Labotomy of a Writer

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!

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 -------


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!

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.

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"

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

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.