E.B. Roshan's Blog: This, That and the Other, page 17

My Own Work in Progress

My current work-in-progress continues the story of Boris and Anna, the young Sevian couple who met and fell in love in Wrong Place, Right Time, the first book in the Shards of Sevia series. Now, nearly two years on, things aren’t going well. The simmering ethnic conflict in Dor continues to shadow their lives. Anna’s expecting their first child, and the prospect of motherhood in wartime fills her with dread. A split-second decision lands Boris in the worst trouble of his life, and threatens the whole family’s survival.

Someone asked me, “How can you write romantic suspense when the couple is already married?” It’s a valid question. However, the fact that Boris and Anna made their big commitment before this story opens only increases the potential for tension in their relationship. It raises the stakes considerably higher. In the typical romance, the question is: “How are this man and woman going to get together?” It’s a great question, and worth exploring. However, in my opinion, an even more significant question is: “With all that life throws at them(and all that they throw at each other) how are this man and woman going to honor their love commitment and stay together?”

Writing a romantic suspense novel about a married couple presents unique challenges, but overall, I’m really enjoying the ride and look forward to releasing Shards of Sevia Book #4 later this year.

Interested in being a beta reader or ARC reviewer? Please get in touch at: btznvnt@gmail.com

Book Spotlight: Things Not Seen by Kristina Hall

When the story opens, Cassie, the heroine of Things Not Seen, is so beaten down by life that she’s essentially given up on herself—surrendered her future to her evil brother, who’s out to kill her in revenge for testifying against him in court.

Despite finding some great friends and experiencing a miraculous near miss or two, by the end of the book, Cassie’s not far from the place she began—nearly paralyzed by fear, and burdened with the conviction that a Christian’s faithful witness ought to take the form of the five-point Gospel Presentation, delivered in season and…out of season. I found Cassie both likeable and grating, sweet and fatalistic, and, to be honest, a bit frustrating. But underneath it all ran a thread of courage I hope to see developed in the next part of the story, when she must inevitably confront her brother once again. Since I had expected her story cycle to end at a more satisfying point, I was a little disappointed. But that’s what sequels are for. I’d also like to see her brother, Sam, cease to be a faceless, and rather inept, villain, and become a person, too.

Derek, the secondary main character, who switched roles between rescuer and benevolent antagonist, is a professor of cellular and evolutionary biology at the local university. While he was a much more conventionally appealing hero, at the same time, his lack of complexity made him less interesting. Maybe he was too predictable. Burned by the hypocrisy of his parents and church leaders, he loses his faith and turns to atheism in an attempt to extinguish the pain inside.

Because Derek helped her when she was in trouble, Cassie believes God has given her the task of helping him see where he’s gone wrong. To find out what happens then, you’ll just have to read the book! Check it out HERE.

Overall, Things Not Seen was a fine effort by a brand-new author, and I look forward to see where the next book in the series will take Derek and Cassie, in their lives, in their relationship, and in their faith.

I received a free copy of Things Not seen from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Work in Progress: The Keepers of the Nine by Joelle

When Joelle was eight, she decided that she wanted to be a detective. That afternoon she decided that she wanted to be a secret agent instead. After the secret agent came the actress, the president, and a host of other ideas. But that was the year she wrote her first book and fell head over boots in love with words.

The Keepers of the Nine is her first attempt at a series, inspired by games she played with her younger siblings when she was younger. Now it has morphed into a (hopefully) complex plot she annoys her family with all the time. Her goal is to have at least one book published by the time she leaves the house, but she’s also hosting a growing interest in voice acting. Time will tell what she does when (and if) she gets to adulthood.

You can find Joelle lingering around places like Story Embers, random writing webinars, and quiet corners in tiny libraries, running her fingers over the delightful contraptions called books.

The Keepers Rise (The Keepers of the Nine Book One)

“Oh, Adanyi!” he moaned softly to himself. “Protect them, please! Keep them safe. Oh, dear. I hope I haven’t sent them to their deaths!”

Indarra doesn’t want a quest, and adventure scares her. So when her reckless friend charges off to join the Revolutionists and deliver their kingdom from tyranny, Indarra almost stays behind. Almost. Now she is stuck in a mission to defeat one of the most powerful people in her world, in danger from pretty much everything she’s ever feared. Will she find the courage to follow through, or will her fear defeat her loyalty? Will she learn to trust the companions that join her and her friends? And most importantly, will they succeed?

The Keepers Unite (The Keepers of the Nine Book Two)

“We have more of a problem than Delernious leading us in circles,” she said as she drifted lightly down, the black undersides of her wings making it appear as if she floated on wisps of shadow. “We are now being chased.”

Jenis is disappointed when the nine’s first plan for catching Delernious fails, but he’s ready and willing to chase the overlord down and bring him to justice. Delernious has a few tricks up his sleeve, though, and Jenis becomes increasingly more worried as it becomes clear Delernious is intent on killing or capturing all of them. Is he committed enough to resist the temptation to forego the insecurity of questing? Will his motives swing from the right ones to those of evil? Is his power actually on his side, or is she trying to get him killed?

Introducing…Works in Progress

I’m starting a new series this month–one I’m really excited about. Works in Progress is an opportunity for young authors to display their talents by sharing excerpts from their unpublished works, inspiration art/photos, and glimpses into their writing stories.

If you’re under thirty and would like to participate, there’s still time! Please get in touch via the email address on my About Me and My Reviews page, and you too can share your “work in progress.”

Great Sites: Goodreads

Today I’m sharing the final site in my Great Sites series. Goodreads is a community of book lovers and authors that I’d imagine most people are already aware of–but just in case you are not, don’t forget to check it out. If you’ve published a book, you are eligible for an Author Page on Goodreads. Like a regular reader’s profile page, you can create lists of books you’ve read, books you want to read, and share reviews. In addition, you can display your own books, add them to genre-appropriate lists, and answer reader questions about them.

You can also pay to have your book advertised on Goodreads, or arrange a giveaway through the site. These options aren’t cheap, but some authors have found them very beneficial. Overall, Goodreads is a fun community of avid readers, writers and reviewers. It’s not quite as clean and easy to navigate as some of the other sites I’ve showcased here, but it’s definitely worth checking out. Go HERE to learn more, or check out my own Goodreads Author Page HERE.

Great Sites: CritiqueMatch

The advice, questions, and critiques I get from fellow writers are a huge part of what makes me a writer. Without the motivation that constructively-critical readers give me, I don’t think I’d write nearly so much…and I know that what I did write would be so sloppy, strange, confusing and boring that nobody besides me would want to read it. So, three cheers for critique partners and beta readers!

In my opinion, no matter how confident, or experienced, of a writer you are, you shouldn’t go it alone. I’ve heard that about five beta readers is the ideal number–but personally, I’ll take as many as I can get. CritiqueMatch.com is a site where you can search a database of writers from a wide variety of genres and skill levels, to find that handful of partners who will help you make your story what it needs to be.

Overall, I’m happy with my experience at CritiqueMatch. The site administrators have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure any shared work is safe from piracy. Work can’t be copied from the site, and its invisible to all but the people you choose to share it with. Once you have submitted a critique, it disappears. The site isn’t difficult to navigate, and though it can be a little glitchy, the only real problem is that work pasted in loses all formatting (line/paragraph breaks, etc.) and has to be re-formatted.

Check out CritiqueMatch HERE.

Random Writing Tip #9: Backstory

Backstory…some writers love sharing it all, others (like me) tend to be excessively stingy. Finding a balance can be tricky. One good way to share those key background details that readers need to know is through dialogue. However, if the information delivered is not something a character would realistically say under the circumstances, this technique can come across as forced and clunky. If readers get the feeling that your character is telling his/her friend things her friend ought to already know—talking for the benefit of his or her “audience,” as it were, those kinds of conversations get old fast.

While details of background, like where the character grew up, or what sports they enjoyed in school, or what their father did for a living, can be useful, I find it’s often good practice to keep a lot of those details in your head, rather than including them in the story, and instead ask yourself questions like, “How would somebody raised this way, or with this kind of personality, be likely to respond in this situation?”

Then, instead of just info-dumping a bunch of details, whether in the course of conversation or some other way, you are building a character who feels real, because you’re focused more on explaining who that person actually is now than on sharing bullet point bits of information about their past.

Great Sites: ChristianWriters.com

I discovered this site early on in my writing and publishing journey. In fact, without the encouragement and advice of the many great people in this faith-based online writing community, I wouldn’t have had a writing and publishing journey. In addition to having a forum for asking and answering writing-related questions, there’s also one for swapping critiques. Both are fun and immensely useful. So, go check them out today HERE. And don’t forget to introduce yourself on the Meets&Greets page!

Great Sites: Pixabay

Pixabay is one of the best galleries of non-copyrighted, free-for-commercial use images I’ve found so far. Simply type a word or phrase into the search window provided. You can specify whether you’re looking for photos, graphics, or videos. While not every author will want to create his own cover art, Pixabay is worth browsing, for ideas and inspiration, if nothing else. Check out Pixabay HERE.

Meet My MC Writers’ Linkup

Thanks to Maya Joelle of mayajt.wordpress.com for this fun Main Character challenge! It’s not to late to participate. Just follow the link to her blog to see the challenge and introduce one of your own main (or mainish) characters.1 // Introduce your MC. What’s their name? Age? Appearance? (Sharing collages/inspiration photos encouraged!)

Today I’m introducing Dunya, because she’s a main character from my most recently-published book, and she happens to be one of my favorites. Dunya’s a Tur woman from the capital city of Dor in Sevia. She’s twenty eight years old, the middle child and only girl in a family of three. She likes dyeing her hair—current color is pink. Like her brothers, Dunya’s a tattoo artist, and she has large flower designs tattooed on her shoulders and upper arms. She’s also a member of the Tur gang, Rayad, and the self-appointed mother of an orphan baby boy. For various reasons, not least of which being the tattoos, the pink hair, and the fictional ethnicity (think a blend of Turkish and Southeast European) I struggled to find a picture that represented Dunya well, but the one above is a little bit like her.

2 // Explain how your MC fits into the plot of your book (as best you can without spoiling it all…)The story is a romance, and Dunya is the love interest/heroine. When she’s evacuated from her home and sent to a refugee camp, she runs into Radoslav, a young man she would never even have met otherwise. What follows is both funny and tragic…3 // What’s the first thing your MC says in the story? The last? A random quote from the middle that you like?

Dunya’s first line is “Erkan, where are you?” (Erkan is her older brother.) I can’t share her last line, because that would give away a key point in the story, but her almost-last line is, “I’m not finished…” Indeed she is not.

4 // Which other character would die for your MC?

Radoslav, the interpreter Dunya meets while being evacuated, would give his life for her. So would her brother, Erkan, if he was sober.

5 // Would your MC die for them?

Erkan, yes. Radoslav, no—at least not in this story.

6 // Have any major details about your MC changed since you first created them?

Way back when I was writing the rough draft of the book where Dunya makes her first appearance (as a minor character) I imagined her a widow. That changed pretty quickly, however. As I got to know her better, I realized that she’d never been married at all.

7 // What characters (from books/movies not by you) remind you of your MC? Why?

That’s a great question. Dunya was based in part off a real-life friend, but no book or movie characters like her come readily to mind.

8 // Share your MC’s favorites!

Dunya’s favorite color is pink. She loves cute clothes, and tries to be stylish even under less than ideal circumstances. Besides her family, the thing she loves most is her cat, Coco. His disappearance plays a key role in her love story, in fact.9 // If your MC wasn’t involved in your story, what would they be doing? (Basically: what’s their dream life? Where do they want to live, what do they want to do?)

If I hadn’t ruined her life and thrown her into the middle of a war and then into a refugee camp, Dunya would probably be married, with one or two kids of her own. She’d probably do tattoo art or something similar on the side.

10 // Share a fun extra (another collage, a playlist, a scene from the story, a drawing, etc.).

Radoslav and Dunya meet for the first time in this short scene:

“Erkan,” called a woman’s voice. “Erkan, where are you?”

The sound brought Radoslav back to the present.
Someone was hurrying up the sidewalk toward the building. As his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the bright blur solidified into a young woman with wide-set eyes and a nose that turned up at the tip. Pale skin showed through the holes in her stylish jeans. She stopped, plucked the end of a cigarette from between her lips, tossed it to the ground and put her foot on it. She was not beautiful, but he wanted to keep looking at her because her face held a brightness he hadn’t seen in months.

When she saw him, she stopped. “What are you doing here?” She sounded more curious than upset.
Radoslav tugged the lanyard that carried his official International Peacekeeping Force Interpreter badge. “I’m here with the evacuation team. Making sure everybody gets out and gets a ride to the camp.” He started slowly down the steps.
“Oh. Right.” She didn’t move.
The door opened behind him. Taylor, Andrews and the man with the baby came out.

“I couldn’t find him,” said the woman, the corners of her mouth turning down. “He’s probably up a tree or hiding in someone’s basement somewhere.”
“That’s a shame,” said the man with the burned face, who must be Erkan. Maybe he was her husband, and the blue bundle was their baby. As happy a little family as anyone could hope to find in Pasha district these days.
Ignoring the soldiers, the woman pointed down the alley between their apartment block and the next one. “I’m going to look around the back for a minute.”
“No,” Erkan said. “We should already be on the way to catch our ride. These guys are just here to round up the stragglers.”
She sighed. “Coco’s so spoiled he’ll never survive on the street. Just one minute—”

“Seriously, Dunya, you’re acting like a little kid. We need to go.”
“I know,” she said, pulling another cigarette out of her back pocket and lighting it. She took a long puff, sniffed, and wiped her eyes. “I’m getting it all out of my system before we get to the camp.”
“I’m sorry about all this,” said Radoslav softly in Tur. “I wish…”
The young woman, Dunya, looked up at him, her eyes widening in surprise.
He spread his hands. “I’d do anything. I’d give my life to make things right again for…” He paused. He was going to say, “For your people,” but because he was looking at her, it came out, “For you.” The tightness in his throat made his whole body ache.

He couldn’t repair blasted buildings, or bring dead people back to life, or even make it so this woman and her family wouldn’t have to leave their home, but maybe he could do something to ease their pain a little.
Dunya studied his face, her head on one side. “Anything?” She tucked strands of pink-streaked blonde hair behind her ears. “Then find my cat.”
Radoslav couldn’t help smiling. “All right, I will. At least I’ll try.”
Her eyebrows shot up. She stood silent for a moment, staring at him. “You do that. And by the way, I can speak Sev perfectly well.”

Slipping by him, she ran up to Erkan at the top of the steps and took the baby. As she tugged at the folds of the blanket a small red face appeared. “Good thing I came back,” she said, clicking her tongue. “You were going to smother him.”
“He was fine.”
“Look at his poor little sweaty face. And don’t forget our suitcases!”
“Oh, right.” Erkan sighed.
“Does Coco answer to his name?” Radoslav asked, but Dunya didn’t seem to hear him.

“I’ll find him for you,” he added louder, but she kept striding down the sidewalk, the baby cuddled to her chest.
Erkan followed more slowly, his arms dragged down by the overstuffed suitcases.