by Sarah | Nov 20, 2012 | Books, Challenge, Hump Day Hook, Morgana Chronicles, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook. I did miss last week because of all the hospital craziness with Denver, but I’m glad to dive back into it this week.
In the past few weeks I’ve started another new story. It’s taking a lot of world building, but the idea started small and really blossomed from there. Can’t get into too many details, but it’s a new series that’s going to be a dark urban fantasy – probably a few romantic elements thrown in.
So, without further ado, I give you the first paragraphs of “Into a Mirror Darkly” – book 1 of the Morgana Chronicles.
Red held her breath and kept every muscle relaxed to avoid twitching. The tiniest move would reveal her hiding place. She kept her long sword against her chest, her right hand folded in the familiar grooves of the handle. In her left she clutched the dagger still sticky with green blood.
Damn ogres.
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HHH banner below:
by Sarah | Nov 9, 2012 | Books, General, Writing, writing tips
This is what my desk looks like.
This is my research.
There are days when writing is the worst job in the world. When your inbox is a mine field of rejections or dead silence. When you get notes from your editor that rip your plot to shreds and leave it bleeding. Or notes on your grammar and technical issues that leave more red on the page than black.
When you sit and stare at your screen knowing in your mind what you want to write but the line of communication to your fingers is broke.
Of course – then there are the days when you hate everything you have written and want to throw it all away.
Then there are days like this. When you have ideas brewing so fast you can’t keep track.
Or – when you have to research those ideas.
Reading fairy tales as research?
Native American Mythology?
Hells yeah.
Most of my research in the past has centered around the 1800’s. The Wild West. I love that period and research is almost secondary now to knowledge (although there’s always more to learn) I have been so deeply enmeshed in that time period since my youth.
To research new ideas, and go into new genres that don’t get close to my original genre – it’s a daily bit of excitement.
It’s in those moments that I really do just love this job.
by Sarah | Oct 31, 2012 | Books, Hex Ranch, Writing
To get some more writing posts up – at least until I figure out the blog layout craziness – and then especially after that, I found myself a new weekly blog hop to take part in. This one is the Hump Day Hook. The point is to post one paragraph of your writing. It can be a WIP, a finished MS or a book you have out in the world for sale.
To quote the creator (Kerrianne Coombes):
This is a new blog hop where you post ONE paragraph from a WIP or finished book for all to see. Then, it would be really cool if you could visit other writers participating and comment on their paragraph!
This is a fun way to meet new writers, gain more readers and basically have fun with your work! You can tweet about it, Facebook it Etc, and get word out about HHH and your work.
So for my first foray into the world of the HHH I’m putting out a paragraph from my WIP, Hex Ranch. Instead of starting from the beginning I started somewhere in the middle so I’d have a good idea of the characters and their personalities before I tried to start Chapter 1. One thing is for sure, it didn’t take long for Thea “Teddy” Drake to make her personality clear. Here’s her response to the Sheriff (Seth) asking if she’ll behave:
Goddess, she really wanted him to take her right now. His strong arms held her close enough to feel his own excitement pressed hard against her belly. Her body hummed, nipples taut against the thin cotton of her dress. “I make no promises, Sheriff. Can’t recall a time I’ve ever been real good at behaving.”
To see more participants, click on the HHH banner below:
by Sarah | Oct 23, 2012 | Guest Authors, Guest Post, Writing
I have the great pleasure of hosting my good friend (and top-notch critique partner) Sabrina Garie for her blog tour for her novel, Fires of Justice. Take note – she’s giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter!!!
Thanks for hosting me Sarah. I am so glad to be here. You exemplify bravery and humor and practicality in the face of the unknowable and unexpected. In tribute to that, I thought I’d talk about the power of stories and books—how they make us stronger and more adaptable. I know many people use books to escape from life and I admit to doing that myself. But I also rely on them to help me be better at life and my goal as a writer is to fuse that into my work.
By touching our hearts and minds, stories give us a fun and risk-free ways to learn to handle the unexpected—those things that we can neither practice nor prepare for. Horror stories, roller coasters and zombies retain their popularity partially for that reason. Engaging with stories through film, books, however you like to do it, can help us learn to sit and act with fear in our bellies and panic-induced adrenalin weaving through our veins.
Paranormal and science fiction also take us into places where we cannot go, which is why I love to read and write them. What should we do if a werewolf knocks on the door or an alien lands in our backyard? As silly as these questions may sound at first, they strike a chord on some level of our psyche. At their base, they bring to light how we deal with the unknown, the untested, the other that we have yet to meet.
In my new release, Fires of Justice, I try and pull a few punches in this direction. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Calista, our heroine, is a witch, so she’s used to some pretty strange things happening in any 24 hour period. Even so, the story starts with the simultaneous arrival of an ominous dream and a shifter setting up camp in her backyard and she, naturally, is weirded out by the whole thing. Turns out, the shifter is one of the characters in the dream. So what would you do if you crashed into a person who you’d only seen in a dream? Isn’t this just like asking if you believe in love at first sight in a slightly off-beat way? In college, I crushed on a guy because every time I looked at him, he felt familiar, like I’d known him somehow. Whenever I saw him, the lyrics from the Eagles’ Peaceful, Easy Feeling would float around in my head “I get this feeling I may know you as a lover and a friend.” It was strange and exciting and I had no idea how to handle it. That experience influenced the creation of this scene.
When Cullen first meets Calista, he’s predisposed to hate her because of some of the damage he carries around from his past. Surprise, she’s nothing like he expected. Sometimes that werewolf or that alien is just the boy (or girl) next door you can’t see for the fangs or your own scars. The power of stories is that they help us see past the fangs and the scars—to look underneath the facades that often get in the way. Even if we have to hex it off to do it.
Thanks for visiting. I’m giving away a free e-copy of Fires of Justice to one commenter. How do stories help you deal with the unknown in your life?
*~*~*
To Purchase:
Ellora’s Cave
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Always read the fine print when swearing an eternal oath to gods and guardians…
Beholden by the sacred vows of her coven, fire witch Calista Reid agrees to temporarily mate with shifter Cullen McMahan to fulfill a mission assigned by the guardians. When tall, dark and damaged arrives on her doorstep, generating enough heat to scorch a fire witch, Calista finds herself drawn to his battle-hardened body and broken soul. His pain speaks to her own deep-rooted isolation and the intensity of his hunger slakes her passion like no other.
Cullen, scarred by a past that left him an indentured soldier to the guardians, resents yet another hump-on-command assignment…until he encounters the compassionate, fearless, incendiary redhead who detonates his body and reawakens the emotions sacrifice and loss had suppressed. But Cullen harbors a terrible secret—one that reaches back into Calista’s troubled childhood and threatens the foundation of their growing bond.
Link to Excerpt: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419941542.htm
*~*~*
Sabrina Garie is on a journey to create the most kick-ass heroine romance fiction has ever known and the hero who can take her. A believer that big, audacious goals spice up life, she relies on coffee, red wine and laughter to make those goals (and her characters) come alive. When not at the computer, she wrangles vegetables and extra helpings of homework into her star-spangled, fashion-loving progeny, kowtows to a fat cat and reads, a lot. Since it is more fun to travel in packs, come along for the ride. I’d love to chat.
You can find me at:
Website/Blog: www.sabrinagarie.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SabrinaGarie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SabrinaGarieAuthor
I also blog at Darker Temptations (Paranormal and Science Fiction Romance Blog): http://darkertemptations.wordpress.com/
by Sarah | Oct 16, 2012 | Critters, Writing, writing tips
When I first started this writing journey I had no people.
No, that’s wrong. I had two people.
My two people were (and still are) amazing. They remain today as my Alpha readers, keeping me going when I wane in energy. Pestering me for more words, more characters, more stories. Those people, they are my first people. My first line of defense in story writing. The ones that say “Um, wait…wha?” if i screw up a story line or a character in some way. They keep me on my toes and eager to write.
But a writer needs more than Alphas. Needs more than two people (ok, 3 if you count my hubs, but he doesn’t read romance) cheering you on.
So I found a group. A small group, but they were great peeps. In my first novel-writing foray before ebooks took over and before I ever managed to reach anything resembling a sell-able novel, they were good to have around. They were there to critique, but I rarely took advantage as I was new, not thick-skinned, and just didn’t understand the importance. One person among them (the one that brought me there) saw my novel and gave me critiques. They were harsh. Looking back, they were fair, but to my naivete they were very harsh.
After a couple of nibbles on the novel, 3 rewrites and no takers I started something new. I walked away from 5 years of effort to try something new. At the same time that writers group sort of drifted away into the wind. No one went to the forum, all was quiet and eventually faded into the depths of the internet. I’m still friends with two or three of them on Facebook, but for the most part we’ve parted ways.
Fast forward to about 6 months ago. Changing Tracks had made the agent rounds, I was still waiting on word from a couple of agents and not sure where to go next. I had started working on The Tribe, but not much else. I’d joined a couple of those writing challenge things, but one had faded into the background (but is now active again, I may participate) and the other…well, they screwed me and my friend over and so we walked away.
My only connection to any sense of the writing world was the #amwriting thread on twitter. One random day I happened to catch a tweet about a blog post called “Beta Readers, Critters, and Editors Part 2A“. I didn’t know the author but all I could think was “Wow, I could use some of THOSE” and thus I clicked the link.
The author had me rolling in laughter talking about DFL (Dumb F***ing Luck) and how that’s sort of what it takes to get a good critter. I responded immediately because I’d just recently posted on twitter about needing some good critters.
Turns out seeing that tweet and clicking on that link gave me the best dose of DFL I’ve ever had. The original author (Jennifer James) formed a group of critters – 8 people, half published, half not. We formed a support group of sorts. We push each other forward, we let each other know about submission calls, or our experiences with certain publishers, bounce ideas off each other and, of course, critique the hell out of each others pieces.
In the 6 months since I met them I’ve been published in horror, received a contract for Changing Tracks (technically 2 contracts, I turned down 1), I’m currently waiting on a response for another horror submission I put in (I know, horror and romance, aren’t I a BLAST?) – and I’ve got one heck of an amazing critique going for my other Historical Western Romance (Masked Hearts) that I’m hoping to sub by the end of the year (Yeah, I totall <3 you, Sabrina).
I used to think I could make it on my own. That stumbling through this world of publishing could be done just because I’m awesome. Turns out, I had to find the right group. With the help of some DFL, and some wonderful people, my entire writing career has changed drastically in 6 months time.
I never could have done it without them.
And I wouldn’t ever try again.
Have you found your people?
by Sarah | Oct 2, 2012 | Books, Changing Tracks, General, Hex Ranch, Writing, writing tips
[flickr id=”6367108607″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]You work diligently on a piece. At times you’re almost frantic.
You edit. Refine. Perfect.
You send it off into the world.
Breathe a sigh of relief.
And freeze.
What next?
You have to wait.
Sometimes it’s days, others it’s months or even years (I waited almost 2 years for a reply on a full before throwing in the towel – not without hesitation and sadness).
What next?
Sure they tell you to dive into the next thing.
It should be that easy.
Unless you know – the wait is only a couple of weeks. Maybe a month.
When you’re waiting for each email alert.
It’s easy to get distracted.
Facebook. Twitter. Blog posts. Real life.
Sleep. Oh, sleep is beautiful.
No beating yourself over the head to write, or edit, to make each sentence shine.
You miss it – but oh the break is nice. It’s only a few weeks anyway. Who cares if you take a break?
Except you miss it.
The break is stupid.
But how can you write when you’re distracted by email alerts? Facebook games (just ONE more quest…then I’ll write. Oh, wait – that quest is easy, one more. I swear it.).
It’s time to regain focus. Time goes too slow when you’re waiting on word.
It’s best to get lost in a new world.
Meet new friends (i.e. Characters).
How do you do it? What tricks do you use to regain focus?
Me? Well, I’m dropping my Facebook games. I don’t need them clogging up my feed anyway. I’ll just keep one game that doesn’t clog my feed and takes forever to regain lives. That means I need to focus and get back on my schedule. I have plenty more stories in my head that need to come out.
But just one more quest before I quit…
Just one….
