R.L. LaFevers's Blog, page 4

On Writing: The Basics–How To Grow Plot From Character

In order to understand what actions will effect a transformation in your character, there are a few things one needs to know. Debra Dixon addresses this brilliantly with her concept of Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, and if you haven’t read the book, I highly, highly recommend it. She talks at length about needing to have both an external GMC (plot) and internal GMC (internal growth arc).

Goal – What your character wants.

Motivation – Why do they want it? Why are they pursuing this goal?

Conflict – What is standing in their way.

Ideally you should be able to answer those questions on an external and internal level for your character.

One of the things I constantly stumble over is giving my protagonists an actual, bona fide goal. It takes me a while to figure out what they want, and sometimes I realize they don’t actually want anything. Or at least anything that they could articulate to themselves or anyone else.

However, it finally occurred to me that sometimes simply allowing oneself to want something can be a dramatic act all its own. In fact, I wonder if that’s one of the reasons I write kids books, because they are immersed in learning they have the right and the power and eventually the responsibility to act, not just observe or get carried along. Maybe that thematic issue kind of clusters around kids books. Or maybe that’s just one of my personal themes. Not quite sure about that…

Anywho, sometimes I have more luck by asking myself what my characters needs or longs for. Those words seem less self aware than goal, and especially with young protagonist, having an unarticulated need seems a more realistic way to drive their actions. At least initially.

Often I will start with just the germ of an idea; What if a girl could see curses and black magic on artifacts in a museum that no one else could see? Then I have to step back and decide what kind of girl would have this skill, and how it would affect her. Then I massage and poke and scratch my head until I have at least some semblance of GMC. For Theo, it was pretty easy.

Goal: To neutralize black magic and curses before it harmed anyone

Motivation: Because it was nasty, vile stuff that could cause great harm to those she loved; plus she was the only one who could see it, so the responsibility landed in her lap.

Conflict: She was only a child, with few resources; no one would believe her if she tried to explain; and certain bad guys wanted to let use that magic for their own gains.

Knowing that allowed me to begin to design the framework of the structure of the novel; what the inciting incident would be, what the turning points might look like, how the conflict and tension would rise.

But that was only the externals. To give the novel depth, I had to find a way to put what I knew about Theodosia emotionally onto the page. These physical events had to force her to some new understanding or awareness on her journey to becoming an adult.

I knew that one of the things that Theodosia hungered for was her parent’s attention as she was often overlooked. (Luckily, there was a fairly hands-off child rearing philosophy in 1907, so her parents didn’t appear to be horrid people.) She also wanted their professional respect, perhaps simply an extension of the above, since her parents were consumed by their professions, she felt that would be the best way to gain their attention, with her professional expertise.

For me to be able to develop the internal GMC, I often have to look to my character’s wounds or scars; what is lacking in their life, what hole are they trying to plug up, for those are often what drive our actions. So the internal GMC might look something like this (and notice how I word them differently so they make sense to me):

Goal (Emotional need/longing/desire): To be reassured that her parents really do care about her.

Motivation (Why she has that longing/Emotional Wound): Emotionally abandoned by her parents

Conflict (What prevents her forward growth): Parent’s preoccupation with selves, child-centric perspective

Dixon has designed a nifty little GMC table that looks a lot like a tic-tac-toe square and goes something like this:

Can you fill in those blanks for your character?

A couple of additional things: Goals can be to NOT want something, to NOT move, or NOT go to a new school. They can also change over the course of a book as they character grows or acquires new knowledge.

On Writing: The Basics: Plots–Getting Started

So this week I’ll be talking about the writing basics–plot, character, conflict, and stakes. Again, this is all stuff I look at and try to work out in the pre-writing stage, so it’s fair game if you’re prepping for NaNo!

So, if, as Julia Cameron says, transformation happens through action, then plot is simply the actions our characters go through in order to grow and change.

Of course, in real life, we all stumble upon events and revelations, epiphanies and sudden tragedies, all of which can move us to change. But fiction is different than real life. Fiction has to make sense. Therefore, it is up to the author to take their characters through a sequence of actions that force those characters to grow or transform.

Now some writers do this instinctively. Others have such beautiful prose or skillful characterization that we never even notice a lack of plot in their writing. But not all writers—or not me at least—possess that innate skill. I have to work at it.

The thing is, we have all been studying plot since our parents first began reading Good Night Moon or Harold and the Purple Crayon to us. Ever since our first cartoon, we became consumers of story, and most classic story comes with a plot.

In its most simple form, plot is merely a beginning, a middle, and an end. And really, as a reader that’s all we need to know. Well, that and whether or not the combination of beginning, middle, and end works for us.

But as writers, or more specifically, writers for whom this is not instinctive, we need to break it down a little more.

First Act – Beginning

Second Act – Middle

Third Act – End

And as long as one act pulls the reader along into the next act, you’re golden. But as writers, how do we make that happen. I think the first step is to understand the structure behind the structure.

First Act (Awareness of problem/situation)

Second Act (1st Attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)

Third Act (Second Attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)

Fourth Act (Third and successful attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)

Wait a minute, you say! I thought we were talking about three acts! For me and my process, it is hugely helpful to break that middle act into two parts, thus Act Two becomes in my mind Act Two and Three. The reason for this is that I think the middle of the book is a very important moment, one that deserves to be included in the structuring of the novel.

So that gives us a vague idea as to what different acts should entail, but still maybe not enough to actually start writing the dang book.

But first, some definitions so you won’t all think I’m speaking Greek.

Story – a narrative with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Plot – the physical actions of your story that drive the narrative; the choice of events the author uses to propel their character’s growth.

Acts – the sections of a story; beginning, middle, and end. Usually mini stories within the bigger story framework that build toward the ending.

Arcs – the forward trajectory taken by the plot or character.

Turning Points – scenes that come at the end of an act and propel the reader into the next act, either by a dramatic revelation, ramping up the stakes, increasing the tension, or spinning the story off in a new direction.

Now let’s take a look at all the structural components of a plot, from a writer’s perspective.

First Act

Set up – Section of the story that gives a sense of who the character is, what is missing from their lives, and what they will need to change and grow.

Inciting Incident – what forces the character to engage in the elements of the plot, where the trouble starts, the day that is different

1st Turning Point (TP) – the scene that propels the reader into the next act

Second Act

Increasing Conflict/Dramatic Action – action that has some meaning or purpose within the greater context of the story as opposed to simple physical action.

Rising action – scenes increase in dramatic tension as the plot progresses. Also causality. This happens, because something else happened, which in turn forces even more conflict to happen.

2nd TP – MID POINT – this scene propels the story into the next act, but it also is the point of no return, the hero cannot go back to who they were, must go forward, which is why I think it needs to be marked on its own.

Third Act

Continued Rising Action (Protagonist and Antagonist engaged in escalating struggle)

Final TP – the moment when everything coalesces to propel the hero toward the final showdown

Fourth Act

Climax – the final confrontation (either internal or external but preferably both) that the story has been building to.

Resolution – how the newly changed character, using skills and knowledge acquired through the course of the story, fixes the problem or comes to terms with the situation.

~ ~ ~

So that are the basic components of a plot. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how to go about creating them from your what you know about your characters or story idea.

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On Writing: Layered Characters

I thought I’d talk a little bit about revealing character versus having a character growth arc.

I think, especially for middle grade and YA books, characters aren’t going to always have a huge growth arc because in childhood we’re always growing to new awareness, new life lessons, mastering new skills. In general, kids are more malleable, their growth more ongoing and continuous until they reach their adulthood. Then, dramatic or profound occurrences or situations are usually required to propel us adults toward change and growth.

In fact, I’ve heard it said that a book should be about a person’s most profound and dramatic life experience. And I would argue that kids and teens have so many, each coming rapidly on top of the other, that that doesn’t necessarily apply to kid and teen lit.

Which is why I was so struck by reading a recent book that reminded me that some characters are revealed rather than grow. But how do we resolve that with today’s reader (and agents and editors!) who tend to look for a growth arc of some sort? How can one satisfy that readers longing for an internal journey and yet remain true to our character’s core if they don’t change significantly over the course of the book?

I think having the character come to terms with who they are, which is a form of personal growth, can also make for a satisfying growth arc. In order for a character to do that, they have to recognize who they are, they have to strip away all the pretenses—the persona they cloak themselves in—and meet themselves face to face. They sort of have to see themselves, warts (emotional scars) and all, and come to terms with that. So if they aren’t going to change, consider having them learn to accept who they are or their role in their family or school or whatever.

But that needs to be developed over the course of the entire book. We have to feel we know more about the character at the end of the book than we did at the beginning. Which makes sense since it is the crucible of hard choices that the character goes through that enables him to finally reach a higher level of understanding.

One really effective tool can be to peel back the layers of a character, like an onion, to reveal his innermost nature to the reader. By doing that in stages, it gives a sense of internal movement and forward momentum as the reader comes to learn more and more of the character.

If you think about it, there are things about all of us that we wish the world didn’t see, but is often plain to most people who know us well.

Then there are the things that only our best friend or close family members know or understand about us.

And finally, there are those parts of us that are so painful, we can hardly stand to admit them to ourselves. For some, facing these painful truths will cause the entire world to shift. For others, it will shift only a little bit, but in a vital way that helps us continue on.

(Note: I’m using an example from one of my middle grade books so as not to risk unintentional spoilers for the YA books.)

So for Theodosia in The Serpents of Chaos, she was lonely, anyone could see that. (First Layer) And on some level she worried it was because she was doing something wrong, that she was lacking in some fundamental skill needed in order to form friendships. (Second Layer) But the thing she was terrified of acknowledging, was that she was so flawed, that something was so wrong with her that even her parents couldn’t muster up the emotional connection necessary to love their child. In fact, that’s part of what propels her to such huge risks, trying to earn their love. (Third Layer)

Of course, in the end, this is proved wrong and Theo learns her parents do value her more than she realized.

So while Theo didn’t change, her understanding of the world and her place in it and her value to others did.

And I think that can be a very effective internal arc for a character, and oftentimes might feel more organic than stretching to create a more dramatic arc.

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On Writing: Evoking the Right Emotion

One of the first decisions to make about a book, when the very first sliver of an idea begins to form is:

What emotional reaction do I want my reader to walk away with?

For me, this is one of the most important questions I grapple with when trying to decide what I want the tone of the book to be, what themes I want to explore. Oftentimes, I don’t “decide” it at all, it comes part and parcel with the idea.

But the answer to that question will color everything, from the type of action you have, to the way your characters behave, to the details you choose to highlight throughout your book, your subtext setting, and even the names you choose for your characters.

So. What emotional reaction DO you want your reader to come away with?

On Writing: Recognizing The One

Most writers I know have so many different ideas rolling around in their heads, begging to be written. One of the hardest things for me has been learning  how one knows if a manuscript is The One, worthy of a lasting relationship and my full commitment.

 

One of the simplest and most reliable ways to tell is our passion and interest level for a project. If we wake up every day thinking about it, and can’t wait to work on it, then clearly, it’s The One. If it haunts us, invades our dreams, or seems to write itself, there is really not even a need to ask the question.

But sometimes, especially if we’re still in the process of trying to nail or refine the story concept, it hasn’t tripped our Passion Meter yet, so we aren’t sure.

Or perhaps we took a wrong turn somewhere, so what once was compelling, feels less so, now.

Or perhaps it’s simply gotten to the point where it’s hard, and no longer fun.

But how do you tell between those?

And what are legitimate reasons to put a story down?

If the story does not have enough inherent conflict to sustain an entire book AND you can’t find a way to add some without it feeling pasted on or changing the entire initial concept into something you are no longer interested in, then it makes sense to put it aside.

If it was merely the idea that caught your eye, and now that you’ve played with it, you find you have no interest in doing the hard work necessary to bring that idea to fruition, then it is probably not The One.

However, there are some reasons you shouldn’t use to justify putting a story down:

You are afraid

Someone else has written something similar

It’s gotten hard

You don’t know what to do next

You’re stuck

Someone else’s feedback soured you on the story

You’re just not sure.

Your writing process will also play a role in helping you decide whether or not to put a book down. For example, What part of the book is your favorite part to write? For me it’s beginnings. I LOVE beginnings, so it makes a lot of sense that I will have a lot of false starts. But perhaps your favorite part is the end, or (odd creature!) the middle. If you are having a hard time deciding your story is The One, try jumping to the part you normally like best and seeing if you can write that or you have a clear vision of what will happen during that part of the story. If you can see—and are excited about—the end of the story, chances are you are simply bogged down or sidetracked or stuck in a hard place—none of which is a good reason for putting the story aside.

It IS a good reason to pick up a craft book, take a class, immerse yourself in the work of a master writer you love and admire, and find new ways to approach your story.

But the hard truth is, especially early in your career, you simply won’t always know if a story is The One until you’ve got some writing experience under your belt. You won’t know a story is fatally flawed until you’ve finished it. You won’t know if you like beginnings or middles or ends best, until you’ve written a few of each of them. You won’t know how you react when you hit a hard patch or the sagging middle, until you’ve worked through your fair share.

Unfortunately, experience is sometimes the only way to gain the perspective to know.

Especially with something like writing where everyone’s process is so very different, and even one person’s process can vary from book to book.

Sometimes, we put aside a book because of time constraints or other books/people/circumstances having more urgent needs, and when we go back to it, we find we have lost that nugget of urgency that originally ignited the book. And try hard as we might, we can’t re-ignite that flame of interest. Yes, that is tragic, but it is also true that nothing is ever wasted in writing. Every bad word you write serves some purpose, eliminating wrong turns, narrowing down your plot options, showing what your character is NOT, helping to refine your voice, even just being one of the million sh!tty words Stephen King claims all writers need to wade through before they have access to the good ones.

I have about a dozen manuscripts that were early manuscripts or experiments or attempts at something different (at least for me). I get asked all the time at school visits and workshops, if I will ever try to revive them. The truth is, I have looked at them all carefully and except for two or three, they are all really and truly dead. The original idea was too flawed, too trite, or too dated. Or I have learned how very much time and commitment go into each finished book and the idea simply doesn’t speak to me enough to hold that commitment together until I finish.

Because that’s kind of what it boils down to: writing can be wonderfully, painfully, mind-numbing hard sometimes, and you have to love something enough to be willing to go through all the pain and discomfort of seeing it through to the end. You can’t kind of like your manuscript, or be mildly intrigued by it. Well, actually you can. You can be anything you want with your manuscript, but the chances of you producing a compelling story that way are slim.

However, I will add the caveat that if you aren’t feeling any huge push of passion or commitment to the story, and you’re not willing to call it quits as a writer, push through. Give up on creativity or inspiration or even passion and just go with good hard persistence and elbow grease. A manuscript finished through sheer determination and bloody-minded stubbornness is always better than the one that wasn’t ever finished at all.

Baby Steps

As I continue to pick up the threads of my former life, I am trying to find a way to begin weaving them into some sort of semblance of order or organization. Or hell, I’d even settle for a sense of forward momentum at this point.

On that front, I am making some progress. As you may or may not have noticed, the website underwent a minor update, primarily making it mobile friendly, which should be welcome news to those of you who read on your phones. Oh, I also incorporated the History section into The World Of His Fair Assassin section, and created a separate page For Writers that will feature all the writing posts and hopefully make them easier to find.

I have also discovered a multitude of drafted posts that never got put up, including some deleted scenes from Mortal Heart and some thoughts about assassins. So those will be coming your way shortly.

As for writing progress—it progresses! Which is happy-making for me, given the last few months. As I continue to struggle with not overdoing the computer time, I have found some great tools.



My AlphaSmart has been a lifesaver. I’m really sad they don’t make them anymore because they are so perfect for drafting. And the keyboard is much more ergonomically friendly than a laptop. And since the screen is so danged small, I don’t even feel the need to look down at all, I just stare dreamily into space as I write, thus saving my neck a lot of grief.

Secondly, since I do a LOT of writing by hand, that was turning out to be a problem—how to avoid hunching over my notebooks as I scribble. But I found this great, adjustable drawing board that has a number of different angles and is small enough to sit on my desk. Now I’m able to write longhand in my notebooks without straining my neck or hunching over, so it’s a big win for me. I thought I’d share them in case any of you out there were trying to minimize strains or prevent RSIs o to vary up your ergonomic situation.

As I continue to make my way through reader email, the question I am asked the most is for advice on writing. The short and quick version?

Love writing. It will make all the rest of it so much easier. Love the challenges, the frustrations, the craft, the learning, the small victories, and the intrinsic joys it brings.
Persist. Essentially, keep doing it. If you love it, that will be less of a chore. And the only sure way to not win at the writing thing is to stop.
Protect the work. Whether from nay-sayers in your life, too much advice, too many rules, overbearing critique partners, too strong a focus on publishing, or even, or perhaps most importantly, against your own harsh judgments.

The longer answer? Well, I’ve decided I’ll be putting up a lot of posts on writing in the coming weeks. For one, it corresponds nicely with my own mental place right now—beginning a new book after a two year hiatus, so really, its almost like learning how to write all over again.

Secondly, I have a TON of writing craft posts from my middle grade blog that only seventeen people ever read. (Yes, seventeen, and I have the Google Analytics numbers to prove it!)

And lastly, I know a LOT of you out there are planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year. So I thought I’d put up some blog posts on writing during October and November as a fun way to get back in the posting groove.

Specifically, October’s posts will center on PRE-writing, all that stuff you can do before you begin writing your novel that will make the actual writing part go much more smoothly. Pre-writing is a HUGE part of my process, so I have a lot to say on the subject. So, if you’re one of those whose written to ask for advice about writing, or you’re planning on doing NaNo this year, or are just interested in writing craft, stay tuned!

At Last! New Book News!

So the word is out—I am writing two more books in the His Fair Assassin world! And…AND…(I hope this will make you as happy as it makes me) they feature Sybella and Beast! Here’s the official PW Announcement.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to revisit those two and continue their adventures. After all, Sybella’s own precarious circumstances were rather quickly swept aside as the country’s political drama unfolded.

But that doesn’t mean her problems went away. Far from it. She still has sisters to protect and a brother who is half mad with vengeance on his mind. Plus, her family has made a deal with the French regent in the past, who is to say they won’t do so again?

Even though the Duchess of Brittany has managed to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat, the road ahead will not be an easy one. Becoming queen of France might have saved her country from the devastation of war, but Anne herself will now be residing in the French court—a place that has been hostile to her ever since she was born. And really, how eager is the French regent going to be about welcoming Anne of Brittany into the bosom of the family?

And I’m very, very excited and intrigued by this new assassin that’s appeared. Actually, those are some of my favorite types of character’s to write—the one’s my subconscious plants on the page as I’m writing, with me not even realizing the significance of that character until later. I’d known since writing Grave Mercy that the convent had planted young novitiates in noble French families to call upon when needed, but it wasn’t until Mortal Heart, when Annith asked specifically about Genevieve, that my mind began whirring with possibilities. Plus, that’s all I’ve been able to DO for the last eighteen months, is mentally whir with possibilities, so they have jelled rather nicely.

As for WILD DAUGHTERS OF ARES, well, I thought that would be the book that would follow this His Fair Assassin trilogy. It’s a story I’ve had in my mind for years and have been dying to write—a young girl raised in a Greek society that put women so far beneath men that they weren’t even allowed to eat meat or venture far from the women’s quarters. And what if that girl, who was not able to comfortably settle to her predetermined role, found herself taken in by a tribe of Amazons and given a chance to be who she truly was? Bold and confident and fierce and angry and competent. How completely would that turn her world—and her sense of self—upside down?

But due to my much longer than expected hiatus, the wait between HFA books was already so long we decided to do those before WILD DAUGHTERS OF ARES, but I’m still crazy excited about that book.

So. That’s my news! I’m only sorry His Fair Assassin Four won’t be on shelves until Fall of 2018, but sometimes life takes on unexpected detours.

An Overdue Explanation, A Belated Apology, and A Heartfelt Thank You

photo: alice popkorn

That post title sounds like a great ettiquette joke in the making, doesn’t it?

So an overdue explanation, a belated apology, and a heartfelt thank you walk into a bar . . .

Oh how I wish that were the case.

I have been working on this blog post for over two months now. I’ve thought long and hard about how to talk about my prolonged absence. Cautiously, was my first instinct. Not at all, was my second. But the truth is, I don’t think you can (for all intents and purposes) disappear for eighteen months and not return e-mails and let personal connections flounder and online friendships dribble to a stop without at some point addressing or explaining the why it of it. At least it doesn’t feel right to me.

But it’s hard because my returning health feels tentative and fragile and, most of all, vulnerable. As if any sudden movements or loud noises might scare it away. And after all, this is the Internet, where sudden movements and loud noises are a daily occurrence.

The short version is, I had been having increasingly painful ergonomic issues in my upper back and needed to address those. What I hadn’t realized was that would be like unraveling a sweater, with each bit of progress we made unraveling yet a new part of my body that had been compensating in the incorrect way for too long. It’s an unusually disconcerting thing, having your body unravel piece by piece. There was a long period of time where I couldn’t sit for more than ten or fifteen minutes. I still can’t sit comfortably for more than about 45 minutes at a time, and watching an entire episode of anything on TV is a major victory.

I spent nearly fifteen months alternating between lying flat on my back, standing for short stretches, or walking for short distances. Because of neck issues that developed, I wasn’t able to hold a book up to read when lying down OR sit and look down at its pages. So no reading, writing, or research. I tried audiobooks and, to my dismay, found my brain is not wired to ‘hear’ story, but to read it.

Needless to say, I’ve seen a number of healthcare practitioners at this point, and if you ever want a good experiment in deep character worldview, I highly recommend it. Each one of them saw my symptoms through the prism of their own expertise.

My doctor sent me to a physical therapist, who said it was postural and I just needed to strengthen with some exercises. (That made things worse.)
The talk therapist said I simply was going through a stage of readjustment in my life. (I agreed this was possible and began talk therapy in an effort to understand what might need readjusting.)
The second physical therapist thought my body has been storing unresolved trauma for years and years and that needed to be released. (Which she did—while I was beyond skeptical, this did help with various issues immensely when standard treatments didn’t.)
The acupuncturist thought I was very low on yin energy and that needed to be replenished. (This was also a huge help—and I say this as a former needle-phobic. But it helped lessen the anxiety my continued physical dysfunction was causing, as well as helped with those dysfunctions and increased my overall energy.)
A psychiatrist I saw suggested it was panic disorder. (Which frankly, gave me the biggest panic attack I’ve ever experienced.)

I was also told I had triggered old PTSD from my childhood. (This resonated a bit because I think I cut a little too close to the bone in Dark Triumph.)
Someone else suggested that my fibromyalgia had returned. (That also caused me some panic because I remember so vividly those years when I was sick with fibro and had two young children to take care of. Did NOT want to go there again.)
Another practitioner suggested I had been living in my head so long my body had to stage a major revolt to get some much-needed attention. (That felt legitimate to me.)
And yet another explained that any physical symptoms of anxiety were the result of my sympathetic nervous system being hugely compromised by the extremely poor posture my body had developed from being hunched over a keyboard or notebook for the last fifteen years. (This also felt like it was at least part of what was going on.)

The kicker? The really frustrating thing? I still don’t know which of those is true. Perhaps all of them are true. Or none.

The thing is, I’m a strong willed, determined person, but I was not able to strong will my way out of this. Which has been humbling and scary and frustrating and, occasionally, panic inducing.

While I’m not out of the woods yet, I am out of the thickest part of the forest for sure. The trees are thinner here, and I occasionally catch sight of the meadow and small town outside the forest. So I know it’s there, and well within my sights.

So that’s the part I’m willing to talk about for now. And I do think it’s important to talk about it, not just so you have an explanation for my absence, but because I think this is what women DO—we put off self care until dead last. Or, if you’re like me, you roll your eyes at the term ‘self care’ and mutter, “Yeah, I’ll get right on that, once I…

Finish school.

Get through finals.

Get my degree.

Find a job.

Make partner in my firm.

Get the kids through their formative years.

Turn in this draft.

Get these copy edits back by tomorrow.

Get the kids off to college.

And so the list goes, endless and everlasting. Our bodies and minds can be very, very good at enabling this, at helping us stay focused on those goals because that is a hugely important part of our personal development.

But it’s not the only part. And eventually, that catches up to us and the other parts rise up in protest until the only option left is radical self care. For me, that meant focusing on trying to find a way to strengthen my body—a way that didn’t make things worse. It meant stepping away from the writing—one of the things that has always given me great joy. It meant resting when my body wanted to lay down, instead of forcing myself to slog through. It meant finding a way to be in my body (even though it wasn’t a pleasant place to be) instead of my head. To turn off the panicked noise telling me I was lazy, a wuss, I should be able to power through this. Frankly, that last was the hardest piece of it. It meant learning to be where I am, which is something I’m still struggling with.

Also, I think those of us who have fallen off that particular cliff should at least turn around and shout up a warning to others on the same path, “Hey! Watch out! There’s a huge fecking cliff right there!” So in part, this is my warning.

The good news is, that I am getting better. Finally. And I guess I wasn’t willing to talk about it until I knew I would get better. As a writer, I always need to know the ending before I can begin to tell the story. But thanks to incredibly accommodating regional organizers, I was able to speak at a regional SCBWI conference recently. I have also just returned from my first trip since the Mortal Heart book tour (plane seat ergonomics have been extremely problematic for me) and the first vacation my husband and I have gone on in, oh, about fifteen years. (Note: this is a great illustration of sucking at self care.) And I am doing my first signing event in over eighteen months this upcoming Saturday at the Ventura Barnes and Noble. So yes, I’m beginning to have a sense that the worst of this is behind me.

This has turned out to be far longer than I intended, so I’ll stop for now. But I want to end with a long overdue thank you to you, dear readers, for all of you that have read the books, talked about them, written reviews, tweeted, tumbled, and, most of all, written to me. It pains me that I have not been able to respond to all your lovely emails, but please know I have read them all multiple times and I cannot express how much joy they’ve given me over these past difficult months.

I will continue to talk more about all this in the weeks to come as well as discuss some of the aspects that I’m not quite ready to share yet. I also have some ideas on how I want to be better connected and stay in touch.  Also? I might have some news to share soon. After all, you can’t lie flat on your back for that many months with nothing to do but think and not start coming up with new story ideas and plots and …

Thank you all for your patience.

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Mortal Heart Blog Tour Begins!

Today’s the first day of the Mortal Heart Blog Tour! There will be posts about Mortain and some of the folktales and legends that I wove into the book, along with interviews and some reviews. Most importantly, THERE WILL BE PRIZES!

Book Tour Info!

I finally have most of the details for the upcoming Mortal Heart book tour! There are a couple of stops that need a bit more clarification, but I should be able to update those on Monday. I am so excited about all these cool bookstores I’m get to visit and hope to see some of you there!

 

Tuesday, November 4th

Changing Hands Phoenix

300 West Camelback Road

Phoenix, Arizona 85013

7 PM

http://www.changinghands.com/event/lafevers-nov14

Wednesday, November 5th

Blue Willow Book Shop

14532 Memorial Drive

Houston, Texas, 77079

7 PM

http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/node/73523

Friday, November 7th

Parnassus Books

3900 Hillsboro Pike

Nashville, TN

7 PM

http://www.parnassusbooks.net/

Saturday, November 8th

Quail Ridge Books and Music

3522 Wade Ave

Raleigh, North Carolina

3 PM

http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/robin-lafevers-mortal-heart

Sunday, November 9th

Chapel Hill Public Library (hosted by Flyleaf Books)

100 Library Drive

Chapel Hill, NC 27514

2 PM

Monday, November 10th

Bethesda  Library (hosted by Politics and Prose)

7400 Arlington Rd

Bethesda, MD 20814

7 PM

http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/robin-lafevers-mortal-heart

Tuesday, November 11th

Philadelphia, PA — details to come

Thursday, December 4th

Vroman’s Bookstore

695 E. Colorado Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91101

7 PM

Don’t forget, if you can’t make the signing and would like a personalized book, these bookstores will take pre-orders and phone orders!