Raven Bower's Blog, page 10

Writing as a Team

Join Lain and I at Jess Resides Here for a discussion on what it’s like writing as a team, particularly a husband and wife team.

Discussing Writer’s Block & Interview

Today on Working Writers and Bloggers we’re discussing writer’s block ~ pop on by!

Beauty and Books did a lovely interview that’s live today.

Have a fun Hump Day!

Book Review – Sea Fever by Virginia Kantra

 

Title: Sea Fever

Author: Virginia Kantra

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Series: Yes, The Children of the Sea

Rating: 3 Bats

Heat Level: 4 flames

After a great opening to her series in Sea Witch, Kantra returns with  writing that is top-notch here – hence earning the 3 bat rank. I wish I would have liked this more because her world is exciting  to delve into, but the characters just didn’t shine like the ones in Sea Witch. I found the hero and heroine annoying and there were a few portions of the book where I wanted the demon to shred them both – particularly the heroine.  In Sea Witch, Kantra did a stellar job solidly linking the cause and effect of the characters’ actions, decisions and emotions – in Sea Fever, that’s lacking and it slips into a few wtf moments of melodrama,  out of left-field decisions and some straight out ‘duh’ moments.

That said, again, her writing and style is stellar and her general presentation is solid. It  makes for a decent and fun read for fans of paranormal romance.

I still plan on reading the third installment in her series, Sea Lord, in hopes that the cast is more relatable because I do enjoy her style and her world.

Movie Review ~ Red Water

 

Title: Red Water

Director:

Genre: Horror/Creature Feature

Rating: 4.5 bats

If you like shark movies – this one delivers. The characters were particularly well drawn for this genre and their story arcs and past were solid and believable. The actors did a fine job bringing their characters to life, especially with portraying the nuances and expressions that tell so much of the story without using words.

The world was believable with enough support cast to make it tangible but not so many that it overwhelmed the leads or muddled the storyline. I particularly liked the addition of human danger to the shark danger and the intrigue produced by the bad guys.

Good dialog throughout and a nice storyline. Relatable and sympathetic characters were able to draw me in and keep me on the edge when they were in danger – so kudos to the screenwriters.

The only reasons it didn’t earn a five bat with me were:

Though the addition of different dialects added a touch of realism, it was so thick during some parts that it was difficult to make out what the characters (primarily Rick) were saying.

There was a little too much regional/cultural slang that some parts of the dialog were off putting.

Yup and that’s about it.

I feel inclined to put a list of my top three actors from this film because of their ability to portray their characters in this film.

– as Brett van Ryan

– as John Sanders

– as Dr. Kelli Raymond

Screenwriters:

 

Beginnings ~ With Sapphire Phelan

 

Please welcome our guest author Sapphire Phelan, author of romance of assorted bents. Thank you Sapphire for joining us here today at Gothic Living and for sharing your experiences as an author!

Sapphire:

Since my new erotic urban fantasy print book, The Witch And The Familiar contains both eBooks, Being Familiar With a Witch and A Familiar Tangle With Hell, I’ll talk about the beginnings of both. The first book starts with my demon hero, Charun Adramelch sneaking into the bedchamber of a medieval lord’s lady, playing to seduce her. At this point he’s an Incubus, and not the demon Familiar he will become. The first couple of lines are: “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Lords shouldn’t leave their ladies unattended and waiting for me.” I hope that readers will want to find out what Charun as they read his thoughts. It must have succeeded, as this novella won the Prism in 2010, an award given by FF&P, the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of Romance Writers of America.

But the sequel, A Familiar Tangle With Hell, I have this novel off very differently, but again it’s begins with Charun. The first line is “Some days, it just didn’t pay to rebel against your father.” As Charun is supposed to be a demon and we assume not a human who died and became a demon, then how would he have a father would be upmost in the reader’s mind. I had it would intrigue the reader enough to read on and find out who this father is. And who Charun’s father really is another big surprise, as it is all about Charun’s big secret, one that Tina doesn’t know even.

That’s what writing the hook should be about, surprising the reader and making them to go on and learn what the secret is all about. From the first line to no more than a paragraph, a writer needs to grab the reader’s attention. I always try to write hopefully a good hook. Maybe sometimes when I go back to edit the manuscript and realized the hook doesn’t grab me, I will rework it. I actually added the first page of Charun’s secret and about his father after the book was done. It was a hook that needed to be as the first chapter didn’t have one that satisfied me and if I am not satisfied, than would the readers be either?

The hook doesn’t always have to be about action, like someone is running away or kicking someone’s butt. The right words are action, whether a thought or someone speaking, the setting, or even conflict. Though yes, genre dictates how a book begins, that not always true. I just started a werewolf horror novel, Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand. Nothing about a victim found torn to pieces or anything, and yet, the opening lines grabbed me: “Okay, it says here that you stole. . .” Who stole and what did they steal? It caught me right away.

So whether off with a bang or a whimper, the beginning should all about catching your reader, hook, line and sinker.

The Witch and The Familiar is now available in print at Phaze Books.

As separate eBooks, Being Familiar With a Witch and A Familiar Tangle With Hell is also available at Phaze Books, on Kindle.

Bio: Sapphire Phelan has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to it is A Familiar Tangle With Hell, released June 2011 from Phaze Books, Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!

Find out more about Sapphire Phelan at http://www.SapphirePhelan.com.

Diamond Jubilee Blog Hop!

This year we’re participating in Romance at Random’s celebration of the UK’s Diamond Jubilee from today until 5/31. They’re giving away 26 prizes -

1 winner, 1 copy – Born To Darkness by Suzanne Brockmann

1 winner, 1 copy – The Proposal by Mary Balogh

1 winner, 1 copy – Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian

3 winners, 1 copy of WITCHFUL THINKING by HP Mallory

10 winners, 1 copy of a PREVIEW from Net Galley of ABOUT LAST NIGHT by Ruthie Knox

10 winners, 1 copy of PREVIEW from Net Galley of DEEP AUTUMN HEAT by Elisabeth Barrett

To participate and increase your chances of winning hop on over to all participating blogs and visit the Romance at Random site for more details.

Calendar vs. Seasons ~ A Naturalist’s View

 

“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”  ~Patrick Young

Our modern world revolves around schedules, calendars, clocks and computers. These time trackers are so integrated into our everyday lives that it seems reality is slipping away from some folks.

It boggles my mind how many people truly believe that if the weather isn’t ‘normal’ for a certain time of the year that it’s a cause for extreme alarm. The world is going to end! Crops will be lost! Prices will skyrocket! Everyone panic!

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” ~ Mark Twain

Weather – like nature herself – is largely unpredictable. Weather is not a computer program; it cannot and will not perform certain functions at certain times purely because we want it to.

The calendar is a contraption invented by people for people. Expecting nature to bow down before this contrived piece of human brilliance is the height of arrogance. Though, I guess that’s better than the sadistic minds who invented the alarm clock, but that’s neither here nor there 

Nature is not and never will be under our control. If we’re people of the land, it’s wise of us to acknowledge that fact. Toss the dang calendars and turn off those bubble-brained talking heads on the news.

“Weather is a great metaphor for life – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.”  ~Terri Guillemets

“On cable TV they have a weather channel – 24 hours of weather.  We had something like that where I grew up.  We called it a window.”  ~Dan Spencer

Instead, observe. Pay attention to the seasons. Pay attention to what nature is doing now – not what she’s did last year on this calendar date or what Mr. Weather Dude thinks she’ll do tomorrow. Nature is fickle and she might toss Mr. Weather Dude for a loop tomorrow out of pure amusement or spite.

For example, the pruning of fruit trees ought to be done in winter when trees are dormant. Note the use of winter (a season) vs. January (a month). Observe the weather, observe the trees and choose the optimum time to prune your trees – don’t wait for a specified calendar month or rush to prune just because ‘so and so said this month is best’ or ‘I always prune in X week in X month’. Calendars don’t exist in nature, seasons do, so it’d behoove us to pay heed.

If you’re of the land then work with nature, not against her. It’ll save you tons of stress, heart ache and your plants will thank you for it. Not to mention, it’s simply easier and who wouldn’t want that?

“Weather forecast for tonight: dark.” ~George Carlin

 

Primal in Print!

 

 

 

Primal is now available in print at Amazon!

One night. One crime. Two lives shattered. Federal witness Wrey Madison is forced out of her native Chicago and into the back woods of northern Michigan. Cut off from her family and friends she etches out a life for herself surrounded by strangers. But no one, not even her best friend Deputy US Marshal Billie Dalton, knows who Wrey really is. What she is. When Wrey meets mysterious Arvon Night, her precious new life begins to unravel, for he too has a dark secret and within him lurks a beast that perhaps not even he can control. When the shades of her past return, hell bent on silencing her before trial – who can she trust? Will Billie shun her if she discovers what she is? Is Arvon a friend…or is he too out to kill her?

Interview at Sasha Summers’ Blog

Sasha Summers, author of Medusa, A Love Story, is hosting me on her blog today. Her interview includes a snippet from one of the characters in Primal > : )

Book Review ~ The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists

 

 

Title: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists

Author: Andrew McAleer (Editor)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: Adams Media

Series: No

Rating: 3 Bats

Heat Level: N/A

I liked the theory of this book and the answers the novelists gave were interesting. Above all, the neatest thing about this was how some of them agreed on some subjects (even if they put it differently) and yet had dynamically different opinions on other subjects.

That said, to be a bit persnickety here, the book had little to do with the habits of the authors and more to do with their opinions – which, by definition, are not the same thing. Therefore, I think the title is somewhat deceiving.

Combined with the answers being short and sometimes vague, it wasn’t as helpful as one might think from the title.

Analysis Mr. Spock – an interesting read if you’re looking for snippets of opinions from various authors. If you’re looking for more in depth modes on actual work/writing habits it’s best to look elsewhere.