Labotomy of a Writer

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!


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.