Joshua Bader's Blog: How I Learned to Love the Bomb - Posts Tagged "writing"

8 days until Frostbite releases in paperback, but my head is pretty deep into the sequel Two Wizard Roulette. Urban fantasy with a novice wizard versus a cannibal ice demon is good stuff. Said novice wizard versus another wizard whose a little higher on the phenomenal cosmic power scale, now that's the great stuff. Add in a dash of romance, tragic back story, and backdrop that feels like a living, breathing universe, then simmer till its 300ish pages. As Emeril would say, "Bam! Perfect book."
The advice I heard most often when I started writing was to write what I knew. In fantasy of any kind, that's hard advice to follow. I don't really know any unicorns, pegasi, or demons on a first name basis.
Scratch that, rewrite, I don't really know any unicorns or pegasi on a first name basis. My demons and I don't talk much, but I sure know their names.
I suppose I could write Narnia. I know C.S. Lewis well enough, but those books, that urban fantasy series, has been done. I could write Dresden Files, because I know those, but Jim Butcher is still busy doing just that. Writing what I know doesn't seem a great approach to writing urban fantasy.
If I had to give advice to an aspiring writer of any genre, I would tell them to write what they feel. If there are times when writing on the page feels like you're dipping the quill into your veins and painting the manuscript with your blood, you are doing it right. I might not know what it is to face down a lightning bolt wielding maniac wizard, but I can feel the mixture of fear and adrenalin racing to my heart. My universe is littered with depth and back stories, because my own memories and emotions are strewn all over the place. The blood gives it life.
The second piece of advice I would give to an aspiring writer is to write until you sweat. For a steamy romance author that may mean one thing, but I mean to keep at it, to keep writing until its hard. Writing can be heavy lifting at times: keep writing anyway. If you don't finish it, it can't be read, it can't be published, it stays with you. Sweat it out and get it finished.
So that's what I've got: blood and sweat. I hope it helps you write. Even more, I hope it piques your interest in seeing what I've felt out on to the page.
I'll leave you with a brief peak at Two Wizard Roulette:
“Dear child, do you suppose that everything that is inside of you is built up in but a single lifetime? Your very bodies are stardust, forged in the supernovas of the brightest stars. How much more your souls are forged by lifetimes of loves and hates.” Malachi seemed distant then, sorrowful. “I am only beginning to understand the fullness of that truth and what I gave up.”