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Richard Parry on Characters Wanting to do the Right Thing @TactualRain #AmReading #AmWriting #Fantasy

12:00 PM | Labels: , , , ,


You ever seen one of those villains in a movie that cackles with glee, rubbing their hands together at the downfall of the heroes?  Just being a bit of a dick?
The thing is, people are dicks all the time, but only super rarely do they wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “You know, it’s Tuesday: I’m going to be a dick today.”
If we start from there, it gives us our first hint on how to make our characters more real.  Start with them being human, and having human drivers.  People are “evil” or “good” because they want to achieve a set of outcomes that we perceive — through our own lens of morality — to be good or evil. Hitler?  Giant dick, right, I know.  But he didn’t wake up wanting to be a dick: he wanted to change the world and put Germany at the top.
When I write my stories, I start with the people.  I need a motley cast of people, good and evil and the run in between, to tell the story with.  They’re the stars of the show, and they need to have motivations for getting up in the morning.  Those motivations need to be real.
I try and start with my characters wanting to do the right thing, whatever that might mean for them.  In Night’s Favour, Val’s idea of the right thing is no more or less advanced than putting one foot in front of the other, going through the motions.  He drinks himself to sleep, lives on cheap take-out, and has just one friend.  Elsie’s view of the right thing is to save her daughter’s life, and in the process change the world with a revolutionary new medicine.  Which one of them is good, and which one is evil?
The consequences of their actions and how we interpret them makes them believable.  Val’s just an ordinary guy who gets the chance to be less ordinary, to change it all.  If you were him, what would you do?  Elsie’s needs for her daughter trump all others.  If you had a daughter who was dying, is there anything you wouldn’t do for her?
Good and evil is subjective, but it’s the motivations that make people in stories real.  They become our heroes and villains, our saints and sinners, because of how we see them.  We relate to them because, on some level… Well, we understand where they’re coming from.

Valentine’s an ordinary guy with ordinary problems. His boss is an asshole. He’s an alcoholic. And he’s getting that middle age spread just a bit too early. One night — the one night he can’t remember — changes everything. What happened at the popular downtown bar, The Elephant Blues? Why is Biomne, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, so interested in him — and the virus he carries? How is he getting stronger, faster, and more fit? And what’s the connection between Valentine and the criminally insane Russian, Volk?
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Action, Thriller, Urban Fantasy
Rating – R16
More details about the author
 Connect with Richard Parry on Facebook & Twitter

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Craig Staufenberg on Approaching Your Book Cover without Doubt @YouMakeArtDumb #MG #SelfPub

9:30 AM | Labels: , ,

Why Book Covers are So Important

There’s marketing, of course, but I don’t want to get too hung up in that. For me, my book cover was so important because it gave me a way to like my book again.

In general, I like what I write because I write things that I’d like to read. But the process of soliciting feedback, editing, and otherwise sitting with your book in an analytical way can drive away a good chunk of that affection. Especially when you’re about a year deep into the project and you aren’t feeling quite the same rush you did when you blazed through the first draft. And after you’ve been grappling with how seriously to take the 1 out of 40 beta readers who ended up hating your book and tearing it apart. I faced this scenario with my book, and I was having a very, very hard time liking my book right when I was finishing it up and getting ready to publish it.

But working with a good friend of mine to design the book’s cover pulled me out of this funk. The process and the final cover design helped me like, and then even love, my book again.

Why? Because instead of worrying about the text, I got to sit back and work with her to create a piece of art that was beautiful in its own right, but which also tapped into the book’s overall theme and tone.

What’s more, I got to bring someone else in to help work on the book with me. So I wasn’t just sitting by myself worrying about whether everyone was going to hate what I wrote. Instead, my friend and I just chatted on the phone, sent a lot of emails with pictures of book covers we liked, and talked about art. And then we talked about what we liked about the book, and why it resonated with the two of us. And suddenly I had this great avenue for thinking about, and appreciating, the book, while remembering why it meant so much to me in the first place.

Even better, I was able to give my friend a great opportunity—she got to design her first book cover from scratch. She’d worked on many book covers before mine, but she didn’t get to take full ownership of a cover design before. So no matter how I felt about the book, I knew that putting it out there would at least help my friend take a step forward in her career.

And ultimately, the whole process gave me something to love about the book that didn’t come from me. It’s always hard to feel totally positive about something that you made with your own two hands. Even if you like it, and even when you fall in love with it again, you still look at it and see the seams. And hear everything negative anyone has ever said about it. And think about all the worries, and concerns, and anxieties that went into it. But I can look at this cover that my friend designed and love it unconditionally. And that means there’s at least something about this book that I can approach without doubt.

The Girl Who Came Back to Life

When you die, your spirit wakes in the north, in the City of the Dead. There, you wander the cold until one of your living loved ones finds you, says "Goodbye," and Sends you to the next world. 

After her parents die, 12-year-old Sophie refuses to release their spirits. Instead, she resolves to travel to the City of the Dead to bring her mother and father’s spirits back home with her. 

Taking the long pilgrimage north with her gruff & distant grandmother—by train, by foot, by boat; over ruined mountains and plains and oceans—Sophie struggles to return what death stole from her. Yet the journey offers her many hard, unexpected lessons—what to hold on to, when to let go, and who she must truly bring back to life.

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Middle Grade
Rating – PG-13
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Connect with Craig Staufenberg through Facebook and Twitter

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Kari Nichols on Outlining & General Sense of Direction @TheKariNichols #WriteTip #AmWriting #Fantasy

10:30 AM | Labels: , , , , ,

How to Write by the Seat of Your Pants: Outline or No?

I’m an outline person. I like to start each book by writing a very general outline of events. That way, I know where I’m starting, what direction I’m heading in, and where I plan on ending. Now, that’s not to say that the outline is set in stone. I often change large pieces of the outline because I realize that a character makes more sense within the realm of his or her experiences if I head in a completely different direction than I had planned out. But that’s the great part of an outline.

It’s not a concrete pathway for the story. It simply provides a general sense of direction to get from the beginning of the journey to the finish line. I know there are people who refuse to write outlines for their stories because they feel it limits the depths of their imagination while they’re writing. But the important thing to remember if you use an outline is this: there are a hundred different paths you can take and decisions you can make in life to get from point A to point B.

Why would writing a story be any different? The outline helps me to have direction … but that’s it. If you use an outline, don’t be afraid to stray if you come up with a crazy twist or a fun side story that can connect if you change the original plan. The goal is to the write the best version of the story possible. For me, beginning with an outline helps me attain that goal.

rogue

“We stand united, Family of Immortals. Plagued by life. Cursed by the hand of God …”

Rogue was born into an immortal family whose wealth is marked by a trail of blood. But when he meets the unnervingly familiar assistant of his next target, an unexpected rush of emotions begins to unravel his carefully laid plans.

Lissie lives a mundane life filled with work … and little else. She hasn’t taken a risk since she moved to New York City after college—seven years ago. But when the mysterious Matthew McCloud walks through the door of her office, she finds herself diving head-first into a whirlwind romance she never saw coming.

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre - Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance
Rating – PG-13
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Connect with Kari Nichols on Facebook & Twitter

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Roland Hughes Shares His Thoughts on the Publishing Industry #AmWriting #AmReading #SelfPub

3:00 PM | Labels: , , ,

This has been a popular interview question for the past few decades.  It is one of those goto questions interviewers use to pad the time/space.  In theory it allows a writer to spout off about what is wrong with the industry, but a traditionally published author who isn’t looking to be out in the cold any time soon can rarely afford such a venting.  While it may be filler on for the interview, it has been a question which has created heated debate within the ever shrinking walls of traditional publishers.  One needs a frame of reference to understand any answer though.
Long before my great grandfather was even a gleam in the eye traditional publishers used to invest in a new author.  An author was nurtured and promoted.  The publisher built a franchise around the author.  These people were few and they were cherished.  A publisher endeavored to produce a product high enough in quality for it to still sell many years/decades after the author was no longer.  Basically they wanted that product to still be in demand up until the day the last copyright extension ran out.
Our current industry has basically Walmartized publishing.  Gone are the days of mega advances and mass marketing campaigns.  Your own personal press agent isn’t going to happen unless you either outsell Stephen King or hire them yourself.  There was a great article in the Writer magazine talking about public relations people.  One traditionally published author found out the publicist assigned to their work promoted 40 different titles each week.  Given a standard work week of 40 hours you can guess just how much publicity each title got.  That advance?  Well, if you get one don’t expect to quit your day job and write full time.  In fact, you will need your day job to help fund your own marketing efforts so bank that vacation time if your company will let you cash it out instead of forcing you to take it.
Now we are at a tipping point.  The pervasiveness of businesses allowing writers to upload work and make it available in numerous electronic markets has pulled writers with resources out of the slush piles publishers receive daily.  It has also changed the stigma.  When I first started writing computer books it was considered a mortal sin to self-publish.  The industry rule is that no publisher would touch you if they found you put out even one title without using a dignified publishing house.  Not any more.  There are various tracking services tracking actual reported sales numbers, not free downloads but the ones which actually sold and the retail price range.  Now we have numerous stories of publishing houses pursuing indie authors who sell above X units over a given time frame.  Some jump, but more and more do not.  In fact, a growing number of authors who “made it” working for a traditional house are jumping ship to self-publish and get a larger share of the money.
This tipping point is quite fragile.  A butterfly flapping its wings on a continent far away will determine which way the industry goes and that determination isn’t far off.  The pervasiveness of the downloadable book services is also the problem with them.  I have yet to find one which has any requirement a work have had professional editing, let alone multiple rounds of professional editing.  I am seeing a growing number of people who purchased reading devices post rants about how they are not going to download anything (free or otherwise) which doesn’t come from a known publishing house because they are sick and tired of wasting their time on titles rampant with spelling/grammar/plot line/insert-error-type-here errors.
So.  If one or more of these pervasive services wakes up and smells the iced tea brewing (coffee is nasty!) they will wipe the slush from their servers and institute professional editing requirements.  Paying for professional editing will remove most of the free and 99 cent titles from their stores.  One simply cannot spend thousands of dollars on professional editing and give the work away.  Once a vendor takes their cut of the 99 cent fee an author has to have a run away hit to break even.  Simple economics ensure there won’t be much on the virtual shelves which suffers from poor editing.
Then we will see if people come to the realization an industry cannot survive giving it all away for free.  If they do, traditional publishing houses will cease to exist or will be down to just a handful who now specialize in taking wildly successful electronic titles to print markets.
What is more likely is that people will be too addicted to “free” stuff to pay a fair price.  They will continue to suck down low quality free stuff until they overdose on it and leave the reading world forever.  When that happens we will see a dramatic shrinking in the size of the eBook market.  The physical print market will then either stabilize or begin growing in size because that will be the last place people can toss a stone and hit a quality product.

“John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” is one big interview. It is a transcript of a dialogue between “John Smith” (who, as the title of the book implies is the last known survivor of the Microsoft wars) and the interviewer for a prominent news organization.
Buy Now @ Amazon & B&N
Genre – Dystopian Fiction
Rating – PG
More details about the author

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Storytelling Redefined with HJ Lawson @hjlawson1 #AmWriting #AmReading #YA

7:30 AM | Labels: , ,

Storytelling Redefined

I listened to a Joanne Penn podcast on www.thecretivepenn.com about Wattpad, a new social platform for readers. Wattpad has 24 million users, the majority are readers, with only 10% authors. Average session length is 30 mins, and 85% read via mobile devices.

It is a very popular site for teenagers, fan fiction is hugely popular, search One Direction on the site and you will see hundreds of stories. It has been described as the YouTube of writing because of the way it enables authors to share their work with the world. Wattpad also has a global growth. US, Canada and UK are the largest, the Philippines stands apart. Wattpad is the #1 app and it is driving the physical bookselling bestseller lists.

Authors can upload either the completed or working version of their books for readers to read. It is not possible to upload a book as one single file; it has to be done on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Then your followers get notified the moment a new chapter is shared. The notification appears on the phone, tablet or computer. Then the best part; followers make comments and vote for your work.

I interviewed Bruce Elgin, on my website www.theindiejourney.com about his experience on Wattpad. Bruce’s novel Schism has been read over 117,922 time, has 4521 votes, 1732 comments and was selected for the Wattpad feature story.

I asked Bruce - Have you found Wattpad a useful platform for your work? Bruce replied: I love Wattpad.  I am a total dork for Wattpad.  How else can a writer get fans from every corner of the world?  When I started on Wattpad I was brainstorming ways to get the word out about Schism.  I had some casual fans from Voodootown, but didn’t know who most of them were.  But, on July 18, Schism will be a featured story on Wattpad and hundreds of thousands of people (who already love to read!) from every corner of the world are going to check it out.  And for everyone that votes for even one chapter, I will know who that person is and can thank them personally.  Add to that the ability to talk with readers as they read and we’re looking at a brand new paradigm of reading.

I asked him if he have you seen an increase in your book sales, from launching it on Wattpad, if yes by what percentages? Bruce: Yes!  It’s small so far, maybe a 30% increase, but with Schism being featured, I think the bump will get much bigger.

I have posted chapters of my first novel War Kids on Wattpad, and found that the readers are very supportive and they have given me useful comments. It is great to have a direct connection with the readers.

photo

Hayley Lawson is the author of War Kids. She has written a young adult contemporary novel set in Syria; a story about the Syrian Civil war though the eyes of children.

She was born in Lancaster, England. Growing up in a single parent household with five other siblings; was hard, and also character building.

As a young child she found a passion for drawing, and continued this into adulthood, graduating from the University of Central Lancashire, England with a BA(Hons) in fashion design.

At aged twenty seven, Hayley and her husband packed up their belongings for a lifelong dream to move to California. Her America dream was complete with the birth of her daughter. Her love for traveling, continued after the birth of her daughter traveling around America with the family, and the best travelled dog.
A new job positioned opened up New York, and the family decide to relocate to Long Island, NY, which is where she currently resides.

On August 21 she was moved by the images of the Syrian conflict, and embarked on an unlikely journey of writing her first novel.


warkids

All profits from the book will be going to the save the children charity.

When fourteen-year-old Jada wakes up in a hospital, the last thing she thinks is that her life has completely changed forever. But when the very real civil war forces her to flee from every open space, she must use the firearm skills her father taught her to reunite with him and protect herself. Armed with a single gun and a key to an unknown locker, Jada crosses Syria on a journey with a group of children called the Fearless Freedom Fighters. With the leader, Zak, they mount a plan to rescue their fathers while they try to cope with the merciless murders of their families. As Jada and Zak lead the group together, love blossoms, but with soldiers hot on their tail, they need to stay vigilant in the face of war.

Reviews from Wattpad

Very interesting story, very powerful. I can really feel the emotion...Peter

This book really touches my heart because there is so much truth is in this book. The detail is so brilliantly displayed, its beautifuly written. There are pretty intense chapters, its good... scrap that its excellent. Loe the work ...although I am upset. I know this is a fictional story, but I just can't help but feel extremely bad for all the lost lives especially the innocent and young ones...Saddy

A REMARKABLE BOOK, DEMANDS TO BE READ Goodreads review from Joe Eliseon

Buy Now @ Amazon | Smashwords | CreateSpace
Genre - Young Adult 
Rating – PG-13
More details about the author
Connect with H J Lawson on GoodReads & Facebook & Twitter 
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C.D. Verhoff on Writing and Her Favourite #Author @CDVerhoff #EpicFantasy #AmReading

7:30 AM | Labels: , , , , , , ,


1.  C. D. Verhoff – why do you use initials instead of your given name?
It fits easier on a book cover. Outside of writing, I usually go by Deanna, my middle name.
2.  Tell us a bit about your family, Deanna.
I grew up in a working class Catholic family from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I was the fourth of five sisters (no brothers). My mom was a file clerk and self-taught artist of local renown. My dad worked at a tire plant. He had a tough exterior. All the neighborhood kids were scared of him because he yelled a lot, but he was a good father.
As a child, money was tight, but I never lacked for necessities. I fantasized about having less sisters and more Christmas presents. Now that I’m older, I realize that my siblings are best gifts my parents ever gave me. Even though we live hundreds of miles away from each other, they are my best friends in the world.
Unfortunately, only one of my sisters is open to fantasy and science fiction. It’s definitely not her first choice though. She hasn’t even watched any of the Star Wars movies. Can you imagine? My other sisters are into romance novels. They used to devour Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts paperbacks like candy. I try to be respectful of their reading tastes, but I’m not above bugging them to beta read for me.
Enough about them. Let’s move onto how I met my husband. I’ll start by saying I wasn’t looking for one. Since grade school, I was determined to stay single. When asked why, I’d explain that I had never seen a marriage I’d want to be in. Then I met this one guy. He talked too much, wore his pants too high, raised chickens for a hobby, had zero housekeeping skills, went to Mass every Sunday and my resolve flew out the window (I will testify in court that love isn’t rational). My friends said he wasn’t my type, but we hit it off. It was a whirlwind romance and a year later we were married. My husband has only read one book since I’ve known him...and it wasn’t one of mine. I suppose I wouldn’t want him to bring an inmate home for me to babysit (he’s a prison guard), so we’ll call it even. We have a daughter and a son (in that order).
Moving onto my favorite subject—my babies. Well, they’re adolescents now, but a part of me will always think of them that way. Until I became a mother, I didn’t understand the meaning of unconditional love. It’s fierce, protective, incredibly painful at times and wonderful. Being a mom is my calling. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
3.  How do you work through self-doubts and fear? 
I’m still working through the self-doubts and fear, so I’m not sure how to answer this one. My approach might be overly simplistic. I acknowledge my feelings, but I don’t dwell on them. My internal pep talk goes like this:
Don’t worry about stupid shit. Just keep your eyes on the goal and write the damn book.
4.  What makes you happiest? 
Spending time with loved ones, Christmas, warm chocolate chip cookies, a clean house, alone-time to work on story, French vanilla cappuccino, the sound of summer rain against the roof, the first snow fall, autumn leaves, the crackle of a fire in the hearth, cozying with the kids on the couch to watch a movie, a good book, those rare moments in prayer when I feel God’s presence, walking through an old cemetery, making a book sale, getting a good book review, finding a ten dollar bill left in my coat pocket from last winter, reminiscing about younger days with old friends, enjoying a good meal that I didn’t have to make myself.
5.  Why do you write? 
I’m addicted. When a scene comes together, it gives me a high. When I’m forced to stay away from my computer too long, I get jittery until I get my daily fix of wordage. The compulsion sometimes interferes with my other responsibilities—housework, social life, and even my health. Writing is my blue meth, I guess.
6.  What writing are you most proud of?
Glory Alley and the Star Riders. I wrote the skeleton of the book, from beginning to the end in less than three days. Didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, it was as if the story poured into me from some other realm. I haven’t had the same experience with any of my other books.
7.  Who is your favorite author? 
From a purely entertainment standpoint, I’d have to say Dean Koontz. I like the way he portrays ordinary people in heroic ways. With Dean as the guide, when realistic people get thrust into bizarre situations, it’s always a fun trip. He frequently contrasts the worst of the human condition against the best and the latter usually wins out. I like that kind of optimism.
PromisedLand
The last survivors of the human race are riding out nuclear winter in an underground bunker when disaster strikes. Forced to the surface centuries ahead of schedule, what they find blows their minds. Who can explain it? Two social misfits work together to unravel the mystery.

After living in a posh underground shelter his entire life, Lars Steelsun is plunged headfirst into a mind-blowing adventure on the surface of the Earth. As Lars and his displaced bunker mates are led across the grasslands by Mayor Wakeland, a man of questionable sanity who claims to talk with God, they discover a primitive world where human beings are no longer welcome. Even more mystifying is the emergence of new senses and abilities from within. 

Learning to use them has become a priority, but his biggest challenge comes from the vivacious Josie Albright. Her lust for glory is going to get them both into trouble. Sparks fly when her gung ho ways clash with his cautious personality. Can they overcome their differences to find love and a homeland for their people?

May not be suitable for younger readers. 
Contains mild profanity, sexual situations (infrequent), and violence. 

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre - Epic Fantasy
Rating – R
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The Other Side of the Ice #Excerpt by @TheobaldSprague #Climate #NonFiction #Memoir

10:30 AM | Labels: , , , ,

The main purpose of our trip the year before on Akademik Ioff was to find out the physical feasibility of our intended joint expedition and to see what the ice conditions were like in the Northwest Passage. For me, I hoped to gain a good visual sense of what I’d be trying to capture on film. Within the first few days, I knew I would bring back never-before-seen footage from The Passage. From Dan and Jim’s perspective, they grew confident that a Nordhavn boat could take on The Passage and survive. Each morning, the crew of Akademik Ioff provided the ship’s passengers with its own newspaper, giving the latest headlines. Each morning, the three of us would sit and discuss the sorry case of the world in general and feel all the more secure that our intended trip through the Northwest Passage was about as timely as we could hope for.
On September 15, 2008, with a growing sense of accomplishment and anticipation, I sat down for breakfast and opened the ship’s daily newspaper. I stared in abject and total disbelief at the latest headlines noting that Lehman Brothers was crashing, about to be financially erased from the face of the earth, and that the collateral damage was going to be unprecedented.
The collateral damage reached the Far North. As the days continued to roll by, Jim no longer wanted to discuss the trip. In fact, Jim no longer ate
with Dan and me. When the three of us actually were together, the talk was of anything but their $300,000 commitment to the trip and perhaps building a forty-foot boat so they could join in the adventure. By the time the trip aboard Akademik Ioff had ended, there was no $300,000 commitment. I saw it coming a mile away.
Dan Streech was the type of man who, when he told me of the offer’s withdrawal, he did it with tears in his eyes. I was completely in Dan’s corner. I couldn’t in good conscience ask for such a large amount of money while he was looking at having to lay off longtime trusted employees, people he truly loved.
But as much as I appreciated Dan’s position and honesty, I was devastated. Actually, more than devastated. I was completely and decisively screwed.

A sailor and his family’s harrowing and inspiring story of their attempt to sail the treacherous Northwest Passage.
Sprague Theobald, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert sailor with over 40,000 offshore miles under his belt, always considered the Northwest Passage–the sea route connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific–the ultimate uncharted territory. Since Roald Amundsen completed the first successful crossing of the fabled Northwest Passage in 1906, only twenty-four pleasure craft have followed in his wake. Many more people have gone into space than have traversed the Passage, and a staggering number have died trying. From his home port of Newport, Rhode Island, through the Passage and around Alaska to Seattle, it would be an 8,500-mile trek filled with constant danger from ice, polar bears, and severe weather.
What Theobald couldn’t have known was just how life-changing his journey through the Passage would be. Reuniting his children and stepchildren after a bad divorce more than fifteen years earlier, the family embarks with unanswered questions, untold hurts, and unspoken mistrusts hanging over their heads. Unrelenting cold, hungry polar bears, and a haunting landscape littered with sobering artifacts from the tragic Franklin Expedition of 1845, as well as personality clashes that threaten to tear the crew apart, make The Other Side of the Ice a harrowing story of survival, adventure, and, ultimately, redemption.

( TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL HD TEASER FOR “The Other Side of The Ice” [book and documentary] PLEASE GO TO: VIMEO.COM/45526226) 

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Memoir, adventure, family, climate
Rating – PG
More details about the author
 Connect with Sprague Theobald on Facebook & Twitter

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