes out on top. Cynicism rules her actions.

The Free Spirit
This woman dances to the beat of her own drum. She is very playful and fun loving. She stops to smell the flowers whenver she caan and admires the colors of the world. Ruled by pure emotion, she follows her heart rather than her head.

The Nurturer
Not necessarily "Mom" or "Suzy Homemaker" but she definitely takes care of everyone. She's the best listener and very optimisitic. She works hard to make sure everyone around her is happy.

The Waif/Magician
The damsel in distress. She holds child-like innocense that brings out the protective urges of even the most hardened heros. She does have her own strength though! She won't 'fight back but she'll endure - survive.

The Librarian/Sage
Prim and proper but very passionate underneath. She's a know-it-all and might be a shy mousey type hiding in the library. However, her passionate core shines through the bun, glasses - and the books!

The Crusader
She is a dedicated fighter. She marches over anyone in the way of completing her missions - whatever that might be. She's very headstrong and tenacious, easily stepping over- or pushing - any block in her path.

The Spunky Kid
Loyal is this woman's middle name. Often the favorite of writers as you can't help but root for her! She doesn't want to be the top of the heap - just her own place. A definate team player. She is always ready to jump in and help.

VILLIANESS ARCHETYPES

The Bitch
She will lie, cheat, and steal her way to the top. She has no care about the people around her. Only her success matters. She helps no one but herself and has left (and will leave) many heel marks on people's backs as she rises to the top.

The Black Widow
She lives up to the name - lures victims into her web. Her victims can be anyone that has something she wants. She wants a lot of things, so anyone can be caught next! She is an expert at seduction, making the vicitim want to be decieved!

The Parasite
She goes along with anything so long as her own security is there. Views herself as a victim that had no choice. She blames other people for her crimes. She saves no one but herself and she'll sponge off anyone that will 'protect' her.

The Backstabber
Two-faced, she finds a great delight in tricking the unsuspecting. She learns people's secrets with her sympathetic smiles - but it's all a ruse! She'll use it against you. Her helpful advice is will only hinder you. She can't be trusted; she'll betray you every time.

The Lunatic
This woman is very unbalanced. A madwoman drawing other people into her insane world. She feels the world is out of sorts, not her. You can't understand her logic to anything, so don't try.

The Schemer
She plots the ruin of other people. Thinks of a cat playing with a mouse. She just toys with people. She has elaborate plans and complicated schemes. She's so pleased when she traps an unwary person in her puzzles.

The Matriarch
She knows what is best for you and will do whatever she can to control the lives of those around her. She smothers her loved ones. Her children (or whoever she latches onto) can do no wrong, as long as they don't go against her. Her happy family portrait is actually a trap!

The Fanatic
An extremist that does wrong in the name of good. He actions are justified by her intent. Collateral damange makes to difference. Anyone not her friend is an enemy - and fair game. She thinks you are wrong - all the time.

What are you favorite heroine types? Villianesses? Personally I go for the matriarch for villianesses. I mean come on -- she just loves you - to death!

Guys, strip down to your skivvies!

2010-10-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Today we are going to strip the boys! Woohoo! Okay, seriously we are stripping them, but not in the way you think - sorry to disappoint you!

I'm talking about archetypes for the guys in our stories. There are eight hero archetypes and eight villian archetypes. I'll go over all of these briefly today. More indepth posts will come later.

HERO ARCHETYPES

The Chief
He's the leader, obviously. Some might say he's the Alpha male type. He gets what he wants and nothing will stand in his way. Sometimes he's stand offish and unapproachable because of his drive.

The Bad Boy
He's danger and excitement. He's a survivor having lived a hard life. Doesn't trust many people and often covers his pain with anger. Visions of a bad boy often drum up a motocycle, black leather clothes, or even a cigarette in his mouth depending on your ideals.

The Lost Soul
Often the dark type of guy, mysterious. Wounded and tormented, poetic type. He's a keen observer, picking up on every detail - can't keep a secret from him. He prepares for the worst and doesn't really hope for the best. But, he is also a dreamer, always trying to find a way out of his miserable situation.

The Best Friend
The guy a girl can turn to to cry, talk, and just hang out - her rock. Everyone likes this guy and he likes everyone too - never met a stranger. He's not very assertive normally, unless in defense of his friends, but even then, he won't jump in like some of the other archetypes would.

The Charmer
An irristable man that keeps the girl guessing. He's sexy and charismatic in all ways. Persuasive and smooth, he can talk his way out of or into anything. Detached, because who knows what he's really thinking or feeling. The life of the party, but if often irresponsible.

The Professor
Nerdy type! Loves facts on top of facts. Is often vulerable with his feelings as he doesn't know how to hide them well. Usually socially inexperienced because his nose is always in a book. He doesn't make any rash decisions, instead of thinking them through. He's an expert in his field. (This little blurb might sound boring, but think, Indiana Jones is a Professor Archetype!)

The Warrior
Protect and defend - that is this guy. Not necessarily a soldier but the warrior type has the same mentally. He's very noble and courageous. He's very focused and often time stubborn. He'll hunt the villian down if it's the last thing he'll do. Very protective of the heroine (or any woman for that matter).

The Swashbuckler
Adventure! He gets a high from adventure in fact. Daring and bold, he lives in the moment. He loves life, often enjoying the "sins" that life throws at him without pause. He's fearless in the face of danger, but often unreliable. He'll latch on to one adventure and everything else goes out the window.

VILLIAN ARCHETYPES

The Tyrant
He wants power no matter what the price. He conquers everything he sets his eye on, easily crushing his enemy under his boot. People are merely pawns to this guy, with him holding all the power pieces. He'll think nothing but to destroy you, so stear clear!

The Bastard
He can't get what he wants and so he lashes out in anger. He wants - and loves it seems - to provoke people into a fight or other actions. He doens't hide his shady dealings either, instead announces them to the world.

The Outcast
Tortured, like the hero "The Lost Soul" but this guy craves redemption and will sacrifice anyone to get it. He won't have any sympathy for you even if you give it to him.

The Traitor
A double agent, betraying anyone, even those that trust him the most. People don't see the evil in this guy! He plots and schemes the destruction of his friends even though they give him support and sympathy.

The Devil
This guy is charismatic, but watch out! He doesn't hesititate to give anyone what he thinks they deserve. His lures people to their own destruction with his charm and ability to uncover moral weaknesses in people.

The Evil Genius
He shows off his superior intelligence. Anyone inferior of mind is expendible, which basically means everyone. His trademark includes elaborate puzzles and odd experiments.

The Terroist
Bound by a warped code of honor, this guy believes in his own virture. He's self righteous and jusdges those around him wtih a strict set of laws. His sense of justice does not resemble yours and it never will. Nothing conventional in morals will stop him and the end will always justify his means.

The Sadist
This guy loves cruelty for the sake of cruelty. To this guy violence and brutality are merely games. He can play these games with much skill. He'll laugh as he tears you apart.

Which Heros and/or Villians are your favorite to read about? To write about?

Fall in Love...

2010-10-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

Continuing with my character building type of posts, today we're talking about loving your hero. (This is all from a woman's point of view here, but the same ideas apply to everyone!)

Fall in love with your hero! Like, real love people. Love every detail about your hero! Even his flaws.

If you don't love your hero, you're readers won't either. Remember that you created this guy! I don't know about you, but I put qualities into my heroes that are attractive to me. I tend to go for the bad boy types but I'm also a lover of the lost soul aka the dark brooding one.

When you're creating your hero, ask yourself a few questions. What characteristics do I like in a man? Which ones do I hate? Which ones will I tolerate? Then, craft your hero based on these answers. Be careful here when writing multiple novels or your characters will all end up the same! But, it at least gives you a place to start. Other questions to ask - What men in my life do I love and why? What men have inspired me in my life? What physical attributes are guaranteed to leave me breathless?

Drache, the hero in Burden of Prophecy, is actually not the type of guy I normally would swoon over. But, I do. He's tall (6'4), muscular, and can fly! Long hair, stormy eyes.....Wait, what was I talking about? Oh right. *ahem* His personality really sinks the deal for me as he will sacrifice everything to protect those he loves. He's a rather cheesy type of romantic which is so adorable. I honestly can say I love him. Do you love your hero this much - that you lose track of what is going on when you think about him?

This same line of thinking applies to your heroine. She's your best friend! You can confide in her and she confides in you. You know all her flaws and strengths. You love her like a sister. You laugh at the same jokes! If she were in the physical world, rather than your head, she's the one you'd take on shopping trips, lean on when you need support, and the one that makes you laugh when you want to cry.

Rosyani, the heroine in Burden of Prophecy, is my best friend for sure. In fact, her and I have long conversations that have nothing to do with the book! Her and I have the best time outlining the series or writing scenes. Her gentle and calm nature help to calm me and keep me focused when I'm writing. I try to channel her calmness on a regular basis, but many of you know that I epically fail at that! If she were in the physical world, oh the fun we would have!

What about you? What qualities do you love most about your hero? What is it about your heroine that makes her your best friend?

Rejection Surprisingly Feels Great!

2010-10-25T11:16:00.002-04:00

I planned to post about character building today, but I have to share something.

I got my first rejection letter!

I pitched my novel in a live chat pitch sessions during Muse Con as you might have heard on twitter and facebook. Both requested to see partials of my manuscript. One of those pitches was to acquisitions editor Heather Howland at Crescent Moon Press. It was a good rejection letter in the sense that Heather took the time to give some great suggestions for how to improve my story.

I didn't cry as I thought I would for my first rejection and I think that is because of the wonderful advice given in it. It wasn't a form rejection. Sure, I was dissapointed. I think for me I've just been writing and writing and editing and editing for so long and doing nothing about it, that I was actually glad for a rejection. For me at least I was making the next step. I didn't continue to just sit on my manuscript and hate myself for not being published yet. Well, guess what I discovered? You can't get published if you don't submit and get rejected a few times!

So, in a weird way, I'm sort of happy. I made the next step. I'm ready to keep moving forward in this direction. Like I said, I am a bit sad that I didn't get an excited "send it right now!" I actually gained a bit of confidence in this venture. I'm no longer just sitting on my MS feeling sorry for myself. I bit the bullet and jumped in feet first. And that is a great feeling.

I tried. Even though it was a no, I tried. I made that first step. I would have regretted not doing it more than any amount of rejection.

What do I do now? Well, I'm going to head back to my MS. Heather had some good points for me that I want to put into effect.

She said the plot was a little rushed. Which is funny. The specific parts she mentioned where I push the story ahead a week in a single sentence or two months in a paragraph were the same spots where I thought I would slow down the story if I added any more detail. But instead, I was rushing it by not having that detail in there. Adding it in will be good because I get to explore more about the hero and heroine after they first meet.

But, she did like the relationship between the hero and heroine! That made me happy, especially since their relationship had been difficult to portray in writing for me. She also liked the premise of the story, so I think I'm good on that point. Just need to fix the tempo.

Once I add in those extra details, I'll start submitting to more agents and publishers. Can you re-submit to the same publisher/agent? I don't know if that works or not. Do you guys know anything about it? Is it tabboo to resubmit or what? Please let me know!

Timelines will Save You

2010-10-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

The Muse Online Writer's Conference had workshop titled "Keeping Track of Characters in a Series" with Jim Overturf.

I'll be honest and say that the workshop was not what I expected, but the information was invaluble. In the workshop, Jim presented us with excel spreadsheets set up for timelines about your characters.

I never thought to use an actual time line, instead I just wrote random notes on the characters' sketches. However, having an actual timeline all laid out is a wonderful tool that I know recommend to anyone who writes a series - or stand alone novel for that matter.

I tried to create snapshots of the excel sheets but they didn't turn out too well, so hopefully you can still follow along with what I say. If I get the snapshots to actually work, I'll post them up in a later post.

The first type of timeline is for a single character. Make one for each of your characters (or give each character their own sheet in the same book if you want.)

Obviously, put their name on the top. There are five columns in Jim's version of the timeline - Year, Age, Education, Primary, and Secondary.

The year column is the years of your character life from birth to death. Like if I did a timeline on myself, I would start the year in 1984, when I was born. The age column marks how old your character during that year. I turned 1 in 1985, 2 in 1986, etc. Now you might think this is a bit reduntant since you already have the years listed, but it comes in handy. I mean, can you immediately think of how old you were in say 1992 without doing a bit of math on it first - everytime? Well, the age column helps with that. I love it because with my faeries and elves being so old, it really helps to keep track of how old they are and when.

The education column is where you keep track of what grade of school they were in, matching up with their age and the year of course. Pretty simple and helps to mark graduations and things like that.

Now, before I get to the last two columns, I want to take a minute to explain that in the timeline I use for my characters, I only have the age column. My fantasy stories don't really mention the exact year for anything. Not only do I not need that column, I wouldn't even know how to fill it in, unless I started making stuff up. I don't use the education column because my characters don't go to kindergarten or things like that. Their school system is set up completely different than ours. They don't have different grades it's just primary school and university, so I don't need that column. You can add or take away from this based on what you need.

Now, the Primary column is where you input the events that they did themselves or happened directly to them. This can include graduating from school, breaking their arm, getting married or divorced, etc.

The Secondary column is the best part of this timeline I think. This column is put those events that affected the character emotionally, spiritually, financial or politically. For example, his parens divorced, mom remarried, little sister was born, recieved an inheritance, etc. Basically anything that other people did, but still impacted the character on some level.

I can already see the value of having such a wonderful tool, especially for those that write series. By the time you get to book four, the timeline will make sure you don't forget that your character broke their left arm in book 2. Sure, you could just make a note of it on your character sketches or what have you, but a timeline is just so neat and organized. Everything is there all in one place! It's fantastic!

The other type of timeline, Jim shared with us in the workshop are multiple timelines or character tracking timelines. This puts your characters actions side by side with another so you can keep track of who is doing what.

I was excited when I saw this sheet! I have a part in Burden of Prophecy where the group gets split up. If I had this multiple timeline sheet when I first wrote it, it would have been SO much easier to keep track of everything.

You can do the multiple timeline in two different ways -- hour by hour (or even second by second if you need to) or by year. The hour by hour one is simple, list the hours that you need in one column and then have a column for each character involved. This will help you keep track of what your characters are doing at the same time - it's great to see it side by side even if you can't put it that way in the story itself.

The other multiple timeline done by year has the year, age, education columns like the single character sheet did, but instead of the Primary and Secondary columns, you list each character involved. What would you need to see side by side for years or even a life time at a time? This form is great for following lines of family generations. This lets you keep track of a few generations - up to the time your novel starts!

You can also substitute the characters for towns or cities or countries even. List major events that happened in those places - king was murdered, plague broke out, etc. Things that may have a major effect on the world your characters live in.

I hope I did this justice without pictures to show you, but like I said, if I get it working right, I'll post them up later for you. I'm so glad I was able to participate in this workshop. These worksheets will greatly help me with all my series. Imagine what they can do to help you too!

Let me know if you use these - any changes you made and how they work for you. Do you already make timelines? If so, what information do you put on them and why?

We now return you....

2010-10-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

...to your regularly scheduled program.

Did you guys miss me? I missed you, I really did. Let me get you caught up on what's been happening to me.

We moved to a new house. It's amazing! No more little apartment! We have a huge fenced-in backyard for the little man to run free, three bedrooms, and I get my own study! So fabulous! It has beautiful hardwood floors, but it does make the house really echo! We're buying area rugs one at a time (only 2 so far) but hopefully the echoing will die down soon. It's driving me crazy quite honestly.

As you can see I've made some minor changes to my blog here. Remember a while back when I talked about the Muse Online Writers Conference? Well, one of the workshops had some great advice about blogging - do's and don't's sort of thing. So, I took the advice mentioned and went to work. Then it was just a matter of getting back into the habit of posting on a regular basis. I have some great ideas brewing for the blog here and I hope you like them!

And speaking of the Muse Conference!! I was able to attend TWO pitch sessions during the week - one with an agent and one with a publisher - and BOTH asked to see partials of Burden of Prophecy! SQUEEEE!!!! I haven't heard from them yet but I will let you all know the result as soon as I do. Squee!

That is the major news. School is going good, but it's stressful. Takes up time to do the homework of course. Not a lot of time, but you all know how busy I am and every minute counts. But, I'm finally getting the hang of it so things should start to get a little less stressful for me.

I'm going to start back with character building topics like I started in September so tune in for more about developing and keeping up with your characters!

Oh - by the way, I want to say huge thanks to both Elizabeth Mueller and Kurt Chambers. During my absense they both were kind enough to check up on me through email, facebook, and twitter. It was really sweet of them to check up on me. It was very stressful there for a while with moving and everything else, so it really lifted my spirits to know I was being missed! You two are great and I love ya both!

Character Sketch Breakdown - Misc Notes

2010-09-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, the last section of the sketch sheet is really simple.

Misc Notes

Here include any extra information you might need to know about the character that you couldn't fit into the other points of the sketch.

If you recall on Monday when I talked about Character Roles and I mentioned having a Main Hero and a Side Hero? I use this area to explain what book in the series the character's role comes into play.

So for Farien that I said was a "Side Hero" - his Misc Note looks like this:

Hero (H) "Precipice of Hostility" Book 3
Side Character (SC) "Burden of Prophecy" Book 1 and "Vestige of Passion" Book 4

Where as Drache's (Main Hero) looks like this:

Main Hero (MH) "Burden of Prophecy" Book 1 and "Vestige of Passion" Book 4
Main Character (MC) "Tutelage of Mortality" Book 2

I can hear some of you going "What? I don't get it" But I know what it all means, and that's what counts right? *laugh*Basically all those notes do is help remind who's POV I'm working with and when. I'm in Farien's POV in Book 3 and in Drache's in Books 1 and 4.

You can use this space for whatever you like, this is just what I use it for as I make only one character sketch that covers the entire series. You don't have to do this and I know many authors who say you should update/write new sketches for each book in a series, even if you use the same characters. Whatever way works best for you. I just find it easier to have ONE sketch to refer to, especially since I write multiple novels at one time.

BONUS FEATURE

Now, once the sketch is done, I head over to my trusty avatar maker and make an image of the character! It's a lot of fun and honestly, I waste SO many hours playing with the avatar maker.

The main one I use is Doll Wizard but I also use Candybar Doll Maker. I posted the Doll Wizard version of Drache's picture below for you. Below that is Rosyani's avatar I made with Candybar. I prefer Doll Wizard as it looks less anime-ish, but both are really fun to play with.

Doll Wizard

Candybar Doll Maker

Character Sketch Breakdown - Personality Traits

2010-09-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's Thursdays so it's time for the third section of my character sketch! Have you found the posts helpful so far? I hope so. This section is the hardest one to fill out compared to the rest. It's really intense and makes you really dig into who your characters are. Let's get started!

Personality Traits

Background:
Characteristics/Mannerisms:
Internal Conflicts:
External Conflicts:
Occupation/Education:
Dialogue Specifics:
Common Expressions:
Powers/Weapons:

Background
This is a short blurb about the type of childhood your character had. I don't use complete sentences here, just jot down a few notes. Mention any 'backstory' points that you can use as flashbacks or conversation or suspense in the story.

Characteristics/Mannerisms
This section can be placed under the Physical Apperance setting but I prefer to put it here as it deals with their personality. Here you can mention posture, stance, and any funny twitches they might have. On Drache's sketch I have "Confident - stands tall, perfect posture, often has arms crossed over chest; Kind Heart - gentle nature, always ready to hug his little sister; Strong - doesn't cry in front of others, hides emotions to be 'strong for everyone else'"

Internal Conflicts
What is going on inside the characters head/heart/soul that causes them trouble during the story? This can be dealing with a death of a loved one or other tragic event. Explain the story behind the struggles or events the character deals with. Be as specific as you like.

External Conflicts
This is where you can mention weather, other characters (aka the villian perhaps) that are standing in the characters way. Be detailed and explain why these things are effecting the character.

Occupation/Education
A character's education level and job can effect everything! This doesn't need to be too detailed unless you want it to be. You can explain how this will effect them specifically or just simply mention their career alone.

Dialogue Specifics
How do they talk/sound? Mention tone of voice and accent. You can also include how many languages they speak here if you want, or make that it's own section if it bears a greater importance. Also mention the manner of their speech - is it proper or common? Relaxed with friends but very professional around others? Polite, rude, sarcastic?

Common Expressions
This is basically part of the Dialogue Specifics section, but I make it it's own section to help it stand out as you will use this often. What phrases or words do they use over and over again? A catch phrase if you will. Me for example, I say "cool beans" a lot so if I was making this character sketch about me, that's what I would put here.

Powers/Weapons
This section can also be under "Physical Apperance" but I put it here only because for my characters and the world they live in, powers and choice of weapons can reflect the type of person you are. If you make up powers or new weapons, provide a brief description about them - what they do, how they work, etc.

Tune in tomorrow for the very last section!!

Character Sketch Breakdown - Physical Appearance

2010-09-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today we are going to look at the second section of the character sketch I use.

Physical Appearance

Age:
Race:
Eye Color:
Hair Color/Style:
Build (Height/Weight):
Skin Tone:
Style of Dress:
Tattoos/Scars:
Other Physical Attributes:

Now, this section is relatively easy to fill in. However, you can get quite detailed here. You can also add more sections if you need to or take out ones that you don't need. As a Fantasy writer, I might have some things here that other writers don't need, so don't feel like you have to fill out every area if you decide to use this.

Age – I enter in the age they are at the beginning of the book/series and at the end. This helps me to remember the time line based on how much time passes between the beginning and the end of the book. For example, I have one character, Karina, who is age 10 at the beginning of the series but she's almost 20 by the end of it. So I on her sketch sheet, I have "10/20".

Race – This could be something simple if you are writing a contemporary type of story. For fantasy however, it can get pretty interesting. The main characters in Burden of Prophecy are Traca faeries. Just a made up name I came up with to name their race. So here I put "Traca faery" then make a notation to see the setting sketch for their country. The other sketch contains details and common occurrences in their race. (Like light colored hair or horns on their head for example.)

Eye Color – Blue? Green? Purple? You can be as detailed here as you like. You can even mention eye shape or pupil shape if you need to.

Hair Color/Style – Long or Short? Blonde or Brunette? Curly or Straight? Again you can get a bit more detailed here as you can get really specific on length or color (strawberry blonde or hair hangs down to waist.)

Build (Height/Weight) – I always use specific heights and weights but you don't have to. I do just because it helps me visualize the person. Drache's sketch says "6'3, 200 lbs, athletic build, very toned and muscular"

Skin Tone – You can have a bit of fun here too if you write Sci-fi or Fantasy. I have one race of faeries that has green skin and another is silver that sparkles in the sunlight (like a diamond almost). You can also mention skin type here – do you have a teen that has acne? Perhaps a character with really dry skin that might affect the character as they live in a dry, cold climate. Any details you add will only help you portray your character in the story.

Style of Dress - How do they dress most of the time? Tunic or t-shirt? What type of shoes? You can also add notes about how they would dress at other times such as formal functions. If your character is in the Military or some type of warrior – mention what their uniform would look like here also. I also make a note about who or what to imagine. Drache's sketch says "Think of Phillip from Sleeping Beauty" to help me remember exactly how his tunic is styled. You can also use this section to mention any jewelry the character might wear, you can make Jewelry/Accessories it's own section if that would be easier for you.

Tattoos/Scars – Explain where the markings are and what they look like. For example, if I were to mention my own markings I’d say "Cross with rose wrapped around it on left arm, Pegasus on right arm, moon on outside-right ankle, butterfly on inside-left ankle, dragon on shoulder blade; scar on left forearm from kitchen knife, scars on both knees from falling out of a swing" You can also explain why they got the tattoo or any special meaning it has.

Other Physical Attributes – This is where you can explain anything that wasn't covered by the points above. You can add details about wings or face shape or hands, etc. You can also mention posture here if you like or save that for another section we'll be talking about tomorrow.

Come back tomorrow where I talk about "Personality Traits". This section is more detailed and extensive, so it might flow into Friday's post as well.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-09-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Yay for Teaser Tuesday! I hope you guys like the scene! It's from "Burden of Prophecy" of course!

Excerpt from Chapter 3 - Home Sweet Home?

Drache and Rosyani (recently married) return to her childhood home to confront her family, after she ran away two months before.

A hammer beat into her skull. Rosyani opened her eyes but slammed them shut against the sunlight. A heavy weight pressed against her stomach. She cracked open one eye to see Drache’s arm draped across her waist. Trying to find a more comfortable position, she shifted and his arm wrapped tighter around her.

The blankets on the bed were wrong. Where were they? She bolted up and cast her eyes about the room. They lay in her old bed in the small room atop the tower. Every thing was as she left it - only with a thick film of dust. Her desk in the corner held small trinkets from her youth, most mementos from her father. The tall wardrobe to her left stood ajar. Drache must have helped her into a night gown.

Her head throbbed. She rubbed her temples to alleviate the pain but it did little to help. The princess sighed heavily then threw her feet to the floor. With small, wobbly footsteps, she made her way to the wash basin.

"You’re awake," Drache said from the bed. "Are you feeling all right?"

She groaned.

He chuckled. "Yes. The Healer said you’d need a lot of rest and food to recover from what you did yesterday."

"I still do not know what happened."

"From what I gather, you brought your brother back from death."

"That is what I mean. I do not know how I did it."

"Maybe your power is something that can’t be learned. Your powers may be healing powers yet they only work when you’re highly stressed or really close to the being that’s ill. We won’t know until you recover your strength. When we return home we can do some tests. Now come…"

"No! No more tests! I am done taking tests and being a piece of meat to the Healers. Do not do that to me, Drache!" Dizziness took hold and she braced her self against the vanity.

Drache leapt from the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "I don’t think you are all right." He led her to the bed and pushed her down to the mattress. "Now, I only meant that we could play some beginner games. The ones they teach you when our power first shows?"

Rosyani let out the breath she had been holding. "Oh. Sorry. My mother forced me to go to the Healers for years to find my power. They were really painful and I have scars from the needles and shots." Her shoulders slumped.

"How can you have scars? Didn’t the Healers heal the wounds?"

"I do not think they ever noticed how badly their instruments really hurt me. Also, after a time, I do not think their Healing would have worked. Over and over again, they poked and prodded. Took blood, even skin samples. They repeated the same tests every month as if the results would suddenly change. They never did." Her bottom lip trembled as she held back the tears that threatened to fall.

Drache pulled her to his side and rested his chin on her head. "You will never - ever - have to deal with that again. I promise."

Character Sketch Breakdown - General Information

2010-09-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, this month is going to be all about the characters – hopefully. *smile* We'll see how many posts I can get out of this topic or not.

This week, we are going to break down the character sketch worksheet I use and talk about each section in depth.

The first section contains somewhat basic information, but it can have a huge impact on the story and your character.

Character Name:
Title/Class:
Nickname:
Birth Date/Place:
Character Role:

Character Name

I always give my characters a first, middle, and last name. I don’t know why, but I do. Really, all you need is a first name and maybe a last name, depending on how major of a character it is. I also tend to fill in this area of the sketch last as I try to pick names that fit their personality – so I fill in everything else first then choose a name.

Choosing your characters name is something really important. Names can make or break your characters in my opinion. Find a name that resonates with your character. Look up the meaning and origin of the name. If the meaning fits (or even hugely contrasts for a bit of humor) the character's personality, you may have a good choice.

I write Fantasy and here another factor comes into play. Language and culture. How would a faery name their children? Or Elves? Dragons? Why would they choose such names? Do the names have any meaning (translation) and how does it affect the feel of the story?

As an example, the hero in my book, Burden of Prophecy is named Drache. "Drache" is actually a German word for "dragon". I chose this particular name because of Drache's personality. To me dragons are strong and confident protectors – which is the epitome of who Drache is. His middle name is "Akual" – I made this up. He has the ability to control water so I took "aqua" and tweaked the spelling, added an l at the end. TADA! New name, but it sounds similar enough that hopefully it still conjures images of water. His last name, I just made up on a whim and it just happened to fit. "Kestar" sounds powerful, I think because of the "star" aspect in the name.

How do you choose your characters names? What things do you consider when choosing - race, language, plot, personality?

Title/Class

This section is relatively easy, but for some it might require a bit of research for the story itself.

Continuing with Drache, he's a Prince. It was easy to decide on this title, but then I had do to a bit of research to learn about titles and how they work (as in passing down to children, inheriting the throne, etc). Obviously his class would be "royalty" or "nobility".

However, some characters don't have actual titles, but rather fit into a "middle" class of people. Here you can have a bit of fun depending on your type of story. In another fantasy story of mine, I have the following classes of people: Trade, Merchant, Military, and Nobility. You can choose and name your classes anyway you like and make up rules about how they interact (or don't interact) with each other. This can also require a bit of research for the story itself to learn more about how class systems work.

Nickname:

This can include a shortened form of your characters name (Like William to Will for example) or even just a funny name friends call your character (like "Spike").

Also decide who uses this nickname. Only family and friends? Does the character introduce themselves by their nickname rather than their full name? Why? Why is the important key here - how can you use the nickname to bring some depth to the character in the story? This is especially true with the nickname has a story behind it that can come out in the story at some point.

Birth Date/Place:

This section is pretty self explanatory. When is their birthday and where were they born. Now for some stories, it might not matter where they were born. In the stories I write however, it bears a major importance. The cultures I have created focus on birth place as this presents a status to others. Drache for example was born in Enthril. To other faeries in Enthril, this is not important, but it is to the other characters in the book from other countries that think anyone from Enthril is stupid and savage. (Also, to Enthril, anyone NOT born there is stupid and savage.)

Character Role:

This section is really for the author and some might think is unneeded. However, I am a fan of writing every single detail down, even if I’ll remember it off the top of my head. This is just in case I ever forget – or those times I might put the book down for a long time and come back to it later.

Roles can include "Hero", "Heroine", "Major Character", "Side Character", etc. In Burden of Prophecy and the 3 books that follow, I have different Main Characters in each book with the Main Hero and Heroine staying the same. Drache and Rosyani are the "Main Hero and Heroine" for the entire series but Letarri and Etharas are "Side Hero and Heroine" as they play an important role to the events in Books 1, 2, and 4. Farien takes over as "Side Hero" in Book 3 when the story changes location to focus on his role in the series arc. However you need to keep track of who is doing what and when, do it.

Come back Wednesday for the "Physical Apperance" section of the character sketch! Tomorrow is Teaser Tuesday so I'll be posting a scene from my WIP.

Fear is the Thief of Dreams

2010-09-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, many of your know about The Writer's Academy - my online writing workshop that I started on Writing.com.

Now, today is the day that my dream of having it on it's own site will come true. I finally have the money to buy the domain and hosting for the new site.

And I'm freaking out!!

It's my dream, I know! Why would I be freaking out? I've been planning and working on this 'upgrade' for months! But now that the time has come to put up or shut up -- I'm having a meltdown.

What if it fails and I spend my money for nothing? What if people don't like it? What happens if no one shows up? What do I do if it does fail? How will I deal with the huge financial loss? What happens if it explodes in popularity and I don't have the staff to cover all the students? What if...what if...what if....

I'm so afraid of failing, people. You might not know this about me, but I'm always afraid to fail. I put myself out there online in my blogs and moderating other workshops. I try to present this air of confidence and certainty in myself. If you were to really see me through my computer as I do all of these things, I'm a total wreck. The what if's clog my brain, give me the shakes, and sometimes I have full blown panic attacks.

What am I to do?

Well, I write. So I'm writing this blog post to share with everyone my fear to hopefully get it out of my head. I feel much better now than I did at the very start of this post. However, the nerves and anxiety are still there.

My husband is my biggest supporter and fan. He wouldn't give me the go ahead to spend the money if he didn't think it would succeed. I must remind myself of this. He is my rock and my foundation. Without him, I'd surely crumble.

Also, my dear friend J.D. Brown, my crit partner, friend, and sister in Fantasy has been there over the past month to help me put the final touches on the planning for this. I can't let her down! I know she has faith in me too and that gives me added strength - and faith in myself.

So -- after all of that -- I'm going to do it. I'm going to face my fear of failure and go for my dream. I'm going to run my own writing workshop. And I will succeed. Besides if I don't try at all, I'll always wonder what might have been.

Up Against the Wall?

2010-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

As writers we all know what writer’s block feels like. I tend to think it is merely a figmant of the imagination, a block created by ourselves to not do something that is hard to do.

In my writing, I get blocked because of a few reasons -

1. I get bored wtih the story.
2. I don’t really want to write a scene.
3. My inspiration is gone. (I’ll explain this in a second because I think it is used too often in place of the first two)

Okay, point number one, I am bored with the story. That is good sign that I need to set it aside and work on something else. I don’t consider this writer’s block as I can simply write something else. So what block is there?

Point number two, I don’t want to write the next scene. This happens for a number of reasons – the next scene could be hard to write because it’s something new for me, or it could be that I’m about to kill one of the characters and that’s always hard to do, or it could be a situation that is closely related to my own life and hard to write about entirely. This is a self made block caused by our own fear. I don’t call this a writer’s block – I call it a “fear block” I find that if I take a deep breath and just shoot forward anyway, it works. Other times I might take a little break, work on something else or skip ahead and come back to this scene later. Either way in truth I’m not really “stuck”.

Point number three, My inspiration is gone. Okay first off, I hate this excuse – I think it’s a copout. A writer’s inspiratin or muse is never gone – you just don’t listen to it sometimes. Or it’s telling you something for another story and not the one you want. So what? That doesn’t mean it’s gone or that you’re stuck or that you have writer’s block.

Writer’s block to me is when you can’t write A N Y T H I NG – at all. I have never had that happen. I can always write about something.

But, here are some tips I use to make sure that I don’t.

1. Take breaks - a lot. I skip around from one story to another. Instead of fighting with one story and not doing anything for a month, I’ll work on a different project. It keeps the juices flowing and then I can come back to the first project with fresh eyes and thoughts.

2. Take breaks - a lot. Okay, this time I mean get away from the pen and paper every once in a while, walk away from the computer. Take a bubble bath, go for a walk, take a drive, call an old friend, etc. Just relax and refresh your brain and body.

3. Never discount anything! I write a lot of notes – and I do mean a lot. Everything inspires me – so pay attention to your surroundings. Conversation, a word, a phrase, an action can cause any sort of inspiration! Write them down as fast and as often as you can. You may not need it right now, but you might in the future. (These notes are a big thing that prevent the supposed “writer’s block” from ever coming up. A look over my notes and tada, I have something to write.) I have a notebook by my bed, in my purse, and at the computer. That way no matter where I am, I always have a place to keep my notes.

My main point here is to just keep writing – no matter what it is. Journaling, blogging, novels, poetry whatever. Just write – write every day – about something! Writer’s block will be a thing of the past as you will have plenty of inspiration – and above all practice – to back you up.

Set Writing Goals

2010-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, the goals of a writer can vary from day-to-day. However, it is a good idea to at least write down some month by month goals for the year.

First you take a main goal for the year then go through each month and detail how you are going to reach that main goal.

I can tell you right now from experience that I have not followed by goal schedule for this year. But, it does keep me moving, even if it’s had a slower speed than I initially plotted out.

And that’s the point here people – write your goals down, so you don’t lose the plot. (Oh yes, I totally made that pun on purpose!)

So take a minute to write your goals down for the rest of this year. Split it up by month or even week if you want to. Whatever way works best for you. The point is to write something down. Hang it up where you can see it everyday, to keep you moving in the right direction.

A Writing Collage

A great way to really see your goals is to make a writing collage. Take images that represent your goals – even your life goals. Do you want to own a house? A nice car? Have a family? Anything! Cut out pictures and paste them all into one image for a collage. Choose colors that inspire or calm or excite you, whatever you want the collage to convey.

For me, I already had my life’s ambitions already. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful son. My only “life” goal or dream left is to be published. So my collage was centered around that, filled with images that inspire me or that represent my writing.

Calling All Writers!

2010-08-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

The vote was 7 (yes) to 3 (no) for the poll question "Would you like to see other writers as guest bloggers here?"

So -- I will begin the process of asking my fellow writers to be guests on my blog. It will be a few weeks before you begin to see other writers here, as I try to figure out the best way to put this all together.

Thank you to everyone that voted in this poll!

CALL FOR AUTHORS

As the first step of this project, I'm making a call for authors. If you know anyone (or yourself) that would like to be a guest or guests you'd like to see, please leave a comment here with their name and contact information (email, blog, or website). You can also email me directly at harleydpalmer[at]gmail.com if you prefer.

The Best Onling Writing Conference of All Time

2010-08-30T07:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, I am normally not one to advertise conferences or contests or other activities as a blog post on my blog. I simply put them as a link somewhere in the side bar and leave it at that.

However, this conference deserves a post and more! This online conference has got to be the Best I have ever seen - no joke. I would make the words of this post glitter if I could, seriously. Or maybe decorate with neon or something!

The Muse Online Writers Conference

This conference has 38 - yes, I said THIRTY-EIGHT - publishers and agents on hand for pitch sessions! There are 52 week long workshops, 29 chat workshops, and over 20 mini-workshops and Q&A sessions! Workshop topics range from flash fiction, script writing, publishing, novels, writer's block, and every thing inbetween!!

Do you want to know the best part? The registration fee is only FIVE DOLLARS!!! Hello? Why are you still reading this blog? Get over to the website and register right now! Registration ends on September 10, 2010!

The conference is from October 11 to 17, 2010. I'm registered and ready to go and I hope to see you all there!!

You can get updates about the conference by joining their Yahoo! group and follow their blog for some great information also.

(Mia, if you reading this, I know I stole your whole changing font size in the middle of a sentence thing you do, but I felt it was perfect for this particular post. Don't worry, this will be the only time I do it - until next time. *smile*)

Save the Words!

2010-08-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

I was blog surfing today and Heather Howland blogged about this and so I had to spread the word - literally!

There are many words in the English language that we no longer use! It's sad! So, there is this wonderful site where you can go adopt these words that need so much of our love!

These are three words that I adopted!

magistricide
(n.) the killing of a teacher or master

snollygoster
(n.) a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician

nubivagant
(adj.) moving throughout or among clouds

What words will you adopt? Go Save the Words!

Why Do You Write?

2010-08-26T07:00:00.001-04:00

One of the most important things that I have learned over the many years of writing, reading, researching, and reviewing is this – as a writer, you need to know why you write and what your goals are.

I can already hear people saying “I write because I love it”. Well yes, but why do you love it? Really dig deep and ask why you write. I feel that this is a very important question for all writers to ask themselves. It is the reason why we keep going when the critiques come in, when the rejection letters pile up, and when rewrite number seven still isn’t good enough.

I was asked this question a few months ago in a workshop I joined. As you can see, it ended up being a pretty long answer.

I write because it frees me. In the worlds that I create, I can be myself without being judged for my past or present. I can just be. That is why I choose to write in the fantasy genre, especially with my novels. I get to make all the rules. I can get lost in the worlds of my novels, away from the stresses of life. It’s my escape.

When I was young, writing poetry was a way to express myself. A way to say what I really felt inside. I was a painfully shy child and I had trouble talking to people easily. So I wrote my words down. That was before my battle with drug addiction and alcohol took hold. I did not stop writing entirely during those years, but anyone reading my work, could definitely tell the difference. Every thing started to take on a darker view, more twisted and scary almost. The few poems or stories I did write during that time all had a dark cloud in there somewhere, like the words themselves radiated anger and pain right off the page.

Now that I am clean and sober, I write as a means of soul-searching. I always put a piece of myself into the characters I create and during their journey in the story, it is as if I am also discovering a part of myself. Something connects with me and a light bulb goes off – that “ah-ha” moment – and suddenly everything makes sense. Often times my “writer’s block” is because the story has taken a turn that will force me to look at a side of myself that I might not want to. But once I get past it, and get the words out on paper, I feel so much better. The world looks brighter and it’s like I can breathe again. The last three years of sobriety have been one learning experience after another, as I learn to actually life again, instead of just existing.

So why am I a writer? Because that is where I find myself.

But what about you? Why do you write? The real, deep down, true reason. I challenge you to discover this about yourself. You might even want to write a blog post about it! At the very least, I recommend you type it up, print it out and hang it next to your writing area. Look at it whenever you get discouraged and remember why you chose this career. Mail it to yourself! Whatever it takes for you to remember why you write during the hard times.

Interview "In the Beginning" by F.D. Davis

2010-08-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

Author F.D. Davis (aka Dyanne Davis) is joining me again today to talk about her book "In the Beginning". She graced me with a personalized, autographed copy of this book and the sequal that follows! Now, I must go out and buy the third of the series as I am really into this story! Instead of me babbling on about how I like this book, I'll let Dyanne tell you about it!

To begin, give us a few stats about the book first - genre, word count, publisher, agent, editor, etc.

In The Beginning has been classified from urban fiction, speculative fiction, paranormal fantasy and paranormal romance. There is no HEA, so technically it isn't a romance. The book was published by Parker Publishing, word count, a little over 111,000. The agent was Michelle Grajkowski of Three Seas Literary Agency. The editor (Thank God and after much begging and pleading for her to freelance for Parker) was Sidney Rickman. Actually I had it put into my contract that Sidney would be my only editor.

That is great that you were able to keep your editor. So, tell the blog readers a little pitch about In the Beginning, please.

Adam Omega is a man on a mission. Make that a vampire. Having lived a thousand years Adam has mastered the sun and lives his life as a mortal man. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, he seeks to bring his kind into the light without fear to taste the sun to not need the tainted blood of humans to survive. To his chagrin his kind fears his life and fears Adam.

A lingering memory of love is reawakened when Adam spots Eve. A lingering memory of anger is burned into existence when he discovers the truth. The soul of his long dead Eyanna now resides in the body of Eve.

Eve’s quest for a more spiritual life is fueled by dreams that she can’t quite remember. She’s running from evil and runs straight into the path of a vampire that desire her. Her only hope appears in the form of Sullivan, another vampire that wants Eve to help destroy Adam.

As Eve’s soul realigns with her forgotten memories her past love for Adam is reawakened. Will her desire to remain mortal save her from the life Adam wants to force on her. Will Adam, a true Immortal care? He is not looking for redemption, his will is the only will he follows. For a thousand years nothing has been denied him. Will the desires of a woman who betrayed him stand in the way of his plans?

How did the idea for the novel come to you?

Well meaning friends thought I was going to hell for writing romance novels (not even erotica) I decided to see what they would think if I wrote about a vampire, naturally he had to confront them in the churches since that's where I was being called out at.

Interesting. I wondered where the idea for that came from. Did you know ahead of time it was the beginning of a series or did you figure that out later?

It was later.

What or who was the inspiration for the characters Eve, Adam and Sullivan?

Adam and Eve were both some part of my psyche. Sullivan was an innocent.

Many of my characters seem to be a part of me too. If you wouldn't mind providing an excerpt from the novel to share.

This is a scene taken from when Eve made a deal with Adam then reneged and ran away to Amsterdam.

A moment of regret claimed her for all that she had lost. She had been unable to tell her friends or family of her decision to leave, unable to quit her job. To do any of those things would have given Adam a way to find her.

She could not and would not be in love with a vampire. Adam had awakened her body to powerful feelings that threaten to overtake her when she was with him. He’s a vampire, he’s a vampire had become her constant mantra. She had been forced to get away.

She had been exploring the streets all afternoon. Now, as darkness settled around her, she paused, knowing it was time she returned to her hotel. For one thing, free dinner was included with the price of her room and she needed to save wherever she could. She looked around and realized she’d lost her bearings. She’d been thinking too much as she walked.

Turning, she looked in the opposite direction. None of the stores or buildings looked familiar. Don’t panic, Eve admonished herself. At that moment strong hands reached out and grabbed her viciously. She screamed, more in anger than fear, thinking it was Adam.
When a hand clamped over her mouth and the man pulled her kicking and trying her best to scream into an alley, she knew from the mushy feel of his body that it wasn’t Adam. She bit down on his fingers and he let go, only to punch her in the face.

“Do that again, bitch, and I’ll kill you,” the man snarled, whipping out a knife and pressing it against her throat. He nicked her and Eve felt blood trickle from the wound.

Damn, she thought, trying to think of a way to get away alive and unmolested. He began pulling at her clothes. “Stop,” she rasped, “stop!” She tried to push him away. The knife bit into her skin again.

“Stand still, bitch.”

“Take your hands off the lady.”

Adam. At the sound of his voice Eve went limp. Adam. Thank God, he’d followed her.

“She’s mine, Mac. You want to share her for a price maybe that can be arranged.”

“First off, I don’t share,” Adam stated matter-of-factly. “Second, she’s not yours, she’s mine.”

“Get the hell out of here or I’ll slice her face into ribbons.”

“Let her go and I might let you live. You touch her again with that blade and I will rip out your heart,” Adam said calmly, not moving.

Eve was hoping that the mere sound of Adam’s voice would be enough to put the fear of God into the man, make him turn her loose, but it wasn’t. He pressed the cold blade to her cheek and she cringed as the knife sliced into it.

Her eyes were on Adam. But he wasn’t looking at her, only at the man holding her. She saw the purple gaze turn red with rage. She shuddered as awareness of what was about to happen filled her.

This fool holding her would die tonight. Without a doubt Adam would do as he’d said. She felt the fool’s hand pawing again at her, rough, reaching into her pants.
And then she didn’t.

Eve was free. She turned slightly, enough to see the man standing behind her. He stood there staring for a moment at her. His eyes were filled with fear, then nothing. The eyes were dead. The man’s heavy weight dropped to the ground. Her eyes went to Adam. He held the man’s heart in his hand; blood dripped between his fingers.

Adam’s eyes narrowed when he looked toward her and Eve began to shake uncontrollably. Then he fell on the man’s body, clawing away at his neck, sinking his fangs into the flesh. The sight turned Eve’s stomach and she knew she was going to be ill.
God help her! Eve screamed when Adam turned to face her with blood on his lips. She moved back against the wall, almost tripping over the dead man’s feet.

“Oh God,” Eve moaned over and over, “this can’t be happening.” She screamed again.

“Stop that infernal racket,” Adam commanded.

“You killed him.”

“Of course I killed him. What did you want me to do with him?”

Eve didn’t want to look at Adam. “You killed him,” she repeatedly weakly.

In the Beginning is available at all major bookstores, as well as on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other internet sites.

Thanks for being with us for another day Dyanne. I'm delighted to have you visit me here! If my blog readers would like to learn more about this book or even talk to the famed vampire, Adam Omega himself, you can visit the following places:

Adam’s Website: http://www.adamaomega.com/
Email Adam at: adamomegavampire@aol.com

Partners in Fiction

2010-08-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

I want to talk today about Crit Partners. Every writer should have at least one. I'm lucky enough to have found two!

Now, it took me a long time to find the two that I have. There were certain standards I was looking for in a partner and sadly, not everyone measured up.

First thing, I need a person that would not blow smoke up my butt. That is very important to me. Yes, getting those reviews that don't have any red marks and say "This is great!" do make me feel good. But, I'd rather have a review riddled with red marks. Why? So I can improve. I don't want to become stagnant as a writer - ever. My crit partner needed to be brutally honest with me in order for me to keep moving forward.

Second, I also needed a person that while brutal, would not be down right cruel. There is a fine line here and I hate to say that I have had some people not know this. I told them to be brutal and they were cruel instead. I simply can't work with people like that. While I am still friends with a few of these people, I don't ask them to read my work anymore.

Last, I had to have a partner who was on the same level as I am. Not in skill, but at the same point in their career. Sure, I would learn a lot from an already published author. At this point in my life however, I wanted a crit partner who was struggling with the same things I was. This way we could be encouraging to each other.

These things were important to me, but for you to find a crit partner, you have to figure out what you need or want. My two crit authors do not write the same genre that I do, but I think that works out to my benefit. You might want someone who writes the same genre as you. That's fine. Just figure out what you want in a partner then search for someone.

My two partners are different from each other but give me everything I need. C.J. Ellisson (author of Vampire Vacation) catches the nitty gritty stuff that I forget or don't pay attention to. She is really great at catching those paragraphs that are telly or sentences where the wording is confusing to the actual meaning.

J.D. Brown (author of Dark Heirloom) is great at finding those plot holes and suggesting new ways to present certain information. J.D. knows my characters almost as well as I do, so she also catches those instances where a character might do or say something they normally wouldn't. She provides me with a lot of inspiration how to show my characters' personalities the right way.

Both these wonderful people give me the perfect insights I need to polish my WIP! The three of us work well together I think. You need to find these same qualities in a crit partner. Do you get along? Can you understand each other clearly? Can you still be friends after the red marks start showing up? That last one is KEY to any crit relationship. Friendship is important to a crit partners relationship I think. Some might say that to have a crit partner, you can't be friends. I can agree with that as it is difficult to be friends AND crit partners with C.J. and J.D. But for me, it works. I love being able to hash out scenes with them and have them not be afraid to tell me I've got an idea that simply won't work. I guess I'm lucky that I found two people that I can still be friends with after the crits. Do what you think is best for you.

Find what works for you and your crit partner. Whichever way you decide, just remember that your partner is there to help you. You don't have to agree on everything. They are merely giving their own ideas and suggestions. In the end, it's your work and you don't have to change anything unless you want to. I can tell you from experience that I don't disagree with anything my crit partners say, athought it might take me a second to realize they're right.

Interview with Author F.D. Davis

2010-08-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today, I have the honored privilege to interview F. D. Davis (aka Dyanne Davis). She is a multi-published author and I am giddy with delight to be able to ask her a few questions! I met her during an online conference at savvyauthors.com. I moderated a workshop she presented about writing a series. It was a fantastic few days and she taught me so much. But, I'll let you read about how great she is!

Dyanne, tell us a little about yourself.

YOU do know asking an author to tell you a little about themselves could become an entire book right? LOL. Okay, seriously, let me see if I can shorten this up a bit. I'll start with this because it's almost here. I was born Sept 1. For some reason I've always liked the date, being Virgo it makes perfect sense. I am married to William Davis Sr. We will have been married 40 years Dec. 1. We have one son, William Davis Jr. We're both still overly protective of him. No grand-kids, no pets. I retired from nursing a decade ago after Bill suggested I take a couple of years off to devote to writing. Our deal was two years off, no contract return to work. Two years passed, no contract and I was ready to fulfill my part of the bargain. Bill told me to keep trying. I did and a year later I had my first contract. My old office still has me on as PRN. That's so I can still go to all of the functions that the reps takes the office to. They've even asked a couple of times if I want to fill in and I laugh. I no longer have the energy it takes to work in a super busy pediatrician office, nor do I want to. But that just goes to show that all of my friends still think of me as Dyanne the nurse, not Dyanne the author.

Forty years! Wow. That’s amazing. With such a great career in nursing, what made you decide to become a writer?

I've been reading since I was four. I think every avid reader wants to become a writer.

I think you may be right there. Who inspires you to write?

My characters inspire me. There have been many times in this second career of mine when I've wanted to chuck it all. Writing is the easy part it's what comes after that you have to brace yourself for. I'd also say the very nice and most wanted letters and emails I receive from readers saying that my words touched them inspire me on the days I want to quit.

It is great to have fans and I can’t wait to get those same emails. How has your life changed since you've been published?

My day to day life hasn't changed. There are some things about the industry that I've learned that I attempt to pass on to anyone who will listen. My real writing dream has been fulfilled to a certain extent. I always wanted my book to be in the library. They are. The day I checked my first book out of my local library was the greatest feeling in the world. It surpassed when I got my author copies in my hands or went to my first book signing. It was the library. I do a lot of school programs and talk at a lot of libraries. I almost lived in the library when I was a kid. I want to pass that love of reading along.

How long does it take for you to write a book and what is your schedule like when writing?

I can write a complete first draft in 2-3 months. When the story is really flowing I can do it in 6 weeks. My schedule is very fluid. I turn on the computer about 3a.m. and get off about 7 p.m. But...I'm doing the daily living things in between. Cooking, cleaning, making sure Bill who's now retired doesn't' feel neglected, going to the store, out for lunch, out for ice cream. All of that. So I can't say I have a set schedule like before Bill retired. I will tell you that since we had planned for that day I wrote like a demon finishing up second and third drafts of books that were later published and a few that I have yet to publish. I knew I needed to stockpile my work for the times when my entire day couldn't' be devoted to JUST writing. Bill and Billy and the two most important people in my life. Writing for me is not my number one priority, they are.

Yes, family should come first. It’s great that you have found a balance. I’m struggling with that myself at the moment. Do you character plot and outline a great deal or do you write on the fly?

I totally write on the fly. Or rather I'm saying now that I'm a straddler, meaning I'm in the middle. I have a vampire series and was forced to plot somewhat. I have other series in mind and will definitely do a Dyanne kind of outline.

I would love to learn what a “Dyanne king of outline” really is. Do you have a critique group, editor, or do you self-edit?

I don't really have a critique group. There are people I trust to be honest and have asked to read something before sending it in to my editor. Generally I don't do that. I've worked on fifteen books with the same editor and have learned quite a bit. I can find holes in plots very easily and know how to fix them. I've also become adapt at cutting away the fat. No longer is every single word I put down on paper considered untouchable.

Fifteen books with the same editor? Wow. I hope I can have such a great relationship with my editor. What is the hardest part of writing you've struggled with?

Since I've been published I've learned a great lesson, reading is extremely subjective and access to the internet tends to bring out the worst in people. I was very green when my first book came out. Though I was a member of my RWA chapter and warned, I was extremely disheartened after a string of glowing reviews to get some that were so vile that I seriously wanted to give up writing. I never knew people could be so mean and say such personal and nasty things without regards to a person’s feelings. I consider myself a nice person and one with manners. I'm very big on following, The Golden Rule. Born in the heart of The Bible Belt, I wouldn't have dreamed of ever deliberately hurting someone. Though that book won a major award and I still get letters from readers telling me how much they loved that book and how many times they've read it and cried over the same passages, that victory still remains a little tainted for me.

Even though it's been years and many books I think having to have a tough skin is still the part that I struggle with. I continued writing because of Bill. That man really is my hero and I love him a zillion times more today than the day I first knew that I loved him. He makes me laugh every day and the struggles of writing stay where they should be in my life, about number fifteen in order of importance.

I’m glad that your husband supports you so well. All writers need support. Thanks so much Dyanne for taking the time to answer my questions! It was wonderful having you with us today. If any of my readers would like to contact Dyanne, you can find her around the web at:

Website for F.D. Davis: http://www.adamomega.com/
Website for Dyanne Davis: http://www.dyannedavis.com/

Voices of the Mind Dwellers

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

(or Discovering your Characters' Unique Voice)

An idea for a novel comes to me when a character shows up and says "Anastasia, I have a story to tell you." More often than not, the characters come first and then the plot. I know other writers are the opposite, they have a plot and create the characters to fit into the setting. Regardless of how you come up with a new story, it is very important to know your characters inside and out to convey their personalities on the page.

There are different techniques writers use to achieve this, but today, we'll talk about how I get to know my characters.

Like I said, my characters show up, unannounced, in my head and proceed to annoy me endlessly until I tell their story. They talk to me on a daily basis just as my husband talks to me when we are watching television. I'm reminded of a quote that says "Writing is an acceptable form of Schizophrenia" Thank the Gods! Otherwise, I'd be committed. Some would argue I should be anyway, but I digress.

Instead of filling out Q&A character sheets myself, I let my characters do it. How would they answer the questions? I can be hard to do as I do have characters that have ideas that I don't agree with. I don't agree with everything my husband or friends say, but I still love them! The point is to let them fill in the answers, not you.

I tend to talk to my characters like they were sitting next to me. They're are some of my best friends! Like right then, I heard a chorus of "Awww really?" inside my head. It's rather odd sometimes, but I've gotten used to it.

Freaked out yet?

Seriously though, the point here is to know your characters like you know your best friend or your spouse. I know my characters well enough that I can take them out of their story and interact with characters from other stories and still maintain their voice. During those chat sessions, I learn more yet. It puts them in a new situation outside of the story plot and I learn more about who they are.

Example for you. Drache, the hero in Burden of Propecy was chatting with Etharas, Chakor and 3 guy vampires from J.D. Brown's Dark Heirloom (J.D. was there too with her characters of course). I never thought Drache was the violent type, seeing more as a Beta rather than an Alpha type of guy. However, during the little get together, someone (ahem, Etharas) said some not so nice things about Drache's wife. Lo and behold, Etharas was put into his place with a well smacked hand! I was shocked but when I thought about it, it fit. Drache is fiercly loyal and protectice of his wife and won't tolerate anyone putting her down. I was missing his strength of passion in the novel - but I promise you, it's there now!

However you discover your characters inner feelings, thoughts, and voice, just make sure it's their voice and not yours. Yes, authors have their own voice that comes through their writing, but that's a different topic.

***If you'd like to read the entire confrontation with Drache and the rest of the guys, visit The Life and Times of Imaginary People on Aug 28 to read the Poker Party.***

Editing the Anastasia Way

2010-08-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

I've made a few posts on this blog in the past about passive verbs and weak sentences. There are sure more to come in the future too.

When it comes to grammar, while passive sentences can be correct, the point is they take away from the story and the action. Active sentences suck the reader into the scene so they can see and hear and feel what's going on too.

With that in mind, I learned a new trick to help me find those pesky passive verbs a lot easier in my huge MS.

Create a Macro! Now, for those that are not computer savvy, don't worry. This is the easiest thing to create - seriously. I'll take you through it step by step!

1. I did a bit of research and wrote down four seperate lists:

Passive Verbs (is, am, was, were, be, being, been, has, have, had, are, -ing)
Weak Verbs (saw, felt, heard, walked, ran, thought, realized, seemed, sat, stood, sounded, took)
Weak Words (that, just, even, so)
Adverbs (always, every, never, very, often, several, most, really, sometimes, -ly)

You can create your own lists based on whatever you like. You can even join all four of my lists together into one list. Whatever way works for you.

2. I opened my MS and had my list handy.

3. Click on "Tools". Holding your mouse over "Macros" will show a side pop down menu. Click on "Record New Macro".

4. In the little window that pops up, create a name for the Macro (like Passive Verbs). In the description area, you can explain what the Macro does. Mine says "Yellow highlight of Passive Verbs". You can also use this window to set a keyboard shortcut.

5. Click "Ok" A tiny window will pop up with a "Stop" and "Pause" button. You are now recording and any changes you make to the MS, the Macro will record.

6. Go to "Edit" then click on "Find". (You can type Ctrl+F if you prefer). Click on the "Replace" tab in the new window. In the "Find What" area type in one of the words from your list. For my Passive List, I typed in was. Then in the "Replace With" are, type in was again.

7. At the bottom of the window is a button that says "More". Clicking on that will expand the window to show more options. I recommend selecting the "Find whole words only" option. (Make sure the cursor is in the "Find What" window during this step.) This prevents your MS highlighting any time the pattern is (like in the word this) and only hightlights the word is. When you add 'ing' or 'ly' to your lists, uncheck this option.

Now, here you can do a few different things. Clicking on the "Format" button at the bottom will bring up a menu where you can select different formats. (Make sure the cursor is in the "Replace With" window during this step.) What I do is select "Highlight". But you can change font color or even bold the word if you prefer. Experiment with the things on this list to find what works best for you.

8. Click "Replace All". You will see highlights appear all over your document.

9. Repeat steps 5 to 9 until all the words on your list are highlighted. (Tip: Once you have your format settings, all you need to do is change the words you wish to highlight. You don't need to close the window or reset any of the formatting for each word - unless you want to change it).

10. Click on the "Stop" button on the tiny Macro recording window. Clear all the formatting in your MS (Click on Ctrl+Z will undo the last change you made.) To test your Macro, go to "Tools" then"Macro" then "Macros...". Here you can see the list of all Macros you have made. Select the Macro you want to run and click on "Run". As you can see, all the highlighting you did previously is done in one easy step! (Depending on how long your MS is, this could take a few minutes for it all to show up.)

Tip: If you have more than one Macro and want to change the highlight color for each list, simply change the "highlighter" color then run the next Macro. If you selected different font colors while recording, you do not need to do this extra step when running more than one Macro.

It takes a while to create the Macro the first time around, but trust me, the time it saves you later, is priceless. Taking a few hours now to set up this feature will help you with ANY novel you ever write again. (If you get a new computer, you have to set up the Macros all over again, just so you know.) I open my MS now and get straight to editing rather than doing "Find and Replace" for each word, every time.

**This is for Microsoft Word on a Windows operating system. I know Pages on a Mac has something similar to this feature.**

Imaginary People Given New Home!

2010-08-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

Anastasia: Jen and I met on Writing.com and became fast friends. Our love of the dark side bonded us together instantly. We finally traded crits for each other’s works, (Dark Heirloom and Burden of Prophecy) and our friendship was cemented in laughter, love, and imaginary people.

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Jen: Lots of laughter!

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Anastasia: Indeed!

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Jen: Anastasia and I became fast fans of each other’s characters. Since we both talk to our own characters on a regular basis, it was just a matter of time before my characters started talking to her and vice versa.

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Anastasia: Oh yes. In time it became obvious how our characters took over and soon the characters were talking - to both of us! Now, it is a rare occurrence where we have a conversation where one of the characters do not make an appearance.

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Jen: Yup. One thing lead to another, and soon our characters were talking to each other!

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Anastasia: Yes. I don't think either of us were prepared for how well they interacted either. Considering it's vampires and faeries from two totally different worlds, it's amazing to see them become friends with each other.

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Jen: Oh yeah. Our characters definitely have a mind of their own. Since then, it's been nonstop fun letting ALL of us mingle and chat. Though sometimes it can be chaotic, lol!

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Anastasia: That is very true! I'm sure some of you reading this think we have lost the plot here, but really, for me, my writing has improved immensely because of our character chats. My characters are more rounded with rich, deeper emotions - and I can convey those traits so much easier on paper too.

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Jen: Definitely. Unleashing my characters and letting them chat with Anastasia's has helped me see their true, unique voice. They reveal emotions and sides of themselves that I didn't realize were there - and I apply those gold nuggets to my writing all the time.

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Anastasia: With that in mind, we created a blog to unleash our characters to the world! We can't contain them in our own heads anymore! Okay, honestly, they bugged us until we caved and gave them their own blog, LOL!

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Jen: Haha! Yes. This was really Anastasia's idea, but I think it was only a matter of time, really. We love chatting with our characters so much that we saved copies of the chats! It was really just a matter of time before we realized how awesome it would be to share them with the world.

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Anastasia: Yes. So we crafted a space outside our heads just for them to talk to their fans and other characters too! Jen and I have stayed up late at night for a week planning every detail of this space to give our characters a comfortable place to share their thoughts and feelings.

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Jen: That's right. Anastasia's Fairies will blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My vampires will blog on Wednesdays and Fridays. Every Saturday will feature our famous "Character Chats" where you can see the awesomeness of multiple characters chatting with each other for yourself.

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Anastasia: Oh yes. The Saturday parties are definitely fun! Mondays will be for guest characters! That could be a minor character from our own works or even from other authors. Jen and I might make a few appearances to talk about the stories’ progress. I can't wait to see what other types of creatures we have visiting.

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Jen: And that's not all. We also have monthly forecast, predicted by two very wise, yet very ... urm ... colorful characters that you will meet later on the site.

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Anastasia: Oh yes! September will be the start of the forecasts. So come back then to see what Harmona Tion and The Crone have to say about the future!

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Jen: This blog is sure to be a blast, and it will constantly change as characters come and go - completely unleashed! So dig around and come back often!

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Anastasia: Let your characters come too! They need a break from the craziness of writing and editing too, so let them relax and enjoy the musings of a few funny (or demented, however you want to say it) characters from the heads of two insane authors.

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Jen: Insane, pssh! Lol.

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Anastasia: Oh right, I forgot. You can subscribe to the blog to get email updates of our posts by clicking on the "Sign me Up" button on the bottom right. You can also email the characters to ask them questions or leave them a personal message or two!

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Jen: Yes. Check the character pages to learn how to contact them.

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Anastasia: We (including the characters) look forward to seeing you!

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Jen: We hope you enjoy yourself. Thanks for stopping by!

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(click on the image below to be taken to the new blog!)

The Life and Times of Imaginary People

Dear Blog - Why Do You Hate Me?

2010-07-26T01:27:00.004-04:00

Dear Blog,

Why do you hate me so? I can't make any posts lately it seems. I don't understand this! I used to be brimming with ideas and now - totally blank. What happened to the fire we had? I couldn't go a day without posting - sometimes twice!

What ever shall I do?

Anastasia

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Dear Anastasia,

Well, you should talk to Muse about that one. I can't help you there. I just hold the information for you. Not much else I can do.

Blog

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Dear Muse,

Why have you left me? Blog is suffering and lonely here! Why would you abandon her? She's so young - and fragile. I must feed her new ideas and posts else she'll starve. And what about the readers, the faithful followers? What are they to read and learn if I post nothing?

Where did you go?

Anastasia

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Dear Anastasia,

I gave you all the ideas you need. You just refuse to write them. That is not my fault. Perhaps you should talk to Motivation. He handles that department.

Muse

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Dear Motivation,

Where are you? Blog is really lonely! What happened that made you abandon her? You used to love Blog! I posted everyday with your help. What went wrong?

Anastasia

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Dear Anastasia,

I give you plenty of motivation. School, WIP, workshop modding, and even for Blog. If you are having trouble, perhaps you should talk to Procrastination. It's usually his fault anyway.

Motivation

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Dear Procrastination,

Why do you hate me so? I let you control the laundry, dishes, and lots of other things. Why must you deny Blog her posts? She deserves them! Can you please let me give Blog her posts again?

Anastasia

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[Auto-Response]

Dear (Name Here),

I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Procrastination

The Fantasy Genre

2010-07-09T06:01:00.008-04:00

Fantasy Genres

Fantasy itself is a large genre that can be broken down into more specific genres. Today, we will be looking at a few of them to learn more about this huge genre.

ALTERNATE HISTORY
This is easy to understand. Take a part of our real history and change it. This can include magical elements (the real reason a war was won was because of magic) or a new concept of "What would happen if this happened instead?" (like what our world would be like had Hilter had his way with the Nazis party).

PARALLEL WORLD
The characters in this fantasy story start in our world, as we know it, then are transported in some way to a 'magical' or 'paralell' world. Some say this could be considered part of the Sci-Fi genre also. This is true but the difference really lies with the magical element as opposed to a scientic or technological one.

CONTEMPORARY FANTASY
A story set in our world but with magical elements. Some also consider this to be Dark or Urban Fantasy but, there are difference between the three. (Discussed further below). This type is often humorous or an adventure type of story.

DARK FANTASY
"Horror" has some negative connotations to it and many authors choose to write under this genre name instead. However, there is still a huge difference between "Horror" and "Dark Fantasy". It all depends on the author's choice and the actual content on the novel. Some say the difference is the magic. Horror tends to be more scary or paranormal - not magical or fantastical.

EPIC FANTASY
This one is also called HIGH FANTASY or HEROIC FANTASY. These stories takes place in brand new worlds that require a huge amount of world building - with no comparison to our world as we know it (at all). The stories usually center around the battle between good and evil that include sub-themes like racisim, sexism, slavery, poverty, etc. Often times the hero of these stories have an unexpected or unsual strength that helps them to defeat the villian.

FAIRY TALES
Who doesn't remember reading fairy tales as a kid? These fantasy stories are usually based on old folke tales or fairy tales, usually European. To write one of these, you take a known folk tale and rewrite a new version, basing your novel on the old tale, like if you wrote your own version of "The Ugly Duckling."

LEGENDARY FANTASY
This is similar to fairy tales but it is a story based on old legends and myths. This could include stories written around Greek Mythology or other heoric legends of old like Robin Hood.

PARANORMAL FANTASY
This category can be confused with Dark or Urban fantasy also as Werewolves and Vampires can often fall into this setting too. However, Paranormal Fantasy really focuses on mind over body types of magic/powers - like telepathy and teleknesis. That could be anything, not just werewolves and vampries. Some consider these types of stories to be Horror instead of Fantasy, but again the element that makes it different is magic.

SWORD AND SORCERY
This type is similar but more brutal than Heroic or Epic Fantasy. The heor has unusually high skills with swords and many other weapons then faces off agains sorcery (of an evil nature). He wins because of strength and will and "the gods' good fortune". The setting in this type if usually medieval so it has limited technology. It lacks the 'serious purpose' of Epic Fantasy stories.

TALKING ANIMALS
This type of story is all about animals, and is usually written with the animals as the main character's or at least playing a major role. The animals in these stories act like humans and can often talk, aloud or telepathically.

URBAN FANTASY
These stories take place in an urban environment (which means a city or town usually). People go about their normal lifes but co-exist with fantastic creatures. Often times the "humans" don't know they coexist, but there are stories where they do.Vampires are the popular type of Urban Fantasy story but it is really inclusive of ALL fantasy creatures in an urban setting. This could include genies, faeries, or werewolves.

Of course, once you have these basics down, you can break it all up into subgenres, like Fantasy Romance, Fantasy Mystery, etc. Just remember, the thing that makes fantasy, fantasy is the magic or fantasical elements.

Next week, I'll talk about some commen themes and elements in a fantasy story's plot line.

Tales from the Sidelines Blogfest

2010-07-08T04:53:00.007-04:00

It has been a while since I participated in a blogfest! I missed them but I always seem to be running late lately!

Anyway, this wonderful blogfest is hosted by Cheree Smith. The purpose of this blogfest is to put the spotlight on the side characters for a little while. One of my favorite side characters is an elf name Jardel. He's just so spunky! So, this scene is something I wrote a while back in his POV but not sure if it will stay in the book or not. (Jardel is from "The Kinir Elite Chronicles")

As expected from me - it's a long entry, but hey. Side characters need a little time in the spot light too, so Jardel can take over this blog post for a while. (For those that don't know, Jardel is an elf warrior. In this scene he and the team are going into the dwarf mines to rescue their Captain and team mate - who are the MC's in the story.)

Dawn was breaking. Jardel smiled to himself. He loved being a member of the Elite. It was going to be a great day. He enjoyed the missions and rescuing beings that needed justice. He hated all wrong doers and in joining the Elite, his dream of ridding the world of evil was one step closer to being true.

They arrived at the clearing near the secret entrance to the mines. Rakan, as the veteran of the team, took command and signaled Jardel, Tyn, and Saphierius to cause the distraction at the front entrance. They left to do as they were ordered.

"What should we do? Just run in making noise?" Tyn whispered as they quickly made their way around the base of Gorgan Mountain.

"Perhaps. Maybe set off some of sort of explosion."

"The explosion would definitely get their attention," Tyn said with a smile. Jardel whistled to Saphierius who was flying above their heads. He landed next to them and walked with them as they continued their way around the mountain.

"Saphierius, could you freeze some things down there for us once we are inside?" Jardel asked.

"Of course."

"All right. We are getting close to the entrance."

Jardel readied his bow, to take out any sentries that might be at the front entrance. There were two standing in front of two very large wooden doors. Jardel popped out from behind the bushes and fired two arrows in quick succession. The sentries fell into the dirt with barely a sound.

Saphierius blew his ice breath onto the door. Tyn did the honors of kicking the door, shattering the frozen wood into splinters. Three more dwarves were standing inside. They were momentarily stunned by the flying pieces of wood. Jardel dispatched one with his bow and Tyn ran the other two through with his sword.

The large tunnel could easily hold five elves standing side by side. Tyn ran along one side of the tunnel, Jardel on the other and Saphierius was in the middle. They made their way down the tunnel dispatching any dwarves that were in their way. The deeper they went into the mines, the more dwarves came swarming at them.

"Behind us!" Tyn yelled.

Saphierius turned around to cover their back while Tyn and Jardel tried to push their way forward. When the opportunity came up, Tyn ducked into a side tunnel, dragging Jardel with him. Saphierius followed and they ran down the tunnel, the dwarves close on their heels.

Jardel tried to remember the map from their mission planning. He remembered one of the tunnels looping back around and connecting back with the tunnel. He hoped it was this one. They came to a large cavern. They stayed on the path that ran along the edge. Below them was what appeared to be a town. They made their way around the cavern. Arrows began to fly up at them. Jardel was hit in the calf and he fell to this knees. Tyn turned around and picked him up, dragging him along. Saphierius did his best to freeze the arrows as they flew at them. The ice made them heavy and they fell short of their intended targets. The small dragon could not get to all of them and many times they had to duck in order to keep from being hit.

Tyn dragged Jardel out of the cavern into another tunnel. Jardel reached down and pulled the arrow out of his leg. He growled in pain and tore a piece of uniform. The wrapped the cloth around his leg. He nodded to Tyn to say he was ready to keep going.

He limped after Tyn down the tunnel. His memory had been right. The tunnel led them back to the main tunnel, but closer to the large cavern with the winding stairs. They quickly made their way into the cavern and started down the stairs. They saw Rakan taking up the rear as he led the faeries out of the cavern through the secret entrance. They whistled to him, to let him know they were still alive and on the chase. Rakan whistled back.

Jardel and Tyn raced their way down the stairs to join with the team. The distraction had apparently worked. Once all the faeries were in the tunnel, Aeli returned.

"Legousulip is leading the faeries to the cabin," she breathed.

"Right, let's go get the Captain and Kie."

The problem was they were cornered. The dwarves had swarmed them from both sides. Jardel and Tyn ran back up the stairs in an attempt to get some of the dwarves to chase them through the tunnels again. Rakan and Aeli went in the other direction with the same idea in mind.

Jardel led the way back to the main tunnel. He took a different side tunnel than the one they were in before. However, it was the same type of route. The tunnel led them to a cavern where there was a small village below them. No arrows flew at them this time however and they made it to the next tunnel in record time. When they joined up with the main tunnel again however, the dwarves were waiting for them. Saphierius turned the dwarves in front into ice statues and Tyn and Jardel shattered them. They slowly pushed their way forward back toward the main cavern.

They finally broke through into the large cavern. Tyn looked down, for a sign of Rakan and Aeli. They were just a little ways down the stairs from them. They pushed their way further down trying to meet up with Rakan and Aeli again. Jardel looked down as well, but spotted Derac and Kie instead.

"I spotted them!" he yelled happiness evident in his voice. They were alive. The faeries were safe and Derac and Kie were still alive. Now all they had to do was get out of the mines in one piece and all would be well.

Jardel was having fun despite the apparent grimness of the situation. Knowing that their mission was basically a success just filled him with joy. Every dwarf he dispatched was just the icing on the cake to him. It meant one less enemy to worry about. One less fight to fight. His leg burned but he ignored the pain. It was a welcome feeling as it meant he was still alive. He worked through it, intent on getting the whole team out of there alive. He would blow up the entire mountain if he could and bury the dwarves in the crushing rocks.

As he continued to fight, pushing their way to the secret tunnel, he laughed maniacally. They were going to get out - alive. Their mission was a grand success and Jardel was ecstatic about it. Aeli picked up on his good feelings and giggled a bit as well, as she fought next to him.

It's a great day to be an elf, he thought with glee. And a bad day to be a dwarf, he added kicking a dwarf in the chest, sending him over the edge. He laughed maniacally again, unable to contain the glee he felt. What is evil for him to enjoy killing the enemy? He did not think so. They were the evil ones and Jardel felt justified and righteous for killing them. He would never regret his killing all those dwarves nor would it keep him up at night. Serving justice was just much too fun to feel guilt over it and Jardel was having a lot of fun being a member of the Kinir Elite.

Writing the Anastasia Way

2010-07-07T06:45:00.007-04:00

All right, for this Writer Wednesday, we are going to talk about the importance of having an organized work space. I literally just spent TWO hours cleaning my office.

Now, my house has one large room where the living room, dining room and my 'office' is located. My hubby built me a cubicle of sorts. I have two four foot walls and a door to my office. It really is cute. See? (Behind the camera is the living and dining room and you can see the fridge from the kitchen in the photo.)

Having this little space is wonderful! When hubby is home, I can come in here and shut the door to keep a little toddler out! I put my headphones on, turn up the volume and voila - private space. Hubby can be a genius sometimes.

Anyway, as you can see, it's not very big. Why did it take two hours to clean up? Well - I got lazy. I had stacks of paper all over the place, post-it notes in piles for no reason, the printer was buried, and I even had stuff on the floor. Not good, especially with a toddler that likes to explore in the house.

Now, let's take a look at my desk. You can see that I use every inch of space available to hold all my stuff! (Do you see this post being typed up on the screen there? teehee)

It does look crowded, but there is a system to the madness. To the right, you have my novel notebooks and my writing books, along with the computer CD's like games and programs. The left has books I'm reading that haven't been moved to the regular book shelf, and three clipboards that I use all the time. The printer you can see on the far right is where I rest the current WIP that I am working on. At the top is just the speakers, the net router, the pencil holder and other random items that really can't be near the floor. (Toddlers are really grabby types of creatures).

See? There is an order to the madness there. What you don't see is the filing cabinet on the left which is literally stuffed to the gills with stuff. And the printer is sitting on a shelf where I keep my craft items like paint, yarn, sewing patterns, etc.

And that, is my office.

Now - why did I show you all of this? Because, I don't know about you, but I spend a good majority of my time in this space. I write for 3 blogs, have 16 novels in the works, run numerous workshops and writing activities on the web, not to mention I am currently enrolling in school. I have had so many people ask me HOW I do all of that and still spend time with my family. I have made previous posts about time management, but another key factor is organization. I have everything I ever need within arms reach.

You can see in the picture I have easy access to all my novels -each binder or folder contains character sketches, plot summaries, and notes upon notes upon notes. My clipboards have lists and other information that I need handy (like usernames, things to do, blog post ideas, etc). (Then of course the picture shows you my cigarettes of choice - that does help me keep my sanity although it doesn't do much for actually getting things done.) Everything I need to do any of the things I do are all right here, next to me. (We won't even talk about the organization of my computer files - oh no. We'd be here all day people.)

Of course, you guys do not need to go out and become busy bodies like me. That's not my point. But really - if I can do all the stuff that I do - and still run a house - think of what YOU could do with a little more organization! Finally finished the WIP? Get that revision done?

Work Smarter - Not Harder.

I save countless hours (seriously, hours) by NOT having to slog through piles of stuff to find the one little notation I need. That means I use the time I have to write wisely, which in turn means I have more time with my family - and it's all less stressful!

And now that my desk is all back in order. I think it's time I get back to editing my WIP. I've been avoiding it for the last two days and now is the time to get back to it. Oh look at that! It's right there on my printer, in a nice neat notebook. Everything I need - all in one place. So wonderful!