Annie Nicholas's Blog, page 17

Irresistible- New Cover

I love my new cover for Irresistible.


Werewolves believe in soul mates. Sirens eat theirs.




Sirens, a mutation of mermaids, need sexual energy to survive. Marie Laframboise lost her only food source when her strip club burned down. Not wanting to kill any of her victims, she'd learned to glean the lust off her clients, and now she is starving. She can't resist the temptation to invite herself to the singles shifter party held by local werewolf stud, Maxwell Cox, and feed.

Max doesn't want a soul mate, but to his dismay, she shows up at his party. Just as Marie can't resist the temptation to feed, Max can't resist the instinctual urge to claim her. Marie has never wanted a relationship, but she can't shake off Max's pursuit. He offers her things she has only dreamed of, but she fears the hunger will turn those dreams into nightmares.


Her appetite is not one to mess with. Max thinks he's found the perfect mate, but Marie may have found the perfect prey.

Graphic sexual content, hot shifters, and one scary-ass siren.

Six Sentences of The Beta

This is my first Six Sentence Sunday. I've been wanting to play with this great idea for months but I have a terrible memory and only remember to join when I'm away from my computer. :D This is the beginning from my coming release, The Beta.


Competent leadership went hand-in-hand with confidence. Tonight, Robert couldn't find either. The alpha of the Vasi werewolf pack had left Chicago on his honeymoon, which placed Robert, his beta, in charge.


The weight of responsibility crushed him like a big, fat elephant. His goal to keep the pack intact seemed jinxed.

He folded his eyeglasses and placed them in a case, tucking it in his back pocket.

Year of the Rabbit Blog Hop!

Easter involves all sorts of fun and family get  togethers. It also involves candy.

I can't send everyone sweets but...

I do have mancandy for you.


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Sometimes a little goes a long way.

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I'm starting to really like curly hair on men.

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Is that the French flag?

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Place a new twist on wet t-shirt.


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Shhhh...

Oh yeah, the cover of my coming release.
Three days of hell, in charge, and running out of antacids.

As the pack's Beta, Robert needs to watch over the Vasi werewolf pack for a few days. He hates the responsibility, but his job is to dissolve any problems while his alpha honeymoons. Nevertheless, trouble comes to town and her name is Esther. She's beguiling, beautiful and picks his pocket. Although Robert doesn't trust her, he still wants to possess her.

Esther arrived in Chicago with the intention of slaying a vampire named Daedalus. While trailing her quarry, she encounters Robert who unhinges her world. He doesn't know her trade, and she doesn't know his connection to the vampire. Disturbed by her attraction to this unusual werewolf, she can't decide which prey to hunt. The one who's stolen her heart or the one who'll fill her bank account.


Hot graphic werewolf sex, growing body parts, and one pissed off Nosferatu.


Excerpt


ps. I'm guest blogging at Whipped Cream Reviews. Leave a comment THEIR SITE and get entered to win a Nook or 150$ GC.
Annie Nicholas

First Chapter

Your first chapter is the salesman of your novel. Most readers will read the first  pages of a book before purchasing it, some will go as far as reading the whole first chapter. You have about two thousand words to grab that person's attention and keep it.


How do you do that?

Think about the movies. I don't know if you've seen Matrix but I'm going to use it as an example. Trinity, the heroine, is sitting at a computer having a conversation with a mysterious person talking about another, the hero, which we don't know yet. Right away it sets questions in our minds. Like a first line of a novel. Then the police and Guardians attack her. There's a spectacular chase scene where Trinity barely escape with her life and ends with a cliff hanger of her disappearing in thin air. Makes you want to stay and watch the rest of the movie.

That's how a first chapter should be; just enough information to wet a reader's curiosity, action to grab their attention, and a cliff hanger ending to make them want to turn the next page.

Doesn't need to be a chase or car crash or fight but it can't be boring. If you start your book with backstory or description the reader gets bored. Begin the story in a moment of change. Action is what draws the reader along. You can spread details about the past as the story progresses.

How can you improve your first chapter skills?

Read the first chapter of your favorite book slowly. See how the writer draws your attention and how. What important event takes place? How much description is used and how much history is given? You don't need to write the answers. I just want you to study the chapter from a writer's perspective.

Novel Structure

I know there are a lot of pantsers in the writing community and there is nothing wrong with it but I do believe in some structure.

*clears throat* Please, remember this is my opinion and not written in stone.


Think of a plot as a house. It needs a foundation or it will crumble and it needs walls to hold it together. These are the bare bones of a building.

Each story needs a beginning.

Each story needs conflict.

Each story needs an end.

These three things combined are your foundation of your plot. (Beginning, Conflict, End.)

The walls of your story can change shape and size, just like real walls do. My house will be different from your house. Characters, Black Moment, Goals, Motivation, etc. are your story walls. These will move around with every story.

So, pantsers might think they're not plotting (You know I'm talking about you. ;) ) when in fact they have a foundation and walls. They may not know how they'll end the story but they know it has to end.

I'm a very visual person so I found this structure on the internet and modified it for my needs. I actually sketch this out prior to writing just to get an idea of where I'm going and use it to remember when I've forgotten. Nothing is built in stone. Just like a house, you can tear down a wall and build another one.





What is essential for a novel is that your conflicts are escalating otherwise your middle will sag and your reader might get bored. Hence, the stair case structure as a reminder. For an examples, I'll use the movie Finding Nemo (we've both got small kids so I assume they've you seen this). Each conflict Marlin faces gets worse and worse. He meets Dory (a small conflict), they meet sharks, then they lose the mask and almost get eaten by an Angler fish, and then the biggest obstacle, the jelly fish where Dory almost dies.

The black moment, where your main character feels like it's the end of the world and your reader is in tears, usually comes just before the ending. In Nemo the Black Moment is when Marlin thinks Nemo is dead and is swimming aimlessly in the Sydney bay.

Voila, bare bones plot but you've got a map and shouldn't get lost. And if you do, well, just make another map.

Another thing I do before writing is do a small character outline. You can add to it as you develop your story. I usually do but at the beginning it makes you think a little harder about them. So I make a list of the main characters who will have a point of view in the book. Under each name I write down their GMCs. (Goals, Motivation, Conflicts.)

Let's do Marlin since the movie is mostly in his POV.

Goal- To Find Nemo

Motivation- Nemo is his only child and he loves him.

Conflicts- A human stole him and needs to cross the ocean to find him.


Annie Nicholas

Are Vampires Dead?

I went to the Liberty State Fiction Writers Conference this weekend and one of the hot topics was market saturation. Can you over write a certain topic?


It made me think of vampire tropes (story lines). Are vampires dead?

I hope not.

I've always loved vampires from Dracula to Lestat to Zadist to Tane. The fiction world would be a duller place without our dark heros. I'll always keep reading vampires.

The writing community agrees with me. A topic can always survive. There are so many ways to create a story and keep it fresh. As Heather Osborne from Samhain stated, "Vampires will never die."


Annie Nicholas

LOOKIE LOOKIE!

I have cover love today!  This is the next installment of The Vanguards series where Robert is left in charge of the Vasi pack while his alpha is on his honeymoon.

BAIT. Same Book With A New Price

Just a little announcement. Bait will soon be available at a cheaper price. It's already discounted at All Romance Ebooks. I'm just waiting on the other websites like Amazon and Nook to upload it.

Live bait makes all the difference.



Sent on a mission to lure Budapest's vampire Overlord into a trap, Connie Bence is instead caught red-handed by the dark Casanova.

Her employer has concrete proof of the dubious leader's misdeeds but she is surprised when this ruthless killer, Rurik, offers her protection and rescues her from his own kind. It plants seeds of doubt in her mind and she begins to question his guilt.

Now she is thrown into his world where blackmail determines her every move and where she must betray those she cares about or let them die. The stakes are high. She either puts her trust in Rurik or leads him to his execution.
Love or life.

Stylish Blogger Award

Thanks to Rebecca Royce who awarded me with the Stylish blogger Award. You can visit her site here.

According to the award I have to tell you seven things about myself.

1. I'm a workaholic. If I'm not at my full time day job or writing then I'm renovating.

2. I love old houses. This is the second house I've owned and renovated that's over 100 years old. I used to be much more passionate about DIY projects than I am now. Writing has taken over that hobbie. Still love my house.

3. I have two sons, a hubby, and a fat hound dog who thinks she's a little boy.

4. I am a nurse.

5. I would rather spend all my money on traveling than on material things. Thank goodness my hubby keeps me from doing it.

6. I was born and raised in Quebec Cananda but live in Vermont now. And apparently, I still have an accent but I don't hear it.

7. I can't spell worth shit.

Isolation

Maybe it's the weather

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Maybe it's where I live.


[image error] But I've been feeling isolated lately. There's been very little chatter on the net from my usual buddies, Yahoo messenger has been empty, and forums are talking about things I don't care about.

Ever been surrounded by a crowd of people yet feel alone? My family and work fills my day. My friends call and I'm busy all day long with projects but when I sit down to write there's just me. I haven't anyone to discuss this passion with. No one I know in real life actually gets me, just the writers I've met online. Thank goodness for them or I would have gone mad.

I went to RT convention last year and finally had the opportunity to meet writers in person and talk shop. I loved it. This year I'm going to the Liberty States Fiction Writers convention. I'm really looking forward to getting regenerated.

Ever feel like this? What do you do?