Dwelling on Dreams at Christmas?

 

I’m watching the Harry Potter movies with my kids this week. In The Sorcerer’s Stone, Dumbledore tells Harry, “It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live.”

This line really resonates with me. Writing is a bit like looking into the Magic Mirror. Dumbledore tells us that “it shows us nothing more than the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts”. When I write, I’m diving into a fantasy world of my own creation and if that isn’t a desperate desire, I don’t know what is!

When I’m in this fantasy world, the real world fades away. I know it’s hard for people who love me, especially during the holidays. I get a lot of “what’s wrong, Mom?” Nothing’s wrong. I’m just not really present. I’m in my fantasy world, building characters or pulling at plot threads, trying to make a novel work.

I’d hoped to submit my YA novel before the end of 2013, but I’m feeling that this month, it doesn’t do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. My kids are growing up faster than I want them to. My husband has some time off. It’s the holidays. I guess it’s time to stay in the real world for a couple of days!

Yes, I’ll probably sneak a bit of writing in at night, but during the day I want to dwell on those around me and revel in the joy that is Christmas! I hope you all do the same!

Strike Out Against 'Nearly'

I’m reading a book right now and the author has a penchant for the word ‘nearly’. It’s nearly driving me crazy! It bugs me so much that I’ve nearly gone and checked four of my manuscripts to search for the word ‘nearly’!  I won’t quote directly from the book because I don’t believe in bashing authors and I like the story. It’s a decent book. I’m also grateful to the author because it reminds me that there is a difference between a character who hesitates and a writer who hesitates.

Here’s an extreme example of why you should strike the word ‘nearly’ from your work:

The killer nearly pulled a gun.

See what I mean? It doesn’t work. The killer pulled a gun is always going to be the better sentence.

Here’s another example:

I was crouched down low, nearly breathless…

I don’t think you can be ‘nearly breathless’. Instead try something like:

 

I was crouched down low, my breath coming in short, shallow bursts…

Even if you’re using it to indicate location, there will be better word choices.

We were nearly to the church when the tire blew out.

Nope.  We were less than a mile from the church when the tire blew out sounds much better.

What do you think? Do you use the word 'nearly' effectively?

 

Yay! Exciting news tonight.
My novella, Valkyrie's Kiss, will be released by Evernight Publishing in January 2014! More details coming soon!

Zombie Blogfest!

Hi guys,

Halloween is just around the corner so here's something fun to help celebrate! 

Here's how it works:

Post about your favorite zombie movie, zombie book, zombie TV series, or share some cool zombie pics. As long as it's zombies, you're good. 

What's in it for you?

How about a FREE story. Plus, US residents can also be entered for a chance to win some zombie limb candy and a signed copy of Touch of Death. (Sorry but international mailing is expensive and mailing candy internationally isn't always allowed.)

Everyone will get a copy of my FREE short story prequel to the Touch of Death series, Curse of Death.

In fact, go grab it now here!!

So what's my favorite zombie thing? That's a tough one, but I'd have to say it's the split dogs. Remember those? The Return of the Living Dead? It's a totally cheesy movie and I love it! The split dogs crack me up every time!

Click here to buy the movie.

And if you want a chance to win a signed copy of Touch of Death and some zombie candy to satisfy your after Halloween sugar craving, simply fill out the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nano Crazy!

Ah, Nanowrimo. It’s that time of year again.

I wasn’t going to do Nano this year. After fifteen years of writing, I've realized that I don't do my best work when I try to hurry. In fact, every Nano novel I've written is a complete mess. In theory, I could go back and try to fashion a cohesive story out that mess. But I've tried and it always feels like I'm writing the novel all over again.

So this year, I’m going to try something different. First, I’m going to write at my own pace. We all know that the key to writing is to write.  So I'll use Nano as an extra incentive to sit down and just do it. If I write twenty-five thousand decent words, I'll be happy.

Second, I’m doing a lot of pre-plotting.  I’m not a pantster, but I wouldn’t call myself a plotter either. If I plot out a whole novel, I lose interest in writing it. If I jump in with both feet and no net, I soon find myself meandering all over the place and end up with a story that isn’t cohesive. So I usually start a new project with a general plot in mind and get to know my main character as I go. For Nano, I’m going to take that a step further. This week I’m going to spend some time learning a bit more about my protagonist. I want to know enough about her personality to get a sense of her direction without losing the mystery of what she will do when I place her in challenging situations. We’ll see how it goes.

Third, and most challenging, I’m going to confront my inner critic. She’s a loud mouth bitch. Sorry for the profanity, but it is what it is. She’s horrible and in the past I’ve tried to ignore her, reason with her and cry pitifully to get sympathy from her. She is never swayed. So this month, I’m going to yell right back. I’m going to fight her every step of the way. I might even make mistakes, do the things I know she hates, just to piss her off!

Because Nano is my month! It’s the month we writers take back our right to be crazy creative, crazy disorganized and just downright crazy!

Playing Around with PicMonkey!

I had a great weekend playing around with PicMonkey, a fun, free online photo editing site. I've decided to post one of my 'trunk' novels on Wattpad and thought I'd play around with making my own cover. Here is my first attempt:

It's not really what I was going for, but the 'radiance' feature was a lot of fun!

Next I went for something more ethereal:

I love this one! Except for the grass in the background. :/ But my son pointed out that this picture really has nothing to do with the story! Ha!

So, I took some more pictures and came up with this:

I decided this was the winner. And even though I'd already spent more time on it than I'd planned, I pitched in the money to upgrade PicMonkey so I could do this....

This was tons of fun, but it also gave me a greater appreciation for some of the amazing cover art out there! Cover artists, I bow down before you! If you don't have the money to invest in an experienced cover artist, you can get some decent results with PicMonkey. It's free, it's easy and it really is a whole bunch of fun. You can also turn yourself into a zombie!

And thank you, beautiful young cover model, for being so patient with me!

BOOK REVIEW: The Howling Heart by April Bostic

When Paige Donovan returns to her childhood vacation home in Black River, Colorado she soon learns that the town is inhabited by Valulv’s – werewolves. These werewolves can take human form at will and one of them, a sexy young he-wolf named Riley, falls in love with Paige. Riley wants to claim Paige as his mate. Paige, being a modern girl, has understandable concerns about signing on with a pack of wolves living in the country.

This book was an easy read. I liked the two main characters, Riley and Paige. The author has done a good job of world building here and introduces some fresh and interesting twists to the werewolf trope. Bostic’s patriarchal wolf society creates some interesting tension between old world ideas and modern sensibilities. There are some great secondary characters in The Howling Heart, dealing with their own struggles of living within a rigid society.

Overall, The Howling Heart was a fun read. It’s definitely for mature audiences only and I think that is where the book fell a little flat for me. Bostic has a great story here, a likeable main character in Paige, some interesting secondary characters who bring a richness to the story, and a lovable hero. There is plenty of tension between Riley and Paige. I think I would have preferred following that tension through to the end, and letting my imagination do the rest.  I’m not one to shy away from a sexy story, but in this case, I don’t think it adds to the story. The author did such a great job with the build up that, for me, it was much more interesting than the explicit act. However, and this is a big however, if you’re looking for something steamy that also has a great plot, this is the book for you!