Elyse Salpeter's Blog, page 20

“Method Acting” in Writing: Letting your characters influence you too much…

Definition from Wiki: The school of method acting is a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and feelings of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances. The “method” in method acting usually refers to the practice in which actors draw upon their own emotions and memories in their portrayals, aided by a set of exercises and practices including sense memory and affective memory.

I don’t know about you guys, but I definitely do this in my writing. When I develop a character, especially when writing in 1st Person POV, I become them. I experience their experiences, I feel their feelings. They can be male or female, but in 1st person POV I assume their identity as I write. So here’s the story: For some reason last month, I put down a thriller WIP I was about 20K into and picked up a novel I haven’t touched in about a year. It’s a very dark book, dealing with emotional issues, abuse, neglect, but is also quite powerful in that it’s about the main character overcoming obstacles and finally coming to a place of peace. It’s not the type of book I normally write, but for some reason my muse was calling to me and I picked it up and in just a few weeks I went from 20K to over 46K.

The problem is, it’s been an emotional few weeks personally for me for a myriad of reasons; family, friends, perceived slights, just life stuff. Nothing major and nothing that most people don’t normally go through. But, I’ve noticed I’m also more sensitive than normal. After a very brooding week, I realized I may have been channeling my character too much. I have been going back and editing the book and at times it’s a very sad, dark place. The sheer misery of what I put my poor character through is not something I’ll discuss, but I had a need to put it down on paper. This damaged soul just sits with me all day, hovering right behind me, gently touching my shoulder with her fingertips if I’m not writing. She just waits there to remind me that her life still needs to be resolved. If you’re like me, you never really “turn off” your characters and they play in your mind like little daydreams all day long.

I think this is what has happened to me. I realized that I was letting my character’s emotions invade my reality. After some thought on this, I decided that I’d tapped into what I’m going to call “The Method Act of Writing” where just like actors who completely delve into a character to portray them realistically, I’ve done that as a writer, and maybe too well.

Knowing I have no intention of stopping this WIP, I’ve decided to find moments in my day where she’s not living with me. I took three yoga classes this week to clear my mind and focus on positive thoughts. And then a funny thing happened. In my edits, I’m now on a chapter where my character is afforded the slightest bit of reprieve of happiness. Not to mention, I’m also in a better mood, too. Coincidence? I don’t know, but both me and my character are happier for it for the moment.

So I leave you with this. Keep your characters with you, but if they are emotional wrecks, let them exist behind a door when you’re not working on them. It could be a glass door that you can see through and still know they’re there, but if they’re in trouble, let them stay in trouble on the other side of that door until you’re ready to help them. Because if you open it, they’re here and you’ll have no choice but to write them back behind that door. It’s a hard thing to do, and if you’re like me, nearly an impossibility, but try.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? I’d love to hear that I’m not the only one that’s one step away from the asylum.

Also, please feel free to come on over and like my author page at http://www.facebook.com/elysesalpeterauthor for updates. Would love to see you there!

Why I Edit as I Write… Gaffes – did I really write that?

There’s an ongoing question authors ask each other about writing. “Do you edit as you write, or just write?” Me? I write, then edit, then edit, then write some more, then edit. Why? Because as I’m writing I have a tendency to add, or change things and I need to reread for consistency. It’s the way I self edit myself and it works for me.

The problem is, sometimes my issues have nothing to do with consistencies at all and have to do with gaffes. You know, those editing nightmares as you’re reading a book and the character in one paragraph is eating pancakes and two paragraphs later they’re staring into their cereal bowl? (this actually happened in book #4 in an extremely popular YA series that ended up being produced into 5 films. I’ll let you figure out which one – hint: think vampires…)

I had one of those gaffes in my new WIP and it was a doozy. My characters are in Egypt. There is an Englishman, an Italian, a Frenchman and an American in the bunch. I have my characters running from bad guys. The Englishman is saying all these sayings like gawd blimey, and bloody hell, and stuff (I was researching English phrases to get it right) and to get away from the bad guys, I have my people escape into the Underground. You know, the equivalent of the NYC subway system, but in London? I continued the chapter where they got off at their stop, queued up in line to get a taxi, and then were dropped off on a quaint country road.

Did you catch the gaffe yet? My characters are in Egypt, not London! Why in the world would they be in the Underground and what in the heck was I thinking as I wrote this chapter? I do remember thinking, “Wow, this is moving smoothly, the words are flowing easily.” Sure they were, because I WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE. When I reread what I wrote, because I always go back and reread what I did the session before, and noticed this, I stared at the screen in disbelief.

I love when I gaffe a description of a character as well. My protagonist stared into her boyfriend’s “beautiful amber eyes, flecked with yellow making them seem to sparkle and shine.” Nice, but the guy has blue-green eyes in book #1 of the series. Funny how in book #2 his eye color changed – and it wasn’t from contact lenses.

I know for a fact that I’m not the only author to experience something like this, so this week I asked authors Sara Barnard and Diane Rapp to chime in on this topic.

Question #1) Do you edit when you write, and why?

Sara Barnard: The more I write and the more I learn, the more I edit as I go. Not only does it save time when the manuscript goes to my totally awesome editor, but it has become habit. I like to think it makes me a better, more efficient, scribe. Writing a sentence or a paragraph then going back through and quickly reading, looking for errors or omissions helps keep me on track, too. But as a lesson, I also let it sit before sending it in and read through it at least one more time. It’s amazing the mistakes you’ll find when you let it rest then go back to it later.

Diane: I’m a “stream of consciousness writer.” I think about a scene and how the characters interact before I fall asleep each night, and my subconscious works on it. When I’m ready to write the scene, I type as fast as my fingers will move to put it into the computer.

After I write the newest scene, I wait a day and read through everything with a critical eye. At that point then the editing process starts. The first draft of the book is flexible, so I make changes and fix problems along the way. Sometimes I redo a scene three or four times until I’m satisfied, at other times I’m surprised that I already like what I created. It’s that sneaky subconscious doing a good job.

After the first draft of the book is complete, I reread everything straight through. That’s when I hope to spot inconsistencies and major errors. I also take time to check a thesaurus for more effective words. The third time through, I concentrate on punctuation, grammar, and incorrect words. This is the most boring part of the editing process, so I find myself daydreaming. I can’t count how many times I speed along, enjoying my own narrative, when I realize I’ve stopped paying attention to editing.

Question #2) What is the most major gaffe you found editing?

Sara: I’ve found numerous mistakes in my self-edits. One was in A HEART ON HOLD … Charlotte’s horse, Achilles, was written to be a gelding. Well, later, I had him as a stallion. That may not seem like much, but it was certainly important to Achilles! In my forthcoming Amish romance Rebekah’s Quilt, I had my heroine’s little brothers named something different in almost every chapter!

Diane: My worst mistake was using the wrong name for my heroine in a full chapter of a first draft. It was understandable. I just finished writing a Mystery with a heroine named Kayla, and the character in the new Science/Fantasy is named Krystal. My brain got mixed up, or maybe it was my fingers. Suddenly Kayla appeared on the planet Drako to confront an evil villain. The worst part was that I didn’t notice the error at first. One of my Beta readers sent me an e-mail asking, “Who is Kayla?” She had not read my mystery, so she didn’t understand the mistake. I was so embarrassed. At that point I realized many of my characters had similar sounding names. I reconsidered the character names and made major changes. I discovered that characters behaved differently after I changed their names. It’s true. I got in a few arguments with those characters, but they won in the end. Darn!

Ladies, thank you both so much! I think everyone can relate to the gaffes above – I know I do! I think I’ve done all of them at one point or another, as well.

If you’d like to learn more about Sara and Diane, please check out their links below:

Sara is the mother of four small children and wife to an awesome and supportive husband. Now that her husband is out of the Army and she is done following him around to various military bases around the world, they’ve settled down in their shared hometown in west Texas. Sara’s debut historical romance series, An Everlasting Heart, consists of four books: bestseller and 2012 RONE award finalist for Best American Historical Fiction A Heart on Hold, A Heart Broken, A Heart at Home, and the forthcoming final book in the series A Heart Forever Wild. Her debut Amish historical romance, Rebekah’s Quilt, will be released November 16th, 2013. All of these are from 5 Prince Publishing. Sara also writes children’s books: Chunky Sugars was her debut children’s book from 5 Prince Kids, with Little Spoon coming in September 2013. Sara independently publishes a nonfiction children’s line as well, all of which have remained on Amazon’s bestseller lists since being released. Those titles are: The ABC’s of Oklahoma Plants, The ABC’s of Texas Plants, and The Big Bad Wolf Really Isn’t So Big and Bad. She can be reached at twitter at @TheSaraBarnard, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sarabarnardbooks, her website at http://www.sarabarnardbooks.com and lastly, her blog at sarathreesuns.BlogSpot.com

Diane Rapp is a split-personality author, who writes a Mystery series and a Science/Fantasy series. She particularly enjoys works by Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Agatha Christie, and Arthur Conan Doyle. As an animal lover, she always includes animals such as telepathic wolves, flying dragons, or poison dart frogs (as a murder weapon) in my novels. For more information about both series, visit her website at http://www.quicksilvernovels.com. You can also reach her at her author’s FB page at: http://www.facebook.com/quicksilvernovels and on twitter at @DianeRapp

How I Turned into Supermom on Friday…

I have spent the past few weeks focussing this blog on writing, but by my subtitle, my blog is really about “Musings of a Type “A” Mom.” As much as I’d love to spend my life writing and cooking, a big part of my world is, of course, my children.

Here was my FB post Friday: DONE! Within 13 hours of deciding Ben was not going back to Camp Kehilla, I interviewed 5 camp directors, went to his old camp to settle things AND get my reimbursement, got medical forms, filled out paperwork, went to his new camp to meet the team, and now he is OFFICIALLY starting Luhi’s Computer program, with swimming, on Monday Morning. BooYa! I should really do this stuff for a living.

Let me explain. My 11 year old son has Asperger’s and camp (and most things) are not his thing. If he had his way, he’d be on the computer for his entire life playing Minecraft or watching crazy youtube videos that range from Team Fortress 2 vignettes to My Little Pony movies. For the past few years, he’s been going to a mainstream camp, but they suddenly closed. We looked at other mainstream camps, but they weren’t good fits (either too much sports, no real supervision, etc) so I selected a special needs camp where all the kids were on the spectrum. I was assured that his group would all be high functioning because my son gets very upset if he believes he’s in a group for kids with needs – especially if they’re lower functioning.

It’s been 3 weeks and needless to say, camp was a disaster. He was upset at the long bus ride, upset at some of the kids who would verbally stim for hours on end, upset that he was bored, not challenged and it was too chaotic. It got to a point that he was begging us not to take him to camp and he started having meltdowns to the point where he’d hurt himself. Camp simply shouldn’t be that way. I don’t blame the camp. We tried, it didn’t work out. My fault would have been to simply leave him there, because it was easy. But this mom doesn’t play that way.

I woke up at 6:00 am Friday morning, July 19th. Called in to work that I was taking off and started my emails. By 9:00 am I had started talking to directors at various camps, made appts at doctors to pick up medical forms for the camps, started downloading forms and started Facebooking about my plans. By noon I had it down to 3 camps. By 1:00 I chose one (one I had not even known about at noon and a FB friend mentioned!) and then dashed out to my son’s camp to let them know he wasn’t coming back, get reimbursement and take him home. (all nicely – I really don’t fault them).

By 4:30 I was at the new camp delivering payment, forms, getting the bus set up and talking to the Director. So, on Monday – only 3 days later on July 22nd, he’ll be starting a new camp, a computer based video gaming development program that “he thinks looks very cool” – there’s food he’ll eat, swimming and sports (hmmm), but they’re aware of his needs and the head of the camp believes he’ll be fine. My son has promised that he “will try” to control his behaviors. I’m hoping he’s motivated because he really wants to be there.

So, now I’m trying to breathe. Most of the time I’m a very tired, confused mess, but where my kids are concerned, I seriously feel like I have some sort of “reserve well” deep inside and have the ability to turn into supermommy when I need to. I mean, what other choice did I have?

Let’s cross our fingers, eyes, toes and whatever other disjointed body parts we have. The good news is, it’s only a 2 week program (I could re-up) but now I also have 2 other camps I can reach out to as well.

Wish us luck!

Do You Have Unfinished Manuscripts?

How many of us have unfinished works in our computers? I bet a lot. Sometimes we get an amazing idea for a story, we furiously write it down, come up with characters, develop and plot and after feverishly working on it for days and weeks at a time…. it fizzles. Why does this happen? I can blame writer’s block, lack of time, computer problems, but that’s usually not it. You can always come up with some excuse, but for me, the real reason is that I probably got bored. And if “I” get bored with my own story, you can imagine how readers might feel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing and it doesn’t mean I’m not capable of finishing a book… just maybe not this one.

The question begs, what do you do with these stories? Especially those that are halfway, to three-quarters of the way, written? Can they be saved? Do you even want to save them? Should you finish them as an exercise and put them in a special “where the sun don’t shine” file, or do you occasionally take them out, dust them off and try to “fix” them? I have four novels in various stages of production. Some are in genres I never usually write in and I use these books to “play.” When I need a break from a serious WIP, but still want to write, I go to these “where the sun don’t shine” novels and work on them. Some of them are actually decent, some of them are terrible and some of them I will never show anyone because of subject matter (you fill in the blanks ) But the fact is, they are there, I know they’re there and I don’t necessarily want to let them go.

I wondered if I were the only author that has unfinished works in their arsenal. This week I asked authors Charity Parkerson and C.K. Raggio for their input on this subject. They had some great, thought provoking responses.

Question #1) Do you have any unfinished works? Or do you have stories you start but don’t finish and what do you do with them?

C.K. Raggio: I have quite a few short stories in numerous notebooks near my desk. When I get frustrated or stuck on whatever novel I’m writing (and hard liquor and yanking out my hair doesn’t cut it) I take out a short and work on that instead. It helps me to clear my mind and refocus. It also gives me a feeling of accomplishment once I get to the end of a draft and feel like I’ve improved on it.

Charity Parkerson: I have one book in particular that has sat on my computer for over a year now that I’m beginning to think will never be complete. While writing A SPLASH OF HOPE I always intended for it to have a sequel, but so far, it’s not happening. Sometimes if I have several things that are around 1000 words, I’ll find a way to piece them together to start a new story and it will spark an idea.

Question #2) Do you think it’s okay for writers to have stories that never get finished?

C.K. Raggio: Definitely. I think sometimes a story starts in our head but isn’t ready to be completed. Sometimes we need to grow in our own lives before we are finally able to go back and finish the story’s journey. I believe every tale we tell in some way is connected to our experiences, fears, goals and ultimate dreams. Life will sometimes throw a curve ball and a course we thought we were following changes direction, so even if a story is never finished it’s not a bad thing, it just means we may have drastically changed before we had a chance to polish it to perfection.

Charity Parkerson: I think every writer does have stories that never see the light of day. If in the end it doesn’t work for them then most likely it’s not going to work for readers. Writing is never a waste of time, but not everything is right for publication.

Wise words, ladies. I agree with everything you’re saying and love the idea that maybe sometimes we need to “grow into our lives” before we can finish them. And I love the concept that even if we don’t finish, it’s not a waste of time because it might “spark other ideas.” Really great advice.

For more information about the authors above, please feel free to contact them here:

Charity Parkerson is an award-winning author of several books including 15 Amazon bestsellers. She can always be reached on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/authorCharityParkerson You can also check out one of her novels, THE SEXY & THE UNDEAD at http://www.amazon.com/The-Sexy-Undead-Witches-ebook/dp/B00CLYIMD0/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373661362&sr=1-6&keywords=charity+parkerson

C.K. Raggio is a thriller/horror writer with a taste for the dark side. Her debut novel HERON PARK is available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/Wx537w You can visit C.K. at her website http://www.ckraggio.com/

Hey, Did I Ask For Your Input On My Book? Oh yeah, I did.

Why can’t people just be quiet? Why must we always vomit from the mouth? Do you ever have moments where you so badly want to tell someone about the story you’re working on, but you know in your heart you really should just keep your mouth closed? I do this all the time. I have these ideas in my head and I’ve just put them down on paper, and I want so badly to share it with someone that I find myself begging and pleading with those around me to let me tell them about it. It’s usually my very tight writing friends, my husband and sometimes even my kids. (I know, I must be desperate).

Maybe I’m looking for validation that the story is good? That I’m on the right track? Sometimes that’s the case. Other times I just want to bounce the idea off of someone because maybe the story isn’t making sense and I want to brainstorm a bit. I find just “speaking” about my topic to someone helps me to break it out further in my head. Sometimes saying things out loud has a way of making things sound, well, not so great and then I know there are inconsistencies and issues that I need to address.

Of course, then there are the random people you meet in daily life who find out you write and ask “what are you working on?” That’s when I should just learn to be quiet and say, “Oh, it’s a YA novel, haven’t gotten it flushed out yet.” Yeah, getting me to be quiet is another blog onto its own. I invariably start spewing, hoping for that “OMG, that sounds amazing” reply. Invariably the response is anything but. They give me this quiet stare, or a little crinkle starts between their eyebrows and already I know that this isn’t going to go well. Then I start to back pedal super-fast and try to justify what I’ve just said. Sometimes I feel like I have to justify the entire novel!

This doesn’t just happen to me with strangers. I have an 11 year old son this happens with all the time. He’s a super high fuctioning Aspie and he loves to come into my room and read over my shoulder when I’m writing (which yes, I find distracting). I love the kid to death, but this is never a good thing. He’ll read something and that little crinkle starts between his own brows and then the inevitable line he quotes nearly every time. “Mom, I’m not trying to be rude but you really should write it this way.” He proceeds to correct my grammar (he is not always correct, by the way), changes my plotlines (all off of a one page reading of a 200+ page book) and explain, in detail, how people really don’t like science fiction and fantasy and I really should make things more real life, less violent and more interesting. After I’ve sucked in my breath, I smile and say, “kiddo, while I appreciate the suggestions, this is my book and this is how I want to write it.” This is usually followed by a “My mom just doesn’t understand anything” shrug and he says, “Just trying to help.” I always make the suggestion that he should write his own book and then he can write whatever he’d like. (that never works – for him that feels like homework and he skedaddles quickly away at any mention of that).

The bottom line on those crinkled brows. I don’t think people are judging. Well, maybe they are, but I did open up the can of worms in the first place. People are built to have opinions, we’re wired to think differently and if you put yourself out there, be prepared for what is going to come back. BUT, food for thought for all you people on the other end of that author’s rant… Here’s what a writer REALLY wants to hear (well, me) … Unless I’ve paid you a tremendous amount of money to edit and destroy my manuscript, or asked you to beta read, or really said, “tell me what you think,” what I really want you to do is just nod and smile. I’m just actually looking for support. I’m really just brainstorming out loud. Trust me, it won’t read like this when it’s done. Well, hopefully it won’t.

So folks, I’d love to hear from you if you have this same problem and, what is your solution?

The Creation Process – How does your muse like to work?

I am the type of author who craves utter silence when I write. That includes interruptions at any time, including quietly slinking into the room to simply “get something” even though no one actually speaks to me. I find that just as distracting as if I’d stopped to have a conversation. I’ve tried to explain that “when a writer is on a roll and stops writing for any reason that means THAT particular train of thought is GONE forever.” Yes, I know we can start again, but it will never be what it was and that makes me a little crazy. The frustrating part is, the people around me really and truly don’t understand this and they think I’m being unreasonable.

Ideally, I like to sit on my bed with my laptop on my lap, fan or A/C going and just have a block of an hour to let the words come. There are days I need more time. Much more time, but I have kids, a life, a husband, a job, and those get in the way. Other days I get a little stuck or bored and just have to take a break, but I like the control of my own muse, without interruptions. I’ve tried going to a coffee shop or the library, but those little whispered conversations around me, crinkling of a candy wrapper, the tinny sound of someone’s music leaking from their ear buds – they bother me. I must have some sort of sensory issue. In school during testing “I” was the one “shushing” the teachers who were quietly chatting at the front of the room. Come on! We’re working here!

I wondered if I was alone in how we create, so I asked two writers, Mitchel Whitington and Gwen Choate this very question. I also wanted to find out their most gratifying moments. Writing takes so much time out of our lives, there has to be something gratifying in it for all of us, right?

Question #1) What is your writing set-up and what do you need to write?

Mitchel Whitington: It all depends on my mood. If I’m really in the zone, I like it quiet and dark. My office has black-out curtains to help me create this environment. There are other times when I put on instrumental music (one of my favorites is Cirque du Soleil’s soundtrack “Mystere”) and light incense. Darkness is still important, though.

Gwen Choate: I prefer to work at my computer, which sits in the corner of a small room, surrounded by my dictionary and thesaurus, research material, and the copy in progress. I have a laptop, but I get a backache trying to position myself when I use it very long at a time. I, too, like solitude.

Question #2) Can you share some gratifying moments?

Mitchel: My biggest one came from a book that I wrote a long time ago. It was humor fiction, and I had a lot of fun with it. At a book signing, a lady asked me to sign her dad’s book. He had just died, and his sunday school class had purchased it for him to read in the hospital. The lady told me that he’d read it and laughed throughout, even toward the end when she was having to hold the book for him and turn the pages, because her dad was too weak to do it himself. There were tears in her eyes when she told me that my book was the last thing that her dad laughed at in his life. I still get tears in my eyes when I think of that.

Gwen: There are so many. When I sold BUFFALO GOLD, the Abilene Reporter-News did a two-page spread about how I, as a woman, broke the taboo against female authors of westerns. SACK has had wonderful publicity in the Nacogdoches newspaper, and I was given a book signing which was attended by sixty-five people and generously covered by publicity. Then more recently I was privileged to join a friend at a Kroger’s Supermarket and sell copies of THE SACK, which were charged to the customers’ Kroger cards . . . followed by the wonderful KTRE-TV interview.

So there you have it. I personally know people who can exercise and write at the same time on some contraption they set up on their treadmill (I can’t drink and walk at the same time, so I’m continually stumped how they do this). I know others who prefer blaring music, but most seem to love the solitude that allows their muse to truly come forward.

And then there are the gratifying moments we all love. For me, the most gratifying moment came when I had a library chat. A sixteen year old boy came with his dad, armed with three pages of questions. He stayed until the end of my talk, waited to speak to me, told me how much he loved my book, asked me to sign it and then asked if he could ask me some questions. You see, he wanted to become a writer and wanted to get “a real writer’s” perspective on some things. A real writer? Me?! Wow. For me, that was my first time hearing from someone I didn’t know how they felt about the book, validating my hard work and wanting MY advice. It felt great.

To find out more about the authors above, they can be reached here:

Gwen Choate’s YA novel, THE SACK, was nominated by Texas Librarians for the Star of Texas Award as a best Middle School book. It is available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sack-ebook/dp/B00CD5VBTO/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371494846&sr=8-1&keywords=the+sack+gwen+choate She can also be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gwenchoate

Mitchel Whitington is an author and speaker from the piney woods of East Texas. Over a dozen of his books have been published over the last decade, and he has contributed to as many anthologies. You’ll find Mitchel speaking around the country at workshops and conferences. Mitchel lives in a historic 1861 home in Jefferson, Texas, where he lives with his wife Tami, two basset hounds, and several resident spirits. You can contact him at: mitchel@whitington.com.

THE WORLD OF KAROV is FREE today and tomorrow, 6/28 & 6/29

Hi everyone! While I anxiously wait for my young adult novels to be shopped around by my agent to publishers, I’ve got a very dark fantasy tale I self published that is up on Amazon. I’m doing a freebie on Kindle today and tomorrow if you’d like to grab it. Word of warning: This is not a princess fairy tale story – my family believes I opted out of therapy and took out my demons in this book. (no, serioulsy) Here’s is the cover blurb:

Adam and Alec look like identical twins, but their personalities are as different as possible. Adam is gentle and kind, whereas Alec is the essence of nightmares. Always jealous of his twin, Alec does everything he can to destroy his brother’s happiness, including kidnapping Adam’s fiancée on their wedding day and disappearing with her deep into the Canadian mountains. Adam searches for them for months, but he never finds them. Just when Adam is at his most grief-stricken point, a stranger appears and offers him a chance for a new life in a land filled with magic, gems, and powers unimaginable; a world mysteriously led by a special tribe of children who have hidden themselves away from a great evil that is seeking to destroy them. Adam takes the chance and goes with the stranger, but his past is never far from his mind. Eventually, reality comes back to haunt Adam, resulting in a final showdown with his brother…. and this time, only one will win.

If you’d like to grab your copy, here they are on various Amazon Sites:

US: http://www.amazon.com/World-Karov-Children-Demilee-ebook/dp/B00APJ6Z6Y/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1372426850&sr=8-1&keywords=the+world+of+karov

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Karov-Children-Demilee-ebook/dp/B00APJ6Z6Y/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1372427069&sr=8-1&keywords=the+world+of+karov

CA: http://www.amazon.ca/World-Karov-Children-Demilee-ebook/dp/B00APJ6Z6Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372427121&sr=8-1&keywords=the+world+of+karov

If you do download it, I’d adore a review if possible. It would be much appreciated. Enjoy!

Dealing with Frustration – The Ups and Downs of Writing

I liken being a writer to being on a see-saw. One moment you’re at the top of the world and the next you’re crawling in the dirt. What do I mean by this? If an agent requests a partial read of my novel, I’m ecstatic. If I get a rejection letter, I’m crushed. If I get a great review, I’m over the moon. If I get a bad review, I’m back in the dirt, devastated.

Being a writer is a life of ups and downs. The trick with most people seems to be trying to find a way to manage the frustrations that come along with it. For me, when I get a rejection letter from an agent, I try to answer it with TWO new queries. If I get a bad review, well, I usually email all my tight writing friends and whine and they make me feel better. I’ve also found a boatload of sushi and some dark chocolate seems to help when things are very bleak.

But frustration doesn’t always come from reviews and query replies. It can also come from within ourselves. For me it’s the moment where I’m staring at the screen, 250+ pages into a book, at the climatic ending and I’m like a deer in the headlights. “OMG, WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN NEXT?” or “OMG, WHAT I WROTE IS SO BORING!” It’s those moments where you wonder, “what in the world am I going to do?” I usually close the novel at that point, feeling like I’m the worst writer in the world (man, we are so hard on ourselves, aren’t we?) But then, that’s when my “aha” moments happen. I tend to dwell on the book for awhile (maybe a day, a week). I think about it when I’m commuting, when I’m in the shower, when I’m about to fall asleep… and then WHAM! You get that moment when you suddenly see your story go on a tangent you never thought possible and you give yourself “permission” to go there.

So I asked some other writers what they do to deal with frustration.  Then I asked them about their own “aha” moments. First I spoke with author Gwen Choate who has been writing for 70 years (yes, I said 70) – she is my idol, 90 years “young” and just published her YA Novel, THE SACK (although she’s been writing successfully since her 20′s – I should have used her for my persistence blog last week). I also asked author Frank Tuttle whose YA book ALL THE PATHS OF SHADOW consumed my 11 year old Aspie son who was so compelled by the ideas in this book enough to make drawings for the novel and begged me to send them  to Frank. (who by the way, graciously put them on his book’s FB page)

Question #1) Do you ever get frustrated?

Gwen Choate: All the time. For most of us, the writer’s life is a mix of joys and disappointments. The thing that is most helpful for me is my morning “quiet time,” when I journal and meditate.

Q #2) Have you ever had an “aha” moment?

Gwen: Yes, often.  For example, if I’m blocked by a problem, I like to say before I go to sleep at night, “Please tell me what to do about this.” It’s amazing how often my subconscious comes through and I get an “Aha” the next morning.

Q #1) Do you ever get frustrated?

Frank Tuttle: Frustrated is my default ground state. Why am I not rich? Why am I not famous? Why am I not appearing on late night talk shows? As to how I handle this frustration, see also grain alcohol, consumption of. (very funny, Frank)

Q #2) Have you ever had an “aha” moment?

Frank: Yes. They usually involve the Mississippi Highway Patrol and radar-assisted speed traps. But you wanted writing related discussion, so I’ll say this: All good narratives can be boiled down to a simple formula. A character, in a setting, facing a problem. It’s really that simple. It’s not *easy* but it is simple.

Well said, Frank. I believe our own frustrations can also be boiled down to a simple formula. “Our book”, “other’s perceptions of our books”, and “our reactions.” Well, maybe it’s not that simple. But I believe as writers we need to realize there will be ups and downs, difficulties, good times and bad, but at the end of the day we do this because we love it. We must always remember that. Frustration is just a state of mind – one that we have control over, though at times we may not realize it.

Thank you to Gwen Choate and Frank Tuttle for their time. To learn more about them, please check them out here:

Frank Tuttle writes fantasy to escape his real life exploits as a jet-setting international superspy. You can visit Frank’s webpage at http://www.franktuttle.com/ where you will find links to Frank’s blog, his books, and first-aid tips for exotic pet owners. You can also follow Frank on Twitter www.twitter.com/frank_tuttle

Gwen Choate’s YA novel, THE SACK, was nominated by Texas Librarians for the Star of Texas Award as a best Middle School book. It is available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sack-ebook/dp/B00CD5VBTO/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371494846&sr=8-1&keywords=the+sack+gwen+choate She can also be reached on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gwenchoate

Perseverance – How Long is “Too Long” to Keep Reaching For Your Dream?

I sometimes wonder if I’m just a glutton for punishment. My auspicious start to writing wasn’t good. After a very difficult 9th grade honors English teacher, who shall remain forever nameless, insulted me and my skills in a deplorably embarrassing and public manner, I stopped writing until my second year of college. At that point, something happened. Maybe I finally matured or got guts, but I remember the moment I said “I don’t care what that horrible lady thinks” and I wrote my first fantasy novel.

When it was complete, I was so proud of myself. Was it good? Um… no. Was it a little good? Well, probably not. It was my first novel, the first draft, and I really didn’t know a thing about POV, structure, grammar, character development, or well, anything. But, I had the ideas in my head and just decided to get them out. I grabbed onto a great editor and latched myself tight to a wonderful group of writing friends and started to learn the craft. The fact is, it’s been twenty long years learning the craft and trying to get published. But, I persevered and now I can say I just signed my first literary agent. My YA books, FLYING TO THE LIGHT and FLYING TO THE FIRE (which had been with a small pub company first and who folded) are now being represented by Pete Riva from International Transactions.

So, what makes us persevere? What makes us keep putting ourselves out there? What motivates you day in and day out to keep pushing? I’m self motivated to achieve – some compulsive goal oriented personality disorder I’m sure, but what do other authors think? So I asked Bob Nailor and Kevin Rau this very question. (you might find the answers alternately frank and surprisingly funny)

Question #1) WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP WRITING?

Kevin Rau: An obsessive personality! I’m fortunate that I didn’t also gain a quirk of being compulsive, but my obsessive nature has allowed me to lock onto my H.E.R.O. series and really grow it into something far beyond what even I imagined years ago.

Q #2) What have you learned over the years?

Kevin: That it takes a lot of effort to write, it isn’t fun and games. Giving up so many hours every week to write is hard at times as well, and often we have to choose to sacrifice time with friends and family (or from watching TV, etc.) and it can be rough. Advertising/promotion is just plain not enjoyable for me, and it takes away from the time writing/editing. Overall, though, I’ve learned that if we put in the time (and a lot of it), we can accomplish things.

Q #1) What Motivates You to Keep Writing?

Bob Nailor: Back in college Psych class we were taught about strokes. Good stroke aka praise.

Bad stroke aka punishment. We learned that everyone wants to receive a stroke, whether it be good or bad. No stroke was equivalent to being ignored and not acceptable. We are humans and we want acceptance. So, we would rather receive a bad stroke in place of no stroke. For me, motivation is reaching that next goal whether it be through praise – good stroking, or via criticism – bad stroking. If I am praised, I am ramped and ready to move forward. If I am criticized, I know I must work harder and better. Without either, I struggle, lost with no goal. So, I must reach that next step, that goal, no matter what stroke.

Q #2) What have you learned over the years?

Bob: Blame the publisher for any punctuation, grammatical, fact, spelling etc. errors found in your work after it is published. No matter how hard you try, there will be flaws in the story.  Get over yourself and get writing the next project. Oh! And no matter what you do — submit! Repeatedly.

So there you have it. A writer is at their core goal-oriented and self motivated. You have to be or why would you take the sheer amount of hours out of your day to do this, or the risk of negative criticism, if you didn’t love it?

I want to thank Bob and Kevin for sharing some of their thoughts and experiences with me. To learn more about them (whose books I have read and are amazing) please check them out here:

Kevin Rau is the author of the massive 13-book (1.2 million word) H.E.R.O. series of superhero novels. The first ebook in the series is provided free at most major ebook vendors. Links can be found at http://www.kevinrau.com/books.asp. You can also reach him at his author page at http://www.facebook.com/herobooks

Bob Nailor is an author of several books. His writing genre is somewhat non-specific with science fiction, fantasy, and horror but he also delves into romance, adventure, thriller, action, mystery and now Christian. He loves to write, cook, travel and enjoys the opportunities of doing conference and workshop sessions where he can interact with other writers. Visit him at http://www.bobnailor.com or follow him on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bobnailor

Let’s Talk Character Names – “I like Mike.”

I’ll admit it right off the bat. I’m one of those readers who gets confused with complicated character names. If an author presents too many people, too soon, with foreign sounding or “made-up” names or where both the first and last name have three or more syllables each, I get lost. I’m one of those readers who keeps turning the pages back and forth to figure out “who is whom” in a book. This is one of the reasons I still like paper books over electronic. It allows me quickly to flip pages and chapters back and forth, so that I can keep up.

I think as authors we try to be too cute, or ingenious, and forget there are people who need to follow what we’re writing. Maybe I’m too cautious, though. In my novels, I like easy names. In my books, I’ve used Mike, John, Steve and Josh. Sometimes I get a little “crazy” and use Patricia, Kira or Kelsey. But they’re still not too complicated. Some people have skeptically asked me how I choose my names and frankly, it’s not a very in-depth process for me. I think of a name and use it. Pretty simple.

The problem with simple is that sometimes I’ll give folks similar names and my editor, Denise Vitola, calls me on it. I have a Desmond and Dave in my recent WIP and she said, “You need to change their names.” I couldn’t understand why. She said “When a reader is dealing with a number of characters, names that begin with the same letter, or that sound similar, tend to be confusing. Keep them separated in the reader’s mind by giving them unique names.” Problem is, to me they sounded unique and different, but I bowed to her. Dave became Logan… (though poor Logan was in the chapters that were all the back story flashbacks in the book and got relegated to the cutting room floor in the edits)

I read a great article by Brian Klems from Writer’s Digest on The 7 Rules for Picking Character names for Fictional Characters. Of course, I found this after I wrote my books, but I’m going to save it and go back to it because I think it’s really helpful. Here’s the link if you’re interested.

Time to reread the novel and get rid of some of those easy names… I always wanted to use the name Harry. Too easy? Nah….