Hello! I hope you all had a fun and hopefully more productive than mine, weekend. We aren't quite up to 1000 hits yet, but let's see if we can get it up there by the 1st! That would be super exciting.
I think I need to get myself back into a better writing routine, because this is just getting silly. I bring my laptop with me, and think about how awesome it would be to get something done, and then a whole lot of nothing happens. I have so many projects either in progress or still in my head, and the less time I spend working on anything, the longer it's going to take to get anything finished. My hope is that when I finish at least one of them, I'll be more motivated to give myself more time to get everything else done.
I think taking October off, then Nanowrimo really messed with my writing routine. I know it was necessary so that I could actually get through November without having to consider when I should get surgery done on my hand, but I really need to pick myself back up. I had hoped to be finished with "Rending the Seal" by the end of January, but something tells me that won't happen unless that whole...surgery consideration wants to happen. My goal is to be better in February, SOMETHING will be finished (the writing portion, not editing, more editing, and oh, editing! potions) in February. "Daughter of the Shackled King" is in its last scenes, so that's a goal I know I can accomplish.
Thanks for stopping by again, come back Wednesday for the epic conclusion of Phillipe's example life-story! Until then, I hope you all have a great couple days.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
01/27/2012 Fantastic Friday!
Welcome back everyone, it's Friday and I have power, so you know what that means! (That I'm warm, have internet access, and have the ability to try to work, of course.) Since we missed last week, let's get right to it shall we?
Today we look at "Masters of the Sacred Fire" by R.S. Atkin, it's about two friends who live in a small farming community that is transformed into a world of monsters and magic. Things just keep getting weirder when one of the friends is changed into a scarecrow and the other finds themselves hunted by an evil warlock. Everything revolves are an ancient prophesy, and it's up to the friends to try and save their home.
Sometimes adventures are super fun, and absolutely needed, especially after a hard week at work. I can tell the author has put a lot of thought into make their story as unique as possible, and I like that. I love new spins on timeless story ideas, especially when they end up not feeling too cliche.
"Masters of the Sacred Fire" is available on Smashwords for $2.99, though not yet on Barnes and Noble, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it gets into the Premium Catalog.
I recommend picking up this story if you want to read something incredibly entertaining to help take your mind off things that cause you stress for a while. It's very fun, and you actually care what happens to the characters, and frankly I think more stories should be like that.
Thanks for stopping by again this Friday. I'm glad I was able to post something up today after missing last week, and I appreciate your patience and support while I got things back together. I hope you all have a fun and productive weekend, and I look forward to seeing everyone back here on Monday!
Today we look at "Masters of the Sacred Fire" by R.S. Atkin, it's about two friends who live in a small farming community that is transformed into a world of monsters and magic. Things just keep getting weirder when one of the friends is changed into a scarecrow and the other finds themselves hunted by an evil warlock. Everything revolves are an ancient prophesy, and it's up to the friends to try and save their home.
Sometimes adventures are super fun, and absolutely needed, especially after a hard week at work. I can tell the author has put a lot of thought into make their story as unique as possible, and I like that. I love new spins on timeless story ideas, especially when they end up not feeling too cliche.
"Masters of the Sacred Fire" is available on Smashwords for $2.99, though not yet on Barnes and Noble, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it gets into the Premium Catalog.
I recommend picking up this story if you want to read something incredibly entertaining to help take your mind off things that cause you stress for a while. It's very fun, and you actually care what happens to the characters, and frankly I think more stories should be like that.
Thanks for stopping by again this Friday. I'm glad I was able to post something up today after missing last week, and I appreciate your patience and support while I got things back together. I hope you all have a fun and productive weekend, and I look forward to seeing everyone back here on Monday!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
01/25/2012 Writing Wednesday!
Hello all! I'm happy you've come back to check out the blog again. We're well on our way to have 1000 visitors, and I'm curious to see if we can hit that mark by the end of the month! Right now though, let's get to work.
Last week we got up until the point in Phillipe's whirlwind of a life right up until the antagonist and final side character, for all purposes let's say love interest, would be introduced. It's up to you when you want these two to come into play. Sometimes it's nice to see the big antagonist reveal later on in the book, that way who's been putting up roadblocks for the main character is a mystery they need to solve, that way meeting the antagonist is also a reward for the characters. That's not to say it's also not fun to meet them and watch how they make life difficult for the main character, and they know exactly who they're dealing with. There's a lot of drama in that because it shows the protagonist just how much that character knows about them, and how it can be used against them.
For our example let's say the antagonist is the former number 2, he worked with the previous Don before his death and wasn't too happy some no-name kid was given the job that by all means should have been his. He's spent his days plotting his revenge, working from the inside out to figure out exactly how to take down Phillipe's empire, and now he's decided to make his move. Things start simple enough, a failed job here, police giving questioning looks there, that was all to figure out Phillipe's weaknesses and other such things he can exploit. One day he gives one of his boys an order, one that the man will likely not live through, but he doesn't care he just wants to see how Phillipe handles himself; at a bar, the man is to take whatever waitress is working Phillipe's table hostage and start making demands of the mob boss.
The situation needs to be tense, the hostage taker as has been given very clear instructions; he has demands and questions he needs to ask Phillipe, and they need to be as damning as possible. Questions like "Aren't you working with the police to shut down the crime syndicate?" and other such things will start bringing dissension within the ranks and start putting Phillipe's own people against him. In the end of the scene, the man holding the hostage will likely die, however, because she's also been exposed to a Q&A session of mob workings, the woman can't just be left to talk to police. After some debate, and time running out before the police show up, in a hasty decision, Phillipe takes the woman with his people as they go to their safe-house.
Now, these scene could happen several different ways, for the sake of having a blog and not wanting to get to the 'too long did not read' length, we'll say the woman is the last remaining side character. You could also have him kill the waitress, and it's her sister that comes along for revenge, either way! Anyway, after talking with the woman, and also making sure she isn't a complete tool and/or spy for the police of the antagonist, Phillipe learns she's suffered a fate much like his own, but rather than seek revenge she was pushed to the streets and survived anyway she could. The woman is cunning, witty, smart, and will have to be a match for Phillipe as well. Much like the antagonist, this character should be a good match for Phillipe and be a reflection that shows something he desires, rather than despises. If she's boring, flat, and just seems like a set of legs that walks around, that's not going to make anyone care whether or not she lives or dies, and that never makes for a good read.
Thanks again for reading though this, next week we'll get to the conclusion of the outline for Phillipe's story. I really hope these posts have been helpful and I would love feedback on them. Feel free to post comments or send me an e-mail if you have questions or would like to see anything in particular on the blog. Barring I have power I'll be back Friday with another ebook to review for you! See you then!
Last week we got up until the point in Phillipe's whirlwind of a life right up until the antagonist and final side character, for all purposes let's say love interest, would be introduced. It's up to you when you want these two to come into play. Sometimes it's nice to see the big antagonist reveal later on in the book, that way who's been putting up roadblocks for the main character is a mystery they need to solve, that way meeting the antagonist is also a reward for the characters. That's not to say it's also not fun to meet them and watch how they make life difficult for the main character, and they know exactly who they're dealing with. There's a lot of drama in that because it shows the protagonist just how much that character knows about them, and how it can be used against them.
For our example let's say the antagonist is the former number 2, he worked with the previous Don before his death and wasn't too happy some no-name kid was given the job that by all means should have been his. He's spent his days plotting his revenge, working from the inside out to figure out exactly how to take down Phillipe's empire, and now he's decided to make his move. Things start simple enough, a failed job here, police giving questioning looks there, that was all to figure out Phillipe's weaknesses and other such things he can exploit. One day he gives one of his boys an order, one that the man will likely not live through, but he doesn't care he just wants to see how Phillipe handles himself; at a bar, the man is to take whatever waitress is working Phillipe's table hostage and start making demands of the mob boss.
The situation needs to be tense, the hostage taker as has been given very clear instructions; he has demands and questions he needs to ask Phillipe, and they need to be as damning as possible. Questions like "Aren't you working with the police to shut down the crime syndicate?" and other such things will start bringing dissension within the ranks and start putting Phillipe's own people against him. In the end of the scene, the man holding the hostage will likely die, however, because she's also been exposed to a Q&A session of mob workings, the woman can't just be left to talk to police. After some debate, and time running out before the police show up, in a hasty decision, Phillipe takes the woman with his people as they go to their safe-house.
Now, these scene could happen several different ways, for the sake of having a blog and not wanting to get to the 'too long did not read' length, we'll say the woman is the last remaining side character. You could also have him kill the waitress, and it's her sister that comes along for revenge, either way! Anyway, after talking with the woman, and also making sure she isn't a complete tool and/or spy for the police of the antagonist, Phillipe learns she's suffered a fate much like his own, but rather than seek revenge she was pushed to the streets and survived anyway she could. The woman is cunning, witty, smart, and will have to be a match for Phillipe as well. Much like the antagonist, this character should be a good match for Phillipe and be a reflection that shows something he desires, rather than despises. If she's boring, flat, and just seems like a set of legs that walks around, that's not going to make anyone care whether or not she lives or dies, and that never makes for a good read.
Thanks again for reading though this, next week we'll get to the conclusion of the outline for Phillipe's story. I really hope these posts have been helpful and I would love feedback on them. Feel free to post comments or send me an e-mail if you have questions or would like to see anything in particular on the blog. Barring I have power I'll be back Friday with another ebook to review for you! See you then!
Monday, January 23, 2012
01/23/2012 Magnificent Monday!
Hello! Before anything else I would like to apologize for the lack of post on Friday. For those who are in western Washington, I'm sure you know what happened, but for those who don't, we were hit by a snow/ice storm that knocked out power for a majority of the area. We lost our power Thursday morning and didn't get it back until Saturday, and once it came back my time was spent trying to make everything warm/charged again. I'll try to make sure the post for this Friday is super awesome to make up for it.
I've been through ice storms before, but this was the first one where I've lost power, and damn was it awful. My little car is bad in snow, so I couldn't really go anywhere unless my bf came home, and the rest of my time was spent wrapped in blankets and cats in a desperate attempt to stay warm. Ended up having to put a hand-warmer in my snake's tank to try and help him out a bit too. The whole time I kept thinking about how I could totally be productive, then I would remember the laptop that had died charging my phone and went back to trying to be warm.
Tons of trees fell all over my area, which was one of the reasons it took so long to get power back, and there are still people that don't have it yet. I feel bad for them, and hope they get it back up soon. If anyone who's reading this is still without power, please stay warm and safe, hopefully it'll be up soon!
Thanks for stopping by, and for your understanding about Friday. Please stop by the facebook pages for "The Light Rises" and also "Uncrossed Paths" and tell your friends where to pick up the e-pubs at Smashwords. I hope to see you all on Wednesday!
I've been through ice storms before, but this was the first one where I've lost power, and damn was it awful. My little car is bad in snow, so I couldn't really go anywhere unless my bf came home, and the rest of my time was spent wrapped in blankets and cats in a desperate attempt to stay warm. Ended up having to put a hand-warmer in my snake's tank to try and help him out a bit too. The whole time I kept thinking about how I could totally be productive, then I would remember the laptop that had died charging my phone and went back to trying to be warm.
Tons of trees fell all over my area, which was one of the reasons it took so long to get power back, and there are still people that don't have it yet. I feel bad for them, and hope they get it back up soon. If anyone who's reading this is still without power, please stay warm and safe, hopefully it'll be up soon!
Thanks for stopping by, and for your understanding about Friday. Please stop by the facebook pages for "The Light Rises" and also "Uncrossed Paths" and tell your friends where to pick up the e-pubs at Smashwords. I hope to see you all on Wednesday!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
01/18/2012 Writing Wednesday
Welcome back, to those who are currently residing in Washington state, welcome also to Snow-Mageddon 2012! I know there isn't much on the ground compared to Minnesota, or let's say Alaska, but we aren't exactly used to it up here, so it's our turn to panic. I hope everyone that's experiencing any kind of snow right now is at least bundled up and warm. Please forgive the later post today, with the snow I'm not going into work, which meant I was able to spend a little more time wrapped in blankets and cats in bed. I'm up now though, so let's get to it!
If you've been visiting the last several weeks, you've been seeing the progress of Phillipe's story; the farm boy turned mob boss. Last week we talked about fitting all the characters together, today we work out how to weave them in with the plot itself. We already know when they're getting introduced, so we have vague notions of when the readers will meet them, we also have a decent idea of the plot of the story, now it comes time to start throwing everything together and see what happens.
For all intensive purposes, let's say the readers have already seen Phillipe's childhood/tragedy in the prologue. We already know his mother, we saw him lose his father, and we saw him develop his motivation to prevent it from happening in the future. Let's flash forward to present day (or whenever you're having your story set), he's a grown man, strong build, stone-like eyes, and a mouth that no one knows if he's smiled since his childhood. In this opening scene he could be doing several things; over seeing a meeting, listening to someone give their report, going to a funeral for one of their fallen comrades, of even performing an interrogation. This is going to tell the reader the person he's become, they aren't going to see the scared little boy, or the naive new recruit with his ideals for freedom. No, this is a hardened criminal that has learned that in order to get things done, consequences must be taught, tough decisions must be made, and lines must be cut.
In this scene you'll also likely introduce the number 2, this is Phillipe's second in command, the one he talks to each and every day, likely more than anyone else in the gang. The number 2 is his go-to guy for just about everything, and the one he trusts with even the most delicate of jobs. This character will begin to show the since of loyalty people feel for Phillip, and will also give light to the bond between the other gang members. Remember, when they aren't on a job, there is a strong possibility they are guys who act like normal people. Give them hobbies, favorite things, things they dislike, maybe there's a poker night, or a night where they all watch the local sporting match, or even go to it. For those who are in this gang, they are an extended family, remember to make sure the readers know it.
The first chapter or two are going to give an insight to the world they live in. Show the other members working, coming or going to a job, their living environment, where they live, things like that. They likely don't all live under the same roof, but major meetings and get togethers likely happen at Phillipe's home, and if you're setting him up to be powerful and successful, is probably some extravagant mansion. This is your chance to show the reader some of the world you've created, so that for the rest of the book the reader knows what they're in for.
This will also be helped with the introduction of the newest member of the organization. That plucky street urchin that was mentioned before is the example I'll be using. This character will function as the 'audience' in that he will have things explained to him, he will be the one asking questions, and learning the ropes along with the reader. However, don't forget this is Phillipe's story, he needs to connect with this character, which can be done in the form of a flashback, dream, thought, whatever you need. This is going to be the point where he starts remembering his initial reasons for joining up in the first place, though it will likely be subtle at first, this will be the gateway for his journey to take back his life.
Sorry for making this long again, next week we'll talk about introducing the antagonist and the love interest. Thanks for stopping by again, I wanted to let you know that I made a facebook page for "Uncrossed Paths" so place check it out, and/or stop by Smashwords to pick it up. Remember, this is absolutely free, and is the stories of the main characters from "The Light Rises". I'll be back Friday with a review for you all. Until then, stay warm!
If you've been visiting the last several weeks, you've been seeing the progress of Phillipe's story; the farm boy turned mob boss. Last week we talked about fitting all the characters together, today we work out how to weave them in with the plot itself. We already know when they're getting introduced, so we have vague notions of when the readers will meet them, we also have a decent idea of the plot of the story, now it comes time to start throwing everything together and see what happens.
For all intensive purposes, let's say the readers have already seen Phillipe's childhood/tragedy in the prologue. We already know his mother, we saw him lose his father, and we saw him develop his motivation to prevent it from happening in the future. Let's flash forward to present day (or whenever you're having your story set), he's a grown man, strong build, stone-like eyes, and a mouth that no one knows if he's smiled since his childhood. In this opening scene he could be doing several things; over seeing a meeting, listening to someone give their report, going to a funeral for one of their fallen comrades, of even performing an interrogation. This is going to tell the reader the person he's become, they aren't going to see the scared little boy, or the naive new recruit with his ideals for freedom. No, this is a hardened criminal that has learned that in order to get things done, consequences must be taught, tough decisions must be made, and lines must be cut.
In this scene you'll also likely introduce the number 2, this is Phillipe's second in command, the one he talks to each and every day, likely more than anyone else in the gang. The number 2 is his go-to guy for just about everything, and the one he trusts with even the most delicate of jobs. This character will begin to show the since of loyalty people feel for Phillip, and will also give light to the bond between the other gang members. Remember, when they aren't on a job, there is a strong possibility they are guys who act like normal people. Give them hobbies, favorite things, things they dislike, maybe there's a poker night, or a night where they all watch the local sporting match, or even go to it. For those who are in this gang, they are an extended family, remember to make sure the readers know it.
The first chapter or two are going to give an insight to the world they live in. Show the other members working, coming or going to a job, their living environment, where they live, things like that. They likely don't all live under the same roof, but major meetings and get togethers likely happen at Phillipe's home, and if you're setting him up to be powerful and successful, is probably some extravagant mansion. This is your chance to show the reader some of the world you've created, so that for the rest of the book the reader knows what they're in for.
This will also be helped with the introduction of the newest member of the organization. That plucky street urchin that was mentioned before is the example I'll be using. This character will function as the 'audience' in that he will have things explained to him, he will be the one asking questions, and learning the ropes along with the reader. However, don't forget this is Phillipe's story, he needs to connect with this character, which can be done in the form of a flashback, dream, thought, whatever you need. This is going to be the point where he starts remembering his initial reasons for joining up in the first place, though it will likely be subtle at first, this will be the gateway for his journey to take back his life.
Sorry for making this long again, next week we'll talk about introducing the antagonist and the love interest. Thanks for stopping by again, I wanted to let you know that I made a facebook page for "Uncrossed Paths" so place check it out, and/or stop by Smashwords to pick it up. Remember, this is absolutely free, and is the stories of the main characters from "The Light Rises". I'll be back Friday with a review for you all. Until then, stay warm!
Monday, January 16, 2012
01/16/2012 Magnificent Monday!
Hello all! I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was spent trying to decide whether the threat of snow was something I feared or hoped for. My final decision was that I wanted an extra day off, but sadly it didn't do nearly well enough for that. Now it's just freezing cold and kind of pretty, so I'm now hoping for a day off tomorrow.
The facebook page for "The Light Rises" is doing fairly well, though sometimes I wish the little functions for it would work just a tad bit better. I really like the idea behind showing me how many people are talking about it, however if I could see those apparent conversations I would enjoy it a lot more, and would feel it would a much better resource for me to use. I'm debating whether or not to set one up for "Uncrossed Paths", mostly due to costs with the advertising.
Right now though, my biggest issues is patience. I have two stories that I'm working on, one is almost finished, the other is just over half way done. I feel that I've been working on them forever and they should already be completed, and this is causing me to not be very motivated to work on them. I know it's a problem, and the only way to fix it is to make myself work on them more, and that anyone who writes goes through this, but let me tell you it is frustrating. Not that I'm going to stop anytime soon, but there are days I just don't want to look at either of them, which means nothing gets done on those days. I will get over it (hopefully soon) it just means that for right now I'm not making much in the way of progress. This is the other reason I need a snow day, I got so much done on my last one!
I hope you all enjoyed my ramblings for today, please come back Wednesday where we continue the process of putting Phillipe's story together. If you have any comments/questions/emotional outbursts, please feel free to comment or e-mail me about them, and I will do my absolute best to address them. Until then, I hope everyone stays warm!
The facebook page for "The Light Rises" is doing fairly well, though sometimes I wish the little functions for it would work just a tad bit better. I really like the idea behind showing me how many people are talking about it, however if I could see those apparent conversations I would enjoy it a lot more, and would feel it would a much better resource for me to use. I'm debating whether or not to set one up for "Uncrossed Paths", mostly due to costs with the advertising.
Right now though, my biggest issues is patience. I have two stories that I'm working on, one is almost finished, the other is just over half way done. I feel that I've been working on them forever and they should already be completed, and this is causing me to not be very motivated to work on them. I know it's a problem, and the only way to fix it is to make myself work on them more, and that anyone who writes goes through this, but let me tell you it is frustrating. Not that I'm going to stop anytime soon, but there are days I just don't want to look at either of them, which means nothing gets done on those days. I will get over it (hopefully soon) it just means that for right now I'm not making much in the way of progress. This is the other reason I need a snow day, I got so much done on my last one!
I hope you all enjoyed my ramblings for today, please come back Wednesday where we continue the process of putting Phillipe's story together. If you have any comments/questions/emotional outbursts, please feel free to comment or e-mail me about them, and I will do my absolute best to address them. Until then, I hope everyone stays warm!
Friday, January 13, 2012
01/13/2012 Fantastic Friday!
It's Friday the 13th everyone! Hope that didn't scare anyone, I personally like this day. It's hard to be superstitious about certain things sometimes (like the black cat thing, and Friday the 13th apparently). I'm glad you've all come back to check out the story we're featuring today, so not to let you wait any longer, let's get to it!
Today we look at "The Cloaked Man: Life of an Antagonist" by AshleyNicole Shelton. I thought this appropriate seeing as we were talking about how to work with antagonists this week and a bit last.
This story is incredibly short, so I won't go into too much on the specific details, since I don't like giving out spoilers and such. However, what I will say is that this story does a delightful job of showing you the life the antagonist had before turning 'evil', and also what drove them to go the lengths they have. Something that makes you feel bad for the villain has obviously done something right.
It reminds me, in a sense of 'Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog' in that the character had this desires for power, but everything began to hinge on a woman, and when it comes time for him to make his big power play, he has to choose between her, and the life of a villain.
"The Cloaked Man: Life of an Antagonist" is available on Smashwords for absolutely free, and which this being such a short story, that means there's no excuse as to why you can't go pick it up. Please go check it out, I recommend it at the very least for getting an idea of how to work out your own antagonist when it comes to figuring out back story and motivations, since this gives you a good sense that they are people too.
Thanks everyone for stopping by again, I really do appreciate all your continued support! If there's ever something you'd like for me to feature here, feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, twitter, or comment below. I'll be back Monday, as I hope you will be too! Until then!
Today we look at "The Cloaked Man: Life of an Antagonist" by AshleyNicole Shelton. I thought this appropriate seeing as we were talking about how to work with antagonists this week and a bit last.
This story is incredibly short, so I won't go into too much on the specific details, since I don't like giving out spoilers and such. However, what I will say is that this story does a delightful job of showing you the life the antagonist had before turning 'evil', and also what drove them to go the lengths they have. Something that makes you feel bad for the villain has obviously done something right.
It reminds me, in a sense of 'Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog' in that the character had this desires for power, but everything began to hinge on a woman, and when it comes time for him to make his big power play, he has to choose between her, and the life of a villain.
"The Cloaked Man: Life of an Antagonist" is available on Smashwords for absolutely free, and which this being such a short story, that means there's no excuse as to why you can't go pick it up. Please go check it out, I recommend it at the very least for getting an idea of how to work out your own antagonist when it comes to figuring out back story and motivations, since this gives you a good sense that they are people too.
Thanks everyone for stopping by again, I really do appreciate all your continued support! If there's ever something you'd like for me to feature here, feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, twitter, or comment below. I'll be back Monday, as I hope you will be too! Until then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)