The Fang Marked Writer

Nanowrimo: Week #2

2011-11-08T18:02:00.000-06:00

I had a post written for Nanowrimo Week #1, but alas my computer ate it. So I'm just going to start over.

Welcome to Tuesday, Week #2. If you're on track, you should have at least 10K words right now. If you don't, it's not over yet. It's never over until December 1 comes around. In 2009, I wrote over 20K in one eight hour time frame to finish at goal. So, it's completely not over yet.

What distractions are you working with?

Mine are a little 8 month old boy who is starting to get his first cold, a husband working 12 hour days, and a growing irritation with my surroundings. Those are minor. Well, 2.0 doesn't think his cold is minor but it means longer naps and more writing time when I should be washing dishes. The dishes can wait.

This year, I didn't map my plot. I hardly researched. I didn't even name my characters until I was actually writing them. I've never done this before. I always have a plan, a plot map, a character map, thorough research done ahead of time. Last year that didn't work out so well for me and I hardly made it to 10k, giving up by my birthday on the 14th.

So I'm just going with the flow. I know this novel will require LOTS of editing later on and I'm not committing to anything. If I think one character needs to be in a scene, I write that scene. I make myself finish the scene I'm on and only then do I stop (unless 2.0 is crying and then all bets are off).

We can get through this together! It's only once a year after all. Bring on week #2!

It's Finally Here!

2011-07-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

It only took me another year, but I finally finished Awakening! It's ready to be proofed and I'm ordering that copy of the book tomorrow. I can't believe it!

So what's happened since the last post?

My son was born on February 23, 2011. Bringing a newborn home requires schedule adjustments and it took me and 2.0 a few months to get into a groove together. Add to that a new work schedule for both my husband and myself and some...shall we say complications? With all that, you have the perfect recipe for book delays.

But it's done now! I can finally move on and work on Resurrection. Now that's exciting!

Do you know how many times I've written Awakening? Three times. That's a lot for anyone. I can finally move on with life and take the next step in the Chronicles Of Seven.

Fingers crossed for Resurrection by the end of the year!

Character Development: The Heroine

2011-01-26T13:27:00.000-06:00

Have you ever picked up a book by an author you have never heard of before and read the cover flap, gotten excited about the heroine of the story, only to find that the heroine was completely different in the actual story than you were led to believe? Yeah, it's happened to me too. Or you read a series and the heroine, who started out as a strong character who is completely necessary to the story, becomes a deflated wimpy version of herself. It drives me insane.

In an effort to get rid of these kinds of stories, I want to let you in on the heroine. Whether she's an ancient queen in a faraway land or a high school sophomore thrown into the middle of teenage angst, she's vital to your story and you need to make sure you treat her with the respect and delicacy she deserves.

I've worked with three heroines so far and I had to make sure that my notes on each were detailed and concise. I had to think past my feminist roots and look at each situation my heroine would have to face as if I'd never encountered the obstacle before. With Rhoswen, my heroine from Prophecy, I had to seriously stop and think before I made her pregnant in Forbidden. Would Rhoswen be excited about a coming baby or would she be terrified by the change in her life? I weighed all the options before deciding what she would and wouldn't be.

But Rhoswen was easy. I created her out of my life, twisting certain elements to give her more life and believability. I knew her inside and out because she is me. Working with Guin and Breanna proved to be infinitely harder.

Guin is someone that could not really exist, and yet she does exist in every single teenage girl on the face of the planet. She wants her own life, to be able to make her own decisions and mistakes, she wants freedom. I remember being in that stage of my life, but it was a long time ago. I had to watch a lot of television and read a lot of *gulp* magazines to be able to figure out how to create Guin to be who she is. But had I not done that, she would have been a flat, unbelievable caricature of herself.

Breanna is even harder to figure out than Guin is. Breanna lives in the 1780s. Sure, she's a teenager, but being a teenager in that day and age meant something completely different than it does now. There's no one alive from that time frame to help me figure out what kind of person she is. So I had to turn to books again and dig through history to find out what life was like for a girl her age in that day and time and try to adapt that information to the aspects of Breanna's character that wouldn't change with time. Breanna is strong and independent, yet she knows when to listen to the guidance of others and when to fall back to protect herself and those she loves. She is still under development, but she no longer confounds me.

If you want to create a heroine, you need to be sure that you know who she is and will become as the story continues. Anticipate her actions and decisions, think through her responses. Don't radically change her from one story to the next. Instead, make the progression natural as she moves from one stage of life to the next. Rhoswen was tough in Prophecy, hard and standoffish. But by the end, she's a strong woman who finally understands what it means to love someone so much that you'd be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for him. Then she moves from that stage of her life to a wife and mother. I hope I made it flawless, but I'm sure I didn't.

Try not to make your heroine the opposite of herself from one story to the next, or even one chapter to the next, unless you're working with a character that has multiple personalities or is clinically insane. It's always hard to read a heroine that you love turn into a coward when she wouldn't be or a bad guy when she's not being manipulated by the forces of darkness.

Finally, be prepared to edit like crazy when you're done writing the first draft. We all create circumstances that make our heroine into something she shouldn't be. Find those pages and fix them. Comb through your heroine's life on those pages and make sure she is who she is instead of someone she isn't. And take great care with her. Remember, she may not be written as delicate, but she truly is.

Character Development: The Sidekick

2011-01-19T10:38:00.000-06:00

In an effort to get more writing in my life (because it's just sad when your spouse writes more than you do and you're supposed to be the writer in the family), I decided to focus on my characters and start picking on a few of them (read: ALL of them). So for the next few posts, I think I'll share what I've discovered with you.

I've talked about plotkillers and villains. Now I want to focus on the sidekick.

Sidekicks aren't just for superhero comic books or really bad spinoff movies. A sidekick doesn't have to wear a stupidly garish costume and rush in to save the hero's life in the nick of time. Sidekicks can be cool and will end up being very important in your story as you develop it.

What kind of story would Lord of The Rings be without Sam, Legolas, Gimli, and the rest of the gang? What kind of story would you have if you took Isabelle and Alec out of the Mortal Instruments? The In Death series wouldn't be very good without Peabody, McNab, Mavis, and Summerset either.

So last night, while stuffing my face with Taco Bell, I thought about what my story would be like without Ulrich, Lincoln, and Chocon. It would be pretty darned boring and I'm sure Seven would be dead right about now.

The sidekick is important because your hero has to have other people in his life besides himself. Do you have people in your life besides yourself and/or significant other? Of course you do. In real life, they are our friends (and family, but family doesn't always count), but for fictional purposes, we'll call them sidekicks.

Without the sidekick, your hero stands alone against everything, good or bad. There is no wingman watching his six, there is no warrior with a sword standing at his back. There's probably no comic relief or deep, revealing conversations. Your hero is in black and white. Sidekicks bring the color (not gaudy latex color all the time either).

But if your sidekick is hokey, campy, or bland, you'll probably have a hokey, campy, or bland story (and if that's what you're going for, kudos to you). Sidekicks have their own stories as well. Dick Greyson has his own story line in Batman. Stevie Rae has her own story line in the House of Night series. Ulrich has his own story in Awakening and Lincoln had his in Forbidden. Chocon is getting a turn later on. It gives you the chance to make the sidekick real for the reader instead of a wallflower at the big dance.

My husband said to me last night that just because you call them a sidekick doesn't make them dorky. I finally agree with him. I had a hard time picturing Ulrich or Chocon as anyone's sidekick. But now I see it. Without them, my hero isn't the character I created him to be. Remember that when you create a sidekick. Your hero will thank you later on.

Goals for 2011

2011-01-12T21:46:00.000-06:00

I'm getting a late start at this (I blame the recent dramatic dashes to labor and delivery for part of this), but here's my plan for 2011:

-Finish and release Awakening.
-Edit Prophecy to begin querying agents (my vernacular is off here, of this I'm sure, but it's been awhile for me)
-Get first draft of Resurrection completed.
-Hopefully finish first draft of OWR novel #1
-Successfully complete Nanowrimo this November!
-Complete notes for Scandal

I know I have a lot packed into this year and that I will probably not succeed in completing all these goals, but I'm going to try anyway.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T17:56:00.000-06:00

I wanted to take a moment to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It's so hard to believe I didn't release a novel this year. But life gets in the way sometimes. Hopefully next year will be a year of new words and new novels and new opportunities.

Have fun, be safe, don't count your calories, and I'll see you next year.

Writing A Series: Plot Killers

2010-11-20T20:50:00.003-06:00

My husband and I decided to talk book for the first time in so long that I wasn't even sure how to do it productively. It was a great three hour conversation that made me want to get back into my novels so bad, but I'm holding off for a little bit longer as I finish my second trimester and my training at my new job and settle into an actual schedule.

While talking, I realized that one of my characters is a plot killer.

So what is a plot killer? A plot killer is one character that sticks out like a piece for a jigsaw puzzle that's in the wrong box. You just can't make it fit no matter what you do. A plot killer has the best of all intentions and just can't be used for anything good. It's not their fault; it's yours.

I love Cassie, my plot killer. I need her. She's instrumental to the story, but the way I created her made her a detriment to the story. I need her and can't use her.

What do you do with a plot killer? Exterminate them? No. You're the writer, the creator. You change them if you can. Even if that means you're going to rewrite until your fingers fall off and you lose the will to live outside of coffee and Jolly Ranchers. A plot killer needs to be remolded into something useful or they will have to be eliminated.

How did I 'fix' Cassie? I changed her power. Her power was entirely too vague and yet too useless at the same time. I needed her to become useful and thus stripped her power from her and gave her another one. I changed certain aspects of her history and personality to make it fit a bit better. In the process, I removed my plot killer from Awakening and Legacy. Well, one of the plot killers from Legacy anyway.

If you recognize a plot killer in your story, it's going to be okay. You just have to be prepared for a lot of work and make sure that you take detailed notes on your character's new personality. Whether that's new 'powers' or a new backstory, write it down. Also, be honest with yourself. You created this mess, only you can clean it up. Don't be too proud to admit that you have a problem on your hands. The quicker you see the issue, the less clean up you're going to have to do.

Nano Midway Update: Monumental Failure

2010-11-16T19:17:00.002-06:00

I'm having a really hard time with Nano this year. After realizing that I'm doing a horrible job this year and getting over the frustration, I realized that some good had come from this experiment in disastrous failure.

1: My life is not as interesting as I thought it was. My Nano novel was based off of my own experience with my father's death and life following that tragedy. But as I started to write it down, I realized the details are very boring.

2: Coming off a very long hiatus is very hard. I wasn't disciplined anymore in my writing time or in my style and it's hard to get that groove back.

3: I miss my vampires. I honestly miss them very much. As I looked back over Awakening, I've been happy that I didn't publish it as it was because there's so much that needs to be changed.

4: Writing excites me again. I guess I was burning out. I haven't even read vampire books in about six months and I've been staying away from anything supernatural. Instead, I've been digging into general fiction and some mystery and fantasy. I've been knitting to relieve stress. I've been focusing on my pregnancy and the baby boy who's going to enter the world in March. But I've missed writing. I've missed being creative. It's time to get back to what I love doing.

I won't make my goal this year. It's simply too late for me to make up the numbers I need to make it happen. But I'm okay with that. You can't win every year right? Well, maybe you can...but I can't.

Hiatus Coming To A Close

2010-10-13T11:34:00.002-05:00

Guess what next month is? You got it! National Novel Writing Month, affectionately known by me as Nanowrimo or the month where no one talks to me.

What better way to end this hiatus I've been stuck in than to jump into Nanowrimo?

This year's submission will be vampire-less again because I'm taking a break from Seven and the gang. I have to get my mojo back with them and I think I need more time apart. At least as far as writing about them full time is concerned.

I've been thinking about Nanowrimo this year and I'm doing a piece of fiction that's based on actual events. MY actual events. I've taken notes on this project for years and left them scattered haphazardly through my hard drive. Finally, I'm going to put them all together and write. Then I promised myself I would NOT have a Nano hangover like last year.

So, my question to you is this. Is this the year you finally do it? Is this the year you let yourself go and finally get those 50000 words? Or will you make excuses and wait till next year? The choice is up to you. Red pill or blue pill.

Unintentional Hiatus

2010-08-03T18:48:00.002-05:00

I don't know what happened to the month of July, but it's over and I did absolutely nothing. Nothing. No writing at all. I didn't mean for that to happen, but there it is. There's nothing I can do about it.

The Fang Marked Office has moved to Davenport, IA officially and now that I'm expecting a baby in March, I guess the exhaustion knocked me down far enough that I couldn't recover.

August should be much better for me. I'm planning on working on Prophecy and writing Resurrection. I just need to adjust to how tired I am lately and the new place I get to write in.

The Office Is Moving

2010-07-16T10:37:00.001-05:00

Currently, the Fang Marked Writing office is in the middle of a transition. Hopefully we'll have the move finished this weekend. Please be patient as we change locations. Thanks!

Office Is Closed!

2010-06-30T14:04:00.000-05:00

Eclipse opened today (and I saw it last night), so the office is closed. Go see it and then we'll chat.

Now What?

2010-06-30T09:44:00.003-05:00

After working so hard toward the deadline for Awakening, I'm finding myself at a loss for what to do with my writing time now. I know I have projects that I want to work on (Prophecy is getting edited again for query to an agent, Resurrection is stuck in my head and won't leave me alone, The Order Of The White Rose novel needs to be recreated from data loss), but I just can't make myself start of them, not yet.

I think I'm going to take some time off, just a couple days or a week or something, and let myself write fun things. Short (ha!) stories that have no torture or blood or war or death in them. Character developing stories, stories that I could put on my website maybe. Just little snippets of action you missed between Forbidden and Awakening or Prophecy and Forbidden. Maybe even a short story from before Prophecy, in between Legacy and Prophecy. It's an interesting thought.

I already have one in my head that my fingers are itching to write. It's very funny and with that, I don't want to mess it up with bad delivery of the jokes or poor imagery or something like that. But that's the nice part about it being a short story. It's not long enough to be a big deal to edit if I make mistakes.

Today I'm off. There are no office hours today. I just woke up earlier than anticipated and had some time on my hands or I wouldn't even be writing anything today at all. But tomorrow...we'll see about that.

It's Finished!!!

2010-06-28T21:35:00.002-05:00

*sigh of relief* After working so hard with such limited time, I finished Awakening. It's about time!

I submitted it to createspace this evening and we'll get word on whether or not it's approved in the next day or so. Keep your fingers crossed! Then I'll be able to add a cover to the photo album.

Music To Write By: Editing Playlist Part The Second

2010-06-20T14:05:00.002-05:00

I love putting up what music I'm listening to. I think it's an education for everyone. Here's what's playing in my MP3 player right now:

Muse-Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)

Adam Lambert-If I Had You

Linkin Park-Leave Out All The Rest

Daughtry-Life After You

Christina Aguilera-Not Myself Tonight

David Cook-Light On

Lady Gaga-Alejandro

Timbaland Feat Katy Perry-If We Ever Meet Again

Blue October-Into The Ocean

Daughtry-It's Not Over

Beyonce-Halo

Muse-Map Of The Problematique

Muse-New Born

Muse-Resistance

Muse-Uprising (Love Muse)

Nickelback-Savin' Me

Jason Derulo-In My Head

Blue October-Calling You

Adam Lambert-Whatya Want From Me

Daughtry-What I Meant To Say

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Adam Lambert-Mad World

Orgy-Blue Monday

Zeromancer-Send Me An Angel

P.O.D-Alive

Pillar-Fireproof

Nickelback-I'd Come For You

Muse-Falling Away With You

Nickelback-Someday

KJ52 Feat. Kutless-Are You Real

Not a lot of new stuff, but when you're inspired to actually do editing, anything helps. Have a good weekend!

Series Bible

2010-06-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Nathan Bradford and Nicole Palmby, as well as my own beloved husband Nathan, I have undertaken a crazy task that will hopefully make me a better writer and make you, the reader, happier.

Have you ever read a series where the writer didn't seem to know the characters from one book to the next? Or how about a series where the writer seemed to forget important details from one book to the next? Or, even worse, a series where characters seemed to pop in and out with no apparent plan or reason from one book to the next? Yeah, I've read them too. Don't they just drive you nuts?

My characters deserve more than that and I don't want to disappoint them. I also don't want to disappoint you as the reader. So I'm undertaking the Chronicles of Seven and Order Of The White Rose Series Bible. In longhand.

I realized as I've been editing Awakening that I don't do my characters justice by not remembering little parts of their personalities from one book to the next. Ulrich wouldn't act like he does at times in Awakening as it stands now. Those need to be fixed. Seven wouldn't do some of the things he does either. It's just not good enough.

So in the middle of the crazy edits, I'm taking the time to make it better. If that means I write page after page of character bios, then that's what I do. If that means I have to create mythology that I'll never actually use, then that's what I'm going to do. If that means hammering out a timeline from Legacy (the 1700's roughly) to Order (2012 or thereabouts) then that's what I'm going to endeavor to accomplish. It's a lot of work, but maybe it'll be the actual companion book someday.

We'll see what happens, but as of now, my hands hurt from writing so much in longhand.

Music To Write By: The Editing Playlist

2010-06-12T19:55:00.003-05:00

It's been entirely too long since I let you all inside my music selection. I've just been working so hard on Awakening that I've forgotten some of the more important parts of my writing life. That means music. Without the music, I'm unable to put coherent sentences together to form a novel. So here's what I've been editing to:

Into The Ocean-Blue October

Map of The Problematic-Muse

Calling You-Blue October

Incomplete-The Backstreet Boys

Meet Me On The Equinox-Death Cab For Cutie

Animal I've Become-Three Days Grace

Freak On A Leash-Korn

Bitch-Meredith Brooks

Blue Monday-Orgy

If We Ever Meet Again-Timbaland Feat. Katy Perry

Down-Jay Sean Feat. Lil' Wayne

In My Head-Jason Derulo

Can't Get You Out Of My Head-Kylie Minogue

For Your Entertainment-Adam Lambert

Assassin-Muse

Dead Star-Muse

Just Like You-Three Days Grace

The Mummer's Dance-Loreena McKennit

New Born-Muse

Stranded-Plumb

Decode-Paramore

Leave Out All The Rest-Linkin Park

Need You Now-Lady Antebellum

Headstrong-Trapt

Bent-Matchbox 20

Whatya Want From Me-Adam Lambert

Battlefield-Jordin Sparks

Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)-Muse

Alive-P.O.D.

Further-Pillar

Shine-Pillar and Collective Soul

Send Me An Angel-Zeromancer and Petshop Boys

Sorry it's such a long list this time. I've been digging through a lot of music lately. Now back to the hectic edits...

Editing and Disappointment

2010-06-06T10:58:00.002-05:00

Well, yesterday I finished the first round of edits on Awakening. I got it done quicker than I figured I would with my work schedule, and it's been formatted thanks to Nathan's hard work. Now I just have to go through the novel and make sure it looks right. After what happened to Prophecy, I don't want formatting errors to interfere with the actual storytelling.

Now here's why I'm disappointed: Awakening is only 344 pages right now. That's it. Prophecy and Forbidden were both over 400 pages. What the heck?!

Awakening is a springboard for the much bigger novel in Resurrection. Ultimately Resurrection is the hotter story, the more exciting and dramatic story. But without Awakening, you don't understand what's happening with Resurrection. Awakening is the stage and Resurrection is the play. Without the stage, we have no play.

I just thought the stage would be bigger.

When I look at most novels by authors I love, I see them getting larger or staying the same size throughout the duration of the author's career. Granted, the Sookie Stackhouse novels are averaging around 300 pages give or take. The Twilight Saga gets bigger and bigger as each novel progresses. Breaking Dawn was over 700 pages! Even the House Of Night novels are around 340 pages on average, with the last one hitting almost 400 pages.

To drop from over 400 pages to 344 pages for Awakening, it's depressing to me. I'm slightly depressed by this whole thing.

Granted, I have another round of edits to do in the next two weeks and it might get bigger. I'm hoping it gets bigger. There were two scenes I really wanted to add to the first round of edits that I just couldn't find room for in the story line in it's bare bones state. I think I can find a place for them though. I really want these two scenes in the novel since they are pivotal to the storyline.

We'll see what happens. I hope it gets bigger. I liked seeing over 400 pages when I got my proof copies. 344 pages just seems thin to me.

Editing A Novel In A Month: It Can Be Done

2010-06-03T13:00:00.002-05:00

I'm so tired. I want to write something different. But I can't. Must...finish...Awakening.

The good thing is that it's almost done. I have about eleven pages to finish editing (which I'm not doing right this second because I've already edited about fifty pages this morning alone). To my surprise, it's not a half bad book all in all.

The ending needs to be completely rewritten, but that's beside the point.

The reason I'm posting this in the middle of chaotic race to the finish line with this novel is that I want you to know it can be done. Even working full time and having a LOT of obligations outside of that, I'm getting it done. Is it going to be perfect? Hell no. But it's going to be better than it was three months ago.

Now I'm going back to the editing board. Or table. Or desk. Or whatever you want to think of it as. Hopefully once this is done, I'll have more time to post on here since I've been neglecting you all in my quest for perfection.

See you again soon! I hope.

Edits Away!

2010-05-05T20:45:00.003-05:00

After finishing Awakening, I was a little intimidated by the thought of getting it edited in the next two months. After all, editing requires you to re-read the entire work and figure out what you've done right and what you've done wrong. I'm very scared of how much I did wrong on Awakening and scared of having to rewrite giant sections of the book without getting it done in time.

I'm 50 pages in on 116 pages and I must say that I'm not horrible. I don't know that I'm all that wonderful, but I've definitely written worse (Legacy's first draft springs to mind as well as my last Nano novel's first draft). I'm impressed with the way the story actually flows from one thought to another and actually lends itself to the breakdown of chapters. Overall, it's not that bad.

But I'm not to the hard part yet. I'm getting there, but I haven't had to do that much to it. In the next ten pages, I'm going to have to fix large parts of the story line due to the changes I have in mind. It's going to get harder.

Still, it's a miracle that I'm on track as far as time is concerned. That part of the worry is over. It is entirely possible to get this thing edited, formatted, and ready for publication in two months.

Finally...

2010-04-23T21:43:00.002-05:00

I finished it! Awakening is officially finished. It's not near as long as it needs to be, but that's where editing comes in right?

After all the heartache and rewriting after the first draft was lost over and over and over again, it's finally finished. I just might make my deadline after all!

Write on Schedule

2010-04-14T20:46:00.002-05:00

Yes I did that in the title on purpose. I know it's corny instead of clever, but I don't care.

Since deciding to publish Awakening instead of Legacy in June, my life has gotten so much simpler. No longer am I concerned about the historic significance of the prequel. I have plenty of time to finish the prequel. Legacy will be just as good (if not better) than I'd hoped it would be.

The only thing biting me in the behind right now is that I haven't worked on Awakening for so long that I'm not sure what I've already told and what I haven't. It's very frustrating, especially when you're trying to get things done on time.

So here's my plan for the rest of this month and next:

-Finish the first draft of Awakening. That should be done in the next week or so as I was pretty much wrapping it up when I stopped working on it.

-Start editing right away.

-Flesh out the story and clean up any errors I let slide before.

-Figure out a new cover scheme and get to work on it.

-Format and edit again in late May.

-Get it to CreateSpace at the end of June and take a deep breath before starting on Resurrection.

It's a little daunting to think that Resurrection is supposed to come out in November and I haven't even started writing it yet. Hopefully I haven't bit off more than I can chew. But so far, everything is right on schedule for release. Get it now? I'm writing on schedule and the title is Write On Schedule...it was clever when I thought of it. I'm going to bed now...

Coming Soon!! Big Changes!!

2010-04-03T19:59:00.003-05:00

I was hoping to meet my deadline for Legacy, but sadly I have realized that it simply isn't going to happen.

With my new job at Wells Fargo, I simply haven't had the time to devote to Legacy like I was hoping I would. Plus, I need to do some more research and spend more time digging through the story itself. This will be the story about the first vampire civil war, it just needs more care in editing and research than I've been able to give it.

So, with that in mind, I will be releasing Awakening in June/July instead of Legacy.

After reviewing the first draft (which isn't finished by the way), I realized I'm closer to having Awakening finished and ready for publication than Legacy. Awakening is going to be a little easier to edit and format in the amount of time I have left.

On the continuity point, Awakening makes so much more sense as the next release than Legacy. To throw the prequel out in the middle of the storyline just doesn't make any sense at all. Forbidden ended on a cliffhanger. To throw Legacy, which doesn't continue the plot really at all, in the middle of that would be to lose the reader entirely.

So the release schedule is now going to go like this:

June/July-Awakening

November-Resurrection

June/July 2011-Legacy

November/December 2011-Scandal

June/July 2012-Fallout (title subject to change)

November/December 2012-Order (providing the world doesn't explode in 2012)

As always, these dates are subject to change and if they do change, the updates will be posted as quickly as I know of them. Thank you for your time and patience with my creative process.

Music To Write By: Part 13

2010-03-27T21:57:00.002-05:00

Here's what's playing in my head:

Pillar-Further

Collective Soul-Shine

Kylie Minogue-Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Third Day-Come On Back To Me

Muse-Time Is Running Out

Lady Antebellum-Need You Now

Adam Lambert-Mad World

Nickelback-Savin' Me

P.O.D-Alive

Three Days Grace-Just Like You

Shinedown-If You Only Knew

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Muse-Uprising

Newsboys-Shine (not to be confused with Collective Soul)

Motley Crue-Home Sweet Home

Guns And Roses-November Rain

Black Sabbath-Iron Man

Ozzy Osbourne-No More Tears

Crazytown-Butterfly

Jason Derulo-In My Head

Have a good weekend!

Writing War

2010-03-24T09:38:00.002-05:00

Well I've finally come to it and I don't know how to get past it. I'm writing the history of the first vampire civil war. I thought it was hard the first time I did it. I was wrong. Very wrong.

My problem is that I don't know whether to write each battle out, which would be tedious and long and dry for the reader, or to just skip ahead and finish the stupid book already. I had this problem the first time around and I finally decided that I was going to skip ahead a little bit (this whole thing takes about a year in Legacy's time) and only point out the important stuff. But what's the important stuff?

I think the battle where the werewolves join the war is important. I think the battle with the remaining ambassadors and their soldiers is important. I also think the last battle when Seven is born is important. But that's not that much to be honest with you.

Sure, there are events interspersed between the battles that are vital to the storyline, but how do I move past the war part and put those other moments into the story?

*shakes head* I'm just having trouble and I think I'm overthinking the whole thing. I just need to write it and get it over with.

Books To Be Excited About

2010-03-19T21:27:00.002-05:00

There are some new books out there that I'm excited to read. Some have come out recently, some are coming out later. But it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes open for them right? Here's a list of some of the books I either have my nose currently buried in or will be turning my phone off to savor:

Fantasy In Death by J.D. Robb (released 2/23/10)

Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris (released 5/4/10)

Burned: A House Of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (released 4/27/10)

The Vampire Diaries: The Return Shadow Souls by L.J. Smith (released 3/16/10)

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong (released 4/6/10)

Black Bird Volume 4 by Kanoko Sakurakoji (released 5/4/10)

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon (released 8/3/10)

Infinity: The Chronicles Of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon (released 6/8/10)

Indulgence In Death by J.D. Robb (released 11/2/10)

and of course Legacy: The Chronicles of Seven Book 0 by K. Rhiannon Ward (released June, 2010) as well as Awakening: The Chronicles of Seven Book 3 by K. Rhiannon Ward (released November, 2010)

There's more, but it's just too much to name right now. Happy reading!

When You Don't Know Your Genre

2010-03-17T21:28:00.002-05:00

Yes I took this idea from NP over at the Coffee Stained Writer (www.coffee-stainedwriter.blogspot.com). I'm giving her credit where credit is due. I just started reading her post and I couldn't stop myself from thinking. It happens when your friends have good ideas right?

As a vampire writer, I don't have a real genre. With Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and The House Of Night novels by P.C. and Kristin Cast, the young adult genre is absolutely saturated with vampires. Most of the good vampire novels that don't have pornographic sex in them are found in the young adult section. I recommend all of the above as well as the L.J. Smith novels (Nightworld, Dark Visions, Vampire Diaries, and beyond) and Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy. While I write vampire novels that don't have explicit sex in them, I don't think I fall under the young adult catagory.

If you haven't been under a rock lately, you'll also probably know about a series on HBO called True Blood. Those are based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. She created her own genre of vampire mystery. They are also wonderful and worth the read. Especially for Eric Northman. One word: Yum. Since I don't have mystery as part of the plot of my stories, I don't fall under this genre either.

This leaves me with few options. I market my own novels as epic fantasy. Since vampires don't exist (as far as we all know anyway), they are pieces of fantasy. Since I throw in aspects of fantasy novels (magic swords, prophecies), my work fits in the category.

The most important part of the whole process for me is that I write what I write. It doesn't fit into a category, it can't be put in some little box and marketed that way. It makes things harder for me in the finding an agent part of my journey, but it doesn't change that this is what I write.

Don't let a genre define you as a writer either. Thanks NP for the kick in the pants to think about my work as something to be enjoyed instead of boxed in a nice little package.

One Scene Can Change Everything

2010-03-10T08:08:00.002-06:00

I've been plugging away on Legacy. When it's done, I feel like I'll have part of my life back. This book has been very hard for me to write, but it's finally starting to come along...

At least it was. Until I got the wedding scene and completely spaced on it. Talk about frustrating.

I know that once I get past this scene, the action picks up. There's a lot of action until the end from here. Writing it will be like running downhill. Easy. But this scene, one that was so easy to write the first time around, is making my life difficult.

So why don't I just use the original scene in the other draft? Because I read it. Trust me, you don't want that one. There's not enough detail, not enough explanation...it's just not good. Trust me, I'm the writer. It stunk.

This happened with Prophecy as well. I got the end and wanted to add so much to it that didn't need to be there. It was hard writing that wedding scene too. But then I took it out. Can't do that with this one.

I'll get through it. I just need to focus and simply write. Just put it down on the page and if I need to fix it later, then I can fix it later.

Music To Write By: Part 12

2010-03-08T10:00:00.001-06:00

This past week was one of discovery. Here's what I discovered in music and some good ones I can't stop listening to for the sake of my sanity.

The Calling-Wherever You Will Go

Hoobastank-Running Away

30 Seconds To Mars-The Kill

Trapt-Headstrong

Staind-So Far Away

Vertical Horizon-Best I Ever Had

Aucifer-C No Binetsu (This one is in Japanese and very VERY good. But you might not be able to find it)

Staind-Right Here Waiting

Matchbox 20-Bent

Muse-Undisclosed Desires

Aaliyah-Try Again

Kylie Minogue-Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Three Days Grace-Just Like You

Lenny Kravitz-Again

Linkin Park-Not Alone

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Jordin Sparks-Battlefield

Eminem-Lose Yourself

Crazy Town-Butterfly

Adam Lambert-Whatdya Want From Me and For Your Entertainment

The Result of Reading Deprivation

2010-03-07T09:58:00.002-06:00

I managed it. It was very hard, but I managed it. I cheated (a LOT) but I did it. I managed to only finish one book this week and that was only when I had absolutely no other option but to read or go insane.

When I was reading about the whole reading deprivation week and how it was supposed to allow the inner artist child to play, I was skeptical. What author wouldn't say that you couldn't read anything but their book for a week? Seriously?

So I tried to stop reading. (I didn't count my manga as reading because it's a Japanese comic book. That's not reading, that's enjoying art) I would force myself to put the book down when I started to get pulled away from my craft. I read at the plasma center (there's literally nothing else to do. I'm not kidding) and I read at the chiropractor's office. Then something funny happened.

I didn't want to read. I wanted to write. I wanted to write constantly. I'd tap out my creativity (you can do that right?) and I'd still feel this itch in my fingers to keep going. Just keep writing, anything at all.

I'd write at the chiropractor's office in my notebook with a pen. If I was out with someone and they went to the bathroom, that notebook came out and I'd scribble down notes for the next scene in my novel. I'd talk about my characters like they are living and breathing human beings walking around somewhere in the world. I'd forgo breakfast (and I'm on a cleanse right now, so that's not a good idea) just to get more writing done after the morning pages. My morning pages started turning into pages for my novel or character bios for Resurrection (which isn't coming out until next year). Insanity abounded.

I have to say that my skepticism about the reading deprivation week was unfounded. I didn't realize that I did this, but I would hide my creativity in the book I was reading, not the book I was writing. I'd let the characters I was reading about block me out. Now I let them speak to me in a different way.

Even if you're not doing the Artist's Way like I am, try not reading for a week. Seriously. You can only read when it's absolutely necessary (like the plasma center). You might be surprised at what comes out of your head.

Deadlines Again

2010-03-04T21:30:00.002-06:00

I have figured it out. The reason we even have the word 'deadline' in our vocabulary is so that you meet it. If you don't get things done on time, you're dead. Hence the word 'deadline'.

What's with my sudden fixation on deadlines? I'm staring at one and I don't like it.

Since I'm in week four of the Artist's Way and had to suffer through my reading deprivation week (Have I stopped reading altogether? Absolutely not. I still read when I want to. But do I sit with my book and let myself get swept away? Sadly no.), I've noticed that I really have a lot of work left on Legacy and need to get my tush in gear to get it done on time. I've already pushed the deadline back once. I can't do that again.

Here's my plan for Legacy: finish the rewritten first draft by the end of March (Yes, I have that much of it left to write). Then in April, I'm not allowed to look at it. At the beginning of May, I'll start real time editing with Nathan. While I'm doing that, I'll comb through it on my own and add or take out things that need to be added or removed as well as rewording things that need help. By the end of May, it should be done. Then it's on to formatting and cover art, but that's on him. After the formatting is done, I'll go through it again and rework things that need to be reworked. The whole thing should be done by the end of June.

The plan after Legacy? Awakening is due in November. At least I have most of that written and just need to finish it. November shouldn't be a problem. It's releasing a book in the middle of Nano that I'm not excited about.

At least my deadlines are self imposed. I can't even imagine having someone else telling me how quickly things needed to be accomplished with my writing.

The Artist's Way-The Week Of No Reading

2010-03-01T08:39:00.003-06:00

My friend Nikki and I are doing The Artist's Way to help recover our sense of creativity. She just finished the week of no reading. I'm supposed to do that week starting now. I'm going to say it right now and deal with the consequences immediately: I will not be participating in the no reading part of this whole deal.

Let me explain. Three times a week, I go to the Chiropractor's office. I have to wait. Sometimes for a long time. I don't have an MP3 player, so I can't take my music with me. Sure, I can take a notebook or my computer and get some writing done, but it's not that easy to do in that little chair in the office. The only thing left to me is to read. I can't knit at this point in my treatment (it's either knit or write. I choose to write), so what else can I do?

Then there's the two days a week that I'm at the plasma donation center. One arm is stuck with a rather large needle, so typing is out of the question. Again, I can't listen to music. If I have to choose between watching TV (the workers at the plasma place have no sense of good television and therefore I am stuck watching stupid talk shows that rot my brain) and reading, I choose reading.

To make me stop reading for a week is impossible. It's simply not going to happen. I know I should have more respect for my creative recovery process than that, but I can still read and manage to write as well. Will I maybe cut down on my reading time? Sure. I can do that. But to stop reading altogether? *shakes head* I just can't do it. I might actually go crazy and hurt myself or someone else if I have to stop reading. That would mean I have to go to an insane asylum and that's not good.

So go ahead. Berate me and tell me how horrible of a person I am for not giving up my books for one week. I'm prepared for the verbal abuse.

Music To Write By-Post Hiatus Edition

2010-02-20T17:32:00.003-06:00

I've missed so many weeks of adding this little tidbit to your lives. Between my own post-Nano hangover and problems in life, it's been a long time since I added any music to your lives. Here's some new things I've discovered that might brighten your day.

Muse-Undisclosed Desires

Adam Lambert-Whadya (?) Want From Me

The Script-Breakeven

Pink-Sober

Adam Lambert-For Your Entertainment

One Republic-All The Right Moves

Linkin Park-Not Alone

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Finger Eleven-Paralyzer

Creed-Rain

Chad Kroeger-Hero (From the Spiderman Soundtrack)

Jay Sean feat. Lil' Wayne-Down

The Wallflowers-One Headlight

Owl City-Fireflies

Mathew West-Motions

Some of these songs are older, but they're still good. If you see something you like, go for it. Anything to get your writing groove on right? Have a safe weekend everyone!

Organizing My Time

2010-02-18T17:02:00.002-06:00

For the last few weeks, my writing time has dwindled down to an amount that I'm not content with. I've said before that when you have a passion for something, you'll make it work. I'm still living by that mantra, but I'm struggling with it right now.

Basically, I need to organize my life. Talk about scary.

When I started writing, I didn't have an active social life. I didn't go out with friends much and I had hours of free time to just do my writing. But things change, sometimes when we aren't looking for it. Now, I have a lot of people who depend on me and love to see me. That's hard to manage when you're wanting to sit at your computer and type out the scene that's plaguing your dreams.

So I'm accepting fate. I'm going to get a bigger dayplanner and schedule my time in more rigid increments. I have always been of the belief that rigid scheduling is the antithesis of creativity. But as I've been doing the Artist's Way with NP (love you NP!), I'm learning that sometimes the things you believe about yourself as an artist (or a writer in my case) aren't necessarily true. These beliefs can stifle your creative flow and actually block you up. I've been blocked up because I can't find the time to get my flow back.

I think it's a step in maturing myself as a writer since I'm moving in this direction. I'm scared and wondering if I'll be able to stick to this kind of thing when my life calms down, but I think I'll be able to handle it. And I think my writing time will be more productive for it.

Now the question is how far am I going to take this? Do I go nuts with the highlighters or do I just stick to the pen and paper and trust it? Hmmm...

Wake Up Brain...WAKE UP!

2010-02-16T08:51:00.002-06:00

Sometimes the creative process doesn't happen like we writers would like it to. Sometimes, when you wake up in the morning, you're staring at your coffee pot and thinking about the sweet (or not so sweet if you'd rather) elixir of life that will jump start your brain. But as my chiropractor would like me to abstain from drinking the coffee, I'm sad to say that I'm not enjoying that life giving serum as much anymore.

So how do you get your brain up and running? How do you start writing when you just want to watch TV, go back to bed, walk your dog, etc.?

It's called a writing exercise.

This is different for everyone. Since I'm doing the Artist's Way with my good friend NP, I've been doing morning pages. I'm stream of consciousness writing in the morning until I've accumulated 3 pages. This morning I did this exercise on my computer instead of long hand because of the Ulnar nerve problem I suffer from. Since I can't hold a pen for very long, I'm typing my pages now. I found it works better for me since I can't get distracted by the pain and numbness in my hands.

Another writing exercise I do actually has no writing involved. I play Spider Solitaire while listening to my writing playlist and I let my right brain go. I chose Spider Solitaire because I can stop thinking about the game and let my mind go while playing it. That might not work for everyone. But it's like hooking up jumper cables to my brain and turning the car on. Suddenly I'm sitting in the scene with my characters and I'm off and running.

Whatever works for you, don't think that you have to just start writing as soon as you get up in the morning. Don't be afraid to find something you do that helps you get in the mood to write. Just as long as you write...who cares what you did to get to that point?

Continuity and Your Own Mythology

2010-02-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

I think that one of the hardest things I have to do as a writer is sticking to my own story.

Wait a second. If I'm a writer, then writing the actual story should be easy right? Well, yes and no. But I'm not talking about writing one story in one book and leaving it at that. I'm talking about creating your own universe and remembering the rules you set into motion within that world.

The only way to make this understandable is to give away some of my own plot.

In my world, there are two different kinds of vampires. You can be a vampire if you're born that way and you can be sired into the world. I have to remember that siring a vampire is against the law. I have to remember that siring a vampire is tricky and not every vampire can do it. But the hardest part of my mythology to remember involved the werewolves.

See, in my universe, a werewolf can only be male. There may be an exception to that later on in the story, but for right now it's not possible. A werewolf can beget other werewolves if his wife has the werewolf gene in her bloodline (Ex. Her father was a werewolf or her grandfather was a werewolf or her mother carried the gene). Werewolves can change into wolves at any time and use the power of the wolf whenever they need it. But in the light of the full moon, they unwillingly turn into a half man, half wolf creature. They eat regular food and live in 'packs' together to protect their secret and their bloodlines.

It's hard to remember all those things when you go from one book to another. Then I get into the different kinds of shape shifters and it gets even more complicated. Plus the vampiric special abilities that make it possible for a vampire to walk in the daylight or turn into animals or whatever the case may be.

The only way I manage all of these things is to keep a notebook with every single rule laid out. And I have a continuity expert who keeps me on track. But I always remember one important thing when this gets difficult to do. If I mess up on my story just one time, the reader's illusion will be ruined. It's worth all the effort to make sure that the reader enjoys the story.

Why I Self Published

2010-01-30T12:59:00.003-06:00

Inspiration is a funny thing. When it comes to me, it's like a whirlwind of activity. When it leaves, I'm more inclined to sit with a good book than to work on ideas for a new book or the plot of a current book. My inspiration has left me for a little while, but I'm getting it back. Life does that to you sometimes.

I've been looking at articles on the internet (there are some very interesting blogs out there as well) that talk about self publishing versus mass market publishing. Since I haven't published to the mass market yet, I thought I'd let you in on why I chose to do what I've done.

Self publishing isn't the easiest route to take. Trust me on that one. It takes a lot of time and causes a lot of frustration when you're formatting a manuscript for publication on your own. I never realized I'd have to work so hard to make text fit into margins. I had no idea what bleed was. I didn't realize I had to embed a font in a pdf to make it readable. The formatting alone is frustrating and time consuming.

Then there's your cover to consider. Do you want a generic cover or do you want something that really pops and has some bearing on your work? I chose the latter and that causes it's own set of problems. If you use an image that isn't your own, you have to worry about copyright. I am blessed to have a very artistic husband who can draw and knows his way around a digital camera. Once you have a cover image, there's formatting to consider. Again, you have to work with fonts for your title. All of this is an insane amount of work.

I learned with Prophecy that if I don't inspect every single page of the formatted manuscript, there are problems. If I could do Prophecy over again, I'd fix it all. I'm still thinking about that. With Forbidden, I did another edit while I was checking the formatting for errors and found places that needed to be combed through again and have additions put in. After all that work, Forbidden is the better novel as far as formatting is concerned.

Would I rather have done mass market publishing and let a publishing house take all this work on? You better believe it. I'd rather have an editor catching all my mistakes than having to do it myself. I'd rather have a team of creative people working on my cover than just my husband and myself. But if I'm going to be honest with myself, going through an agent and a publishing house takes years to accomplish. You're going to be rejected. That's just the way of life. At the time I decided to publish on my own, I wanted feedback and I wanted it now. Believe me, I got it.

Should you self publish? That's up to you. If you don't mind doing your own advertising and formatting your own manuscript, go for it. You'll have to put up your own money for a lot of things. All the work falls on you. If that's okay, go for self publishing.

But if it's not, write your query letter and be prepared for a long haul. I'm doing the round with agents this year to see if anyone wants my work right now. But I'm not going to stop self publishing until I have to. I might not have more than a local fan base right now, but I have one. I can actually say that I've sold copies of my novel and that even with the formatting errors, Prophecy was a hit locally. The feedback was instrumental in my decision to keep going with my writing.

If I hadn't self published, I wouldn't be where I am right now. For me, that says a lot. But I had to work for it. Do you want to do all the work for it? That's up to you.

When Characters Mess Up Your Plot

2010-01-02T16:09:00.002-06:00

First of all, Happy New Year! I neglected to post something in celebration of 2010 and don't want you to think I forgot about it.

Now it's back to business. I've been doing a lot of work on things in my personal life, which has made it easier for me to get back to my professional life and start writing again. But about a week and a half ago, I ran into a snag. I like to think of it as a character messing up my plot.

In Legacy, I'm setting up so many things that are going to come to pass in later novels and now that I know that, I'm trying to make the most of every single conversation and scene in Legacy so the reader isn't in the dark later on when I reveal things that are extremely important. As I write these scenes and conversations though, I find that some of the situations don't lend themselves to the plot itself. A character is messing up the flow of the story line and it's annoying.

So what do you do when this happens to you? I'm fortunate in that I have a continuity expert and plot partner to bounce ideas off of. When I mess up something, he catches it and reels me in. Then it's back to the drawing board, which means hitting the library. I had to do more research on the culture of Scotland in 1785 to understand what my character would really do. I had to think about the nature of the character himself and find the true motive behind his actions. Then I had to rewrite two pages to make it fit in with reality.

When you go back to the source and think about what a character would really do or what a situation would honestly call for, it's not as bad as you think it is. Also you want to remember one key thing: you can't kill off a character when it nullifies your entire plot. Sure, killing the character off makes the original problem go away, but then you're stuck when you need that character to come back. Or you can resurrect them, but no one will buy it.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from myself and everyone at the Fang Marked Office! Hopefully, we'll be reopening after the new year.

Hiatus

2009-12-12T18:24:00.003-06:00

Since no one really reads this blog anymore, I'm going to take a hiatus to get some things straightened out in my personal life. Hopefully, I'll be able to be back soon with new inspiration and writing help. Thank you for your patience and respect.

Pushing Through Illness

2009-12-05T15:54:00.003-06:00

I didn't tell anyone this because I didn't want to answer the H1N1 question. I had the flu all week this week. It was seasonal and nothing to be concerned with. I'm better now, or on my way to better anyway.

I've been trying to push through being sick and get my writing done, but when you have the flu that's hard to do. Your body hurts, your head throbs, and you alternate between having drenching sweats and teeth chattering chills. It's hard to do more than lay in bed and let it have you.

It's Saturday and today is one of the first days I've actually felt like writing in a week. I went out Wednesday and Friday for a little bit, but eventually it took me back and threw me in bed.

So how do you keep working on something you love when your body won't cooperate with you? That's a hard one. Some of us have more tolerance for pain and sickness than others. I can put up with a lot of pain. But when the chills come, I'm in bed. If you can't get up, don't beat yourself up over it and stay in bed. It's more important for you to feel better than to get those three pages knocked out every single day.

But if you can do it, then try. I'm a strong believer in taking care of yourself before anything else. I never got the flu like this until I had Mono really bad when I was twenty. Now I get it bad and more than once a year.

The only other option is to take your laptop to bed with you and try to write between the sweats and chills. If you do that, you're a much better person than I am.

Nanowrimo Hangover-How To Get Over Writer's Block

2009-12-03T15:26:00.002-06:00

I don't know if this is happening to anyone else, but I haven't been able to really write since Nano ended on Monday. I try to get into the spirit of the story I've been writing for over a year now and I just can't do it. I want to go back to my Nano story (even though it's done and I'm not going to edit it until much later), or I have no inspiration to put my fingers to the keyboard and type. It's frustrating.

This is what I'm calling my Nanowrimo hangover. I worked and worked to make that word count. When it all seemed hopeless and pointless and I wasn't sure I'd make it, I chugged it out. I sat down and made it happen. That energy and drive abandoned me as soon as December came.

How do you get out of a Nanowrimo hangover? You make yourself do something. For me, this has been a lot of reading (books! What wonderful creations that I forgot existed in the last month), especially in mythology, and I've been watching a lot of science fiction. That means Star Wars, the new Star Trek movie, Transformers, Terminator, and Underworld. I've also been listening to a lot of Shinedown, Muse, and Lady Gaga to get the juices flowing. It's starting to work.

It's hard to go back to a story line you haven't touched in a month (or longer if you're like me and took a month long sabbatical before Nano started). It's hard to get back into the heads of the characters and back into the swing of a driving plot. I'm not one who likes to force myself to work. If it's there, I'll work. If not, then there's no way I'm forcing the plot out of my fingers. My writing stinks when I do that and I'd rather not put words on paper that I'm just going to delete later. So I'm letting myself be inspired.

There's great books out there about Star Wars and mythology. I'm going to the library tomorrow to check out a great standby book when I'm blocked: the Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (thanks NP for the suggestion last year). Sometimes I need to be reminded of the hero's journey and the various characters and steps involved in it.

To break your block, find what moves you. Music, books, movies, a cigarette on the back porch (that's if it's not 32 degrees outside like it is here), a great glass of wine, your dog. Whatever it is. Find it and let it speak to you.

I'm going to watch Optimus Prime beat on Megatron for a little while. Then I might be back in the mood to put some words down on paper.

Music To Write By-Nanowrimo Edition

2009-11-27T21:30:00.002-06:00

Now that it's over, here's what kept me going when it seemed like I didn't have the steam to keep going:

Shinedown-If You Only Knew

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Maroon 5-Harder To Breathe

Linkin Park-The Little Things Give You Away

Rascal Flatts-What Hurts The Most

Nick Lachey-What's Left Of Me

Savage Garden-I Want You

Butterfly and Speed Over Beethoven from DDR

Avril Lavigne-My Happy Ending

Muse-Time Is Running Out

Shinedown-Second Chance

Eve 6-Here's To The Night

Lady Gaga-Paparrazzi

Nickelback-Someday

Linkin Park-Leave Out All The Rest

Better Than Ezra-Desperately Wanting

Aerosmith-Jaded

Muse-Hysteria

Nickelback-Burn It To The Ground

Avril Lavigne-Girlfriend

Lady Gaga-Poker Face

Guns and Roses-November Rain

That's just a partial list. I don't want to bore you with everything I listened to this month. Starting on Tuesday, things are going back to normal and I'll be more regular on my posts. Enjoy your weekend, get your word count done, and remember that it's almost over. Sleep is for December.

Reflections on Nanowrimo 2009

2009-11-27T21:21:00.003-06:00

I did it. For a little while there it seemed elusive. About two weeks ago, I was certain that I'd crash and burn. But look at me now. I'm not just a winner this year. I'm a two time champ. That's heady stuff.

Part of what I learned this year was that if it can go wrong, it will. Murphy's law or something like that. Let's see what happened this month...For the first seven days of the month, I was sicker than a dog. I could barely get up enough energy to eat or bathe, let alone write. I haven't been that sick since February when I had the flu.

Once I'd gotten over that mess, my computer crashed. Twice. In twenty minutes. It wasn't a big set back, but it was a set back that I could hardly afford since I was so far behind. Then my husband's computer caught a virus and stopped working. There went another week and a half.

My saving grace was my office space. Without Fireworks, I don't think I would've made it. I wrote over 6,000 words here last Saturday, 4,000 the Saturday before, and 5,000 tonight. It's amazing to me how much work you honestly can get done when you're in the place where the creativity is booming. That and the spectacular coffee.

I still have until Monday to write and I might actually hit my personal goal of 53,000 words this year. Whatever happens from here is just icing on the cake. All that matters to me right now is that I did it. I did it when I thought I wouldn't be able to. And I did it with time to spare.

If I can get there with all the distractions and problems in my personal life this month, you can do it too. Stop reading this right now and get your word count in. If you want it bad enough, nothing can stop you. Not the TV on sale at Walmart, not the remnants of Triptophen in your system from the turkey yesterday or the headache in the back of your skull at the sound of Christmas music. If you want it, you'll get it. And trust me on this one, you want it.

Slightly After Mid-Month Nano Update

2009-11-21T12:19:00.003-06:00

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time this year with Nano. Last year there was a lot more going on in life than this year, and last year I made it without much trouble at all. This year, if it can go wrong, it has. If it can possibly delay me at all, it will. If it messes up my schedule and delays my success, it will and it has.

With my word count available to you at the right, you can see how I'm doing so far this month. There's about nine days left in the month and I'm just barely over half way through. Why this year is causing such a problem is totally beyond me.

The one thing I can tell you is that it's not about preparation. I couldn't have started Nano this year with any more preparation than I did this year. I knew what I was writing about, I knew my characters and my plot. When I get the chance to get some work done, I have no problems with it.

But first I got sick. Really sick. Then Nathan's computer broke and he needed mine for a few days after he re formatted my tiny laptop. Add to that the hours I've been working and the sheer exhaustion I've been dealing with and it's been a rough month.

Then everything fell into place for my last ten days. I have a week off of work and nothing serious planned before Thanksgiving. If I can keep cranking out five pages every single time I sit down, I might just make this work out.

December is just over a week away people. Then things can go back to normal.

Fang Marked Is Closed Today Too!

2009-11-14T11:44:00.000-06:00

The office is closed today for the worst day of the year. My birthday. No one send any cards or well wishes because I'm going to hide in bed all day to try to avert the apocalypse. I know that no one will listen to me and I'll probably receive emails anyway. Thank you for reminding me that I should have a good day today. But after mono on your 20th birthday, you give up trying to have a happy birthday. Yay. Rah. Going back to bed now.

Weekly Nano Update and Music to Write by

2009-11-07T19:10:00.002-06:00

Well guys, this was the first full week for Nano. How did you do? I didn't do horrible, unless you count that almost half of my word count was done today. What can you do when you're sick you know?

As of this very moment, I'm sitting at 11,195 words. It's not great, but it could be worse.

Posts for the rest of the month are going to be limited by my word count, I'm sorry for that. I just don't have time to keep up on here as much as I would like to while Nanoing. It's horrible of me, I know it, but that's life.

Here's your weekly music to write by:

My Happy Ending-Avril Lavigne

Harder To Breathe-Maroon 5

Gives You Hell-The All American Rejects

Uprising-Muse

Burn It To The Ground-Nickelback

Butterfly-Music from DDR (Dance Dance Revolution for you uncool people)

Gotta Be Somebody-Nickelback

Motions-Mathew West

Leave Out All The Rest-Linkin Park

Time Is Running Out-Muse

Unforgiven 2-Metallica

Iron Man-Black Sabbath

Move Along-The All American Rejects

Back Here-BBMak

The Dope Show-Marilyn Manson

Stupid Girl-Garbage

Frozen-Madonna

Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)-Perry Farrell (The Twilight Soundtrack)

Meet Me On The Equinox-Death Cab For Cutie (I'm obsessed, I know it)

There's a lot more, but I'll save it for later. I'm going to take a nap I think before going out and having a life later on tonight. Have a good weekend and if you're behind on your word count, why are you reading my blog? Go write! Win!

Fang Marked Is Closed!

2009-11-04T09:15:00.000-06:00

The office is closed for today for Nathan's birthday!! He's 28 today, even if he really thinks he's 29. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Nanoing

2009-11-02T16:21:00.000-06:00

I would write more here, but I'm nanoing. You should be too.

Time To Write-Nanowrimo starts...now!

2009-11-01T09:15:00.000-06:00

Time to get cracking! Whip out your laptops or your notebooks and pens and get down to business. If you want to hit your word count, you need to start strong. Write. Win!

What I've Learned While On Sabbatical

2009-10-31T09:15:00.000-05:00

Today is my last day of sabbatical before jumping into Nanowrimo. On this last day of my journey to find my inspiration again, I want to give you some insight on what can actually be gained from taking some much needed time off:

-when you aren't supposed to be writing three pages a day, you find yourself wanting to write three pages a day.
-there are other books out there besides vampire novels and books about infertility and depression.
-Bejeweled blitz on Facebook is addictive. So are Pieces of Flair and The Mood Weather Report.
-AOL radio has an all Nickelback channel which is very cool.
-dreaming turns into moments when your characters are talking to you again.
-suddenly, I have three more novels to add to the series I'm currently writing. I cultivated the plot lines for the last three novels while watching Heroes Season 3, Prince Caspian, and Dune.
-I'm also thinking about writing a fantasy series about five or six years from now.
-I've had great conversations with friends and family about my writing and found fantastic inspiration and encouragement in those conversations.
-friends who have been very understanding about my devotion to my work and the little bits of time I get to spend out with them. This break has been wonderful for them, but as of this past week, they are all telling me to go back to work. Except Karrie, who wants to play more DDR.

Ultimately, even though I haven't always enjoyed the time off from my work, I'm finding myself refreshed and ready to get back to business as usual. I'm excited to see Forbidden released in the middle of November and I'm pumped up for my Nano novel this year. There comes a time when we all need to recharge our batteries. I'm glad I took the time off to recharge mine.

Rewriting Under Deadline

2009-10-28T17:02:00.002-05:00

It's hard to rewrite something that you've already finished. Especially when you've written it so long ago that you can't honestly remember what it was you had written before.

I finished Legacy in April. It had been hard to write, bogged down with historic fact, with a plot that twisted so much I could hardly keep it straight. My villain wasn't bad enough, my hero was not heroic enough, and the human girl stuck in the middle of the story had too much information for the time period. Did I mention that Ulrich makes his first appearance in the story line in this novel? It's a lot to take in.

I hated every single page of Legacy's first draft. Well, not every single page, but at least the majority of them. So the ability to rewrite the story is a wonderful opportunity for me. I can remake the plot so it actually makes sense and rewrite my villain so he's the horrible bad guy I see in my head. I can make my hero an actual heroic figure. So many things to fix, so little time to do it.

As it stands right now, I won't get to Legacy again until December 1st because of Nanowrimo. I'm currently sitting on page 27 of the draft. It has to be completed and edited by May 21st, 2010 because that's when it's being published. Which means that I have about six months after Nano is over to finish it up. I've never been under that kind of a crunch before. Prophecy was done in January of this year and published in June. Forbidden was finished in July and will be published in about two weeks. That's how I've liked it to be done. But Legacy has thrown a wrench in my works.

We'll have to see if I make my deadline or if it blows up in my face.

Nanowrimo Countdown-T Minus 6 Days And Counting

2009-10-26T15:12:00.002-05:00

There isn't much time left. I have exactly six days left on my sabbatical, then I jump headfirst into the craziest month of my existence. I have figured out that if I want to hit my 53000 words this year, I have to write 2500 words a day five days a week. If I stretch that out to six days a week, that count goes to 2120 words a day. If I write every single day of the week for the entire month of November, I would have to write 1767 words a day. It's not as intimidating as it sounds.

53000 words is roughly 102 single spaced pages in Arial 11 point font. I wrote 129 pages in just over two weeks last year in October before jumping into Nano. So this shouldn't be horrible. I might even be able to have a social life while participating in Nano this year.

The whole point of Nanowrimo is to prove to yourself that yes, you can do this. There's no excuse to keep putting off the chance to write that book you've been dreaming about. It's tons of fun and I'm excited to be a part of it again this year. The prize is just too cool.

So I'm going to enjoy my last six days of sabbatical (I might even cut it short and work on Legacy before the Nano craziness begins) and make plans for November that are far enough away that I can plan my writing around them. Then I'm going to wait for my proof copy of Forbidden to arrive so I can again hold the work my mind in the palm of my hand.

Sneak Peek-Forbidden

2009-10-25T13:04:00.003-05:00

Here it is! The new cover is finally available. The proof is on the way, so very soon I'll be holding this book in my hands. I just couldn't wait to share the new cover with everyone since it was approved by createspace.

I have also found out what the prize is going to be for winning Nanowrimo this year. It is the same as last year, but getting a free proof copy of your novel is a big deal. I'm excited to participate in Nano again this year for that prize alone.

See you next week!

Music To Write By Part 11

2009-10-24T10:37:00.002-05:00

There wasn't much writing this week unfortunately. So, I didn't really listen to anything special. But I'm gearing up for Nano in a week, so here's a peek at what's coming up for music in November:

Muse-Time Is Running Out

Maroon 5-Harder To Breathe

Avril Lavigne-My Happy Ending

Fiona Apple-Criminal

Mathew West-Motions

The All American Rejects-The Wind Blows

Def Leppard-Photograph

Linkin Park-Numb

Muse-Sing For Absolution

Death Cab For Cutie-Meet Me On The Equinox (Strictly for the New Moon release next month)

Metallica-Enter Sandman

Korn-Freak On A Leash

Nine Inch Nails-Closer

Linkin Park-Leave Out All The Rest

Natalie Imbruglia-Wishing I Was There

Sevendust-Black

The All American Rejects-Move Along

There will be more songs I'm sure of it, but this is all I can think of right now. I'm acquiring more music every single day, so the list will be changing. Enjoy your weekend! It's the last one before Nano starts next Sunday.

Creating Your Own History

2009-10-23T16:16:00.002-05:00

I had a very enlightening conversation with my brother-in-law Nic last night. He's very much into fantasy novels and isn't too keen on the whole vampire thing because it's mainstream right now. So we started talking about fantasy novels and he asked me if I had ever thought about writing a fantasy novel myself. To be completely honest, I have pondered the possibility. There's just so much work involved in it that I haven't put a lot of work into it yet.

Then I started laying out the Prophecy universe for Nic and hooked him. That made me feel good. But what really gave me the high of major accomplishment was when he told me two things: one, that I'm a master storyteller to have all this backstory and history for my own characters, and two, that I need to write a fantasy novel because it would be huge.

So what makes a good story? This was the question I asked myself this morning when I got up. Sure, you may have the best idea in the world, but what would actually make that a good story to tell? I have the answer: history.

You can have the coolest group of characters in the world, you can have the greatest setting in the world, and the best plotline ever created. But if you don't have a history, a backstory, for those characters, then you don't have anything at all. History gives your characters a purpose. It also enables you to show the reader the story instead of tell them.

Why is drinking from humans forbidden for vampires? Because that's the law. Well, why is that the law? Aha, that's the reason behind the book. Why do you have to kill all of your competition to become the vampire king? Again, that's why you need to read the book. See what I mean?

The richer and more varied the history, you'll either have a great novel or a confused one. So don't go so deep in the history that things are contradicting other things or it's impossible to keep up. Start with something simple and expand on that. Make it rich and varied, but keep in mind that you want the reader to get it.

I had a great time last night talking to my bro in law about the plot for Prophecy. He was surprised at the complexity and depth of it. That's a compliment to any writer. Strive for it.

Lights...Camera...Action!

2009-10-21T17:44:00.002-05:00

I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine yesterday. He just finished reading Prophecy for the first time. Then, he started dreaming about the movie.

What movie? The one that hasn't been made yet. Prophecy isn't in the mass market yet, but Tyler was already dreaming about the movie. It was very inspiring and ego boosting for me.

Has that ever happened to you? You're reading a good book and you can see it being made into a movie?

I got that way with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and Ransom by Julie Garwood to name only two. The only disappointing thing is that when they actually do make those books into movies, they just aren't as good. It's definitely something to think about.

Covers

2009-10-20T15:34:00.005-05:00

So it took me a little longer to get the shot I wanted for the cover of Forbidden. It's still not done completely yet, but now I'm happy. I apologize for my extended absence, but if it's not done right, then it's not done yet.

While struggling with the cover for this book, I started thinking about how important the right cover for your novel really is. If you have the right cover, you're golden. But if it's wrong...you are so not golden anymore.

When I went to do the cover of Prophecy, I was under a time crunch. I had to have everything submitted by the end of May and it was the middle of May. I had to write the bio for myself, a synopsis for the book. It was difficult. Then you add to it the fact that Nathan was drawing the cover of the book from scratch. He had to sketch the cover, then fade it and blur it to make it just right, add the background, find the right font for the title and my byline. It didn't turn out half bad for the amount of time we had to finish it.

The cover of Forbidden is a different story, literally. I have a new font, a real picture instead of something drawn, and a much better idea of what is really going into the cover itself. Plus, I actually had more time to work on it and more time to veto what I didn't like and approve what has worked out in the long run.

What I hope you learn from my mistakes and experience with this is that you have to find what's right for your novel. Prophecy has so many elements in it that couldn't be given away by the cover or synopsis. I had to be careful. Forbidden is similar, but the twists aren't as surprising. It doesn't matter if you're writing a love story or a story about employees in a coffee house, the cover has to fit what you're looking to do.

Another thing to take into consideration is that you have to have permission to use everything you put on a cover. Images, fonts, the whole shebang. So make sure you thought that through before you used it.

Once the cover of Forbidden is finished, I'll post it so you get the sneak peek at it. It's going to be beautiful.

Music To Write By Part 10

2009-10-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

As I've been transcribing most of the week, it's not really music to write by so much as it's music to help me forget how tedious it is to type someone else's words.

Enrique Iglasias-Bailamos

Jojo-Get Out (Leave)

Shinedown-If You Only Knew

Muse-Hysteria

Linkin Park-Numb

DDR (that's Dance Dance Revolution for you non cool people)-Butterfly

Aucifer-Midnight Crow (Japanese)

Lady Gaga-Paparazzi

Muse-Sing For Absolution

Jace Everett-Bad Things

Daughtry-What I Meant To Say

This is just a short list, but I don't have time to put up EVERYTHING I've listened to this week. Too much transcribing left and not enough time to do it in. Have a good weekend!

Out Of The Office

2009-10-14T20:11:00.002-05:00

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be out of the office until Monday. It's time to start scouting locations for the Forbidden cover photo. So I really will be gone until then, but I'll try to post a Music To Write By for Saturday. Have a good weekend!!

Welcome To My Office

2009-10-13T14:56:00.004-05:00

Most people have an office space. Whether that's at home or the library or wherever, you have one.

I do have office space at home, but since I live in a one room efficiency apartment, my office at home consists of a dining room chair, a tall barstool to set my laptop on, and a small space on the entertainment center for my mouse and external hard drive. It's not pretty. There's a reason I haven't taken any pictures of it to show anyone. But hopefully our living situation will change soon (we're looking into some options), but until then, that's the space I have to work with at home.

So it's no surprise that I love my second office the best. It's Fireworks Coffeehouse in Moline, IL. I've talked about to

everyone and their grandmother, but today, I actually have pictures of my second home to share with you.

This picture with the tables and chairs is part of my office. Actually, it's the cafe section of Fireworks, as opposed to the studio where you can paint your own pottery. I've done that many a time (as I've blogged about in the past), but I don't typically work on a studio table.

The picture at the top of this post is where I usually work. I have a table at Fireworks that's thought of as my own. It's my creative space and I love it. It's where I'm sitting right now, enjoying my caramel cheesecake mocha (don't knock it until you try it because it's fabulous).

I guess it doesn't really matter where you work, as long as you work well there. Sometimes, I have to be at home to get anything serious done because I'm distracted at Fireworks (ooh internet time), but there are times when I'm actually more motivated to get things done at Fireworks because of the atmosphere (I'm going to get more pictures of it lit up at night. That's the best).

My advice today is to find a spot, any spot will do, and get something done. Whether that's research (yeah, that's what I'm doing with my internet time. I swear I'm not playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook) or actually writing a few pages, go where the atmosphere is the best and get it done. When Nano starts in less than a month, I'll be at Fireworks, where the creative juices flow the best for me. If you're in the area, please feel free to share that space with me.

Music To Write By Part 9-Delayed Edition

2009-10-12T16:41:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the tardiness of this post. I was...otherwise occupied over the weekend. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Since there wasn't a whole lot of writing last week (for reasons that you are probably more than aware of and sick of hearing about), there isn't a lot of music to write by. Here's the short list:

Time Is Running Out-Muse

Move Along-The All American Rejects

The Little Things Give You Away-Linkin Park

Sex and Candy-Marcy Playground

Mouth-Bush

Bad Things-Jace Everett

It's My Life-Bon Jovi

Incomplete-Backstreet Boys

Meet Me On The Equinox-Death Cab For Cutie

Have a safe and productive week. I'll be hanging around.

What's In My Bag-Part 2

2009-10-09T09:15:00.000-05:00

It's Friday! That means it's time to have fun for the first time in a long time. With this in mind, I thought I'd go through the contents of my bag with you to make you laugh. You might not believe me right now, but it's funny. Or maybe that really is just funny to me.

Let's see. Well, there's the computer and external hard drive that are both a brilliant shade of pink. It was my husband's idea. I have the mouse, earbuds, USB cable for the hard drive, and my power cord. Those are standard. The funny part is the overwhelming amount of notebooks, large and small, and the pieces of scratch paper that clutter the remains of my purse.

I was randomly pulling out these pieces of scratch paper, mostly from when I'm at work and forget to bring my notebooks, examining what's on them, and I found the most random quotes and plot ideas for my novels. It was funny to me. I told you.

There were Foamy the Squirrel quotes (check out www.illwillpress.com if you're interested in Foamy. But be warned, it's adult humor. No kids allowed) and True Blood quotes. Those are mixed in with quotes from Edgar Allen Poe and Mark Twain. I had random notes about the effects of drinking human blood on vampires and methods of killing a vampire. Then there were song lists, both for my weekly music to write by posts and songs I had to look for online.

Then, smack dab in the middle of this cluttered chaos, my copy of Prophecy is resting safely between my notebooks. Actually, it's resting inside my dayplanner, which has managed to come open in my bag.

What are you carrying around with you?

Beta Readers-Part 2

2009-10-08T14:07:00.002-05:00

I love the friends I have that loved Prophecy enough that they want to beta read (or cold read as I will sometimes call it) for me. Even the ones that are upfront enough to tell me that they want to read the finished product, but really don't want to read the novels until they're finished. It's all helpful. As I stare at the second "first" draft of Legacy, I'm starting to wonder if my beta readers know what they're really getting into.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like to beta read. I'll do it and I'll be honest about the work I'm reading, but I hate to do it. I don't feel like I'm being fair to the author. When your novel is in shambles (that's what a first draft really is after all) and you haven't figured out a title or how you want to chapter it, it's that much harder for me to give you good feedback when I cold read it. I know this and that's why I'm very picky about who cold reads for me.

I have two wonderful friends that got to read Prophecy in it's first draft. They didn't have to tell me how horrible it was (Nikki, we can both be honest here. It was HORRIBLE), they told me it could be better. Neither of them have had a chance to read the published novel (because I can't seem to remember to go to the post office and I won't just send a copy down without my autograph), but I think they'll both be surprised by the final novel. They both have copies of Forbidden (I'm sure you both do because I remember emailing them to you) and it's not the same book now as it was then.

As I sit here staring at Legacy, I wonder if either of them would be surprised by the content of it. I wonder what my other beta readers will think of the story. Sometimes you have to love your beta readers. Sometimes they just scare me.

Love-Hate Relationship With Sabbatical

2009-10-07T19:26:00.002-05:00

I've been on sabbatical almost a full week now and while I'm happy for the time off because of all the stuff I've had in my personal life, I'm starting to itch.

No I don't have a rash. My mind is itching to go back to creating.

I'm so ready to get back to work, but I know that I can't yet. Why can't I just end my own sabbatical? I mean, I'm the one in charge of my career, how am I not in charge of my time off? It's a bit more complicated than that.

Back in July (I think it was July) I took a week off, intending to take more, but I cut my time short because I wanted to get back to work. I thought I was inspired and ready to finish. Then two months later, I'm wondering why I didn't take more time off. This sabbatical now wouldn't be necessary if I'd taken all the time off I should've taken back then. Besides, the edits for Forbidden aren't done yet, and Coco's pups aren't very old. It's better to have this kind of time on my hands instead of wondering how I'm going to cram my writing into the schedule I have right now.

I'm actually thinking about staying on sabbatical until November 1st. Then I'm ready to go for Nano and I'll have another month before I start worrying about what I'm going to do with Legacy. A whole month without creating any kind of story line. It's scary and exhillarating at the same time. I want to write, I've got all these ideas bouncing around my head. But what happens when I work through them all and have nothing new?

Sometimes in life we all need to take some time away, time to step back and evaluate our lives. While I hate having to do that with my writing, it's necessary to make the writing the very best it can be. I don't want to look at a manuscript later on and realize that I have to start from page one all over again because I wasn't writing well.

Don't be afraid to step back and let your mind breathe.

Plagarism

2009-10-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

NP over at Coffee Stained Writer (www.coffee-stainedwriter.blogspot.com) posted about stealing other people's ideas last week (I think it was Saturday? I read the post on Saturday) and I wanted to clear the air a little bit because I felt the post was inadvertently directed over here to me. Consider this the only time I'm going to rant on this blog. Most of my rants are saved for my personal blog, but I digress.

Maybe her comments weren't directed toward me and I'm not going to take offense to them as a writer. People have the same ideas all the time. Since I typically write out my posts ahead of time due to lack of internet connectivity at home, I might end up posting something that appears to be the same on the same day, but in reality it was written quite awhile before the other person's post was written.

As far as posting about Nanowrimo, I'm going to remind everyone out there that I was posting about that in August. I've put up posts to be put up at later dates about Nano because I wanted to get stuff out there. I'm excited about Nano, I love Nano, and I want everyone else to be excited about Nano. Last year, Nano changed my life. After seeing Prophecy in it's published glory and getting feedback from others who've read it, I'm convinced that I'm doing something right by putting that story down to paper. I can't wait for Nano this year. My fingers are literally itching to get started on this year's novel. So as far as Nano is concerned, I've written a lot of stuff to be put up later.

Along with that, any other ideas I may be inspired by that were hatched in the brain of someone else, if I neglect to give you credit, I'm sorry. If I forget to acknowledge your genius, forgive me. My own genius is not acknowledged all the time, but I got over it.

Blogging about writing shouldn't be a competition about who is better than someone else. Writers should band together if possible and help each other. That's what this blog is there for. I remember being a writer in the very beginning last year. I didn't know what I was doing, I just sat down and typed and Prophecy and Forbidden were what came out. I've never been prouder of a creation in my life (I don't have kids yet, so I can say that honestly). Right now, it's Saturday and I'm getting ready for my first bookclub meeting where my novel is the subject of the get-together. I'm posting this on Monday, but still.

I guess my feelings were a little hurt by what was posted on Coffee Stained last week. I don't mean to maliciously trample over someone else's ideas. Personally, I believe that if you have an issue with something I put up on here, let me know about it in a more private manner so I can spill my guts in apology. Maybe that post wasn't directed at me. Still, message received.

Music To Write By Part 8

2009-10-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

Even in my chaos this week, I did get some work done. Here's what I've been listening to this week:

Muse-Time Is Running Out

Nickelback-Someday

Linkin Park-Leave Out All The Rest

Skillet-Hero

Sevendust-Black

Muse-Starlight

Nickelback-I'd Come For You

Marcy Playground-Sex and Candy

Korn-Freak On A Leash

Death Cab For Cutie-Meet Me On The Equinox (I found it to download!)

Paramore-I Caught Myself

Blue Foundation-Eyes On Fire

Paramore-Decode

Linkin Park-Somewhere I Belong

Natalie Imbruglia-Wishing I Was There

Enigma-Return To Innocence

Aerosmith-Jaded

Have a good weekend! If you're in the Quad City Area, I'll be at the Borders in Davenport, IA for a book club meeting for Prophecy at 5:00 tonight. Bring your questions, I'll bring answers.

What A Week!

2009-10-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

With such an eventful week, I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing. While I know that's not true, it's hard to look back at my time this week and feel like anything good came from it. In case you've missed it, here's the contents of my week:

-Coco had her puppies, which equaled running for almost 20 hours on 4 hours of sleep.

-Work at the cab company

-Tagging along to Fireworks to help with wiring and moving things as Jim changes the layout of my favorite coffeehouse.

-My sabbatical started, meaning I shouldn't be creating anything new for at least two weeks. I'm going to cheat on that and work if I feel the motivation to do so, but I'm not pushing myself.

-Edits for Forbidden are past due as of today. I need to have that done before Saturday so I can start scouting for the cover picture. The leaves are going to turn in about two weeks, so I don't have much time.

In the midst of all this chaos, I have managed to write about 10 pages on Legacy this week. Wow ten pages. It's not as good as it sounds. I could've done about twenty. No, wait. Fifteen. Well, okay that's not as bad as I thought it was.

My point is that if I found time to write this week, you can too. It hasn't been a picnic, committing myself to getting writing done when there's so much going on that I would rather be taking care of, but this is my passion. This is the life I've been given. Just like Lord Byron said, if I don't write, I go mad.

Don't let life stand in the way of your passion. If you are, then it isn't really a passion is it?

Nano: You have one month left...

2009-10-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

I've been harping on Nanowrimo for how long now? And you still haven't signed up? I don't want to hear any more excuses. If I can do it, you can do it.

It's officially October 1st, so you can sign up for this year now. I'm signed up. My November is chaotic and I'm signed up. Do you need a really good reason to do Nanowrimo? Let me give you some:

-You've been telling people for years (or decades, whatever) that you're writing a book. Now's your chance to finish it.

-You never know if you can do something if you don't try. Nano gives you the chance to try.

-If you're a procrastinator like me, you need pressure to create something beautiful. Consider Nano pressure.

-The prize for finishing it can be life changing. Last year, the prize for hitting the word count was a free proof copy of your novel. It drastically changed my life. I wouldn't be published right now if I hadn't participated. Are you ready for your life to change?

-You'll get helpful emails all month with tips and tricks to keep you going.

-You don't have internet? Neither do I. It's called the library. I loaded my manuscript on a flash drive and submitted it for word count that way. I not only participated, but I hit over 50,000 words. If you have a laptop, it's called WiFi. Go get coffee and write.

-Have no inspiration? That's not true and you know it. Everyone has a place to start and I already wrote this week about writing from real life.

-Don't have a degree? Neither do I. Unless you're writing non fiction, it doesn't really matter.

-Are you a total amateur? Great! This is perfect for you. I was an amateur last year too. Next year, you won't be an amateur anymore.

The only excuse I might accept is that you don't have a computer at all. But then, how are you reading this if you don't have a computer? Gotcha!

Nano is a great opportunity to get somewhere in the writing world. It's an opportunity to see if you have what it takes. Believe me, you do. Last year, my inlaws had just had their house fire, and I was babysitting two dogs, one of which is now mine, and helping rebuild the damaged part of the family home in my spare time. You do have what it takes.

It's time to believe in yourself. Get to work. Trust me, even if it's only this once. Nano sounds crazy, but it's worth it.

Sabbatical Approaching

2009-09-30T15:33:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the official beginning of my sabbatical. Honestly, I'm not sure that I want to take my sabbatical now, but it couldn't come at a better time. Coco just had her puppies and I won't feel pressured to write while I'm being a dog grandma. I also have a novel coming out in November and I can spend this time getting ready for that so it's done before Nano starts. Sabbatical would be great.

So why am I taking sabbatical when I'm not sure I want to?

It's all about mental health. I've not really had a break of longer than a week in over a year. That's a lot of writing. If my computer hadn't been fried a few months ago, I would have more to show for it, but that's beside the point. I've been pushing myself and my creativity to the breaking point and I need to get away for a little while to get some perspective on my life.

Here's the plan for my sabbatical:
-Get Forbidden ready for publication. Yes, this does constitute working. However, the edits won't take much longer to finish and then it's all about the cover.
-Take care of Coco and my new grandpuppies.
-Read something other than vampire novels. (Breaking Dawn notwithstanding because I'm almost done with it)
-Finish my plot mapping and character mapping for Nano
-Go out with my husband to see some movies, drink coffee at Fireworks, and add to my winter wardrobe.

I think I can get that done in about two weeks. Then it's back to work on the complete rewrite of Legacy. Argh.

Mascots

2009-09-29T14:10:00.003-05:00

I don't like to post a lot on here about my personal life. I have another blog for that (kellisoutsidethebox.blogspot.com in case you're interested), but this part of my personal life effects my writing life as well.

Maybe I mentioned this before, but I probably didn't. I have a mascot at home in the guise of my four legged furry daughter, Coco. She's a purebred shih tzu that we took in last October after my in-laws had their house fire. She wasn't potty trained, leash trained, or crate trained when I got her. Coco was a wild girl. She isn't anymore. She's my baby, the only child I have right now.

At the end of July, my husband and his parents had the brilliant idea to breed Coco. She has AKC papers and she's gorgeous, both inside and out. I'm opposed to the idea because I believe in spaying and neutering, but I was overruled in this instance and reluctantly agreed to it. So for the last few weeks, Coco has been pregnant.

This morning at around 3:30, Coco went into labor. She had three pups, two of which survived. At around 12:15 this afternoon, she had the last one. For the first time ever in my life, I'm a doggie grandma. Isn't that something?

The title of this post is mascots because Coco is the Fang Marked Dog. She's my companion, my familiar, and she's my motivation to do better. If I do the best I can, then she gets to keep me at home to take care of her. If you knew Coco's story, you'd be motivated too.

I'm going to post more on my personal blog about my little girl, but I wanted to share the excitement. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pictures. What a great time for a sabbatical right?

Writing From Real Life

2009-09-28T17:05:00.003-05:00

I'm concerned about how my Nanowrimo novel this year is going to be received by my friends and family. One of the cardinal rules of writing to write what you know. I want to make sure that no one is concerned for my welfare because of the novel I'm writing.

My nano novel this year is about infertility and suicide. Since my husband and I have been struggling with infertility for awhile now, you can see where my concern is warranted.

This year, I'm taking on the story of a woman who attempts suicide after struggling to have a baby with her husband for almost twenty years. I'm throwing in her husband (I would be remiss to keep him out of the story right?), her psychiatrist, and her post partum best friend. Since one of my very good friends just welcomed her first son in August, my concern is increased.

For the record, I'm not suicidal or depressed. Well, maybe a little depressed, but nothing to be concerned for. I'm merely writing what I know this year.

When you have a difficulty in your life, there's nothing wrong with focusing a story around it. Most people won't lose a parent in a tragic accident at eleven years of age, struggle through an abusive boyfriend at 14, start doing drugs and drinking by 15, and attempt suicide three times in their lives. Most people won't have to endure the pain of rape and sexual abuse for five months of their lives or survive two miscarriages with most of their sanity still intact. By the way, that's my life story. See what I mean?

When you're blocked, when you question your muse or your calling, this is what you can look at. Everyone has something unique in their life that other people may have never experienced. Even if you don't think you do, your perspective on your life is unique to you. Start there. Sometimes it's the cathartic writing experiences that kick us off to something beyond ourselves.

Music To Write By Part 7

2009-09-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

With the edits for Forbidden wrapping up this week, I've been able to work on the rewrite of Legacy (you don't want to read the original manuscript. I thought Prophecy's first draft was bad...), so I've had more time to enjoy my music. Here's some of this week's contributors to my sanity:

Desperately Wanting by Better Than Ezra
Criminal by Fiona Apple
Pushing Me Away by Linkin Park
I'd Come For You by Nickelback
Starlight by Muse
New Divide by Linkin Park
Photograph by Def Leppard
Cry Little Sister (from the Lost Boys soundtrack) by Gerald McMann
Meet Me On The Equinox (only available online for listening) by Death Cab For Cutie (From the New Moon Soundtrack, which will be released on October 20th)
Sing For Absolution by Muse
If Everyone Cared by Nickelback
Hot and Cold by Katy Perry
Freak On A Leash by Korn
Hero by Skillet
Life After Death by KJ52
The Last Night by Skillet
Closer by Nine Inch Nails (be advised that there is a significant amount of f bombs in this song)

Have a good weekend! Nano starts in just over a month. I'm ready. Are you?

People Watching

2009-09-25T09:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun little exercise to try. Go to a local hang out (the mall, the coffeeshop, McDonalds, whatever) and just sit there and watch people. That's what I'm doing right now (since the hours at the part time job changed and I'm now off on Thursday and Friday). I'm sitting in Fireworks, listening to Skillet and watching the cars go by. The music just changed to Fiona Apple. Cool.

There are people staring at me as I sit here typing this. I guess traffic is really boring today. They just want my coffee. I know, those people in the grey Dodge Intrepid are secretly plotting to take over the world by stealing the world's supply of coffee. Wouldn't that be a funny story to tell? Maybe they're really aliens and the only way to control the mass population is to take away our coffee. Those people in the huge Ford F150 are thinking the same thing. Aliens.

See that? Sometimes it's fun to just watch people and build a story around what they could be doing. If you're getting bored being stuck inside with your computer, take a notebook with you to a place with a lot of people, or a place like Fireworks where you can watch traffic, and build something around it. You never know, it could actually be good.

Now I'm going to take notes on the aliens trying to steal my coffee. That could be really funny for November next year. Remember, writing is the only profession in the world where crazy ideas are allowed.

Too Much Information

2009-09-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

I'm guilty of this, so I'm sure you are too. Have you ever read something and as you're reading it, you think to yourself "I don't need to know this much"? It happens to me all the time, even with my own stuff.

Before, I've said that you need to remember the details. I'm not changing my mind, I'm clarifying myself. You do need to remember the details. Just not every single one.

Recently, I was standing in the library, scanning a new novel that I was thinking about taking home with me, and I found myself bogged down in the minute details of the room the characters were in. Right down to the pattern of the wallpaper and the thickness of the carpet. It was very annoying, distracting, and hard to keep track of later.

Here's what I learned that I wanted to pass along to you: There's information and then there's too much information. Don't give it all away.

By putting too much detail in your scene, your reader no longer has the ability to imagine it for themselves. Color of the paint on the wall and the furnishings of the room is great. The exact pattern of the wallpaper or the size of the print on the window of the coffeeshop is not really necessary unless it furthers the plot. Is the print on the window part of a murder mystery? Then put it in. If your lovers are realizing that they want to get married while sitting in front of that window, we don't need the detail.

Another way to think of it is when someone is talking to you, and they tell you more about something than you want to know. I don't care what caused the funny smell in your bodily excrement, that's too much information (this happens to me more often than you think, I'm sorry to say). If the detail isn't important, cut it later on.

Finding Your Voice

2009-09-23T14:31:00.002-05:00

Today is all about style. Some people have it, some people don't. But whatever it is, normally it's unique.

With the help of my adorable husband, who never gets sick of editing, I was able to determine what my actual writing style is. It's good to know how you write so you can adapt it to what you write about.

I'm a very sarcastic writer. I like a lot of dry humor. I also tend to drag conversations on and on without saying anything about what a character is doing while talking (because seriously, who talks to someone else standing perfectly still?) and I have issues with facial expressions. I also tend to focus on a character's eyes entirely too much. But I have been told by my readers that I have an eye for details (like the Daitenshi Club in Prophecy. Everyone has loved that one) and endings that mess with your head. I never said writing styles were summed up in two or three words. We're writers, like that's going to happen.

Once you finish a first draft, you'll be able to tell what your writing style is. Some people focus on humor and tension to help move their plot along. I do sometimes. Others focus on historical accuracy and realism to bring a reader right into the story (Diana Gabaldon with the Outlander Series). There's a different writing style out there for every single writer.

The point is that you need to find your own unique voice. Maybe you like to tell stories from first person perspective with biting humor and wit intermingled in the story. Good for you, go with it. Maybe the thought of doing something like that scares the crap out of you. That's fine too. Just find it. Once you do, you'll be able to cultivate it into something real, something huge. Once you find your voice, you'll be able to find a character's true voice and that is what we're all here for isn't it?

Exhausting Your Muse

2009-09-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

I mentioned last week that I'm feeling the burnout and that is still true. It's not as bad as it was because I've been experimenting with new things, but I can feel it coming. November is going to be a welcome break from the world of vampires and werewolves, I can tell you that much.

I think I'm starting to exhaust my muse. What does that mean? You're lucky because I'm going to tell you.

I'm a vampire writer, first and foremost. I'll never stop writing about vampires and werewolves and mystical supernatural creatures. That is my passion, my muse, and I'll never fully stop doing that. I love being unrestrained by the laws of science when it comes to what my vampires can do. Between Seven and Roan and Ulrich, I'm like a protective mom with her children. I want to let them go into the world, but I want to keep them close to me so they are safe from criticism and scorn. So far, everyone has loved Seven and Ulrich. Roan is getting his introduction next year.

While I love writing about vampires and the supernatural, I'm exhausting myself. I'm running out of steam. It's time to write about something else. That's where Nanowrimo comes in.

I'm going to have the chance to write something different, something completely foreign to me. I've never written in first person perspective, and that's part of what I'm doing this year. I've never written a story where none of the characters can run faster than a speeding bullet or snap an oak in half with their bare hands. I'm doing that this year. It's scary and exhillarating at the same time.

No matter how good you are, eventually writing the same old thing is going to catch up to you. I told myself a year ago that I would never feel burnout. I love what I do too much. But here I am, on the verge. Granted, I haven't had a real break this whole time and I desperately need one. The point is, someday down the road, maybe not tomorrow and maybe not next year, but someday, you'll feel like your muse is exhausted.

So what do you do? Stop writing? No. Never stop writing. NP told me that last year and I haven't really. Even while I've been blocked this week, I've had my finger in one book or the other that I've already written. Dream about something different. Let your mind wander over what it would be like to write something completely different from what you've been doing. Read a new book. Watch a new movie. Sample something different in your life and let it inspire you. Or go out on the back porch with a glass of Captain Morgan and a cigarette and stare at the sky.

But don't stop. You'll find it again. Talk to other people, bounce ideas off of those you trust. Put whatever you do, don't stop.

Would-be writers talk about the novel they wish they could write. True writers talk about the one they're writing. Don't be a would-be.

Finding The Right Name

2009-09-21T16:23:00.002-05:00

Right now I'm getting ready for Nano and one of the things I have to do, now that I know who I'm writing about, is to find names for my new characters. It's important because it's part of their character (check out 8/13's post talking about the Name Game for more info).

Where do I go for a name? The writer's best friend is the baby name finder. No it's not just for parents to be anymore. I love the baby name finder. I've gone to the library for baby name books, but after getting so many strange looks from the librarians and finding that most baby name books are following current trends instead of simply listing names, their origins, and meanings. The baby name finder websites give you all of that and make the searching process a lot easier.

I have a love affair with Celtic, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish names and looking through a baby name book made finding those specific names almost impossible. Rhoswen's name comes from the Gaelic for white rose (yes that was intentional). It also means rose in Welsh. I found it on a baby name finder.

My advice to you would be to find a baby name finder that you're comfortable with. You find it easy to use, easy to understand, and the meanings of the names are more universal. Meanings can change from finder to finder sometimes, so make sure you try to use one that has meanings that are commonly accepted. Bookmark it, put it in your favorites, whatever. Just make sure you don't lose it.

When it's time to create a new character, the name is sometimes the hardest part. But if you know where to look, at least that's part of the battle that's been won.

Music To Write By Part 6

2009-09-19T11:20:00.002-05:00

As I didn't get much new writing done this week, these songs have been instrumental in the revisions on Forbidden and Legacy that I managed to finish this week.

Gerald McMann-Cry Little Sister (From the Lost Boys Soundtrack)
Muse-Sing For Absolution
Linkin Park-Pushing Me Away
Nickelback-Gotta Be Somebody
Korn-Freak On A Leash
Nine Inch Nails-Closer
Def Leppard-Photograph
Guns and Roses-November Rain
Linkin Park-Leave Out All The Rest
Nickelback-Burn It To The Ground
Sevendust-Waffle
Metallica-Enter Sandman
Marilyn Manson-The Dope Show
Sevendust-Failure
Skillet-Falling Inside The Black

I've been in a very dark place this week and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Maybe I'm getting into the mind of my nastiest villain ever? We can always hope so. Have a good weekend!!

Distractions

2009-09-18T14:55:00.002-05:00

*sigh* My husband is at home while he looks for a job. He's been home about a month now and to be completely and bluntly honest, he's driving me up the wall. It's interfering with my creative process and I just about can't stand it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly and wouldn't trade him for the world. Without him in my life, I wouldn't be the well balanced and perky person that I am now. Well...maybe I would, but I doubt it.

The problem is the fact that when he's home, I feel like I have to entertain him or something. I'll be bent over my little netbook, typing up a storm with my earbuds in, and I can feel his eyes burning into me. I look up and I see his mouth moving but I can't hear him because I have Muse blaring in my ears and my train of thought is derailed with lots of fatalities. It's very frustrating, especially when I'm mid sentence and then come back to finish it and can't remember where I was going with it.

So how do you manage to work through distractions? What I've done recently is institute work time. When my computer is on, the earbuds are in, and my fingers are flying over those keys, do not interrupt me for anything short of a fire or other natural disaster. When I come up for air, then you can tell me whatever you were thinking about an hour ago that wasn't important enough to stop me mid sentence. My husband also knows now that I try to work between the hours of 9AM and 12 Noon. During that time, unless otherwise stated, I'm working. When I'm taking my break in the middle, then bother me.

The other thing I decided to do was stop noticing him sitting there, looking at me with those bored eyes. I pretend he's not there and he's agreed to forget anything strange that I do while listening to music and letting my muse inspire me.

Just like when you're working a lot of hours outside the home and aren't sure when you'll find the time to write, you have to decide what's the most important to you. Is the distraction worth it? If it's a child (or a pregnant Shih Tzu two weeks away from delivering), it probably is. If it's a bored husband who should be out doing something else with his time? That's not worth derailing your writing over. If you have the passion to write, you'll be able to work through it.

Burnout Is Imminent

2009-09-17T14:58:00.002-05:00

I'm so wiped out. I hate to admit this, but I haven't written a word since Saturday, blog notwithstanding. Sure, I've done revisions on Forbidden (it's being edited for formatting purposes and I'm finding revisions that were lost in the Great Computer Crash of July), but that's not really writing in my eyes, at least not for me. It's fixing problems. It's not creating. And I don't have the gumption to create right now.

Between my husband being laid off, extra hours at my part time job, and stress over other things in my personal life, my writing has suffered hard core. Also, I've been imersing myself in vampire culture to the point that I hardly expose myself to anything else. Does that mean I'm putting New Moon down and reading something else? No. It does mean that I need to do something different though.

My music is burning me out, my reading is burning me out (Again, Twilight stuff notwithstanding because I haven't read it in a year), my life is burning me out. I think I know the solution and I'm scared to do it because it couldn't come at a worse time. It just can't be avoided anymore.

I'm taking another sabbatical. This one for at least two weeks starting October 1st. Maybe I'll be away from my writing career for the month. I don't know yet. But I'm taking time off to do other things.

I'll still be here because the Fang Marked office is one of my favorite things. But there will be no new creations while I'm on sabbatical.

During my time off, I'm going to take notes. Legacy is being ripped apart because of the catastrophe that befell it in the Great Computer Crash of July. I wasn't happy with it when it was finished. Now that it's not finished again, maybe I can change that.

Burnout happens people. It's just the way things are. You plug away at something for so long that you have no choice but to step away and have fun for a little while. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to step away and have fun for a little while. I'm going to sit in the park and enjoy the fall. I'm going to take long walks and let my mind wander. I'm going to go to the movies and sit at Fireworks for long periods of time, just hanging out. I'm going to do more than just research and vampires.

But I'll still be here. I'm pretty sure after two weeks, I'll be back in the mindset to get back to work.

When Everything Goes Wrong

2009-09-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

Yes I know. I said the Fang Marked office would be closed yesterday and today. I still am closed, but it's for a different reason altogether. I thought maybe it was a practical joke on Sunday, but it wasn't.

Legacy isn't finished anymore. The last forty pages crashed and burned with my other computer.

Just when I think I'm not going to be reminded of that horrific mistake, it just keeps coming back to bite me in the butt. All this time I've spent rewriting Awakening, and now the book preceding it isn't done. Fabulous.

When my old computer died, that was bad. This is worse in my mind because I haven't worked on Legacy since April. That was five months ago. I can't for the life of me remember how it ended before. I can't remember anything about it except the relief I felt when it was finished. Now I almost have to start over again on a book due out in seven months because I'm going to have to edit what I have first before I can finish it. Argh.

So, to make a long story short, back your stuff up, always! And back it up in multiple locations. Or you could find yourself in my situation. Trust me, it's not a fun place to be right now either.

Cool New Feature

2009-09-15T13:39:00.002-05:00

I'm closed for the day, yes I know. I always say I'm closed and then here I am. It's pathetic that I can't stay away isn't it?

Recently I discovered something truly cool and I want to share. Coming soon to krwnovels.com is the Prophecy playlist!! Isn't that something?

Everyone knows I have an addiction to music and vampires. Ever since Prophecy came out, I've wanted to share some of the music I was listening to when I wrote it and hopefully get people in the mood to read it (or read it again if you prefer). I've been working on the playlist all day today and it should be coming up soon. Once Forbidden comes out, I'll make one for that too.

At least this way you won't be bombarded with music on my blog anymore. That's not bad right?

We're Closed!

2009-09-15T09:15:00.000-05:00

The Fang Marked office will be closed today and tomorrow. Why? Because I need a break! Seriously though, I'm going to be in the middle of real time edits for the next two days and I don't want to leave anyone feeling neglected. See ya on Thursday!

Stifling Myself

2009-09-14T09:15:00.000-05:00

I'm putting Awakening away for this week. I'm almost done and I can't hardly look at it right now. The pace is moving too fast because I want to be done already. I've been writing this thing, at least part of the time, since April. I'm ready for the finish line but I don't have the stamina to make it. It's time to fall over on the side of the race track and wait for the medic to come get me before my heart explodes in my chest.

This is why I personally hate deadlines and wish that the person who coined the term would be shot in sensitive places with rubber bullets.

When you're pushing yourself to get a project done in a short amount of time, you'll catch yourself doing this very thing. I'm calling it stifling myself. Music has lost it's meaning to me. I've tried to right brain with it and now I'm bogged down. There's too much music, so I recreated my playlist (hence the absent Music To Write By post this weekend). That helped a little bit, but not enough. I need to take a step back.

This week is going to be devoted to Forbidden. It's coming out in about two months and I want to make sure it's perfect. When I worked on it Thursday morning, two hours had passed before I realized what was going on. That tells me that Awakening is being forced on me and it's time to step back.

Make sure that when you're working on a project for a long time that you aren't pushing yourself so hard you can't think anymore. The worst thing in the world is to be your own worst enemy. You're going to be your worst critic anyway right?

Theme Song Part 2

2009-09-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

I was talking about theme songs yesterday. Let's continue on shall we? Again, there are going to be spoilers, so read at your own risk.

Ulrich-Desperately Wanting by Better Than Ezra. Ulrich and Cassie have a history that spans over two hundred years. She's been part of his life for such a long time, he doesn't really know life without her. This song made me think of him, desperately wanting that time back again.

Cassie-Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park. Imagine that your life is defined by your position, then that position is taken away and you have the chance to do whatever you want to do. Would you take it? Cassie did, at the expense of her relationship with Ulrich.

Their relationship-Battlefield by Jordin Sparks. If there were ever two people who have to fight to keep it together, it's Ulrich and Cassie. He feels betrayed by her actions, she feels like she'll never be able to compete with his sense of duty. Love is truly a battlefield and they are both getting their armor.

Roan-Blurry by Puddle of Mudd. I can't wait for you all to meet Roan. He's my favorite new character because he is tortured. He doesn't know where he comes from, he just knows he's here. For someone so lost, he's got a protective side. He doesn't want to lose anything else. It doesn't hurt that he also can sing and play guitar.

Sephanie-Hysteria by Muse. Sephanie is another one of those characters that I'm excited to introduce. She's amazingly smart and sure of herself. Hysteria defines her loosely. She has no control over what happens to her in the beginning of the first OWR (Order of the White Rose) and she's thrown into a world she didn't even know existed. Regardless, she wants to break out.

Their relationship-I'd Come For You by Nickelback. Roan and Sephanie share a true, pure, passionate love. When it's tested, Roan will stop at nothing to save Sephanie's life.

It's nice to have theme songs for characters. It helps me get in their heads and make them real. In your own life, don't you have a song that you feel defines moments of your life? It's no different for characters in your novels.

9/11-We Remember

2009-09-11T08:42:00.000-05:00

When I wrote yesterday's post, I forgot about this date. There will be no post today in rembrance of those who lost their lives eight years ago. May we never forget history so we never repeat history.

Thank you to those who risk their lives to keep us safe: Police, Firefighters, Paramedics, and of course, our troops overseas.

Theme Song

2009-09-10T09:15:00.000-05:00

I posted this on krwnovels.com in the forum, but I thought I'd put it in here too. Last week I read an article on www.team-twilight.com about Edward and Bella having theme songs (you might have to search a little bit on the site because I'm just not good with links. I'm a writer, not a computer programmer). Since I'm hoping to someday be bigger than Twilight, I thought about Seven and Rhoswen and their theme songs from Prophecy. I also thought of some for Lincoln and Guin, who will be coming up in Forbidden, as well as Roan and Sephanie from the first Order of the White Rose, and Ulrich and Cassie from Awakening. There are some spoilers ahead, so just be aware.

Seven-What I've Done by Linkin Park. For someone with so much power and money, he's haunted by one mistake that he can't take back. When I was writing the first draft of Prophecy, I listened to this song a lot because it brought me to Seven's frame of mind.

Rhoswen-She Runs Away by Duncan Sheik. Once you know the true story of Rhoswen's past, with her bad relationships and both of her parents being dead and the suicide attempt, you'll understand why she is the way she is. In her relationship with Seven though, she really does bring him back to reality.

Their relationship together-Halo by Beyonce. Even though this song came out after I was done with Prophecy, it describes them perfectly.

Lincoln-Leave Out All The Rest from Linkin Park. He sings this song in Forbidden, and once he's gone, it symbolizes what his family feels in his absence.

Guin-Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Believe it or not, I heard this song after I was done with Forbidden and it's Guin to a tee. She hides it all and won't let anyone see what she's like underneath. You can't read her poker face. Lincoln sure couldn't.

Their relationship-Forever from Chris Brown. Wait until you read the book, you'll get it then. To give that away now would be too much of a spoiler.

I'll save Ulrich and Cassie and Roan and Sephanie for tomorrow.

Supernatural

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

If you're writing a novel with supernatural characters, you have the hardest job in fiction in my mind. No, I'm not just saying that because I'm writing novels with supernatural characters either. It truly is hard to do.

When writing a romance novel or a sci fi novel or an adventure novel, you have somewhere to go. There are source books for romance, science texts for sci fi, and do you really need help on an adventure novel? There's books out there for the Chick Lit writer, for the contemporary fiction author, the mystery writer. But for the supernatural writer? Nothing.

When deciding to write about vampires, I had to turn to other books about vampires to find out what the traditional myths were. Thank goodness for the folklore section of my library. When researching werewolves, there was little to nothing serious out there. How about shapeshifters? Forget it.

If you're looking for help in creating the powers or special abilities of your supernatural character, you need to go on what you already know. To explain those abilities, try to be as real as you can.

My vampires have special abilities based on their DNA. Werewolves can only be men (but I'm going to be messing with that one later on). Shapeshifters come in two classes. What's the difference between a werewolf and a shapeshifter? You'll have to wait and see.

If you're interested in writing a book with supernatural characters, it doesn't hurt to read what other people have written with similar characters to your own. I've read the Twilight saga (many, many times), the Dark Hunter series, the Vampire Diaries, the Sookie Stackhouse Novels, and I've watched just about every vampire movie ever made. I also read a lot of manga like Millenium Snow and Vampire Knight. You have to do what you have to do.

Don't get discouraged when using characters that aren't human. Remember one powerful thing: If you can't find research material on it, then it probably doesn't exist yet. What's better than an original idea?

Love Story

2009-09-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

This post is entirely for the romantic writer in you. If you write gory war novels, you might not like this post. But ultimately, just about every genre has a love story of some kind.

I didn't set out to write a love story. I mean, sure I did, but that wasn't the main point. Prophecy wasn't supposed to be a love story. It was supposed to be a hero's story. Most of my research at the beginning was in the hero myth (if you're looking into heroes, check out The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Thanks NP for that recommendation last year). I read classic mythology and Norse mythology, chasing down the classic hero myth. Then I realized that no one would care about Seven like I did if he didn't have someone to fight for.

John Eldredge, in Wild At Heart, says that a man has to have a beauty to fight for. Think about Romeo and Juliet. Romeo literally died for Juliet. Think about King Arthur and Guinevere. Or how about Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton or Acheron Parthenopaeus (yes that's spelled right) and Soteria Kafieri from Acheron. A lot of heroes are redeemed by the love of a woman.

A love story doesn't have to be a book filled with ripping clothes and graphic sex scenes. It's not always filled with the most beautiful people (unless you're dealing with vampires, then it almost always is because of the nature of the vampire) or the most ideal circumstances. A hero has a beauty to fight for. That's it. She doesn't even have to be the classic beauty. As long as he finds her beautiful, that's all it requires.

I don't want you to believe that a romance is always the trashy purple prose monstrosities in the historical romance section (some are actually pretty good though). A truly wonderful romance draws you in because you want to see these two characters redeem each other. It's truly amazing.

For good romance, check out Ransom by Julie Garwood (the best sarcasm is present in this novel) or A Knight In Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux (the best example of what happens when the ending isn't what you think it should be). Is there sex? Yes. Is it necessary? I've already said before that it isn't.

Don't be afraid to let a hero fall in love. Sometimes it's the best characteristic he has.

Laptop Versus Desktop

2009-09-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

I'm very blessed to have the coolest little netbook on the planet (yes I'm biased and I don't care). Sure, I had to fry the hard drive on one to find out just how cool this little thing really is, but I'm fully able to appreciate what I have now. (Once I figure out how to shrink a photo to upload on here, I'll put up a picture of the new computer and the nice little external hard drive that I have hooked up to it constantly)

However, I do remember the days of being restricted to my desktop with my rear end going numb in my desk chair as I wrote for hours a day. Those days were good and bad, just like having a laptop is good and bad now.

Do you work exclusively on a desktop or do you use a laptop? Are you carrying around a laptop that's got a 19 inch screen or do you use one of these handy little netbooks?

Surprisingly, this little Acer netbook that I have is more powerful than my desktop ever was. Now they have dropped below $300 at Walmart, so it's definitely more affordable. And it has Windows XP. I refuse to change over to Vista. Plus I have the portability factor, which is great when I'm sitting at Fireworks and feel the itch to write.

The good thing about the desktop was that I was chained to it. I had no choice but to sit there and work. I had more room too, to lay out notebooks full of character or plot notes or research. But the bad part was that I was chained to it. I couldn't go to a new place to sit down and write. However, the desktop was more durable than my laptop is now.

If you need a change of pace, I hope you're writing on a laptop. If you need consistancy, stay at home on the desktop. It depends on your schedule as well.

But if you're in the market for a new laptop, don't discount the netbook. It's a powerful little machine and it fits in the inside pocket of my messenger bag. And it's pink. That's always fun.

Music To Write By Part 5

2009-09-05T13:10:00.002-05:00

There isn't as much music this week due to my hours at the cab company. However, I wanted to share the music that helped me make it through the week, whether I was writing or not:

Muse-Starlight
Better Than Ezra-Desperately Wanting
Goo Goo Dolls-Black Balloon
Muse-Sing For Absolution
The Airborne Toxic Event-Sometime Around Midnight
Tonic-If You Could Only See
Muse-Hysteria
Def Leppard-Two Steps Behind
Skillet-Hero
Rob Thomas-Her Diamonds

Next week will lead to more writing time, so hopefully the list will be longer next weekend. I know, I have a lot of repeat songs every week, but that's just because I can't stop listening to them. Muse is addictive.

Have a great weekend!

When Real Life Interferes With Fiction

2009-09-04T16:22:00.003-05:00

This has been a very hard week for me. It might not seem like that through the posts I've put up, but I put those up in advance sometimes because that's easier for me. This week has been exhausting and frustrating for me.

I work a part time job outside of my writing so that my husband and I would have a place to get our car fixed and some extra money in our pocket (I work for a cab company). But with all the drama here in the last week, I've been at the office for my part time job than at Fang Marked for my full time job. With deadlines hanging over my head and a lot of research still left to do, this hasn't been a good time for this to happen.

Some of you might be asking me "So how do you write a novel when you have to work outside the home at a full time job to make ends meet?". Here's the only solution I could come up with.

I'm working before I leave for my regular job. Granted, I work second shift. But if I had a first shift job, I'd work for an hour when I got home. You may not make three pages a day doing that, but you have a good excuse don't you? It's harder to write when you have other demands on your time. But if you want it bad enough, or if your characters won't leave you alone, you'll find a way. Some people work better at night. I'm more of a morning person and like to be done by 11 AM. I'll write later than that, but the bulk of it is done. And it helps that I have a netbook and can write on the fly.

How would you try to balance a full time job with writing a novel?

When You're Done, You're Done

2009-09-03T15:26:00.002-05:00

I loved a recent post on Coffee Stained Writer (http://coffee-stainedwriter.blogspot.com/) about when a work is finished. Since my internet connection is not allowing me to put what I really think as a comment on her blog, I'm throwing it on here.

How do you really know when a work is finished? It's a long process.

Since I've only published the one novel, I'll talk about my experience with that one. Prophecy was hard to let go of. It was my first novel ever and I felt there was so much more to add. I even wrote 10 pages of useless scene at the end because I couldn't let it go. But finally, I'd told the story and it felt done. Then the edits began.

Before I did my first edit, I finished Forbidden and participated in Nano for the first time. I didn't go back to Prophecy until late December/early January. I couldn't believe the disaster that was my first novel. I pulled about 30 pages out, wrote another 30-40 to replace what was cut, moved scenes around, added new characters, and rewrote the ending. Twice. It was finally done with the first round of edits when my husband said to me "is there anything of the original novel left?". That's when I knew it was time to stop and take a step back.

The last round of edits before publication were done in late April/early May. That was a lot quicker because I just had to make sure it was flowing and the new stuff went with the old stuff. But even when I was sure it was the novel it is today, I didn't want to let it go. The only way I stopped picking at it was the deadline I was under. But I'm glad I didn't pick it apart again because so far, the feedback has been fantastic.

So how do you know when it's really done? I can't describe it academically, but I can tell you that Prophecy was done because it felt done. It was ready. It's like cooking or what I imagine pregnancy would be. When it's done, it's done. The turkey comes out of the oven, the baby is born. There's no more you can do to it.

Forbidden has been editted three times because of computer malfunction. It's getting one more combing out before it's completely ready to go. It just hasn't required as much in the way of revision. Now the prequel, Legacy, I'm scared I'm going to have to rewrite that book from the beginning all over again.

But when it's done, it's done.

Background Noise

2009-09-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

Imagine this: You walk into a place you frequent often, whether that's a coffee house or the library or a bar, it's not a big deal. Put yourself there and think about what's going on around you. Do you see it? There's one thing I'm sure you're forgetting and it's not your fault that you don't notice it. More often than not, you aren't supposed to notice it.

I'm talking about the background noise. The music playing in the coffee house or the sound of people typing on computers in the library. If you're in a bar, well that changes from night to night and hopefully you aren't too drunk to notice it. Why don't you notice it? Because it's there to influence your mood.

When writing a scene like this in a novel, you have to remember that background noise is there and use it to your advantage. I put a couple bar and club scenes in Prophecy and I actually name the song I'm thinking of playing in the background. When Seven walks into the bar the first time he sees Rhoswen, he enters to Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole". All of a sudden, you get a picture of what is really going on. When Seven and Rhoswen go out for their first date, I describe the song playing on the dance floor of the club (because it's in Japanese and I honestly didn't have the title with me, but you understand where I'm coming from here).

This adds realism to your writing. No one walks around in a bubble of silence. We all have our favorite bands and we all sing along in the car (well, most of us). If you have a character driving around without music playing in the background, he's probably talking to the other character sitting right next to him or reflecting on the aliens that just abducted his dog.

Make sure you remember what should be there and take the opportunity to show off some of your own personality if you want to. Lincoln listens to Linkin Park in Forbidden because it's A: Funny (you'll get it in a minute. If you don't, leave a comment and I'll explain), B: A personal favorite of mine, and C: He's an angry teenage boy. But if he's driving around listening to the sounds of silence (that isn't really a band is it?), then it's no longer believable.

September To Do List

2009-09-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

Here's how crazy this month is already. And it's only the first.

-I need to finish research for nanowrimo. That means many trips to the library and a lot of time on the internet at Fireworks.
-It's time to finish transcribing a novel for a friend of mine. He wants to be able to release it to family and friends by Christmas and if I don't finish it this month, it won't be ready.
-I have to get ready for the book club meeting October 3rd. I need to go through Prophecy and be prepared to hit various parts of the novel and I have to go through Forbidden and pick out what part is going to be previewed at the meeting.
-I need to finish the revisions on Forbidden and do one more real time edit of it to make sure that the new stuff flows with the rest of the story and clear up any formatting mistakes.
-Hubby and I have to go out and take the pictures for the cover of Forbidden. I want a lot to choose from.
-Awakening needs to start winding down. Deadline to finish it is November 1st so it isn't hanging over my head for nanowrimo.
-Shipping out books to family and friends who wanted copies of Prophecy. I'm so behind!
-I have to get with Hubby and design the logo for Fank Marked since we're using that as my office now and we want to make t-shirts. Yeah, we're weird.

Whatever doesn't get done this month will get crammed into next month. Argh.

What's In Your Bag?

2009-08-31T09:15:00.000-05:00

When I found myself falling into the career that I now love more than anything else I've ever done, I didn't realize how much stuff I'd be dragging along with me. That was before the laptop came along.

Now I carry around a messenger bag with the laptop, my external hard drive, two large notebooks, one mini notebook, a novel, four blue pens, two red sharpies, my tiny mouse, the ever present set of pink earphones, my power cord, and my wallet. It's like carrying around a diaper bag without any kids. You just can't be too prepared.

Granted, the novel changes from day to day (yes that's correct. I can finish an 800 page novel in about two days if I'm determined. But I love to savor) and some days I don't even bring it with me. Today I don't have the novel with me because I'm at Fireworks. It's an official work day, no time for pleasure reading until later.

Yesterday, the novel was my favorite, Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. No matter how many times I read that book, I find something new every single time. A few days ago it was Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris because I have a thing for Eric Northman. If he actually existed, I might have problems. Next month, I'll be carrying the Twilight series around again in preparation for the New Moon movie in November.

Don't forget to bring what you need with you. That's all the time if you can help it. Inspiration is a funny thing and you might find yourself sitting alone in the food court of the mall and suddenly a scene for your own novel strikes you. I carry my mini notebook around and collect funny quotes I hear or read (where did you think the quote of the week came from?). It is also a scientific fact that you'll need a pen the one time you don't have one. It happens to me all the time.

Now do I truck the laptop out with me everywhere? No. That's not reality. But I take it most places with me. You just never know.

So, what's in your bag?

Music To Write By Part 4

2009-08-29T11:55:00.003-05:00

This week's scenes of Awakening and revisions on Forbidden were created with the help of some strong coffee at Fireworks and the following musical selections:

Skillet-Hero (their new album dropped last Tuesday)
Vertical Horizon-Everything You Want
The Black Ghosts-Full Moon
Muse-Starlight (I can't get it out of my head)
Linkin Park-A Place For My Head
Taylor Swift-You Belong With Me
Nickelback-Someday
Linkin Park-New Divide
Love Spit Love-How Soon Is Now?
Skillet-Rebirthing
Beyonce-Halo
Muse-Supermassive Black Hole
Katy Perry-Hot and Cold
Lenny Kravitz-Again
Nickelback-I'd Come For You
And finally, Jojo-Too Little Too Late

Have a great weekend!

Writing Serial

2009-08-28T17:08:00.002-05:00

After a much needed day off to breathe, I was thinking about the differences between writing a book that stands alone and writing a book that will have more story following after it. There are differences you know.

When I wrote Prophecy about a year ago, I planned on it standing alone. There was no more story to tell. I believed that Seven and Rhoswen were finished. Let the reader imagine what happened to them after that. I had no reason to keep going. Then I started writing Forbidden and I found myself bringing those characters back again. I just couldn't let them go.

With all the plans I have for Seven and Rhoswen and everyone in that universe, I don't think I'll be letting them go for a long time. But that doesn't mean that everything I write is going to involve them.

It's different to think that I'm going to have to finish a story in one volume instead of being able to stretch it out. I'm getting into the last half of Awakening and I'm thankful that I don't have to cram everything I'm thinking about into these last seventy or so pages. With a stand alone novel, you're done when you hit that last page. That means you have to have enough story to get to that last page.

My advice to anyone writing the first novel is to not plan for a series right from the get go unless you have so much going on in your plot mapping that it would require more than one book. I didn't plan on a series, and now I'm in the middle of one. But at least Prophecy can stand on it's own two feet. Now I can surprise readers with cliffhanger endings and driving plot lines that make you wish I'd written the whole thing before I released the first one.

But even a stand alone novel can make readers want more from you. That's not such a bad thing either. You just get to create new characters every single time. In reality, that's probably harder.

Other Outlets For Creativity

2009-08-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

Right now, I'm sitting at the best coffeehouse in the world watching people paint pottery (you can do that here while you're drinking your coffee. Isn't that just cool?). If I had the time today to paint, believe me I would be. Sometimes words on a page can't express how I'm feeling as well as paint on a ceramic plate can.

Do you find that sometimes you need to break away from your computer and do something else that's just as creative as writing?

Sometimes, I just have to take a break from my computer and paint a piece of pottery. They make great gifts and I get to branch out a bit. For other people I know, it's photography that calls them from other pursuits. One of my brothers-in-law works as a waiter full time, but he paints in his spare time. He takes pictures to get his mind away from a canvas. My other brother-in-law is a musician. I'm not sure what he does when he's not playing music, but I think it has something to do with drawing. Or beating my husband at metroid prime.

It's okay to branch out from one medium to another to make your brain more effective at your primary pursuit. After I paint, all of a sudden the scenes in my head that I'm writing down are clearer and more vibrant. All of a sudden I can explain what I mean so much better.

If you're getting bogged down in everything else going on in your life and your writing is suffering, go do something else that's creative. You'd be surprised how rejuvenating that is.