Tracy St. John's Blog, page 222

Six Sentence Sunday - The Font (WIP)

Naya sat up, ready to put the lamp out.  Her hand reached for the curtain to draw it back, and she paused.  Hadn't there been a slight movement on the other side of the bed?  She slowly looked over her shoulder.
The handsome vampire she'd glimpsed in the hall below stood there, silently drawing the curtains back.  She opened her mouth to scream.

Create a Couple of Kalquorians - They've Got Personality

We need to determine the dominant parts of Dramok Erybet and Nobek Sletran's personalities.  What is it about them that we love the most?  As trauma they suffered during the war might have affected these traits, you are voting on pre-war personalities. 
These characteristics will offset their less positive quirks, which is what we focused on in the last poll.  You determined Erybet's greatest weakness was his tendency to do everything himself rather than delegate responsibility.  Sletran's greatest imperfection is his tendency to think of everyone else as weak and therefore needing his protection.  I think we can forgive our big guys these shortfalls, don't you?

Interview With Sci-Fi Author Tamara Jock

This week I'm throwing a few questions at a new author, Tamara Jock, whose first book The Willow and the Stone came out just yesterday from our mutual publisher New Concepts Publishing.  I think Tamara should be immune from the PayPal madness that has so many of us MIA.  She is the first mainstream fiction author that NCP has published, so no sexual naughtiness here ... just good storytelling.  It took her 25 years to see her first book published despite winning awards for it ... hmm ... sounds like a familiar story. ;)
Q:  Thanks for doing the interview, Tamara.
A:  Thanks for having me.
Q:  So you don't write erotica.  What genres do you write?
A:  I write science fiction and horror.  NCP just signed another book of mine, a horror novel titled Lilith.
Q:  Why do you write in these genres?
A:  As far as science fiction, I'm a big geek.  I was raised on the original StarTrek television show, Lost in Space, and Star Wars.  I love the idea of adventures in space and the idea that there are aliens out there somewhere.  When it comes to horror, I lived in a couple of haunted houses as a kid and so I'm fascinated with the paranormal.  I'm a huge Stephen King fan.
Q:  Is there any genre you'd like to try? Or is there one you wouldn't?
A:  I'd love to write historical fiction.  My interests range from ancient Greece to pirates to Abraham Lincoln to World War II.  I'm kind of all over the place I guess.  As for what I wouldn't write, I can't really come up with anything I wouldn't try my hand at if I thought up a story that was compelling enough.
Q:  What fiction do you read for pleasure?
A:  Science fiction and horror.  I read a lot of Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, Isaac Asimov, and so many more.  Besides Stephen King I'm also into Peter Straub, and you always have to go with the classics of Edgar Allan Poe.
Q:  What writer inspires you most?
A:  For sheer imagination, and I sound like a broken record here, Stephen King.  Ray Bradbury too.  Stylistically, I love how Dean Koontz's writing just flows.  You're halfway through his books before you realize it because he's just so smooth with his word choices and rhythms.
Q:  Outside of writing, who inspires your life?
A:  My 6-year old son.  He gets out of bed running and just goes nonstop until bedtime.  He can't wait to see what's new in the world.  Not a day goes by that he doesn't discover something that excites him or makes him laugh.  
Q:  How much of you do you put in your characters?
A:  I feel like there's a piece of myself in every character, even the ones I base on other people.  Heroes and villains alike, I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere in all of them!
Q:  Which of your characters is your favorite? 
A:  Oh, that takes some consideration.  I'd have to say Alex Williams in Lilith.  She's a butt kicker who doesn't take crap from anyone, but she's also battling fears and insecurities.  She puts on a tough facade when she's shaking like a leaf on the inside.
Q:  What are you working on now?
A:  The sequel to The Willow and the Stone.  I've finished the first draft of Willow in the Desert.  I'll probably do at least two re-writes before I can call it close to complete.
Q:  Tell me about The Willow and the Stone.  
A:  It's probably best explained by the back cover blurb and an excerpt:
Four years ago, insectile aliens arrived on Earth in great pyramid ships.  Now mankind is reduced to a few pockets of survivors, skulking in the shadows to elude the creatures that rule the planet.  Among those survivors are Carli Dixon and Renee Johnson, an ill-matched pair thrown together through circumstance.Battling their extraterrestrial enemy and the betrayal of their own kind, Carli and Renee struggle against impossible odds to find safety.  Rescuing each other from certain death cements their friendship.  But to survive and save others like themselves, they must risk everything … including each other.
Excerpt:            Renee slapped her hand over her companion's mouth.  The brunette manhandled the smaller woman into the shadows beneath the stone bridge they'd just emerged from.  Carli didn't struggle against Renee's grip, but she squealed a muffled cry of protest into the stagnant West Virginia night air.            "Sssssshh!" Renee hissed, her grip tightening.  "Aliens!"            Carli froze against her for an instant before breaking free.  She slammed herself against the inside of the arch to merge with the blackest of shadows.  Renee crowded her, also sliding into the dubious cover of darkness.  The bridge, more picturesque than a bastion of protection, was small with wooden beams buttressing the stones above.  A perfect spot for vacationing tourists to pose on for pictures to bore their co-workers with, but a ridiculous spot to depend on for one's life.                Two monstrous creatures glided into view, their elongated insectoid figures silhouetted in the bright moonlight.  They stalked up to the bridge that spanned the dry, dusty creek bed and joined the women in the darkness.  Carli and Renee melted behind a support beam.              Trapped, Carli's frantic mind whispered.  The monsters had them for sure this time.  She squeezed her eyes shut but couldn't block out the aliens' cricket speech.  They chirped and chittered, grating against her ears.  She wished she could be struck deaf.  Sweat tickled its way down her spine.              Muscular Renee, who couldn't begin to approach the power of the spindly aliens, tensed beside her.  The creatures came abreast of the hidden women, chirping ear-bleeding conversation right in front of them. Carli tried to shrink further back, mashing her backside into the unyielding, unsympathetic stone.  Renee crushed against her.              A pebble slid from under Carli's foot and clinked in protest as it dislodged and rolled down the slope.  Her mouth flew open to scream; surely the monsters heard the rock crash down.  No whistle of sound escaped her locked, straining throat, but her heart was a bass drum of thunder booming through the night.              Her eyes screwed shut against the sight of the looming predators, Carli waited for the bristle-haired mantis arms of an alien to embrace her.  She waited for its needle proboscis to slide into her flesh and secrete its paralyzing poison.  She waited to sag helpless in the grip of the monster while it sipped the life from her veins.  She waited to die a slow, fading death.  Her heart pounded louder than ever, as if to beat as hard and fast as it could in its few remaining minutes.            The chittering aliens, intent on their conversation, stalked past.  Disbelieving, Carli's eyes flew open, and she watched them pass from under the bridge.  Motes of moon-glittering dust danced in the wake of the monsters' long, tapered legs.              She released the breath she'd been holding in a rush and sucked it in again as one alien swiveled its head around.  It looked back at the bridge that hid the two women.            Carli's stomach lurched at the pale orb of the creature's face glowing in the moonlight.  Wispy tufts of hair sprang in sparse bunches from its bullet-shaped head.  The proboscis writhed like a blind worm where a nose and mouth would have been on a human.  Its grayish flesh seemed stretched too tight over its skull; there were no wrinkles, not even creases on its face.            Its eyes shocked her the most; eyes cold in intent, but horribly human in appearance, almond shaped and ringed with black lashes.              The creatures' naked torsos were long and smooth without benefit of hair, muscle tone, or even genitalia.  Carli had no idea if skin or a harder shell covered their bones; happily she'd never been in contact with one.  Odds were she'd someday lose that joy.            The searching alien's too-human eyes slid over the women without alerting.  Carli's body sagged as the creature turned away and stalked on with its companion.            The women huddled under the bridge listening to the monsters' conversation die away and smelling the sour tang of their own sweat.  Carli shuddered violently, knowing that Renee could feel it, and didn't care.  Probably Renee was shaking too; this had been their closest call yet.              Frogs broke into chorus from their shelters within the tall grass on the banks.  Renee shook free of her paralysis, grabbed Carli's hand, and yanked her out into the open.  Under the moon's accusing glare they sped away, tearing a path through the grass to escape the creatures that had all but destroyed the human race.
Q:  Well, definitely not the kinds of aliens I usually choose to write about, but it does sound like a wild ride.  Good luck with your books, Tamara.
A:  Thanks for having me.
The Willow and the Stone is available through New Concepts Publishing as an e-book.  You can also visit Tamara's blog 'Rifts in Reality' to keep up on her latest writing projects.

Unholy Union Nominated for Best of 2011

Once more The Romance Reviews has honored me by nominating Unholy Union for Best Book of 2011 (Erotic Paranormal Romance).  Voting is going on now, and there are a ton of other worthy contenders.  Thanks to TRR for the kindness.

First Four Friday - Alien Interludes: An Improper Proposal (WIP)

Lindsey was aware of her clan's exchanged looks of amusement as she bounced impatiently in front of the closed hatch of their shuttle, which had landed only moments before.  Well, the three men could make fun all they liked.  She'd waited patiently for months to see her mother again, years for her sister Jessica.  She wasn't about to pretend she wasn't excited, not for the sake of decorum, not for the sake of new in-laws both royal and not, not for any reason at all.

PayPal Caves - Now What?

A few days ago, Smashwords founder Mark Coker posted the following:

"I met with PayPal this afternoon at their office in San Jose. They will soon announce revised content policies that I expect will please the Smashwords community. Effective immediately, we are returning our Terms of Service to back to its pre-February 24 state. Beyond that, our friends at PayPal have asked me to hold off sharing additional details until they've had a chance to finalize their new policies. Thank you for your patience and support during this crazy last few weeks."

Good news, at least for now.  Kudos to Mark for working so hard to get things back to normal, at least for Smashwords.  And of course all of you who signed petitions, sent letters, and canceled your PayPal accounts ... it's the consumer who ultimately keeps these corporations in line.  You deserve a big round of applause for keeping those who would choose our morality for us out of the censorship business.  Here's the story for your enjoyment:  http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/smashwords-reinstates-erotica-policy-removing-censorship_b21087#.T19918FbZDQ.facebook

I am still waiting for my publisher to apprise me of what is going on with my books.  It may be that they too are waiting for PayPal to finalize their new policies.   The moment I know something, I will inform you immediately.  Keep your fingers crossed for sooner rather than later!

So the war is won, correct?  I don't know.  This skirmish is at least done, but some would warn against getting complacent just yet.  In her blog, author/publisher I.G. Frederick states: 

"On March 13, to great cheering across the Interwebs, PayPal announced a clarification of "exactly how we are going to implement the policy," stating "First and foremost, we are going to focus this policy only on e-books that contain potentially illegal images, not e-books that are limited to just text."
When was the last time you read an erotica e-book that contained images other than the cover and the author's photo?

Excuse me if I don't celebrate. PayPal is backpedalling because it got caught trying to prevent the sale of legal fiction. Many authors have lost days protesting this, days they could have spent writing fiction. My e-books are no longer visible on All Romance ebooks unless you log in. I learned Monday that another publisher has stopped selling independent e-books, allegedly because of a logistics issue, but I have to wonder.

Just as this incident didn't begin in February, it won't end in March unless we're vigilant about protecting our rights to buy and sell what we choose to read and write. What we need more than anything else right now is an alternative to PayPal."


Yours truly IS celebrating and anxiously awaiting the return of all my books to the various distributors.  But I am also cautiously keeping an eye out for the next would-be dictator of morals.  I'm also looking into alternative options for when the day arrives that I find my livelihood once again threatened.

Thanks again to everyone for the messages of support during these last trying weeks.  You gave me hope and encouragement, and I'm forever grateful to you all.

My Daughter's Roomies - Television Pilot

Hey all, as I mentioned before I helped work on a television comedy pilot.  The first part is up on Youtube as the producer tries to build interest before going into full production.  Be warned, the audio of this preliminary cut is a little difficult to hear at times.  The rest of the episode is coming soon.  Check it out and tell the producer what you think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do_Klrvjk5c

WIP Wednesday - Netherworld II: Blood Potion No. 9

Witches are bad news in the Netherworld, as Brandilynn discovered in the first book Drop Dead Sexy.  While possessing exotic dancer Fizz, Brandilynn has a new spell weaver to worry about in the guise of Hazel, a stripclub owner:

     I turned around and jumped back with a little scream of surprise to find Hazel right there, his lanky frame looming over me.  The witch looked pretty darn mad, and if I've learned anything, it's that I don't want any witch looking that ticked off at me.
     The first words out of Hazel's mouth only proved my point.  "You fucked up, Fizz.  You know how I feel about that."
     I felt Fizz not just cower, I swear I heard her shriek in my head.  Panic vibrated in our shared mind.  I edged back from Hazel, wondering what he'd done to her in the past to make her so scared.
     Carefully, as if trying to soothe a rabid dog, I said, "I'm sorry.  I've been real sick all day."
     He had Fizz's skinny bicep in his hand in an instant and yanked us close.  He smelled sour and smoky, like he hadn't showered in a couple days.  He also smelled like power; a buzz of electricity mixed with something sulfurous.  "You're not as sorry and sick as you're going to get."  Hazel squeezed hard, and bright, vicious pain flashed through my arm. 
     I cried out, nearly going to my knees with agony.  Hazel's eyes widened, and he smiled.  His tongue, a wet, pink slug of muscle, licked all around his lips.  The crotch of his jeans swelled.
     Oh jeez.  He was a sadist, and the kind that didn't go looking for an actual masochist to play with.  In fact, the less a woman liked pain, the more fun a man like Hazel would find her.  No wonder Fizz was gibbering in terror.  Hazel was one sick puppy.  And he was looking to hurt.
      Being part of the BDSM scene I know the type all too well, and I've been pretty good at avoiding them.  Sadists who don't play within the scene's rules are quickly ostracized from the kink community, but somehow I was sure Hazel could have cared less about such things.  He'd been playing outside the boundaries probably his entire life.
     Knowing it was wasted breath but unable to stop myself, I said, "Wait, please.  I swear it won't happen again."
     Hazel grinned, and Fizz screamed inside my head again.  "We're going to make sure of that," he chortled. 
     Before I could brace myself, Hazel twisted me around so that my arm was bent painfully behind my back.  Lifting me off the floor, he ran across the hall to ram me up against the wall.  My forehead rapped sharply on the unforgiving surface, and I cried out along with Fizz.
     The next dancer was leaving the dressing room, and I saw her skitter towards the stage, keeping her eyes averted from my predicament.  No help there.  I was blinking back stars when Hazel crushed against my backside, rubbing his very prominent erection against me. 
     He panted.  "Nice.  I like it when you bitches scream.  You're going to scream for me a lot more before I'm done with you, and you'll never get loaded before work again."

Under contract

Tutorial Tuesday – Show Vs. Tell, Part 3

(Part 1)(Part 2)
We're back with more 'show, don't tell' tips.  As you will remember, getting into a particular character's viewpoint and relating the story through his/her eyes is an indispensable tool. 
Showing Other Characters
It's easy to fall into the trap of telling your readers something along the lines of 'Dani disliked and feared Kalquorians.  She wanted nothing to do with them, had even specified in her brothel contract she wouldn't serve the alien men.'  But that's telling, and it has little to no emotional impact.  Here's an excerpt from Alien Slave (Clans of Kalquor 5) where we are shown how Dani feels about Kalquorians:
            As the door closed behind Dani, movement came from the far corner.  Instead of a dozen tiny Solns, three huge men stepped from the shadows.  Kalquorians.            Dani had only an instant to register the dark-skinned, black haired aliens before turning on her heel and running for the door, a scream poised on her lips.  She'd not gotten one step before a thick, muscled arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides and pulling her to a granite hard body, lifting her from her feet.  The Kalquorian had her near six feet length dangling several inches above the floor.  She kicked wildly.            "Let me go!"            Another man stepped in front of her, moving in a blur to grab hold of her flailing legs.  He held her calves easily against one side of his body, rendering her helpless.  "We have paid for your time, Earther."  His rolling bass of voice thrummed through her body.   He'd not ordered her to do anything, but the command in his tone stilled her struggles.Terror made her own voice high and screamy.  "Not you.  Not Kalquorians.  It's in my contract!"The third man stepped into view, peering at her over the shoulder of the one who held her legs.  His tone was much milder, though still deep.  "We were told the extra money would change your mind."Dani curled her upper lip.  Damn Husta.  Owner's sister or not, she'd pay for this.  "Well you were told wrong," Dani loftily informed them.  "So put me down and let me leave."
The reader knows without a doubt that Dani wants nothing to do with these particular men, that meeting them has put the prostitute in 'fight or flight' mode.  You don't have to explain it to the readers.  They can draw their own conclusions by being engaged with the action.

The First Person Trap
Showing when you're writing in first person has its own obstacles.  It's natural when you write from a first person viewpoint to tell the reader your feelings.  When high emotion is playing out, it's even more tempting to explain rather than demonstrate.  In my work-in-progress Netherworld III:   Once Bitten Twice Dead, Brandilynn the ghost and Patricia the vampire are having a goodnatured verbal sparring match.  I could have told my readers from Brandilynn's viewpoint how much she loves trying to get over on Patricia, but this would have spoiled their emotional involvement.  It was far more effective to show it:
Taylor stood and began to clean up the remains of our feast.  "It's too cold to fly.  I'll meet you there."  Patricia gave her a quick peck on the cheek then gathered herself to launch into the air.  With an arrogant smirk, both because I felt it and also wanted to take some of that grimness off her face I called, "Don't be too slow."Vampires might be able to fly, but ghosts can materialize anywhere we want in the blink of an eye.  Being superior is fun.Patricia wasn't going to let me have the last word.  "Ha!   I remember all those wrong turns you used to take.  Aren't you the one who 'ported herself into a septic tank instead of the state aquarium?"Oh yeah.  Cancel haughty disdain.  The stray thought of septic tanks instead of fish tanks had thrown me off course on my way to see the Titanic exhibit at the Atlanta Aquarium, and my blunder had given no end of delight to my supposed friends.  I blew a raspberry at Patricia as she launched into the air.  She was just jealous I'd get to Tristan before her.

When It's Time to Tell
Once in awhile it is okay to tell.  If you have objective information that has to be shared with the readers and can be done so quickly, then do so by all means.  It could be important that you get across how a character's  anxiety is the norm rather than the exception, such as, 'Roberta was nervous.  No one paid any heed, because Roberta was always nervous.  She spent every waking moment wound tight and waiting for the sky to fall.'  This is essential information because having Roberta chew on her fingernails and pace up and down the room shows us only one moment, not how she is in a constant state of panic.
Also if it is a very minor issue you're reporting on, telling is perfectly fine.  'The house had stood empty a long time.'  'George seemed bored.'  As long as the point isn't a major one that your readers' emotions hinge upon, you can cheat a little.  A very little.
Plus you might have to worry about word count if you have a limit.  While waxing poetic on Margie's enjoyment of the beach with its soft sand, the soothing rumble of the waves, and the aroma of brine that awakens childhood memories of summer vacation might transport your readers to that tropical paradise, you may have only enough room to report, 'Margie dug her toes into the baby-powder sand and sighed as she relished being away from her dreary life.'

For the most part, you want to take your readers out of their surroundings and plant them in your story so they experience everything alongside the characters.  By getting in the characters' heads and concentrating on what they experience, you'll win the battle of show versus tell every time.

Monday Man Time

I'm in the mood for riding the ... range.  I don't write cowboy romances, but these boys were just too yummy to ignore. 





Yeehaw, ride me, cowboys!  Have a great day everyone.