Nicki Elson's Blog, page 36

IWSG: Getting to Know Characters...and You!

In case you didn't get the memo, since tomorrow is the 4th of July and therefore we Americans will be busy eating weenies and exploding things, Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group will be held today through Thursday.

This month I'd like to talk about character profiles.  I don't do them.  So whenever I read some great tip on creating a character profile or about the in-depth "off screen" backgrounds many writers dream up for their characters before they even begin writing their novel, I get a little insecure. Like, maybe my characters are shallow because I haven't ever thought about what their favorite color is or decided under which astrological sign they've been born.

But the thing is...I know my characters aren't shallow.  One of the most consistent compliments I get on my writing is how real feeling and multidimensional my characters are, even the ones on the sidelines.  So I think the deal is that I just have a different process for getting to know the players in my stories. This is how it seems to work: instead of writing out a detailed profile, I create a mental sketch of each character, and as I write the first draft, I get to know them better so that by the end of it, we're all quite intimate. During the second draft, I frequently smack my forehead and mutter, "No way would she/he ever say/do that!" and then I rewrite that dialogue/scene/whatever it takes so that the character is true. Further refining occurs in the third draft.

While I don't do a lot of pre-thinking about my characters' intricacies, I do have some fun with the post thinking, as evidenced by these quizzes I created for the Daves, in my novel Three Daves (currently on sale, details below).  I promise they're short, so please choose one and take it...cuz I'd like to get to know my blogging friends a little better too. ;)

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Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps [image error]

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps
Have a wonderful 4th, wherever in the world you are.

Extra! Extra!

The Omnific Publishing Freedom Sale has just started and will run through July 31. Kindle editions of select adult titles are now only $2.99 (normally $6.99).

You can find a full list of sale titles at the top of my sidebar along with links to purchase. I've talked about some of the titles here on my blog, including Indivisible, Seers of Light, The Guardian's Wildchild, and With Good Behavior.  All great reads, and now's the perfect time to check them out or at least get them on your Kindle for future reading. See previews of all the titles at Omnific Publishing's You Tube Channel.
I'm of course thrilled to have Three Daves included in the sale, and the "Freedom" theme is fitting.  As I've said in various guest posts, the reason I chose a college setting for the story was because of the freedom it allows---freedom from daily scrutiny by the Ps and freedom from having to be a completely responsible adult. So let freedom ring, baby!  And if I may be so bold...
A lot of you lovelies have already bought Three Daves (thank you!) and now I would appreciate you spreading the word about this sale by linking to this blogpost wherever appropriate or Tweeting one of the samples below (or simply retweet from my Twitter profile).
TweetablesWho needs plutonium? You can now take a trip back to the ‪#80s‬ for only $2.99 during the ‪#Omnific‬ Freedom Sale! http://t.co/zbjwXAgJ

There's nothing like the Freedom of #college days.  Get all Three Daves for only $2.99 in the #Omnific Freedom Sale! http://t.co/zbjwXAgJ


(Sorry this post is more marketty than my usual, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  Thanks for being cool about it. ;)) 

Jake Ryan, Eat Your Heart Out...and Have a Cupcake While You're at It.

We lit exactly Sixteen Candles at my house on Friday, count 'em.  SIXTEEN!  So that got me thinking about the year I turned sixteen (cue the wavy lines) ~ ~ 1983 ~ ~  turns out we had some pretty good ideas that year, ideas with staying power:
Motorola introduced the first commercially available cell phone
(for the low, low price of $3,995)

and Microsoft had a pivotal year, including the introduction of Microsoft Word and the mouse.



Sixteen Candles wasn't released until 1984, but we had plenty of otherfuture classics in theaters to keep us busy while we waited for it:
1983 Releases
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 
War Games
The Outsiders
Vacation
Trading Places
Risky Business
Terms of Endearment
The Big Chill
Cujo
Mr. Mom
Valley Girl
Scarface
A Christmas Story
The Right Stuff

My baby girl turning 16 has me thinking about driving too *gulp* so I leave you with this quote from one of my all time favorite deep thinkers:

As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to redagain, I sat there thinking about life. Was it nothing more than abunch of honking and yelling? Sometimes it seemed that way.
-Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

 

International Short Story Day

Did you know it's International Short Story Day today? It's a day for authors worldwide to extoll the virtues of short story telling and share their short stories, and I'm so grateful to Irish author, Carol Oates for bringing it to my attention. 

I'm quite fond of short stories. For one, they're short.  And in these busy, busy times it's nice to get the satisfaction of bringing a story full circle in a matter of days/weeks rather than months/years. But more than that, I enjoy the challenge of scraping away an excess of words to tell a complete story and convey rich, interesting characters.  Short stories are crisp and clean and leave more room for the reader's imagination. I've also noticed that my short story characters tend to be much quirkier than those in my novels...I'm not sure exactly why that is; care to put forth a theory?

In honor of International Short Story day, I share with you links to two of my favorite shorts. If you like, you can bookmark for later when you get time to read---but just a bit of time, cuz they're short!

This is the one that gave me the confidence to share my writing with friends and family who had no idea I was even writing:  Impressionism 101  (online at Goodreads. 2000 words.)
This is my latest:  Sway  (free download in pdf, ePub & MOBI or 99 cents on Kindle. 6500 words.) You can read an excerpt in my Author Spotlight at Book Club Sisters:
If you have a short story you'd like to share on International Short Story Day, feel free to add your link to the list below, and be sure to check out Omnific Publishing's collection of short stories available for FREE. 

Breakthrough Breakout Book Giveaway

Exiting News!Today and tomorrow, June 18 & 19, Stephen Tremp'sBreakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan is absolutely FREE to download from Amazon.com. 

A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radically alter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands



Teaser:The Information Age is moving at breakneck speed. Breakthroughs in areas of science that were once fodder for science fiction are now becoming part of our everyday life.

A group of graduate students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stolen a breakthrough in opening and stabilizing Einstein-Rosen Bridges, commonly known as wormholes, that allows them to instantly transport people from one location to another. Their goal is to assassinate any powerful politician and executive controlling the world’s banking system that would use this technology for their own greedy gain rather than the advancement of mankind.


Intriguing, huh?  Read a full summary plus a whole bunch of glowing reviews here.  Visit posts about Breakthrough throughout blogland on the list here.  And download at Amazon for free (18th & 19th only) HERE.

80s Sighting...on top of Buckingham Palace!

At Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee on June 2, one of my most favorite bands from the 80s honored their queen with a live concert on the roof of Buckingham Palace. I speak of Madness, which unfairly tends to get written off in America as a one hit wonder when they're anything but.  And the band is back together, man. :)

My Londonite sister, the awesome Fallen Monkey sent me the link to the very cool video below.  I shall shut up now because I really, really want you to at least watch a minute or so of it.  Even if you don't like the music (come on, who couldn't love this music?) it's worth it to see the graphics projected onto the palace.


So did any of you happen to catch this or any of the other Jubilee madness live?

Oh!  Because of your awesomeness, Three Daves cracked the top 50 on the College Romance list. Thank you, Thank you! I think if I rename it Three Shades of Dave it just might make the top 10!

IWSG: When Mean People Have Too Much Time on Their Hands

Y'know, I love the internet.  It has opened up so many opportunities for me in all aspects of my life, most particularly writing.  And it's just terrific that people now have an easy vehicle by which to publicly express their opinions. The downside of that, of course, is that people now have an easy vehicle by which to publicly express their opinions---and cyber bullying isn't just for kids.

I've made it a practice to give drama queens a wide berth, but sometimes they hunt me down anyway. For example, I've recently discovered that on Goodreads, my book has been placed on reader shelves titled things like: "Authors behaving badly" "Authors I don't trust" "refuse to read" "I don't think so" "no way in hell" "Cheap ploys to make a buck" "not if I were dying" "this is not a real book." And can anyone tell me what "unethical slore" means??

I appreciate the free publicity, but it's weird, isn't it?  Especially considering that I'm not even sure what it is I've done to earn a spot on those lists. I've heard about an angry hoard of Twilight fanfiction readers who apparently think Stephenie Meyer invented the world and therefore anyone who's ever written a fanfiction of her work has no right to ever publish anything, so I'm gonna guess that's my crime. Yes, I write fanfiction.  Yes, at one point I even slapped Twilight names onto Three Daves and threw it online for reader feedback. But no matter how I turn my head around the issue, I just don't see how something like that could provoke such ire. I can only conclude that some people just want to be angry about something, no matter how illogical.
    
And so it is for us writers---if we want to put our work out there in the world, we're going to have to deal with the crazies on occasion. But don't let those mean-spirited jabs get you down, just do what you know is right and be grateful that you get to be you while they have to be angry, mean, nasty them.    

On the positive side of Goodreads, Three Daves has made it onto theCollege Romance list! Feel free to throw me a vote & move it up the list. :)
Visit Alex J. Cavanaugh's place to see what more Insecure Writers have to say.

Disney Trivia Finale

Ready to stick a fork in this A to Z Disney Trivia?Me too!
Q: In what months does Disney's Hollywood Studios host Star Wars weekends?
A: May and June

Q:  Name the two actors who played a role in one of the 80s TV Shows featured in my A to Z posts last year AND voiced a character in all three Toy Story movies.
A: Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies/Woody) and John Ratzenberger (Cheers/Hamm)

Q:  Besides Ellen DeGeneres, name the three celebrities in the opening movie for Ellen's Energy Adventure.
A: Bill Nye the Science Guy, Alex Trebek, Jamie Lee Curtis
Bonus Question: If they were to ever redo the opening movie for this ride, which cast of characters from a currently popular TV show do I think should totally be in it?
A: The guys from Big Bang Theory
Q: In what city was Walter Disney born? A: Chicago
Q: As I reported in my Disney World postmortem, I took the "Which Disney Character Are you Quiz" last fall---who did I get? A: Maleficent
Q: What color are Donald Duck's shoes?A: As Keebles said, He doesn't wear shoes, silly!
Q: Which of Disney World's four major roller coasters is the shortest in duration?A: Rock n' Roller Coaster at 1 minute 22 seconds.
Q: Between 1948 -1960 Walt Disney Productions produced a series of short subject documentaries with a focus on nature and wildlife.  What was the name of that series?A: True-Life Adventures 
 And the grand prize winner is...my MOM!!!  She got a grand total of 25 questions right!  Only makes sense since she's my Disney Sensei, right?  For her prize, she's invited to my house for a delicious dessert (flavor and type TBD) tomorrow night (better get D'ing straightaway) after my baby boy's 8th grade graduation.  
I'd also like to congratulate the following bloggers extraordinaire who got two or more trivia answers correct:Tara TylerHeather MurphyKeriann BSuzeKeeblesHeather M. Gardner
Their consolation prize will be a visit by me to their blog, which has sadly become a rare event these last several weeks (but I have high hopes for getting my blog act back together this summer :)).  And if you think "gecko" is close enough to "chameleon" add Alex J. Cavanaugh to this illustrious list.  Thanks for playing! 
The weekly Author! Author! Blog Hop is on!
     


 

A Chat with Lady Gallagher

The talented and wonderful Anne Gallagher has invited me over for an "Inside the Writer's Studio" sort of thing at her Piedmont Writer blog, so please stop over at Anne's if you have the time and join the discussion.

Guest Post: Showing Emotion: Boys vs. Girls

It is my pleasure to bring you this guest post by the ever interesting and informative, Susan Kaye Quinn, who today celebrates the release of her latest novel, Closed Hearts,  the 2nd book in the Mindjack series. Congrats, Susan!
 By Susan Kaye Quinn
I've talked before about Thinking vs. Feeling, and Sherrie brought up an excellent point: boy characters think/feel differently than girl characters.First, let's not stereotype: boys certainly have feelings just as much as girls do, and your character should be true to who THEY are more than what their gender is. But, in general, what boys do with feelings can be quite different from girls, and accurately portraying that in words on a page is the key to a realistic character.Here's a girl thinking (Ever in Evermore, contemplating a small lie to her friends): They're making such a big deal I'm thinking it's my only way out. Only I can't. Not to them. Haven and Miles are my best friends. My only friends. And I feel like I'm keeping enough secrets already.Here's a boy thinking (Cassel in White Cat, having just nearly fallen off the roof): I laugh with relief, even though I am shaking so badly that climbing is out of the question. Cold makes my fingers numb. The adrenaline rush makes my brain sing.Here's a girl thinking like a boy (Katniss in Hunger Games, ruminating about how she didn't kill Buttercup the cat, because of her beloved sister Prim): But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay...Sometimes when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me. Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.Girl-like characters tend to think and react in terms of relationships: they ponder (sometimes a lot); they agonize; they contemplate feelings: theirs and other people's.Boy-like characters think more in terms of action, cause and effect, connecting the emotion to the outcome, rather than how they feel about it.These are generalizations, of course. Your Character May Vary. But here's a back-to-back example of how I would write a scene from a girl POV and a boy POV.Boy: I sprinted down the street, dodging early morning sprinklers. I was going to be late. Again. Mr. Spencer was sure to give me a tardy and another note with a fake signature wouldn't cut it this time. Spencer would kick me out of Trill Academy for sure. I slowed my pace. No sense in hurrying to my doom. I kicked a hose draped across the sidewalk and imagined it was Spencer.Girl: I sprinted down the street, narrowly keeping out of the sprinkler. If I was late this time, Mr. Spencer would have my head. He's hated me ever since I pointed out his error that time in Geometry. I clenched my fists. It wasn't fair. I worked so hard to get in, and Spencer would kick me out of Trill with the slightest excuse. I stumbled over a hose draped across the sidewalk and came to a stop. I wouldn't give Spencer the pleasure of seeing me come in all flustered and red faced. I straightened my shirt and leisurely strolled on.Of course, this scene would play differently for different characters with different backgrounds, and I think the most important thing is to stay true to your character.Do you write boy or girl POV's? Do you incorporate emotions differently for each?~~*~~

Closed Hearts (Mindjack #2) $2.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble (ebook and print) When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you. Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA novel Open Minds, Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy, which is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. The sequel Closed Hearts has just been released. Susan's business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist," but she mostly plays on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
CLICK HERE to join the Closed Hearts Virtual Launch Party(with more bonus Mindjack Trilogy content and guest posts) and/or ENTER TO WIN PRIZES(below)a Rafflecopter giveaway