Snippets

NaNo is just around the corner and a big part of some writer's experience is meet-ups. Writing in a group is a different experience than writing at home in your own little nook. You may be expected to socialize *gasp*, I know writing is normally a task best performed alone. Let me back up and talk to you about what kick-off events and meet-ups are (I know, it sounds self-explanatory) Kick-off Kick-off events are put together to help a group get to know each other and each other's writing. Often times there is NaNo-swag, such as stickers and bookmarks. Some ML's put together goody bags, give out candy, or do giveaways. This year, I probably went overboard. It's my first time, and I'm excited! My goody bags include little notebooks, pens, stickers, bookmarks, gum, and hard candy. I'm also doing a door prize: a candy bucket with a coffee mug, chocolate, latte mix, bigger notebook, better pens, a stuffy to squeeze, and a fake plant (perfect for the for...

Hungry For Blood by Sarah Noffke My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'm really loving this series (and finally getting used to the audio narrator's pronunciation of werewolf) Some are won, some are lost, and the action continues! Really, the narrative from novel to novel is one cohesive storyline. You get to know the characters little by little and we get to travel even deeper into what Olento research is cooking up. The 'Rabid Wolf' is terrifying, and it was awesome to see Zepher, in particular, step up to the challenge. The was also a moment between two characters that I've been looking forward to, and I'm hoping for more in the next book. I'm hoping at least some of the werewolves get their happily ever afters! Available on Amazon for $4.99 View all my reviews

I love research! Love it! Is that weird? I hope not. I really enjoy learning new things, and writing has given me the perfect opportunity to indulge in that.  What does research look like to you? How in-depth do you go? This year I have quite a bit to do. Today at the library I spent two hours researching only one topic, and I have so much more to do. I'll probably not get it all done before I start writing, but that's okay. I might find something that I need more information on while  I'm writing, and that's okay as well. As much as I love research, while I'm writing isn't when I indulge in it, it's too distracting for me. Perhaps you are able to take a breather and follow the research bunny trails, and that's awesome! Now, what I do when I run into something like this is leave myself a note, right in the text! I'll simply be going along and then I'll add some brackets, inside which I note down what I need to learn more about, then co...

I know, I know, outlines aren't for everyone. However, they definitely are for me.  NaNoWriMo '11 (I think), I decided to try writing without an outline. I succeeded and won with just over 50,000 words, but I hated that novel. I haven't actually opened it since that November and I'm still intrigued by that particular idea, but I'm not ready to revisit it yet! I suppose you might not consider my outlines as traditional, it's more like a bullet point roadmap, and it works for me. Let me walk you through my progress. Step 1. After coming up with the initial idea, I sit there with some index cards and think about how I want things to happen. on each card, I note down a particular beat I want to hit. This year, I'm writing a romance, so my main focus is the relationship. I had a vague idea of how I wanted things to progress so I wrote down things like the circumstances of their first meeting, how they get to know each other, the first kiss, etc. I then f...

Ypsilon and The Plague Doctor by Zachary Paul Chopchinski My rating: 5 of 5 stars Yahoo! Another amazing Hall of Doors book! Ypsilon and The Plague Doctor is an action-packed steampunk zombie science-fantasy. (Yeah, you read that right!) I can guarantee you've never read anything like this before. I don't know what goes on in Mr. Chopchinski's head, but it seems to be a strange and terrifying place. The monsters he has created for the world machine remind me a bit of Night Watch/Day Watch in that it's just a different kind of horror that you don't typically see in an American written novel (Night Watch is, I believe, written by a native Russian). It's fun to follow characters that I now know pretty well through different landscapes and genres. I feel like the preceding book in the series, Arija and the Burning City raised the bar on the series and this one meets it head-on, taking you into a place of comfort (the world machine) and turning everything i...

Alpha Wolf by Sarah Noffke My rating: 5 of 5 stars Awesome! I was already familiar with Ms Noffke's work, so I was so excited to learn she was working on a series featuring werewolves. This book was awesome! This series takes place in the same world as the rest of Ms Noffke's book, so at the heart of it are the Dream Walkers. The werewolves are the result of science and are a cool new take on the whole idea. Ren might not be there, but his trademark snark continues on in his daughter, Adelaide, which I totally appreciate. I love how her character is explored in this story, as the woman underneath. As for the werewolves themselves, you meet three of the 12 men in this story, and I loved all of them. I'm intrigued and am looking forward to getting to know them better as they hunt down the rest. View all my reviews

How do you create your characters? Do you discover them as you write, or do you have a firm picture in your mind? When I write a new character, I like to get to know them pretty well, before I start torturing fitting them into the story. I do a fairly thorough questionnaire, then I free write/interview them to get a feel for their voice. The following is the character builder I did for Percy before I started Beauty is the Beast. (Warning: There may be spoilers if you haven't read Beauty is the Beast yet. Also, things tend to change and grow as I write. This is just the original stream of consciousness interview) Who Is Percy? ⦁ What is the character’s name? Persephone, Proserpine ⦁ How old is the character? Very, appears to be in her thirties ⦁ Who were the character’s parents? Demeter (Ceres) Dionysus (Bacchus) ⦁ Where was the character born? What were the circumstances of the birth? Did anything unusual happen? What is the character’s relationship with his/h...

The Cursed Key by Miranda Brock  & Rebecca Hamilton My rating: 5 of 5 stars This awesome new paranormal/urban fantasy sank its hooks right into me! It’s a little bit Laura Croft and a lot of a fantastically built world. The main character, Olivia, is as tenacious in her pursuit for answers as she is at a dig site. I enjoyed following her around the world and learning about the magic existing right under her nose. And Kael the leopard shifter? Yes! I loved their dynamic together and look forward to exploring their relationship more in future books! I’ve read quite a few of Miranda Brock’s novels but this a first with Rebecca Hamilton. I’m curious to read more of her work and see if I can decipher which part of The Cursed Key comes from which author! Preorder on Amazon , iBooks , and nook ! View all my reviews

NaNoWriMo 2019: This Year's Idea Authors get asked the question  Where do your ideas come from? so often, you'd think we'd have an answer by now. Honestly, the answer is probably going to be different every single time, even from the same author. My ideas usually start out with thinking about what if? This year, the thought occurred to me as I was watching my daughter's gymnastics class. I typed out a bunch of bullet notes I wanted to hit on my phone and wrote about half of the first chapter a few days later. I was busy with Pack of Freaks at the time, so I set it aside, deciding to save the idea for my NaNo project this year. Some people don't have more than a character or a setting in mind when they sit down in front of their computers and just go for it. I've tried going by the seat of my pants before, and I just didn't like how it worked for me. Other people will start with a prompt. Here, I'll give you some: An elf, a pixie...

Where has this year gone?! Is it seriously October already? Which means... NaNo is next month 😱. I swear it just snuck right up and goosed me! (Yeah, it can get a bit fresh and sassy, but I can't help but love it) But that's not it. Nope. There's more, folks. I applied to be an ML this year, for the first time ever! I'm also going it solo. I'm doing a mad dash to get a round of edits done on the third Beasts Among Us book, and also to finish the rough draft the fourth, and final, book in the series. Will I make it? Probably not. I will most likely be writing and editing my way through November. I still need to contact my local library to see if they will have a place for meet-ups. I'm kinda wondering if I'll be writing there alone. I haven't seen any action on nanowrimo.org yet, as far as writers in my region go. Of course, there's a shiny new website, so it could be that people are trying to find their way around! This ...