Watcha Say Wednesdays: Location, Location, Location

Time and place is a huge part of a novel. There are books that are set in real places with great detail that closely matches the spot a the map. While others are created from scratch with elaborate made-up worlds and unique ecosystems. Then yet there are those examples where the story is set in Anytown, USA--where the setting is barely relevant to the story.

When you write, do you create worlds or do you pick a real place and try to stay true to it? How much time and energy do you spend in researching your setting?  Do you try to keep as close to a real map as possible or do you enjoy inventing new spaces?

When you are reading, what do you prefer --- realism or fantasy? Do you want to visit imaginary places that are created by the author or do you prefer to journey to places that already exist?  Have you read a book and decided you now need to visit this place to see if the real thing holds up to the picture the author drew? 

Whatcha Say Wednesdays are for you. It's a chance to voice your opinion, share your knowledge, and interact with one another. Answer what speaks to you, and ignore the rest. But do tell—I’m quite curious.

No Kiss Blogfest

Thanks so much for Frankie Diane Mallis for hosting the 4th Annual No Kiss Blogfest!

I chose the following scene from Iron Thirst. It's just a fun scene that I had a great time writing. Felicity had been waiting for days to see Blake again. She was convinced he was never coming back. At the coaxing of her sister, she decided to let her hair down a bit, and well... this happens...

 ***

“Fee, door!” Kim yells.

I run to the door and take a quick glance through the peephole. “Shhh,it’s him,” I try to whisper, but it’s not very quiet.

I fling the door open, and there stands Blake, little twigs of hair fallinginto his eyes. He’s wearing a white button up shirt under a black dress coat,with dark blue jeans, and a smile as big as you please. 

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” I say. It comes out a little slurred.

“I would have been here sooner, but--” he says, leaning in. I think hejust sniffed me. “Felicity, you’re drunk.”

“Jus’ a lil.” I fall backwards, and let the wall hold me up for a littlewhile. It wasn’t doing anything important. “Hey, Sis! Ain’t he a tall drink ahan’some?” 

“Water, Fee!” she yells back at me.

“No, thank you, but I’ll take more rum.” 

Blake laughs, but tries to cover it with a cough. “No, no, you don’t.No more rum for you. You have had enough,” he says.

“You’re not the boss of me,” I state.

“You’re right, but I do care.” Aww, now that makes me feel all warm andfuzzy inside. 

Kim comes back from the kitchen. I notice that she did not bring rum.“You must be the infamous Blake. Heard all about you. I’m her sister, Kim.She’s being rude. Come on in.” 

“It’s ok. She’s had a lot to deal with the last week or so,” Blakesays. “I’m not staying.” 

“He always leaves.” Dammit. That was supposed to be internal dialogue.Blake laughs at this. Nice to know I’m so freaking funny.

“Felicity, I really needed to talk to you, but I can see now is not thebest time. Please meet me at my office at seven o’clock tomorrow night. Youshould be sober by then.”

I open my mouth to talk, but he doesn’t let me finish. “Come with me,”he says, leading me to the kitchen, pulling me by the hand as my feet flopalong behind him. 

He pulls a card from his wallet, and then a pen from a pocket insidehis jacket. He leans on the countertop and writes something. I press my backagainst the refrigerator, and turn my head to take in the beautiful sight ofhim. 

He walks over to me, standing so close I can feel his heat. He reachesout one of his hands and places it on the refrigerator behind my head. He’sgoing to kiss me. I can feel it. I close my eyes and push my lips out toreceive his kiss, and wait. And wait. Nothing. It doesn’t come. 

I open my left eye to peak up at him, and now he is definitely laughingat me. “I put my business card on your fridge. It has the time, the address,and my phone number,” he says. 

I can feel my face turning into a beet. “Fine. I’ll be there,” I say.It sounds huffy.

“Don’t be mad. I was going to come sooner, but it’s been crazy. Pleasecome see me tomorrow,” he says, taking my hand.

“I said I’d be there.” Drunk people don’t turn off angry very easily.“Well, you had to go.” 

He turns and walks to the door, and I follow him. He opens it andstands in the entryway. “Felicity, please take care of yourself. I’ll see youtomorrow.” Then he bends down and kisses me on the forehead. I melt.

“I will be there.” This time I’m sweet about it. I shut the door andjust lean against it.  

      

“Well, that went well,” says Kim, handing me another pina colada.

***

Hope you enjoyed it!

The Kindle Killed My Reading

I am convinced that buying an eReader made me stop reading books. Follow my logic, oh, because I've got buckets full.

I used to tear through books. Archaic books with binding and such, owned them, swore by them, loved them. Under my bed was a long see-through blue box filled with my "to-be read" pile. I would slide it out, pick up a book, turn to the first page, start reading, and if it didn't grab me - I'd toss it back into the pile and pick up another. Rinse and repeat until I found the one that would hold my attention. That book would be finished within 3-7 days.

Then there was everybody else that kept giving the plugs for the Kindle, Nook, iPad Books, etc. I understood the logical need for an electronic way to read and store books. I understood that they were probably cheaper. I loved the idea of downloading the sample to make sure it grabbed me like a good book should. I liked that I could have a new book in an instant with simple clicking and confirming the purchase. I was sold. I needed a Kindle.  As a lover of books, how could I survive without a Kindle?

And that was the beginning of the end. I downloaded sample chapters. I built up a handsome library. That was over a year ago. And I have yet to finish a book on this device.

I'm not knocking the Kindle. One day, maybe a gazillion people will read something written by me on one of these all powerful, technological creations. Ok, probably not - but hey, let the idea float around in the universe. They are just simply not for me.

I miss beautiful books. The cover art, the smell, the weight shifting from one hand to the next as I am pulled deeper into the novel. The anxiety that builds as the heroine is digging herself deeper into disaster, and there is only a tiny bit of space until the end, and I pray she figures it out, but it doesn't look likely. (exhale)  

(My family unpacking a box of books after being in the new house for about 6 mths).
I,mean, seriously, when would this happen with a Kindle?

I'm sure of it. It was the Kindle that killed my reading. Not the hours of schoolwork, not the busy schedule, not the packing and moving across states, oh no. That would be just making up excuses. It is much more logical to blame it on the Kindle. :-)

So, are you an eReader or archaic book reader? What's the last book you read?  Have you been going through an olympic reading sprint or a dry patch?

Choose Your Own Adventure

Sometimes writing can be a lot like reading a “choose your own adventure” book. Do you guys remember those? Do they even still exist?

When your character is faced with a decision, the choice that she makes will drive the direction of the book. But what happens when that choice leads you down a path that you didn’t really want to go or worse, much, much, worse, a brick wall.

Well, I’ll admit when I used to read those “choose your own adventure” books, I’d cheat. If I led the MC down a path that leads them to death—I would back up to the point of failure and go a different route.

I’m having a similar problem with the MC in my YA. Let’s face it, teenagers don’t always make the best decisions, and Poe is no exception. Of course, she needs to make poor choices along her road to growth or well, what’s the point of writing about it. But I am having to play around with the outcome.

Another area is a supporting character, Quinn. He has a bad boy streak, but deciding how much of a bad boy—that’s difficult. Is he playing her, or does he really care? His motives will drive the story and can determine how the whole book plays out.

So, I take a note from the “choose your own adventure” books. I take one path, write it, and then back up and choose another direction and write it that way. Now, I’m not writing full scenes, but I am plotting and planning. Exploring the cause and effect in an outline/free writing type fashion.

This little problem is new for me. With Iron Thirst, I knew how it would end, so it was much easier for me to get there. But with this novel, I have no idea how it will end. This is the most linear that I have ever written. But I’m working my way through it.

So, what are some tips you use when you hit a dead end? Do you know the ending of your book early in the process, or is it normally a surprise to you?  

Only You Can Prevent Word Abuse

I hit my 100th follower, which is AWESOME! Thanks to all of you for helping me reach this milestone.

Awesome is one of my favorite words. Although I do believe it applies here, awesome is one of those words that is overused. It reminds me of a story. My husband and I were talking one day, and he said (very loosely quoted), “One day, we will be riding up the escalator to Heaven. The angels will be singing, the sky will be illuminated, and at that moment – I will frog you in the arm and say ‘that is awesome’.”

Writers often have “go-to” words, peppered throughout their writing. I’ve noticed it during critiques, my own writing, and even published books. A light dusting is not a major offense, but when these words appear on nearly every page or every paragraph—revisions must be done. However, it’s an easy fix.

There are several ways this is done in writing. Sometimes it’s the character that is the offender. In my novel, Iron Thirst, one of Felicity’s favorite words is complete, such as complete disaster. It is a useless adjective, but it is a part of her speech. But like the use of cuss words—it needed to be reduced to one written word for every seven times she would say it in real life.

Another example is the overuse of rarely used words. The first time I noticed this in published work was in Twilight. Did anyone else notice the overuse of the word chagrin? It stood out, because it’s not a word heard too often. When teenagers were saying it, it came across as even more odd. Now, Stephanie Meyer has obviously done well for herself, but we are not all going to be as lucky.

Sometimes it is our own addictive nature that goes to these words, and many times they are useless words. Very, really, and just are examples that I have plucked out of my own writing. Slight rewording will fix it. If something is “very tall” (telling), maybe it hurts your neck to look up at it or maybe clouds hide the top (showing).

The first step is admitting you have an issue. Run your manuscript through Wordle. It’s a visual tool that will show you the most used words in your book. Use your judgment, but if like, just, really, or very is larger than the name of the love interest—Houston, we have a problem.

Step Two – Fix it. Using find (Control+F) within your manuscript to locate all the uses of the overused word, and then either omit, replace or reword. Some people will tell you to stay far away from a thesaurus, but I disagree. I find it to be a great tool, but use it sparingly. I don’t grab the nearest three syllable word, but I use it to trigger my memory of a word that I might be forgetting. But make sure it fits your text, mood, and voice.

Learning your “go-to” words is part of revising, and with a little research—you will find the best way to correct this within your writing. Only you can prevent word abuse.

What are some of your “go-to” words? What other tools do you use to find or fix the problem?

Watcha Say Wednesday: Hook or Bust

I am blogging from my phone today. How ya like that? I am sitting in the parking lot, waiting for my religion class to start. This semester I'm tackling religion and tax accounting. Just seems wrong.

Watcha Say Wednesdays are a chance to share your feelings on a particular subject. Anonymous comments are on for those in the Writers Protection Program.

My question to you, and I'm really curious about this- how forgiving are you to authors? How long do you give them to hook you? And if you find yourself losing interest, do you keep reading or return to the to-be-read pile? And if you keep reading--why?

What's the deepest you ever made it into a book, and then decided to put it down?

Answer what speaks to you, and ignore the rest. But do tell- I am quite curious.

Designed for a Second Reading

*Before I get started on today’s topic, I wanted to inform you that I have been forced to close Anonymous comments. The spam was getting ridiculous. I was starting to receive about five or six per day, and I was deleting them as fast as you can say, “Act now!” But enough is enough. I’ll give it some time, and then try again. We now return you to your irregularly scheduled broadcast*

 (This video can still make me cry laughing)

I am one of those people who only reads books or watches movies once. (With the exception, of course, of TV repeats such as Breakfast Club.) I hardly ever buy DVDs, and could live with only my library card – but my need for “now” and my future dream employment leads me to still buy my books. (Karma thing)
But there are a few books and movies that are specifically designed for a second reading/viewing. I’m going to focus on movies for this post, because it’s more likely that we have all seen my examples rather than books that I might mention.

Two great examples of movies designed for a second viewing are “Fight Club” and “Sixth Sense”. Movies where the ending left you screaming, “Oh. My. God” -- “No Way!” –or-- “Shut the front door!” If you are like me, you started the dang thing over to catch all the clues sprinkled throughout the movie that you couldn’t see before. Clues that were so subtle you wouldn’t have caught them, but now it’s right there like a neon sign.
All of these examples include a big flip. Big Flip = Change that switches the perceived reality of the situation. I love this style, and to be honest – it’s what I want to be when I grow up. If you’ve read my short stories, they have this in common. My manuscript, yep – you guessed it, falls right in line.

The trick is wording and subtlety. The clues must be there, but they need to be invisible and only seen when your readers go through the book the second time. As if by finishing the book, they are handing a special decoder pen that unlocks all the hidden secrets you have tucked inside. An example of where this is not done well is “Hancock”. There are no clues leading up to the big flip. It’s just there. Like the writer said, “Ooo, this would be cool”. You have to appreciate and respect your audience. People will pick your work apart looking for holes and inconsistencies. The entire novel/movie must support the big flip.

But you can’t be too obvious. If people see it coming like a giant flying booger then the effect is lost. It will plop on the page, and your readers will be very disappointed. Superman Returns is a great example of this. The big flip of the boy being his son. My reaction - Duh! That movie is a great representation of plot holes and inconsistencies. You want a lesson on what not to do – watch this movie with a critical eye. Seriously. Sorry, rambling…

I was very fortunate to have the same person read my manuscript twice to help prevent this. (Thank you, Beej! You’re still the best.) The first time she read it, I wanted to know when and if she figured things out or if she had guesses as to what was coming next. My favorite answer was on one particular surprise, “Not until you revealed it in the book.” (Giggle, giggle, girl dance.) Then for round two, I wanted her to see where I put the clues – and she got ‘em. It was awesome to see her draw a big red smiley face by one in particular. (Woohoo! Success.) Sorry that was vague, but I hope that one day you will all read it – and I won’t be my own spoiler.

Have you used this style in any of your work? What’s one of your biggest flips? What’s the worst you’ve ever seen? (Be vague; we don’t want to be spoilers.)

The Scrap Pile

I started working on a particular story many months ago. I made it about 10,000 words in before it slowed to a halt. I continued to work at it a little each day, but it felt like I was forcing myself. Pushing and shoving the word count higher. It was a high concept idea unlike anything I had ever done before. It required world building – which I’ve never done, and third person POV -which I am not a fan.  It is dark and doesn’t have much room for my humor. It has the potential to be a great story – but I have learned in the last few weeks – it’s not my story.

I argued with myself over this. I knew deep down that it wasn’t my story to tell, but it felt like giving up. I knew the story from cover to cover. How it would start, how it would end. The eerie details that would give it the chill factor. Hell, I scared myself with some of the scenes that I was rolling out. The problem was when I tried to write it, it died on the page.

There are two things that caused the death of this story. The first is that I didn’t love it. When I realized that I wouldn’t buy it – I knew I shouldn’t tell it. It’s not the sort of story that I read. With the internet, write what you know has grown exponentially, but write what you love – that should still be true. Secondly, I didn’t believe it. The world is coming to an end and all of humankind is depending on one couple. These stories are everywhere, both movies and books, and people eat them up. I can enjoy them, but when I’m done I’m left with the question, “Why?”  Although my story was unique and had a great spin on things with twists and turns that leaves the readers guessing who is the good guy and who is the bad, I can’t in good conscious write a story that leaves this big of a question floating out there. I try my best to not leave holes – and why these two people are so darn special – that’s a pretty big hole.

There are many things that I absolutely loved about this story. Characters that I adored and wanted to watch grow, the twists that I was speaking of earlier, a unique take on the devil and the end of the world. Because of this, I will not be hitting delete and adding them to the recycle bin. Instead they are getting a new home titled “The Scrap Pile.” I will leave it in tact like a car in the junkyard to be sold for parts when needed. Who knows, maybe Jared and Caitlin will find happiness in another story that is more my style. They deserve it after all I’ve put them through.

I’ve killed a storyline before, but it was normally because it was not going anywhere. And it normally happened a great deal sooner than this.

What was the most work you put into a story before you realized it needed to go to your “scrap pile”?  Did you keep it or delete it? Did you immediately dive into something else?

Tasty Vamp Blood

When I began this novel, I knew that there would be research. I just never realized how involved it could get. I’ve done crime scene investigation, area research, MIA protocol, wild game in particular area, house and land hunting, flight information. Mmm… Oh yeah, how much blood loss a person could sustain, what does chloroform smell like, how does it feel, how to do a make shift blood transfusion. Bet your wondering what in the world I write about huh? She must be twisted. MWA-HA-HA!!

I have taken future readers intelligence into consideration. I’m not saying that I was right 100% of the time, but I made a very conscious effort to be realistic. I like a little reality in my fantasy, so that’s how I wrote the book.

If by now you are not aware, there a few vampires in my story. They are a key part of the novel even though they remain in the shadow for a large portion of the book. It’s the knowledge of their existence that adds fear into Felicity’s life (among other things). But unlike some novels, their existence is to be kept secret.

But it was a simple question that led me to the most involved research. I had no idea that I would become a freaking chemist. Because all of the details will not be revealed in the book, I thought it would be cool to talk about it here.

GEEK ALERT! (You have been warned)

Towards the end of the novel, I had to answer the question of what vampire blood would taste like. I knew that I wanted it to be different from human blood. As it should be, or why would vamps not feed on other vamps. So first, I had to look at human blood. Its metallic scent comes from the large quantity of Iron in our hemoglobin. Let’s pause for a second…Now, do you get the title? Iron Obsession – vampires, blood, iron? Anyway.

So, I wanted to look at what metal or element would work well with Iron. Something that would transform it, possibly make it stronger. It took a while, but zinc came to mind. Zinc is an illustrious metal that is a very pale blue, almost white. Ahh, that works. Keep the vamps pale. It is already found in plants and animals. In fact, animals that are zinc deficient require 50% more sustenance than those that have adequate amounts. So that works with a very strict diet. Plating thin layers of zinc onto iron is known as galvanizing and helps protect iron from corrosion. My logic is blood is drained, and then the victim drinks the vamp blood. It makes the remaining iron in the victim’s blood stronger and protects it. Also drinking blood makes them stronger. Zinc plays a key role in sexual maturation. Vampires are sexy devils so they should be full of zinc and really sexually mature. Translation = HOT!

So, I decided to use zinc as the key element in vampire blood. I like the idea of having traces of mercury to help explain the decreased body temperature. Its poisonous nature was also key. Then, I started to look at what would be in their blood to cause the weakness in sunlight. I started playing with silver oxide and then thought of increasing the amount of collagen. Collagen works because it is what keeps your skin looking all young and sexy. Again = HOT!

After I had nearly had the composition makeup of vampire plasma, I remembered that my original question was- what does it taste like? Back to zinc. Smelled it, tasted it, and researched it more on the internet and came up with that it is very sour.

Then I needed to know what ingesting high quantities of vamp blood would do. You know like if one wanted to bring a human over. Well based on my made up version of vamp blood, I needed to know what a zinc overdose would feel like. And more research is born. The answer to that IS in the book.

And so on and so on. Any of you guys actual chemists? If so, I’d be interested in hearing any ideas and thoughts. I tried to read a peer reviewed paper on the reaction between mercury and zinc. It could have been in Swahili and made more sense.

Now, I am off to find a tiny body of water in the middle of nowhere. The answer to that… will also be in the book. J

Sleepless in Atlanta

I apologize in advance. This is much more of a stream of consciousness than what I normally write, but it’s kind of how I feel today. So, I’m just going to go with it.

One of the huge downsides to how my day is structured is that I don’t sit down to write until late at night. I work 8 to 4, come home make dinner or at least help, play with the kiddos until bedtime, tuck them back in a second time, and then tie them to their beds the third. (Kidding. No children were harmed in the making of this book.) With all of that, my house doesn’t get quiet until a little after nine o’clock. This is when I crack open the laptop and sit down and try to let my brain focus on the task at hand.

What normally ends up happening is I play on the internet reading other writer’s or agent’s blogs because my own personal well is dry. Then about thirty minutes later I turn to my projects trying to pick up where I left off from the night before. I look up and the clock has magically hit midnight. For fear of turning into a pumpkin, I shut it down and try to make myself go to sleep. Hey, I relate to Cinderella. I don’t want a prince or a castle or anything. Just the singing, dancing mice to do my dishes and laundry. Wait, I think I had a point that I was getting to. Umm… right. Trying to go to sleep.

Completely wound up because I don’t write slow moving, lullaby type stories, I lay in the dark trying to force my eyelids to stay shut. Within five minutes, they pop open like a jack-in-the-box. I think there should really be another character in the fight scene. I need someone driving the car later for the rest of the scene to really work. Reach over write it down in my handy-dandy notebook and roll over. A few more minutes pass…Oh my god! I have it. The key story line in the next book. No need for notebook. I won’t forget that one. Notice the OMG. Ok. Enough work tonight. Seriously, go to sleep!

And so it continues. Last night alone, I came up with the character concept complete with name for a book idea which is a complete departure from my current project, the outline for the follow up to Iron Obsession (oooo, and it’s juicy), and a short story concept to submit to the Scratch contest. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3 am. Which is still a great Matchbox 20 song. I’m just sayin. I’m not complaining, because the ideas are coming. I won’t be so selfish as to say – not now, it’s not convenient for me. I just find it humorous the way the brain works.

Thank heavens I have found Turkish coffee. If that stuff doesn’t wake you up, you have no business on your feet.