Wicked Wordsmith

Authors Talk Writing at Pop Syndicate

July is a special guest blogging month at Pop Syndicate. Recently, we had several terrific author posts dealing with different aspects of writing.

If you haven't already, be sure to check them out - and leave comments for the authors. I know they love to hear from other authors (and readers) about their writing journeys.

"Writing is a Lonely Job" by Jan Scarbrough (Man, can I relate to this!)

"When Two Premises Collide" by Susan Mallery

Barbara Freethy Blogs about Writing an Ongoing Series

"Rules, Schmools," by Marie Force

"The Watershed" by Rie Sheridan Rose (On show, don't tell)

I really enjoyed from Margaret Mallory about how she came to a turning point in her life and decided to write full-time. She got to a breaking point in her career and decided it was high time to LIVE - and work on something she loved, like books.

Mallory relates her journey back to character development in "Crisis as a Turning Point in Life and Books."

Beautiful, Deadly Cities

I love weird news tidbits. They always do a lot to stimulate my imagination.

Today, Digg introduced me to the Environmental Graffiti blog post, "10 Beautiful Yet Deadly Megatropolises."

There are some odd factoids about the worst cities to live in because of pollution. santitation, overpopulation... the list goes on and on.

The photos I found the most startling were from Cairo. The air quality is so bad there, you can barely see anything.

This photo really fit with some of my ideas for a futuristic urban fantasy. How deadly living can be in a world that is forgotten. (Yes, I know. I relate everything to writing. My friends love me, anyway.)

I think that's why I axed subscriptions to magazines about writing and started subscribing to magazines that inspired me. Saved me money and provided resources that were much more in tune with the Muse. Now that we have blogs, I find myself surfing endlessly for ideas and inspiration - sometimes to the detriment of the writing itself.

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Finding the Inner Writer in Me

About six months ago (I refuse to think it was longer), I kept trying - and failing - to get into my manuscript DECEIVED.

It's a serial-killer-escapes-prison thing, with a hot romance erupting alongside the hunt for this Very Bad Man. I love serial killer stuff - always have. My personal reference library is filled with strange and wonderful texts on the mind of serial killers, the FBI, true case books and anything forensic-related.

But it seemed, perhaps, that I was tired of the genre. I'd been reading it for years, but the last few years I'd added a plethora of crime dramas to my evening musings. Law and Order, Criminal Minds, CSI: Las Vegas topped the list of must-watches each week.

As I watched, the storylines became even more predictable than before. I had the killer down pat within the first five minutes, and spent the other 40 (ax commercials) watching how the writers finally built up to the whodunit.

I found the same trends in the novels as well. No idea is original, but it felt like today's authors were mimicking old stock instead of finding creative twists to make stories their own.

When I tried to get into DECEIVED - about a third written - I just could not do it. The characters felt stale, the plot contrived and it just seemed like too much work to start over on something I'd worked on off and on for a year.

Of course, I immediately pulled out the whip and castigated myself for not finished the MS, and for lacking the creative courage to strip it bare and start over - or to have the gumption to even try. I felt like such a failure. I questioned by ability to write fiction. I wondered if I truly, truly wanted this dream I'd had since I was a child, writing fairytales with weirdly dark beings.

One day, I decided to sit down and find my muse again.

I thought about people with child-like innocence.  I decided to figure out what inspired me as a child so much so that I would sit for hours, drawing pictures and making up stories to go along with them.

The answers were immediate and startling:

Dragons, warlocks, unicorns, magic, good witch, bad witch, strange lands, shifting shadows, bad things hiding in my closet, creatures not of this world.

Everything and anything to do with fantasy - and mystery - but not necessary mystery grounded in stark reality.

It was a serious wake up call for me as an author. I had added a few paranormal twists to my stories - like psychics - but nothing with serious world building.

This made me realize that I needed a change of genre - even just for a bit. I won't ever be rid of mystery or romance in my stories, but maybe I can add a dash of magic to make my writing world that much more fun and delectable. 

Over the next few weeks, I plan to pull out DECEIVED and see what I can salvage, but my main focus for writing will be on an urban fantasy. Ironically, it isn't the one I thought of a few months ago, but a new one that seems to "work." The idea is much more original than the one I had before and it is screaming louder than the other idea.

If I want to get rid of the voices in my head, I'll need to hurry up and write it.

Dreaming Up a Scene

For the first time in a very long time, I dreamed of a scene for a new book.

This character just came to me a few days ago, her eyes haunted, her lonely soul calling out to me to tell her story. I don't know her very well right now, but I could easily envision her in a few very key scenes for an urban fantasy novel.

Last night, the unnamed woman was seized by black magic and, after she healed, saved the life of the man will soon be her mate. The scene was so real, I could practically feel her pain, the sizzle of the deadly magic in her veins, the terror of watching her nearly die.

It was amazing. It was incredible. And today, I MUST write out this scene!

I remember once, author Sharon Sala talking at a conference about how she allowed her subconscious to "dream" scenes - particularly those that were tough to write for whatever reason. 

I thought to myself, Geesh, I wish I could dream up the scenes and write them fresh. That would totally rock.

Before last night, I'd dreamed of scenes, but most times couldn't remember most of it when I woke up, or the scenes were more disjointed than I thought when I started to write them down. This time, though, I'm hoping it will be different. I hope (fingers crossed) that this scene remains just as vivid - and coherent - as it seemed to be last night.

{Art found at VoiceYourself.com}

Why My Writing Days Tank

And I wonder why I don't get any writing done?

As I sat, Dee Whompus (She'll womp-n-knot-on-you if she's in a mood.) gets up and stretches from her cushy place on my office chair.

Oh, did I mention that I am frequently relegated to the very hard, white folding chair when my cats are in the office? Oh yes. They walk around me, claw me, step on the keyboard, block the screen and do whatever they need to get my butt out of the chair so they can plomp down into it, snuggling deeply until they are asleep.

Wicked Thoughts and So-So Stories

Writing erotica and romance isn't easy.

I struggle not so much with stories and plots and characters as personal convictions on if it is right to pen these stories or not.

Growing up in a conservative household (I'm still conservative in politics) sometimes make it difficult to finish stories. Of course, having my mother constantly say I'm going to write for the Christian market if its the last think she ever does doesn't help, either.

In my critique groups, I was always known as the one who took the sexual risks (in fiction). I didn't hesitate to write a hot, steamy love scene if it somehow moved along the plot or brought my characters to a new level. I'm not into sex for sex' sake. I'm for sexual realism in fiction. As a Christian, I know sex happens before marriage. I know people like to get hinky and kinky and down with it. Fiction writers should be able to express that.

I think, for me, fiction is not realistic if it doesn't' have some sort of intimacy. I find Alison Kent's work a sexual overload and could not finish her stuff, but I do like subtle innuendo - when it is written correctly. (Victoria Laurie is a terrific example of romance that works without a ton of explicit nookie.) Hot sex works in several instances, but only when it doesn't overtake the plot, like in Jory Strong's novels. 

I've read several books sans sex and the two characters never connect. There is no ping moment where they are all hot and bothered for each other, or they discover they have some sort of connection beyond a physical attracts. They are just two cardboard characters who never quite reach a point beyond acquaintances.

Finding a good balance between the plot and the romantic relationship is key to story enjoyment for me.

So how do you connect two characters in a novel to make their romance real to readers? 

Here are a few links to Web sites that want to help:

Writing-World.com

Romance Factor

Laurie Sanders of Black Velvet Seduction does a terrific course on Deep POV that authors in any genre would appreciate. She sets everything up in a blog, where you log in and take the course at your leisure.

What do you do as an author to connect your characters? When your characters aren't compatible, what do you?

Back in the Saddle... And Lovin' It

It's been months since I have put pen to paper to write something I WANTED to.

For the past six months - no, maybe longer - I've furiously types blog posts for clients, launched Market My Novel, wrote a minibook for a client on social media, tried to wrap up the Market My Novel book (won't even go there right now), posted interviews and guest blogs at Book Addict, rounded up new contributors for Pop Syndicate, wrote book, TV and DVD reviews, and took care of four beautiful kittens (all females) a stray Mama was so kind to drop on my already cat-ladden doorstep.

Whew!

By the end of my days, I could not even THINK about looking at the computer. And since my thoughts race when I write, I usually to need to type them out. (Pen and paper went out with my passion for journalism.)

Of course, my idea juice was seriously lacking like salt in an over-zealous runner. I had zero creative ideas for my fiction and could not even think about picking up Deceived again (As you can see from the unfinished novel blog).

After a few contracts fizzled, my workload changed dramatically and I found I had a lot more time than before. Trying to get myself organized to write, though, wasn't easy. 

Getting Started

Over the past few weeks, I've thought about writing - but haven't done much with it. When I first went to the gym in early 2000, I spent three months prepping my brain for it. Each day I thought about the gym until, when I finally got a membership, it was part of me, in my daily thinking - a natural fit to my day.

I'm doing the same thing for fiction writing. I spent $45 on some terrific blank notebooks on the Barnes & Nobel clearance rack and bought some expensive ink pens I really like, but rarely buy, to use with them.

I put one notebook next to the bed and every night, I wrote ideas. The first night was dismal. I wrote one sentence, then doodles and tried to think of something. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Each night, I sat with that notebook and tried to think of ideas - other than the ones screaming inside of my head the past few months - that would jog my creativity. You know, that one idea that gets you so jazzed you cannot write about it fast enough.

Two weeks later, the ideas are flowing like water.

Last night, I hit on a protagonist that I really like - an urban fantasy chick with unimaginable powers.

This is a far cry from the erotica suspense stories I've worked on in the past, but it moves me in a way those stories don't right now.

I won't give up on the serial killer story with a psychic, or my detective mystery series, but I think magick is what I need right now to challenge my brain and take me back to my childhood, when I loved unicorns and demons and trolls and things that went bump every night underneath my bed.

Things Change

Of course, as soon as I started this effort, my schedule changed. I have some more projects that will take up more of my time.

You know what?

I don't care. If it means losing a few hours of sleep, I'm going to WRITE. This has been my passion since I was a child and I'm ashamed to be nearly 35 without more than a short story publication credit under my belt. I always think if I had a husband who supported my career, it would be different, but single girls CAN do it better.

What ways to do you stay organized? How do you get a jump on creativity? What motivates you?

Leave a comment.

Cost of Self-Publishing Books for Kids

It isn't easy to figure out exactly what it will cost to self publish your books. Each publishing house has different pricing for different services. Some services give you a better ban for your buck.

Yvonne Perry of Writers in the Sky tries to make this process a little easier for children's authors. She counts the pennies of self publishing her books in this eZine article, "Printing and Publishing Children's Books: Counting the Costs."

Marshall Karp Talks Writing at Pop Syndicate

Author Marshall Karp has some great things to say about writing in his interview with Pop Syndicate's Editor-in-Chief, Stefan Halley.

Read about how Karp got started, why he likes to write about cops and how he stays fresh as a writer by visiting http://www.popsyndicate.com/books/story/marshall_karp_is_flipping_out

Twit Your Novel

Twitter lets you tell folks what you are doing in 140 characters or less. Some writers, though, are using it to create flash fiction of the super-short kind. Others, however, are using the social media tool to create full-length novels, or share portions of manuscripts with followers for feedback, reader interactivity and publicity.

Last year, SocialMediaWorld.com interviewed Twitter author Nick Belardes about his experiences. I thought his advice on the use of Twitter was smart, and definitely for the time- and structure-savvy author:

Don’t write a novel using Twitter, but mold a novel, transform a novel using Twitter. In my opinion, Twitter isn’t a scratch pad. Any good writer should have a plan, and so should either use a completed manuscript, or a portion, as is my case. The line-by-line rebuilding of the manuscript should be challenge enough. There should be lots of note-taking, forethought, and not just random phrases thrown at readers.

At Twitip.com, Brandon J. Mendelson, author of Twitter novel The Falcon Can Hear The Falconer, offers these tips on how to create your own novel on Twitter:

• Throw out the manuscript.
• Have a plan
• Keep the story moving
• Create a Web site with backstory for people who start following you well into the book.

Read the full post with a thorough list of tips at Twitip.com.