Ten Other Ways to Write When Sitting at the Keyboard Doesn't Work

 

Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

 Whether it's writer's block, outside circumstances demanding your time, lack of sleep/energy, depression or anxiety crushing your creativity, or you just don't feel like writing, you can still write. Like with anything, doing something is better than doing nothing. And it piles up to gains in the long run.

1. You can brainstorm anywhere. Whether cleaning house, running errands, taking a break at work or school, even while staring up at a darkened ceiling at night when you can't get to sleep - you can be putting together the pieces of a story puzzle in your head. Perhaps just diving in deeper to a theme you want to explore, or a character's motivations or backstory. Maybe its envisioning a setting, or a play-by-play of an action sequence. Brainstorming's a vital step to writing, and you have to take time to do it anyway, so why not utilize those moments and hours when you can't sit in front of a keyboard to get this vital process done?

2. Another task is evaluation. Stepping back from a manuscript - especially if it's already written and you're in the revising phases - to see how tight or accurate or well-paced the story is. How is it doing as far as size? Too bloated? Too slim? Too pedantic? Too rushed? Are you hitting the right beats where they're supposed to be? Do you get an overall satisfied vibe from the draft? Make a list of what is going well and what needs work.

3. Along with #2's suggestion, would be outline tweaking, and synopsis, query, and blurb writing. Again, stepping back from the story, can you summarize it in a nutshell? Is it following your initial vision? Usually not, so how has it evolved? Is this good or bad? Stepping back can help you avoid wasted hours of writing by making a course correction.

4. Visuals. Whether you're an artist or not, doodling can help your creative juices. Draw a map (or mark a map if the setting's a real place), draw a character, or a setting. Design a vehicle. Make a schematic for a machine, or whip up a treasure map. Make a stick-figure storyboard and play with key dialogue and action. Decorate your writing space with objects that will help keep you in the zone for what/where your story is about.

5. One of my favorites is to create a first and last lines list for chapters. Do they hook the reader? Do they leave the reader with enough of a cliffhanger so they'll keep reading? It also helps you analyze where your chapter or section breaks are, and how you might play around with those breaks for a better impact.

6. Many books don't use chapter titles, so for fun write up a list of what each chapter would be called if they did. Then use it when you do face that keyboard to keep on track - and make sure you fit the spirit of the title.

7. Get hands on. If a character is supposed to be a baker, hone your own baking skills. If a firefighter, talk to actual firefighters and visit your local firehouse. Through experience we are able to write better, giving a validity to what we write. If possible, visit a place you put in your story and take notes and/or pictures of everything you experience. Act out a scene, especially an action sequence (I'm not advocating jumping off high buildings or trying to fly, mind you! Don't do anything stupid.), to make sure what you've written or are going to write is believable. 

8. Read a scene, chapter, or your entire story out loud. You'd be surprised at how many things stick out from this. It might be poor dialogue or sentence phrasing, to noticeable gaps, or lengthy descriptive passages you don't need. Even made-up names spoken out loud can be either hilarious, suggestive of something you don't intend, or too close to a well-known person's name to work well with what you want to do. 

9. Good old research is another side-writing staple. Similar to #7, this type of research is more sedentary: reading books or online articles,or sitting down to interview someone. If you're writing about interstellar travel, find out what others have done or discovered about it. Want to knock off a victim in a murder mystery? -  maybe you need to learn more about poisons. Even small details like what people wore in the 1940's, to when toothpaste was invented might make a difference in how authentic your story sounds.

10. Compose or work on your "Writing Bible." Get your notes organized and compiled. Do you have your ducks in a row regarding where your characters are from scene to scene and what they are doing? Do you know their backstories, and what parts of these will need to be revealed and when? Do you have lists of information, like foreign phrases (real or made up) you need to keep handy? Or a list of character names, descriptions, and occupations? 

You don't have to do all of these, but chances are you will need to do at least one in your writing journey. Don't beat yourself up if a lack of time, energy, or drive is keeping that novel from completion. Work around it by doing side-writing. You'll still be moving forward, keeping your story alive. Just watch that side-writing isn't all that you ever do. Many a tale has failed to be born because it never developed past the side-writing stage.

Question for you: Do you have another suggestion for side-writing? Or a further suggestion on one of the ten I've listed? Please share it in the comments.

Mid-Month Update for July

I'm in between surgeries for my mom and soccer and performing arts season is on for my daughters. But hey, how cool is it that even though these activities eat up a big chunk of my week, I'm adapting thanks to my good old clipboard and a pack of sharpened pencils. No, I don't have any electronic devices to carry around with me. I don't have internet access when I'm on the go. And that means fewer distractions in order to write.

I recently re-read Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, a classic how-to for writers and it's especially good at helping you get rid of blocks, inhibitions, and procrastination. You sit and you start writing. About anything and everything. The internal editor is not allowed to squawk over things like punctuation, plot holes, or grammar. You relax and let go for about half an hour and it's amazing how it frees you. You get in the zone faster.

Personally, I always predetermine to write about something regarding my book. It could be a place description, I might jump right into the middle of dialogue between two characters, or start describing a tense action scene. I don't write linearly, I just write what hits my brain first. And you know what, I've come up with some really good stuff. Stuff that needs editing of course, but I've discovered new angles to my characters' personalities, come up with unexpected ways to present what might be predictable plot material, and have harnessed raw emotions without worrying about how anyone else was going to interpret them.

The other plus to my current writing method and madness is that I'm not always in the same location when I write. That frees creativity too. I've loved getting outside more, especially when there are so many plant-based elements in my story. I find new inspiration every time I write outside.

So within the 1-3 hours I now get nearly every day to write like this, I'm churning out material faster than when I'd try to force myself to take a half-hour in front of my computer. Maybe it's because I've published one novel already; I just can't turn off the editor when I'm at my desk from all the editing I did with the first one. I was subject to feedback and rules and expectations for so long when I used my computer. New creativity became a chore, a Herculean task.

How much have I gotten done between the last update and today? My beginning's pretty solid, my ending is nearly written out, and I have a fair chunk here and there of what goes in the middle. My outline index card system has kept me on track and since I have a very old, basic rough draft already done, the new developments are easy to insert. I have chapter files created on my computer. After a week's gone by, I take a day to type up what I've written directly into those files. Then I'll tweak my outline if I need to.

Each book I write goes through a different process and I find it fascinating. Have you read Writing Down the Bones yet? If not, and you're struggling to even get started each time you sit down to write, maybe you should check the book out and see if it will help you too.

Mid-month Update

2015 started like any other year, a fresh page. I had no idea how it would explode on me into the busiest year ever. I'm also calling it the year of surgeries because I've been through 2, my daughter 1, my sister 1, my mom 1 with another upcoming. I've been juggling my own household as well as taking care of my mom while she recuperates. My kids have reached the age bracket of doing more outside our home. We limit the number of extra-curriculars and I'm by no means the epitome of the soccer mom, but man, I had no idea how much time gets sucked up in even one extra activity, let alone three. My husband's gone from a part-time college student to a full-time in order to get done faster. Guess who helps him proofread his papers and who explains music theory to him? Yep, me. I also have other commitments both in the writing community and my local community. "I'm swamped!"

Not that I mean to sound like a wet blanket about all of that. I'm happiest doing things with and for my family. I'm involved with good things. But I have to wonder in the few private moments I get these days, if there's too many good things fighting for my attention and energy. How do I prioritize without letting people down? And where did I go in the midst of all this?

I've snatched brief bits of time to scribble down notes or bits of scenes while in waiting rooms. I brainstorm while doing two sets of household chores. But as to actual writing time ... *sigh* When the evening rolls around I'm too exhausted to even think straight. That frustrates me too.

It's all a learning experience, of course. I have limitations. And when you go for long periods of time without a substantial break, you get burned out easily. Vacations aren't even in my vocabulary. Me-time is a luxury other people get. I'm sure I'm in a crowded boat with all of the other busy people loaded with obligations and no time for themselves.

So what has this to do with writing updates? Book #2 in my Trefury trilogy is coming along, albeit at a snail's pace this summer. I'm mindful of those who are anxiously awaiting more of the story. I promise I'm lining up some really good stuff for you. I'm excited for how the revisions are going, how the characters are developing, and the criss-crossing plotlines are getting tighter. I know I'm anxious to get this one done so I can write the concluding book.

Book #1 will be released soon in paperback format, so be sure to watch for news here, on Goodreads, or on Twitter for new giveaways.

I have two other novels ready for revisions prior to beta readers also scratching at the back of my head. It's very hard to suppress the urge to work on them. I don't lack for material to work on or ideas. If only I could keep up! Lol.

If anyone has a magic bullet or some good practical ideas on how I can scrape together some surplus energy and time, I'm open to suggestions. 

Release Day for Trefury: Mendi's Curse! Info, Soundtracks, and Quizzes

Copyright 2014 Nicolle Raty Murray; original artwork

My debut novel, Trefury: Mendi's Curse, is now available for purchase in hardcover format.

The land of Callorin is dying, cast off from divine aid and adrift in cold seas, with dark powers swooping in for the kill. As they have for thousands of years, Callorin turns to Thssk to fix the problem, but Thssk wants to avoid everyone. He failed last time, and his human handler put a curse on him as he abandoned her on a battlefield. She would be avenged through the next girl Thssk forced to become his handler.

Thssk is sent on a mission to another world to rescue the long-lost heir of Origiba, in the hope of developing outside support for Callorin. While there, Thssk tries to thwart the curse by taking Cortnee, a tech savvy, arts major as his new handler. It is only when Thssk has gained the upper hand over his enemies and everything seems to be working out for a change that he discovers he is not the game changer anymore—Cortnee is.

On a world where starships are born, homes grow, and flowers can flatten entire cities, millions of lives are at stake. More importantly, Thssk’s notorious past comes back to bite him. The girl who has become a catalyst politically and astralgically won’t communicate with him, and she has some crazy ideas about how to get their job done. With her, Thssk may fail for a second time, without her, he may never attain the great future he was promised.

You might like Trefury if you are into:
1) Adventure stories.
2) Stories spanning multiple worlds.
3) Diverse characters in both gender and race.
4) Fascinating, exotic, and mind-boggling settings.
5) Entwining plot lines.

 Trefury also fits into a rare niche, it's clean speculative fiction. No sex, no profanity, no graphic violence. The readership age range is from 15 on up (based on vocabulary and themes in the story).

While I am very excited to finally share this story with everyone, I am mostly feeling a sense of relief and calm. It is very satisfying to complete a project like this. And it's also nice to realize that achieving a dream is neither a summation of who I am, nor is it a place of arrival. This is a milestone in my life and I'm grateful that I have it as a foundation for writing future novels and improving my talent as a storyteller.

I want to thank the many people who helped me brainstorm, revise, edit, and who supported me in this effort. You've made me a better writer and have helped me make this story something to be proud of.

And to finish off my writing soundtrack, at least the big highlights, here are the last two tracks, including the song that epitomizes the whole thing.

First up, "Whiplash" by Selena Gomez. (No pun intended, for those of you who have read the book.)

This song became my "Trefury mode" anthem.

And here is the song that is my book, "What You're Thinking (Pure Energy)" by Information Society. While I listened to the original version a lot, the remixed version is my favorite. If you listen to any of the soundtrack songs, make it this one.

Original Version:

*Remixed Version:

For more soundtracks and previous Trefury posts click here.

And finally ...
Read the book and think you know it? Try out one of the new quizzes about Trefury: Mendi's Curse on Goodreads.


Today's the last day to enter for a free copy here on my blog, but starting tomorrow you can get a second opportunity to snag a free copy on Goodreads. The link in the sidebar will be updated to direct you.

Trefury: The Other Side of the Story

By now you've probably read the official story summary of my book, Trefury: Mendi's Curse, but what many of you don't know is that that summary only spells out one side of the story. There is another big storyline going on and there are other character threads which are woven into both sides.

May I introduce you to three of those other main characters?

1 - Ientadur
He's a young adult with a heavily-monitored medical condition who just wants to marry his childhood sweetheart and become independent. But his parents don't approve and are doing everything they can to prevent him from marrying. Then Ien's old history teacher gets in contact with him and reveals that everything he's been told is one big lie and that Ien has a genetic legacy that will allow him to save the lives of thousands of people as a war with another country threatens his home. Life will never be the same again. He is separated from the one he loves, estranged from his family, and hunted by the most powerful and dangerous group on the planet. Ien must grow up, become pro-active, and face obstacles and decisions that could tear him apart. If he does, everyone else needs to watch out. The legacy of the half-murlynn is nothing to be trifled with.

2 - Sabriel
Everyone's heard of the damsel or princess in distress, well this time the one in distress is a man. Sabriel has just graduated from university, ready to take on a career as a composer. He's handsome, young, and independent. But then he's kidnapped twice, nearly dies in transit, stuck in a life-support chair, and people are trying to kill him. He can't catch a break. Well, except one. He's got a girl with a powerful weapon who has stepped up as his bodyguard. Maybe together they can piece the clues to find out why someone's after him and more importantly, who. If the bad guys don't get to him first.

3 - Damon
Haunted by his wife's mysterious death, Damon is a single-parent determined to make a decent life for himself and his daughter. But then his life starts unraveling. Financial accounts are closing without his permission, his job is being taken from him, and both friends and strangers are bringing up his wife's name. On top of that, his daughter has become a target as her anonymous involvement in a drug sting is leaked. When she goes missing, things get really surreal. Damon is soon forced to leave his world for another, forced to rely on strangers to track his daughter's whereabouts. It's hard to know who to believe and who to trust. Lies unravel and new lies are formed. For Damon, only one thing is clear, he's got to do whatever it takes to get his daughter back and find out the truth about his wife's death.

Hee hee, and now you're probably wondering why these aren't separate books and how in the world they fit in with the main storyline. Trust me, they all come together and are interwoven. I take a lot of pleasure in working with complex storylines, but I won't lie, it isn't easy or quick to do. Trefury has been a massive undertaking, I mean years of development and revision. And this book is only the first part of the story. There is more to come. I hope you enjoy it.

There's still time to sign-up for a free, autographed, hardcover copy of the book. Click on the picture of the cover in the right sidebar to find out how.

Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 9 - 10

There's still time to sign-up to get a free, hardcover copy of my debut novel, Trefury: Mendi's Curse. Just click on the picture of the cover to your right and it will take you to all the details.

Continuing to highlight some of the music that helped me stay in the zone while writing the novel, both of these songs were done by Delerium, a group I highly recommend for mood music.

These songs had that international, especially eastern vibe that I wanted. This is a reflection on the country and planet my character Cortnee comes from. I had a fun time meshing different eastern cultures, while retaining some western foibles and customs in this half of my world-building.

Trefury is a novel taking place on two very diverse planets. That meant I had more than the average amount of world-building to do. Fortunately, I've been working not only on this story but many others from two different (yet connected) collections of worlds for over thirty years. It's not something I just threw together overnight. There is a giant scheme behind every planet I've made and they are all connected through a special passageway that I call, in simple English terms, The Beltway. (It has another name in one of my made-up languages.)

I've found it's good not to overuse my languages and dialects because it can alienate readers. A smattering will do, and eventually, the more they read my books, they will be able to handle more and understand more. But the point of world-building and making up languages is more for originality and authenticity rather than reinventing the wheel, and the focus of my novels is telling the story rather than showing off what worlds I've created.

So first up is "Terra Firma," a song many of you have probably heard before:

The second song is "Remembrance," which probably isn't as widely known. I love the deep horns at the beginning. They were an inspiration to me for the "prayer horns" that go off every night on Cortnee's world. The song then evolves into eastern/western mix and then goes techno. It couldn't be more perfect.

I'm very excited to share a very small piece of my world-building with you. Those who have already read earlier versions of the novel, or who have followed the blog for awhile know that world-building is very dear to my heart. And while world-building is a magnificent skill to possess, bear in mind that it is no substitute for storytelling. I've read many manuscripts where the writer put all their thought and effort into creating their world and the story (what little there was) dealt with showing the world and everything in it to the reader. A tragedy. Worlds that well drawn should have great stories revolving in them and characters not only unique but that are relatable and compelling populating those worlds.

What do you think?

You may also like to read:
World-building: Think Big, Be Creative, Have Fun!
How Much World-Building Do You Need?
Falling in Love with Your World
What Justifies an Epic Series?
What Makes Epic Fantasy Tick

Cover reveal for Trefury: Mendi's Curse, including book summary.
Behind the Scenes #1: Forbidden Without Knowing Why
Behind the Scenes #2: Let's Talk Hair
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 1 
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 2 - 3
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 4
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 5 - 8 
BOOK GIVEAWAY ON THE THIS BLOG from Sept. 2 - 30, 2014 

Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 5 - 8

As exciting as great world-building or conflict is to a novel, one of the most crucial elements are the characters and their relationships. How do they act and react around each other? Is their relationship fraught with tension or do they buoy each other up? How does their relationship change during the course of the story? Which relationships break? What new ones are forged? It's fascinating to think about.

Real life focuses on relationships. In my opinion, a good novel should reflect on real life by exploring relationships and their outcomes. My debut novel Trefury: Mendi's Curse gave me the opportunity to study and write about several different kinds of relationships.

Some of these relationships are:
1 - Parent to child
2 - Extended relatives
3 - Friends
4 - Enemies
5 - Partnerships and ex-partnerships
6 - Societal versus personal
7 - Work associations
8 - Divine to mortal
9 - Human to non-human
10 - Stranger to stranger

I'm grateful for the multiple opportunities to reflect and analyze relationships. I think in a subtle way, doing so has helped me strengthen the real relationships I have. I was a very introverted, reclusive child who developed into an introverted, reserved adult. However, those people I truly came to know and who grew to know me have developed something special, fun, and unique. I look forward to making more good relationships, and it's one of my goals to be more open and out-going.

So which songs (that I haven't featured already) helped with creating the writing zone I needed for some of these relationship scenarios? I hope you have a few minutes and are in the mood to listen to music, because there were several. I'm only featuring a few here.

First up is 'Dilemma' by Selena Gomez:

This one describes pretty well the frustration of one person who wants to have a relationship with someone else, but there are communication issues, and the point of view person doesn't quite understand the other. They don't want to just walk away and forget about that person, they're drawn to them. I had to do a little male-female flip-flopping in my mind because it's the male whose baffled by the female in my story.

The second one is 'Outlaw' by Selena Gomez:

When I first heard this song I smiled and thought "Wow, that fits one of my lead characters perfectly." There's a price to be paid for discarding people.

The third one is 'Uninvited' by Alanis Morrisette:

There's a lot of psychological action in this book, including telepathic and emotional intrusions. Characters literally get in the heads of other characters, but there is one character who has such a strong will that no one gets in "uninvited." It makes this character a mystery to the others, even though this person seems pretty readable and easy-going.

The last song I'll feature this week is 'Silent Movie' by Natasha Bedingfield:

We seldom know what one interaction with someone else will snowball into. Lives criss-cross; we touch each other and pass on, but we leave a mark on each other. Our actions can lift someone up or destroy them. And perhaps we're more interconnected than we think.

This song also deals with a lack of communication with a surprising outcome. One who scoffs at another will eventually find they care about the other character, a lot more than they thought possible. Just like in real life, we may think someone else might not suit us and then find out we were wrong.

Question for you:
What relationships do you like to explore when reading or writing? Do you have a favorite or a must-have?

Previous Behind the Scenes Posts:
Forbidden Without Knowing Why
Let's Talk Hair 
My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 1
My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 2 & 3 
My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 4

Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 4

Okay, this soundtrack dates me, but that's okay, because Trefury: Mendi's Curse was conceived back when I was a teenager and this song was playing on the radio. It's been twenty years, roughly, since I wrote the first draft. I still have it, written in blue pen on notebook paper. I even have the graph sheets where I diagrammed the infamous East Wing and my early drawings of Cortnee and Thssk.

Trefury's come a long way since that rough draft. Time periods, settings, characters, and even plot lines have drastically changed. The best parts haven't changed much at all.

Track 4 is 'Elevator Man' by Oingo Boingo. It fits in well with my Thssk character, his notorious reputation and personality. I won't give away too much. Once you've read the story, you'll see the parallels in the lyrics of the song. I only ask that you take away the romantic connotations, because this story isn't a romance story. It's the battle of wills between age and youth, compulsion and agency, a seductively persuasive character versus a closed and guarded one. One takes the other away from everything they've known with the intent to use them (Note: there's no sexual content of any kind in this book.). I'm talking about mental and emotional seduction with the intent to manipulate.

Thssk's voice is hard to resist. My critique partners fell for him. Will you?

Here's my track 4 song. I couldn't find a link that showcased the words, but if you listen they aren't too hard to depict.

Previous Behind the Scenes Posts:
Forbidden Without Knowing Why
Let's Talk Hair 
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 1
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 2 & 3

Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Tracks 2 & 3

Sometimes you just need mood music as you write. Here are a couple of songs I listened to a lot to help me stay in the zone as I worked on my debut novel, Trefury: Mendi's Curse.

The first one is found on OC Remix: Chrono Trigger 'Crying Mountain' by Saiko:

This song was my transition song, or the travel theme song. Appropriate transitions are important to storytelling, and the beat helped remind me to keep them brief and to the point. You want to keep moving with a story, not get bogged down in one place.

The next song is also found on OC Remix: Diddy Kong Racing 'Shiva Nataraja' by Guifrog:

I really went for a heavy mishmash of Asian and Middle-Eastern (with some Western) vibes when designing the country and world a couple of my lead characters come from. It helped listening to upbeat Asian-techno and Indian dance music. Pandora was also a help when I really wanted to get into that mindset.

These are just a couple of the mood music songs on my playlist. I have several more. Many writers prefer this kind of music to write to, rather than songs with words. I limit my non-worded music, trying to especially avoid soundtracks, as these tend to make me think of the movies they come from and the characters in those movies. But there are times when I don't have any specific song that fits the theme, emotion, or situation I'm writing about. Then I queue the non-movie, no-words music.

Question for you:
How important is mood music to your writing process? What do you look for when choosing your mood music?

Previous Behind the Scenes Posts:
Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 1
Forbidden Without Knowing Why
Let's Talk Hair

Cover Reveal for Trefury: Mendi’s Curse

And here it is, the first cover for my novel, Trefury: Mendi's Curse, coming out September 2014. This will be for the hardcover edition.

This cover is original artwork and copyright protected.

An ancient legend is remade.

Meet the oddest, most-likely-to-fail partnership the planet Niyhel has ever known. He’s cunning, intelligent, and dangerous. She’s slow to trust, reckless, and loyal. And both of them have their own ideas about how to do things.

Thssk, a six-thousand-year old norhendra, has unwittingly caused the near extinction of his kind. Then he abandoned his handler, momentarily forgetting that she was an astral. She curses him as he flees the battlefield: the next handler he chooses will avenge her. Hunted by his past, it takes a divine summons and a volcanic eruption to rekindle Thssk’s competitive spirit after a long hibernation. Racing against his enemies to rescue a boy from another planet?—he’s the only one capable of pulling it off. But there’s a catch, he has to select a new human partner to work with.

Tech savvy Cortnee Feyandihar is tracking down the people responsible for her mom’s death while trying to gain a footing on a career path in the fields of music and dance. But when she goes too far with a corruption exposé, a last-ditch effort to salvage her future sticks her in the middle of an inter-world showdown and right into Thssk’s coils.

On a world where starships are born, homes grow, and flowers can flatten entire cities, the fates of two lands hangs in the balance, as do the lives of millions of people. Yet it all pales in comparison to Thssk confronting the repercussions of discarding his previous partners as he struggles with his unpredictable new one. Everything Cortnee thought she understood has turned inside out and she must utilize every skill in her arsenal to get a grip on her new reality. If they can’t learn to communicate and work together, he won’t achieve the great future he was promised, but if they do, Cortnee could fall like her predecessors—into madness.

Stay in the know with the book's release by following this blog, my page on Facebook, or my Twitter account. A couple of giveaways are forthcoming.

If you love the look of the cover and want to know more about the artist, come back next week when I interview her. 

Enter to win a copy of the book. 

Behind the Scenes #3: My Writing Soundtrack for Trefury, Track 1

*I now have an official author page on Facebook. You can find the link in the sidebar. I'm also on Twitter, if you haven't already linked up with me.

It's countdown time until my science-fantasy novel Trefury: Mendi's Curse is published (coming Sept. 2014). Continuing to explore my research and writing process for this novel, I'm going to share some of the music I listened to while writing the story.

This first song is "You Can Still Be Free" by Savage Garden. It's a beautiful, emotional cry for hope and it fit perfectly the opening chapter for one of my main characters, Thssk. Thssk is at a point of little to no hope, he's in hiding, and he wants everyone else to leave him alone. He's had some major disappointments, like the near destruction of his kind, and his long-standing estrangement from his human wielder. Thssk is an ancient, powerful creature, but he is also vulnerable. By the end of the chapter, Thssk comes out of hiding with a vengeance. Not just proactive, but a definite force to be reckoned with. His little light of hope is enough to carry him forward.

Everyone goes through low moments, times when we feel we can't take one more step, that we have nothing left to give. Tragically, some people choose to end their life when they hit rock bottom, or they quit life and hide. It takes courage to keep on going, to take that one more step, even if it's a baby step. Life is full of disappointments, rejection, hardship, and pain and sometimes when we're crumpled up at the bottom of a figurative ravine we can't see a pathway out, or we don't notice that the sky is still blue above us, or pay attention to the pretty wildflower growing an arms-length away. We are focused inward, nursing our pain. It's when we take the effort to look outside ourselves that we can find a hand grip to get out of the ravine. Maybe it's through helping someone else climb, maybe it's by taking a different path, maybe we have to admit that we were wrong and make retribution or start over.

I've been at the bottom of a ravine many times. That is why I could write about Thssk and get into his character. His overall arc deals with conquering his past demons and not only moving forward, not only reaching the top of his ravine, but finally flying high as he was always meant to.

Question for you:
What do you do to pull yourself or others out of an emotional ravine?

Previous Behind the Scenes Posts:
Forbidden Without Knowing Why
Let's Talk Hair

The End is in Sight

It's been a slow blogging summer, as you may have noticed. There are a couple of reasons, one being health related, but the second reason is much more relevant to you, my readers and friends: I'm getting ready to publish my first book.

It's not much of an announcement these days; thousands of people are publishing every year, whether traditionally or on their own. With a plethora of novels hitting the marketplace each year, the advantage belongs to readers. You can find just about anything you want to read. I have a handful of writer friends who have books that have come out or will come out this year. It's exciting to be among them.

Here are some of their books (in no particular order):

Coming Sept. 9th from Month9Books

Thyra Winther's seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can't reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she's doomed to spend eternity as a wraith.

Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal.

A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai's childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra's willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts -- to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup's devotion and the fire of a young man's desire, the thawing of Thyra's frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing.

CROWN OF ICE is a YA Fantasy that reinvents Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" from the perspective of a young woman who discovers that the greatest threat to her survival may be her own humanity.

Released July 2nd from Forever Yours

DARK LEGACY 
Mala LaCroix has spent her whole life trying to escape her destiny. As the last in a long line of "witch women," she rejects the notion of spirits and hoodoo and instead does her best to blend in. But when she finds a dead body floating in the bayou behind her house, Mala taps into powers she never knew she had. She's haunted by visions of the dead girl, demanding justice and vengeance.

DEADLY SECRETS 
Landry Prince has always had a crush on Mala, but when Mala discovers his sister, murdered and marked in some sort of Satanic ritual, he wonders if all the rumors about the LaCroix family are true. Yet after Mala uses her connection to the spirit world to identify his sister's killer, he starts to form his own bond to her . . . a very physical one. As they move closer to each other and closer to the truth, Mala and Landry must risk everything—their families, their love, and even their lives.

Coming Aug. 5th from Forever Yours

A GIFT AND A CURSE 
Mala LaCroix sees dead people—really. After using her psychic gifts to catch a killer, she's locked in a psych ward and must strike a deal with the devil to secure her release. Apprenticed to a dark arts practitioner, Mala vows to free herself and save her loved ones from danger. But she doesn't know who to turn to when her crush on Landry Prince turns into something more serious.

A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH 
Landry has sacrificed everything to protect Mala. A near-death experience changes him forever, and now he, too, possesses supernatural powers he doesn't understand. Mala and Landry must band together to defeat the dark forces—both human and otherworldly—who would use their abilities for evil. Even as they fall for each other, they must prepare to battle for their very souls . . .

Coming Sept. 9th from Forever Yours

Deep in the Louisiana bayou, Mala LaCroix cannot escape the mysterious things she's seen. Haunted by her otherworldly past, she only wants to hide her special abilities and care for the man she's come to love. But the dark swamp she calls home holds more than just Mala's secrets, for a killer is leaving behind ghosts trapped between worlds, hungry for vengeance . . .

Landry knows Mala could never turn her back on those in need. It's part of what attracts him to her. But now that he's wrestling with his own demons-and losing-he fears that just being near the woman he loves endangers her life. And that traps him in a terrible dilemma: leave Mala alone to catch a murderer by herself or stay close-and risk entangling her in the brutal battle for his very soul.

Coming July 22nd from St. Martin's Griffin

Clementine has spent her whole life preparing for her sixteenth birthday, when she’ll be tested for Extraction in the hopes of being sent from the planet Kiel’s toxic Surface to the much safer Core, where people live without fear or starvation. When she proves promising enough to be “Extracted,” she must leave without Logan, the boy she loves. Torn apart from her only sense of family, Clem promises to come back and save him from brutal Surface life.

What she finds initially in the Core is a utopia compared to the Surface—it’s free of hard labor, gun-wielding officials, and the moon's lethal acid. But life is anything but safe, and Clementine learns that the planet's leaders are planning to exterminate Surface dwellers—and that means Logan, too.

Trapped by the steel walls of the underground and the lies that keep her safe, Clementine must find a way to escape and rescue Logan and the rest of the planet. But the planet leaders don't want her running—they want her subdued.

Released Feb. 2014 by T.J. Loveless

After a bloody tour in Iraq, all Karen Barnes wants is a simple life, surrounded by horses and the mountains of Wyoming. But when a stranger tries boarding a famous horse worth millions at her stable, Karen grows suspicious that the horse has been stolen.When her worse fears are confirmed and her life is threatened, her instinct for survival kicks in. But things are far worse than she could have even imagined when she discovers that the theft is just a coverup for espionage.

With the lives of those she cares for at stake, can she find the courage to fight one more battle, or will the violence and carnage tear her to pieces?

Released Jul. 7th from 7DS Books

(Anthology, including author Darke Conteur.)

slay verb (used with object), slew, slain, slay·ing. 1.to kill by violence. 2. to destroy; extinguish... A Slayer has but one purpose. 7DS Books debuts the newest collection of short stories in SLAYERS. Seven short story missions of your not so typical slayers taking on highly unusual targets. These captivating stories slice through tales of aliens, super slugs, demons, and beyond. Did that say super slugs? Yes. Read something dripping in fresh plots and bizarre characters.

Released Mar. 1st by Elephant's Bookshelf Press

To be human is to have regrets, to question decisions, even to doubt our own abilities and capacities. Whether it’s because of a path not taken or a decision made for selfish or – perhaps worse – unselfish reasons, we all have had moments and decisions we regret. We might regret not recognizing an opportunity. In the end, the choices we make help shape our future. The final anthology in Elephant’s Bookshelf Press’s “Seasons Series,” Winter’s Regret includes stories from P.S. Carrillo, Liz Coley, Sakura Q. Eries, Morgan George, Michelle Hauck, Kelly Heinen, Amanda Hill, Precy Larkins, Robert Wayne McCoy, Mindy McGinnis, A.T. O’Connor, Jeff O’Handley, Paul Parisi, Matt Sinclair, A.M. Supinger, Charlee Vale, and Cat Woods.

Released Apr. 23rd from Createspace

Lucy London puts the word genius to shame. Having obtained her PhD in microbiology by the age of twenty, she's amassed a wealth of knowledge, but one subject still eludes her-people. The pendulum of passions experienced by those around her both confuses and intrigues her, so when she's offered a grant to study emotion as a pathogen, she jumps on the opportunity. When her attempts to come up with an actual experiment quickly drop from lackluster to nonexistent, she's given a choice: figure out how to conduct a groundbreaking study on passion, or lose both the grant and her position at the university. Put on leave until she can crack the perfect proposal, she finds there's only one way she can study emotions-by experiencing them herself.

Enter Jensen Walker, Lucy's neighbor and the one person on the planet she finds strangely and maddeningly appealing. Jensen's life is the stuff of campus legend, messy, emotional, complicated-in short, the perfect starting point for Lucy's study. When her tenaciousness wears him down and he consents to help her, sparks fly. To her surprise, Lucy finds herself battling with her own emotions, as foreign as they are intense. With the clock ticking on her deadline, Lucy must decide what's more important: analyzing her passions...or giving in to them?

(no picture available yet) Dark Light by Rick Pieters
Coming this Fall from Cliffhanger Press

Carter Collins doesn't much like the taste of fame or his glamorous, gay Hollywood life, and his father's stroke hands him the reason to leave—to return home and help. No more spotlight. Just family, old friends, the family business . . . and interdimensional aliens staging a hostile takeover.

Avebury, Ohio has a new evangelist who's silencing opposition as he builds his tabernacle, and it was no stroke that felled Carter's father. The Reverend's prayer cubes can kill or control. Now Carter finds his mother clutching one, ready to sign over the family's TV station and hand the preacher the pulpit he seeks. This evangelist is a Trojan horse for sinister beings not of this Earth.

Aided by a discarnate guide, Carter pieces together the real reason he's here. The town protects a prime portal, an entry point for Earth's life-force energy. That gateway needs a guardian against invaders who would invert the energy and plunge the planet into a new age of darkness. If Carter accepts his role as guardian, he'll draw in friends, family, even his life-partner. This time, the spotlight could well mean his death, or theirs. But not accepting it could be much worse.

Coming Aug. 3rd on Amazon KDP Select

Set sail with Captain Carvin on four voyages on the magic seas of Ryuu.

He faces pirates early in his career. The King sends a sorceress with him on a voyage to a far land to recover precious artifacts. He must deliver the King's sister to her future husband through treacherous seas. Years later, he is reunited with the sorceress on a scouting mission in a sea controlled by the enemy.

Coming Nov. 15th wherever ebooks are sold

Intergalactic trader, Ven Zaran, contracts for a cargo that takes him to one of the few non-Confederation worlds. It is a danger he thinks he is ready for, but in a flash his ship is seized and half his crew arrested on minor charges. With corruption at every level of government, Ven has to resort to more drastic measures to free his ship and crew. He's fought gangsters, pirates, and false charges before, but taking on a corrupt planet might be more than he bargained for.




(no picture yet) Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand by R.S. Mellette
Coming 2014 from Elephant's Bookshelf Press

Everyone needs a little magic in their lives

Twelve-year-old Billy Bobble and his best friend Suzy Quinofski didn't mean to change the universe. Billy just wanted to find a way to help his hoarding, schizophrenic mother, and maybe impress a coven of older girls in high school. Suzy wanted to help her friend and cling to her last remnant of childhood: a belief in magic. None of this would be noteworthy if Billy weren’t a quantum physics genius, and Suzy his equal in microbiology. Together they make a real, working, magic wand and open a door to the Quantum World, where thoughts create reality, his mother isn't crazy, and all things – good and bad – are possible.


Everyone's publishing journey is unique, including mine. Right now, I'm finishing up my edits based on copy editing feedback from someone else, and then I'll start going through the proofreading and formatting process. My cover artist is already at work, and if everything goes as planned, my first book will be out in September.

When we pick up a book to read, we really don't think about how long it took the author to write and polish their story. We don't think about how long it took them to publish through a traditional publisher, or to do all the edits and formatting in order to indie publish. No, we pick up a book and devour it within a very short time. And while we read, we're oblivious to the author's long hours, tears or anger, triumph over writer's block, or the many parts they've torn out or rewritten. We see only the finished product. We read it. Then we move on to the next book. As readers, we're spoiled and we take a lot for granted.

A little while back I was looking through the books on my bookshelf, checking out how other people have designed and formatted their novels, and I got thinking about all the books I've read over the last five years. How many of them do I want to go back and reread? Which characters still stick out in my mind? Which situations or worlds would I want to revisit? It seems like people grab a book, read it, and then hurry on to the next new thing without ever looking back. Ignore your To-Read pile for a moment and ask: which books that you've read recently would you like to go back and revisit?

Maybe it's just me. As a reader, I only buy books I've already read and want to reread (the library is my friend). This is mostly due to money, but I think not having a large budget for books is a blessing in disguise, because I don't have the temptation to spend frivolously on books I may end up not liking or which were cool for a one-time read. You gain favorite, trusted authors. You find yourself quoting those books, or going back to them to fulfill a special emotional niche.

As a writer, I haven't focused on speedily churning out novel after novel after novel (even though I have plenty of completed first drafts waiting to be polished), and I don't intend to. My goal is to write rereadable books and I hope that my first one will be a novel people will want to revisit again and again, that you'll discover something new each time you read the book. So what does that say about my debut novel? No, it's not an easy-breezy, consume-in-one-afternoon read. It's the type of book I like to read, and a type which most of my beta readers and critique partners have said they like to read.

Taking this step to publish is huge. My dad died this past April from cancer. He was brilliant, but very few people knew it. He was a modest man, a man of great ideas and solutions. He just had one problem: he was good at starting things and coming up with the ideas, but he wasn't good at finishing those projects or promoting his ideas. During his last days he expressed his regret over and fought to stay alive in order to finish some of those things. The moment he relaxed, realized he'd run out of time, and let go of those tethers, he passed away. It taught me that I was in danger of doing the same thing. Oh, I didn't have a stack of unfinished first drafts leering at me, but I was terrified of actually publishing, of actually finishing a book as far as anyone can finish it. So, I set a publishing date and notified the right people, got to work again, and heart-in-throat I'm now nearing the end.

Thank you again for being a blog follower and for sticking with me even though I didn't have a product for you to read yet. That's about to change, and I hope that if you choose to read this book or any others that come after it, that you feel comfortable approaching me to talk about it, or about the writing process. I do have some more in-depth Behind-The-Scenes posts coming up, as well as a few other things that go with a book launch. In the meantime, check out the books by my friends and stay tuned for further updates.

My questions for you this week are: Have you ever conquered a fear, or are you working on conquering a fear right now? What was/is it and do you feel stronger now?

Or - What are your favorite books to reread? If you're a writer, how does knowing the long writing process intimately affect how you approach reading?

Behind the Scenes #2: Let's Talk Hair

I've never been one for blond hair. I grew tired long ago of the stereotypical heroine/hero with the luscious golden locks in traditional fairy tales and as the main character in kids' cartoon series. The blond guys and girls were everywhere! You knew when you reached their description or saw them for the first time that they were destined to be the protagonist. You also knew they'd be extremely kind to children, animals, and old people; full of spirit; ready for adventure; would be the ones to advise and gently chide their sidekicks; and would come through the story still looking beautiful.

A nice standard but very boring when everyone used it. And ... in real life, I knew blond people came in different personalities. Many of the places I moved to had large groups of fair haired denizens. Being blond was common, so why did it have to designate power and attractiveness in stories? I took pride in never using a blond haired person as a protagonist in my stories.

So what was I to do when I dreamed up the story of my novel Trefury and in the dream both POV characters were blond? They wouldn't be the same if I altered how I imagined them. Childish prejudices aside, I had to talk myself into accepting their blondness. After all, no one can really help what hair color they are born with, or - er - dreamed with.

That was several years ago. Since then I've developed a dislike for the overuse of redheads in fiction, but that's another story. When I picked up Trefury again to edit and polish it up I did a lot of research into my psyche back when I first wrote it, since the main character was a teenager and I wasn't one any more, still mystified by the fact that I couldn't change her appearance without feeling wrong about it. And in revisiting my younger self, I found the basis for her hair.

I had a youth leader, a woman in her late thirties/early forties who defied the middle age ideal. Instead of cropping it short and manageable she let it grow down her back, kept it in a braid, and it was blond. She was an adult I really looked up to, and I believe her hair crept into my dream.

I've grown my hair out several times, partially for method writing. It helps to know what it's like to have long, thick hair and what goes into maintaining it. You spend more time with a brush and use more shampoo and conditioner for starters. Long hair also gets in the way of the simplest activities, especially if unbound. Activities such as preparing food, stooping to clean up a mess, handling children, walking through trees and bushes, even buckling a seat belt - the hair can get in the way or pulled.

My character, Cortnee, has grown out her hair for two reasons: because she has very nice hair and wants it long, the second reason is that she was in a small power struggle with her mom over short hair versus long hair. When her mom is no longer around, Cortnee has the freedom to let it grow, and grow. It gets down to her knees and she usually keeps it tamed in a braid. Her hair also becomes symbolic when she gets to a place where no one grows their hair out, representing her alien background as well as her independent spirit.

I had fun researching hair styles. I knew even a long braid wouldn't work for some of the action Cortnee would go through. It would be too easy for an adversary to catch her by the braid or for it to get tangled up. I could go into every neat idea I came across, but why bore those of you who don't care? For those who do, here is a great YouTube channel that focuses on hair styles and how to do them.

Personally, I still prefer long hair to short, and I can write about it with confidence. As to hair color, even though red became the new blond for a long time and is now being replaced with black, I do know that trying to make your character look a certain way to fit a trope or current popular ideal can backfire. Cortnee wanted to be blond in countries where the predominant hair colors were darker. Delving into the story I now know staying true to my vision created layers of symbolism.

And deep down I can still smile knowing her personality's not like the stereotypical blonds I ran into when I was a kid.

If you write, have you ever had a character want to look a certain way, even if it wasn't something you liked?

Behind the Scenes: Forbidden Without Knowing Why

Welcome to Behind the Scenes, a place where I delve into the wheres, whys, hows, and other sundry research regarding my novel, Trefury. Come explore this month's topic with me.

Have you ever been forbidden to do something without knowing the reason why? It doesn't have to be something deep, dark, dangerous, or controversial. Think especially about your childhood or teen years. Did a parent, guardian, teacher, or other supervising adult have a rule that didn't make sense to you? Did you try to get around it? Did you obey it unquestioningly? Did you ever find out the reason for the rule?

One of my main characters, Cortnee, butts heads with her mother over the issue of taking dancing lessons. Her mother grudgingly allowed it for a few years on the stipulation that Cortnee can't exhibit her skills. This actually applies to all of the other extra-curricular classes Cortnee takes (and there are several!) But as soon as they need to move, her mother seizes this opportunity as an excuse to drop the dance classes. The problem is Cortnee is a natural born dancer and wants to grow up to dance professionally. This whole situation is actually backstory for the novel but the consequences of their subsequent struggle over the issue is a driving factor in present-novel-Cortnee's decisions.

Cortnee bows to her mother's wishes because of what ensues from this disagreement. However, she does find ways to circumvent her mother's anti-dance sentiments. She pursues a secondary dream of becoming a recording engineer.

What's a recording engineer? (More on that research coming up soon.)

This secondary pursuit, along with her original dreams of becoming a dancer, play an integral part in not only who she is and what she wants, but create some unexpected reactions from my other main character (more on him to come.) It's not until towards the end of the story that Cortnee learns why her mother was so against dancing, and the explanation knocks the figurative rug out from under her feet.

Share your story of being forbidden to do something in the comments. How did it affect you? For those of you who are parents, have you been placed in a position where you had to forbid your children to do something? Was it hard? Did you let them know the reason why? Please keep these experiences PG or lower. No political or theological rants, please. These will be deleted.