Write Like You Mean It

Note: I totally borrowed the inspiration for this post from today's post over at The Sharp Angle. (Haha, I read your blogs more than you might think, Lydia!)

I have a one track mind sometimes and only enough passion in my body for a limited number of things. Namely, my husband, my pets, my family and then one other thing. Lately, it's been running.

I run at least three times a week. Without fail. Compared to some runners, that's probably laughable, but to me it's a big commitment. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and not a little sweat to pound out 3 miles three times a week. And, yet, I love it.

I used to feel that way about writing.

Some part of me still does. I still have ideas flitting around in this skull of mine, but no NEED to write it. I used to write almost every day. I had to or I felt like I would go crazy. Not all the words were gems, but at least they were out on paper. At least I made the effort, took the time, and sweated out the words. I've decided that I need to do that again.

Lydia talked about how she gets into her writing groove because she writes every day. It's like a habit for her, so she doesn't have to struggle so long with getting the feel for her story or rediscovering her voice. And I think that is my problem. I've been out of practice so long that writing is HARD. It takes me forever to get a steady groove going and then by the time I do, I've lost interest because I'm so frustrated with how WRONG everything sounds.

But today I'm going to start writing like I mean it. If I can dedicate three hours a week to running, I can at least do that for writing, right? So, I'm going to write for at least 30 minutes Monday through Saturday. Hopefully if I start setting aside time to write, my groove will be easier to get into.

I've started a short story that I'm constantly thinking about, so I'll start with that. I would like to submit it to Circlet Press for one of their anthologies, and the deadline is March 15. Maybe if I write for 30 minutes six times a week, I'll get it done, get it edited and get it submitted. It would be nice to feel like a writer again. :)

This Means I'm Officially a Writer! Right?

So I've been fanatically checking Circlet Press's website each and every day every so often to see when the ebook with my story is coming out.

Today was the day! (Or at least the day I found it. Honestly, I get distracted by all the other stuff on the website.)

Presenting Masked Pleasures!

Yours for only $3.99. Bargain, right? Especially since my literary genius is nestled within. The other stories are pretty spectacular, too. So, if you would like some stimulation (har har) then skip on over to Circlet Press and buy a copy.

All the stories within were based on the photo featured on the cover. Pretty cool, right? 

Book Review: The Shifter

The Shifter by Janice Hardy is another one of those books that I've had on my to-read list for a while. It was worth the wait. Hardy creates a world and a character that immediately draw us in--one that reminds me of a weird mix between the Everglades, the Amazon and Venice. Her islands are richly detailed, and she even provides us with a map at the beginning of the story to help us keep everything straight (though I never found the need to refer to it).

And the characters themselves and the situations they are in are pretty fascinating which helped move the solid plot along at a fairly swift pace.

According to the book's blurb:

Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers' League apprentices, Nya's skill is flawed: She can't push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she'd be used as a human weapon against her own people.

Rumors of another war make Nya's life harder, forcing her to take desperate risks just to find work and food. She pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purposes. At first Nya refuses, but when Tali and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, she's faced with some difficult choices. As her father used to say, principles are a bargain at any price; but how many will Nya have to sell to get Tali back alive?

I found the plot thrilling, the setting satisfying and the Taking intriguing, but I never really connected with Nya as a character. I'm not sure if it's the author's fault or mine here, but I found Nya to be all action, not much reflection. True, not all characters are soul-searchers, but I felt like she was too concerned with doing for others to think about herself. Oh, sure, she has moments where she considers taking the "bad" guys up on their notorious offers, but as a reader you know that she won't because she is the "good" guy. But even KNOWING this, I would have liked for the author to make me second-guess myself and the character as well. It's extremely hard to do with first person POV, so I can understand that of all the lovely, glowing things about this book, this was the one to sort of fall flat. However, I just couldn't get over how convenient things became for Nya. She has to make some hard decisions, maybe even do some bad things, but she still comes out of it without nary a scrape. Call me cynical, but I wanted to see Nya make a really tough choice and, for once, not come out so intact.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't LIKE Nya. I did. I rooted for her and I wanted her to win. I just wanted her to suffer more. Yeah, twisted of me. :P

But the book, like I said, has a lot going for it. The world-building is excellent. The culture was well-described but not so much that it seemed like an info-dump. And I still cannot get over how fascinating the Taking and healing is. I look forward to reading the second in this series and, who knows, maybe I'll finally connect with Nya.

Recommended: Yes, for those looking for an interesting world and a fast plot.

Rating (out of five stars): 4

I Eat Monsters for Breakfast

I'm delicious.

Literally.

Have you ever had a Green Monster? I made mine using Oh She Glows recipe. It's awesome. Yes, I know it sounds disgustingly healthy (and it is) but it's pretty dang scrumptious. I used crunchy peanut butter in mine (because that's what I have) but other than that the recipe is the same.

But all this slurping of monsters got me thinking about monsters in writing. I'll admit, creating monsters and villains is one of my favorite pastimes. I let my imagination go wild, oftentimes even illustrating my creations on paper. I had a lot of fun drawing some of the characters in DRAGON QUEEN, for sure.

What's difficult, however, is making a monster that hasn't been done before. One that is familiar enough to be recognized, but unique enough to be original (and fitting to the story).

Take Twilight's vampires for example (yes, I did go there). Vampires have been done and done again. They all have something in common: they drink blood. Variations ensue from there. Some are soulless. Some are evil. Some are ugly (I really liked how Evie in Paranormalcy could see what they really looked like--rotting corpses). Some are beautiful. Some are friendly towards humans (even to the point of spawning half-human half-vamp babies) and some look at humans merely as take-out. But sometimes you have to make a vamp sparkle to make your story sparkle. (Har har.) Admit it, even if you haven't read the books or seen the movies, chances are you've still heard about Meyers' sparkling vampires. Love it, hate it--it's memorable.

Tangent: I just realized that none of the bad vamps are caught "sparkling." Why is that I wonder? Because Ms. Meyers didn't want to connect evil with beautiful? I smell a missed opportunity for some depth there. Okay, yeah, depth wasn't the point of any of the books.

But back to what I was exploring: It's not just monsters that need your extra attention. Villains, too, need to be more than just the epitome of evil. They need to have motivations. They need to have desires. Sometimes, they even need to believe that they are the ones who are good. (Nothing is creepier than a bad guy who thinks he's the hero, truly.)

Because I'm nice (and busy eating monsters) here are some links to articles on how to create villains and what makes a good/bad one. Very cool. Very helpful. Enjoy!

How Not to Create a Villain

Make the Villain the Hero

Cardboard Cutouts Make Rotten Villains (I found this one especially interesting!)

Book Review: Speak

Speak  by Laurie Halse Anderson has become one of those notorious novels that you either love or loathe. Since it was so hyped up, I expected to be in the latter category, but there's a reason this story was a finalist for the National Book Award. It's powerful. Anderson doesn't waste time with pretty words or purple prose. We get it straight, realistic, right from the mouth of the 14-year-old girl living it.

According to the book's blurb:

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

I confess, I already knew what traumatic event the MC, Melinda, went through before I read the book. But it made me more intrigued. It was one of those sensitive subjects that usually is overdone or underdone. To get it just right is difficult and, some would say, impossible. I think Ms. Anderson nailed it.

Melinda comes across as tormented by what happened, but I found that reasonable and not overly indulgent (as some people have argued). I liked how Ms. Anderson entwined her inability to voice her protests during the traumatic event with her declining willingness to speak, and (just to show you how skilled a writer Ms. Anderson is) Melinda is also given the chance to regain her voice in the perfect way.

The book made me hurt, wince, cry. Especially in the scene where Melinda faints in biology. It was so powerful. Wrenching. That scene, more than any other, pulled my heart out of my throat and crushed it.

I can understand why this is becoming recommended reading for teenagers.

Rating (out of five stars): 4
Recommended read: Most definitely. For victims of sexual assault as well as for people who think they "get" what it's like to be sexually assaulted.

What the H-E-Double Hockey sticks?

It's been a weird past couple months. I haven't seriously written since November. I managed to write about 3,000 words on Last of the Elves since then, but nothing new. Nothing fresh. Everything is sort of stagnating.

Not sure why.

I have been revising Dragon Queen like it's no body's business. It's getting so much stronger. So much richer. I'm starting to believe that it might actually be publishable soon. OMG. Then I just have to find an agent/editor who thinks the same thing.

With all this (successful) revising I shouldn't be so upset that I haven't cranked out anything new recently. But I am. I don't feel like a writer when there's nothing new to spark my interest. To surmount this lackluster obstacle, I tried to write another erotica. It came out stilted and awkward even though I thought my idea behind the story was awesome. I'm trying to pin down what has kept me from writing and I think it's because I'm putting too much pressure on myself. I want to be a great writer. Not just a good one (and god forbid a mediocre one). So I won't just let myself write. Every rough draft has to be stellar, and when it's coming out as less than, well, I give up. Kind of defeats the purpose, right?

I can see myself doing it and yet I can't stop it. Sigh.

I think it's time to break out Write or Die again. I need to just write. Get words down. Not worry if they stink more than cat poo. And a short story sounds like a pretty good idea.

Just Kiss Already Blogfest

I found this Just Kiss Already Blogfest , literally, a few minutes ago and decided to join in. Sounds like fun! And I loves me a good kiss. So, here's my entry. This is from my soon-to-be-on-submission fantasy novel, The Dragon Queen.


A little background: Jade, a self-professed dragon lover, has just become betrothed to the dragonslayer, Drake. She's afraid of him, doesn't like him, and yet cannot escape her marriage. This scene takes place just a few hours after the marriage contract has been signed.

I didn’t understand the way he acted around me, or the way I reacted to him. I looked up into his warm, honeyed eyes. The resulting flash of heat trembled through me, turning my insides to liquid. And, quite suddenly, the fear diminished into nothing more than wariness. That was better. I could live with wariness.

“Jade.” His voice was a husky murmur.

I knew what he wanted, and I waited. Waited for the fear to return. But there was nothing. Just the twinge of anticipation. The mumbled warning to be cautious.

He pressed closer to me. Our bodies brushed and, even through the material of my dress, I felt seared. With the gentlest touch, he tipped my head back.

“Jade.” My name sounded like a prayer and a curse all at once, tumbling from his lips. His head lowered and I could feel his breath on my mouth.

“Drake,” I sighed. And desire swept me away. The moment his lips touched mine, I was lost, drunk, delirious. My lips softened beneath his, parted. His tongue swept in to taste my mouth. It was just the lightest caress, but it turned my bones to water. And I clung to him, allowing him his sinful dance, wanting to join in but unsure of the tempo of the music.

“Jade,” he whispered against my lips. “Beautiful, beautiful Jade.”

I think I might have kissed him back then if I’d had the chance, but we were torn apart by a condescending titter. 

Love is a Rifle

I'm trying to embrace the quirkiness that is my life. Usually, I try to bury my redneck roots under a mountain of books and education and refinement. I enjoy red wine and dark chocolate and intellectual discussions. I also enjoy a cold beer, crass jokes, and walking around barefoot.

I am also a burgeoning romance writer. I've choked on this for a long time. I didn't WANT to be a romance writer. Sure, I like to read romance, but I thought it wasn't "serious" or "literary" enough to be worth the effort. It's "fluff" and I didn't want to write "fluff."

Yet I couldn't stop myself.

The same thing goes for my redneck roots. I try to ignore them as best as I can, but they still break the soil and trip me up. It doesn't help that I married a redneck either who NEVER LETS ME FORGET where I came from.

So, what does this blend of redneck heritage and romance writing have to do with a rifle? Just that when it comes to real love, you can't make this stuff up . . .and it's pretty dang hard to write a romance that rings true.

My darling husband and I had agreed that this V-day was going to be low-key because we're still playing catch-up from all of our wedding expenses. Except yesterday he comes home with a card, two chocolate bars, and a rifle.

Yes, a rifle.

Nothing says "I love you" better, does it?

Nope, mine doesn't look like this. I wish.

Hubby: Look what I got you, darling! Isn't it just beautiful? And you can kill almost EVERYTHING with it. Even an elk! We should go elk hunting. [He strokes the stock like it's a kitten.]

Me: Oh . . .thanks, hun. That was . . .so sweet and thoughtful of you. I've always wanted to kill an elk. [Mutters] Just never realized it until now, I guess. [Takes the gun] Wow, it's . . .heavy. [mutters] And is probably going to knock me on my arse the first time I shoot it. Fun!

The refined, educated, snobby part of me wants to bury the entire gift and the conversation that came with it under a rock and pretend that, instead, he brought me a dozen of roses. Instead, I decided to embrace the gift (and the warped sense of romance that brought it to me) and repay the favor.

So I'm bringing home a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and a dozen roses for my husband. I'm sure he'll love them.

Try writing a romance more realistic than that!

Book Review: Some Girls Are

Once I find an author who rocks my socks off, I tend to pick up all their books and devour them like a pint of Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. That's what led me to Courtney Summers' Some Girls Are. I read Cracked Up To Be and LOVED it. It was powerful, it was unique, it was so utterly YA and yet completely NOT what most YA delivers (a cheesy romance that would never last IRL). Summers' stories are about girls trying to find themselves in the midst of inner and outward turmoil. Discovering the best and worst facets of their personality and, ultimately, growing up.

But there are still boys. Of course there are boys. What teenage girl can live without a boy, right? But Summers' romance is like the chocolate drizzle on a sumptuous sundae (okay, I want ice cream now). It's not all about the lusty moans and starry eyes (if at all). Summers' romance is--OMG--REALISTIC.

Realistic romance! What a concept!

According to the book's blurb:

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around.  Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Since I'm a character junkie, this book was totally right for me. Regina is so REAL. I started off not liking her, not feeling sorry for her, but just sort of pitying her. But one thing Summers does well is flesh out her characters. No one (not even the antagonists) are shallow, superficial or one-dimensional. No one is wholly evil or wholly good. It's like--say it with me--REAL LIFE.

The one thing that kept me from giving this book five stars was the ending. It almost seemed too easy. But I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and now I'm not sure if it was as easy as I thought or if it, too, was just realistic. After all, some things (even feuds) just sort of lose steam after a while, right? But, bloodthirsty wench that I am, I wanted a few more cat-fights before things settled. Sigh.

Rating (out of five stars): 4.5
Recommended: Yes. Please, please, please read this if, like me, you're sick of emo vamps, brawny werewolves, sexy faeries and CONTRIVED LOVE TRIANGLES. Here's a dose of real life for you.

I Live in the South for a Reason . . .

. . . And it's not for the snow.

Normally, I like snow. I think it's beautiful. Pure. It reminds me of fairy tales, princesses locked in ice castles and little fairies dancing on snowflakes. But then I grew up and, well, when you work in the news field, your work doesn't halt just because a foot of snow decided to drop on your doorstep. Bleh.

But what's really ticking me off is that I've been busy planning a fundraiser for a sick coworker and the snow keeps messing with my plans. I had to reschedule it because there was no way I was driving to work in the dark on ice-covered roads in order to get everything set up for our breakfast benefit. So, it's supposed to be this Thursday. So what's on the way? You guessed it! More snow!

Sigh.

But there is good news! Because of the snow, now I don't have to go to Missouri for my cousin's wedding this weekend. Hehe. Now, before you go wagging your fingers at me, let me say that I could not only NOT afford to go (but was going to anyway) but I'm not fond of this cousin and was only going because I love my aunt and uncle (who came to my wedding, just them, not the cousin). That's it.

So today I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with snow. Loving it, because it got me out of going to Missouri and hating it because it's messing with my fundraising plans. Grr.

Anyways, I apologize for being scarce hereabouts. It's like every time I get on here my brain turns to mush and I just start drooling all over the keyboard. This blog, really, has presented its own case of writer's block. Meh.

I guess I could tell you what I'm doing tonight. I'm baking cookies. Chocolate chip cookies and no-bake cookies! Yummy! They're for tomorrow's bake sale for said sick employee. All I have to do is not eat them all. Hmm, I think I need to buy some gum to keep my mouth occupied.

As for my writing . . . you know how it goes. Life gets in the way sometimes. But I've been smoothing over Dragon Queen's rough edges, so it should be ready for querying soon. Gulp. Now I just have to grow a pair before I send then. Lol.