Robyn Bachar's Blog, page 4
October 23, 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: Developing Unique Characters Using Myers-Briggs by Selene Grace Silver
Developing Unique Characters Using Myers-BriggsA few years ago, when I started writing romance, I picked up a paranormal series to study. In addition to engaging world-building, the heroine in the first book—witty and feisty—delighted me. She exhibited qualities that made me care about her and the story. I quickly consumed the second title, then started the third.
Unfortunately, while reading the third book, I realized that this third heroine spoke and thought in exactly the same way as the heroines in the previous books. They had different names and distinct physical attributes—one had brown hair, one red, one blonde—and different backgrounds—one came from poverty, one from wealth, one wasn’t even human—yet they reacted and sounded identical to each other in their respective books, even to the degree that they shared the same dialogue. I didn’t read the fourth book in the series, because…what was the point? I’d essentially seen the same character, in various physical disguises, fall in love several times over. An otherwise decent series of books was marred by a lack of varied and deep character development.
Fiction writing guides offer basic questionnaires useful at helping a writer flesh out aspects of both the physical and psychological attributes of a given character. Sometimes though, just answering the prompts can result in superficial character outlines that camouflage an underlying lack of difference between one character and another, until we see those characters speak and act inside a story. These questionnaires survey a character’s appearance and personal history, but are limited in exploring his inherent personality. People’s personalities derive from both genetics and environment. Lots of good-looking brunettes grow up poor with limited education, but they definitely don’t share the same personalities. So how do writers create characters with unique personalities? One way is to study what psychologists know.
I use personality theory to build different characters and their relationships within a single work of fiction. It addresses both a character’s personality as it’s shaped by the outside world and by biology. Personality theory, specifically the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (based originally on the work of Carl Jung), and its descriptors provide writers an ample supply of individual traits to draw upon in developing unique characters. Think of a painter mixing the primary colors of red, yellow and blue into creating first the complementary colors of orange, green and purple, and then using those to create the tertiary colors, mixing again and again, until one has thousands of colors.
In the case of personality theory, Myers-Briggs begins with four opposing sets of traits:
extrovert vs. introvert, intuitive vs. sensor, feeler vs. thinker, and perceiver vs. judger. These traits blend to make sixteen basic types. Each trait within each type is then positioned on a scale from extreme to mild, allowing one to combine individual traits into a thousand variations, just as an artist creates thousands of colors from red, yellow and blue. A person (or character) can be slightly extroverted, moderately extroverted or extremely extroverted.
At the core, Myers-Briggs categorizes individuals as either more extroverted or more introverted, more intuitive or more sensitive, more emotional or more intellectual, and more focused on gathering data or on analyzing it. For example, someone who is an extrovert, thinker, sensor and judger is categorized ESTJ; she’s nicknamed the “guardian” and valued for her inherent sense of responsibility to do what’s right, per time-honored practices and institutions. She can also have trouble understanding why anyone would work outside the system or want to change it. A character categorized as ESTJ makes a great detective, but also a law enforcement partner who has difficulty adjusting to the individual needs of others. How do we know an ESTJ has these attributes? Fortunately, psychologists have already identified and described them in great detail, both in respect to positive and negative manifestations. Just as colors can be cool or warm, personality traits can be positive or negative. Completely good or completely evil characters are boring. Myers Briggs explains both the admirable and the shadow sides of each trait, allowing writers to create complex—flawed but still likeable—characters.
Frankly, character is key to interesting storytelling. Characters with different personality types react to situations in completely different ways, resulting in different plot outcomes. Also, while secondary characters are generally static, protagonists, with limited exceptions, need to be dynamic. Fortunately, personality types aren’t set in stone. As people mature, they tend to become less extreme in their personalities (or they don’t, which can be an interesting development for a character/plot as well). For example, an extremely extroverted character can struggle with loneliness. As the story progresses, he can learn the value of being alone with his thoughts, of developing solitary activities—leading to a satisfying character arc. Growth for a character—key to building dynamic protagonists—involves movement away from the extreme towards moderation. The beauty of the Myers-Briggs personality indicator is that it allows a writer to study and apply highly nuanced differences (and shifts) of personality to their characters in ways that drive character choices, character relationships, and ultimately, the outcome of the story.
How to use this personality trait system to develop characters with distinctly different personalities? Start by taking a free personality test online. If you are ruthlessly honest with yourself, you’ll be able to determine your type without help. If you need assistance (the questions can be challenging), seek out professional guidance. Study your own type. What are the attributes in terms of work, love, relationships? Then expand out and study other types. Create a character using a specific type, then place her in a scene to see how her type dictates what she says and does. Create a contrasting character type and place him in the scene and see how the two react to each other.
Jungian psychologists claim that people gravitate to friendships with people who share similar personality traits, while they fall in love with people who are their opposites. People who share outlooks on life make great friends. Conversely, opposites attract (or drive each other crazy) because they tend to admire the way their counterparts are accomplished in exactly the ways they are not—hence the whole coming together to form a harmonious whole. As opposites, characters can also gently push each other to grow and develop. When I select protagonists for a romance, I create characters who are opposites on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument, throw them together, and then let them fall in love. The contrasting traits create lots of conflicting sparks and fireworks, ideal in romance stories, while forcing the characters to develop themselves to make the relationship work.
Further reading:Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. ThuesenPlease Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types by David Keirsey and Marilyn BatesType Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job by Otto Kroeger, Janet M. Thuesen and Hile Rutledge16 Ways to Love Your Lover by Otto Kroeger©Selene Grace Silver 2015
About the Author
Cursed to bear 12 sets of twins in 12 years by 12 different men? That is twenty-year-old innocent Adara Lane’s terrible fate until a damaged Vietnam Vet, who is also a warlock, steps in, altering one significant part of the spell, thus creating a new destiny for both of them. Like the heroic knight from her childhood fairy tales, he rescues her at the moment the spell is manifested. While she’s grateful for his help, being bound to an overbearing, controlling, potentially violent man who may never love her, who despises what she is? Well...forgive Adara if she believes she would be better off had he just minded his own business and left the rescuing to someone else. But, this troubled knight-in-tarnished armor seems to need Adara as much as she needs him.
Bowie Marston knows he’s damaged goods. Home from a tour of duty in Vietnam, suffering shell shock, the young man discovers his family destroyed because he wasn’t in L.A. to protect them. After witnessing the senseless deaths of his comrades overseas, the death of his parents has only deepened his disenchantment with the world. Blaming his parents’ murder-suicide on their involvement in magick, Bo vows to never use his own latent powers. It’s too late to rescue his family. On the other hand, it’s not too late to rescue a beautiful, young woman caught up in a web of danger. Knowing what he does about witchcraft, can he involve himself in a spell that spans a lifetime, a spell that ties him evermore to a powerful witch...and all her bless’ed offspring? Can he resist?
The Binding of Adara is available at Amazon.
Unfortunately, while reading the third book, I realized that this third heroine spoke and thought in exactly the same way as the heroines in the previous books. They had different names and distinct physical attributes—one had brown hair, one red, one blonde—and different backgrounds—one came from poverty, one from wealth, one wasn’t even human—yet they reacted and sounded identical to each other in their respective books, even to the degree that they shared the same dialogue. I didn’t read the fourth book in the series, because…what was the point? I’d essentially seen the same character, in various physical disguises, fall in love several times over. An otherwise decent series of books was marred by a lack of varied and deep character development.
Fiction writing guides offer basic questionnaires useful at helping a writer flesh out aspects of both the physical and psychological attributes of a given character. Sometimes though, just answering the prompts can result in superficial character outlines that camouflage an underlying lack of difference between one character and another, until we see those characters speak and act inside a story. These questionnaires survey a character’s appearance and personal history, but are limited in exploring his inherent personality. People’s personalities derive from both genetics and environment. Lots of good-looking brunettes grow up poor with limited education, but they definitely don’t share the same personalities. So how do writers create characters with unique personalities? One way is to study what psychologists know.
I use personality theory to build different characters and their relationships within a single work of fiction. It addresses both a character’s personality as it’s shaped by the outside world and by biology. Personality theory, specifically the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (based originally on the work of Carl Jung), and its descriptors provide writers an ample supply of individual traits to draw upon in developing unique characters. Think of a painter mixing the primary colors of red, yellow and blue into creating first the complementary colors of orange, green and purple, and then using those to create the tertiary colors, mixing again and again, until one has thousands of colors.
In the case of personality theory, Myers-Briggs begins with four opposing sets of traits:
extrovert vs. introvert, intuitive vs. sensor, feeler vs. thinker, and perceiver vs. judger. These traits blend to make sixteen basic types. Each trait within each type is then positioned on a scale from extreme to mild, allowing one to combine individual traits into a thousand variations, just as an artist creates thousands of colors from red, yellow and blue. A person (or character) can be slightly extroverted, moderately extroverted or extremely extroverted.
At the core, Myers-Briggs categorizes individuals as either more extroverted or more introverted, more intuitive or more sensitive, more emotional or more intellectual, and more focused on gathering data or on analyzing it. For example, someone who is an extrovert, thinker, sensor and judger is categorized ESTJ; she’s nicknamed the “guardian” and valued for her inherent sense of responsibility to do what’s right, per time-honored practices and institutions. She can also have trouble understanding why anyone would work outside the system or want to change it. A character categorized as ESTJ makes a great detective, but also a law enforcement partner who has difficulty adjusting to the individual needs of others. How do we know an ESTJ has these attributes? Fortunately, psychologists have already identified and described them in great detail, both in respect to positive and negative manifestations. Just as colors can be cool or warm, personality traits can be positive or negative. Completely good or completely evil characters are boring. Myers Briggs explains both the admirable and the shadow sides of each trait, allowing writers to create complex—flawed but still likeable—characters.
Frankly, character is key to interesting storytelling. Characters with different personality types react to situations in completely different ways, resulting in different plot outcomes. Also, while secondary characters are generally static, protagonists, with limited exceptions, need to be dynamic. Fortunately, personality types aren’t set in stone. As people mature, they tend to become less extreme in their personalities (or they don’t, which can be an interesting development for a character/plot as well). For example, an extremely extroverted character can struggle with loneliness. As the story progresses, he can learn the value of being alone with his thoughts, of developing solitary activities—leading to a satisfying character arc. Growth for a character—key to building dynamic protagonists—involves movement away from the extreme towards moderation. The beauty of the Myers-Briggs personality indicator is that it allows a writer to study and apply highly nuanced differences (and shifts) of personality to their characters in ways that drive character choices, character relationships, and ultimately, the outcome of the story.
How to use this personality trait system to develop characters with distinctly different personalities? Start by taking a free personality test online. If you are ruthlessly honest with yourself, you’ll be able to determine your type without help. If you need assistance (the questions can be challenging), seek out professional guidance. Study your own type. What are the attributes in terms of work, love, relationships? Then expand out and study other types. Create a character using a specific type, then place her in a scene to see how her type dictates what she says and does. Create a contrasting character type and place him in the scene and see how the two react to each other.
Jungian psychologists claim that people gravitate to friendships with people who share similar personality traits, while they fall in love with people who are their opposites. People who share outlooks on life make great friends. Conversely, opposites attract (or drive each other crazy) because they tend to admire the way their counterparts are accomplished in exactly the ways they are not—hence the whole coming together to form a harmonious whole. As opposites, characters can also gently push each other to grow and develop. When I select protagonists for a romance, I create characters who are opposites on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument, throw them together, and then let them fall in love. The contrasting traits create lots of conflicting sparks and fireworks, ideal in romance stories, while forcing the characters to develop themselves to make the relationship work.
Further reading:Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. ThuesenPlease Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types by David Keirsey and Marilyn BatesType Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job by Otto Kroeger, Janet M. Thuesen and Hile Rutledge16 Ways to Love Your Lover by Otto Kroeger©Selene Grace Silver 2015
About the Author
Selene Grace Silver believes in two true things: love and the power of stories. Everything else is up for debate.Book InfoThe first book in the Witches and Warlocks of Los Angeles series, Brianna’s Bewitching, is on sale October 24th through October 28th at Amazon for just 99 cents.
She lives in sunny Southern California, where she earned both a BA and MA in Creative Writing, and now teaches writing and literature. A life-long, avid reader, she cut her romance teeth as a teenager on bodice-rippers and Barbara Cartland historicals. Today, she writes romance in the categories of paranormal, contemporary, Gothic, and Futuristic. She loves to hear from readers and can be found online at:
Website: www.selenegracesilver.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/selenegrace.silverTwitter: @SGSilverAuthorLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/selene-grace-silver/58/302/561Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6545393.Selene_Grace_SilverAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/Selene-Grace-Silver/e/B009FCUFIQ/
Cursed to bear 12 sets of twins in 12 years by 12 different men? That is twenty-year-old innocent Adara Lane’s terrible fate until a damaged Vietnam Vet, who is also a warlock, steps in, altering one significant part of the spell, thus creating a new destiny for both of them. Like the heroic knight from her childhood fairy tales, he rescues her at the moment the spell is manifested. While she’s grateful for his help, being bound to an overbearing, controlling, potentially violent man who may never love her, who despises what she is? Well...forgive Adara if she believes she would be better off had he just minded his own business and left the rescuing to someone else. But, this troubled knight-in-tarnished armor seems to need Adara as much as she needs him.Bowie Marston knows he’s damaged goods. Home from a tour of duty in Vietnam, suffering shell shock, the young man discovers his family destroyed because he wasn’t in L.A. to protect them. After witnessing the senseless deaths of his comrades overseas, the death of his parents has only deepened his disenchantment with the world. Blaming his parents’ murder-suicide on their involvement in magick, Bo vows to never use his own latent powers. It’s too late to rescue his family. On the other hand, it’s not too late to rescue a beautiful, young woman caught up in a web of danger. Knowing what he does about witchcraft, can he involve himself in a spell that spans a lifetime, a spell that ties him evermore to a powerful witch...and all her bless’ed offspring? Can he resist?
The Binding of Adara is available at Amazon.
October 22, 2015
5 Past Midnight: Interview with Corrina Lawson
Interview1. What flavor is your writing?
Comic book flavor! I’ve been in love with superheroes since I can remember. My writing tends to be fast-paced, fun, and full of my sometimes out-there imagination.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Choices, choices! Alec and Beth are young, about 23, so we need some younger actors to play them.
Victoria Justice is how I imagine my heroine, Beth Nakamora, who’s mother was a native of Japan.
For actors? For Alec, I might go to someone who was once Superman, the adorable Brandon Routh from Arrow or Matt Boomer, who played Superman in an animated movie.
3. What is your favorite scene in Phoenix Rising?
It’s the scene where they finally relax with each other and fix dinner together. Alec has fun showing off how he can cook eggs in his hand, and they tease each other, and it devolves into a water fight with the spray hose from the sink.
Which makes Alec take off his shirt. :)
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
I just read Lois Lane: Fallout, a young adult book about Lois Lane moving to Metropolis by Gwenda Bond and loved it. I have a bunch of Science Fiction romance books on my TBR pile and I’m looking forward to diving into stories with spaceships and adventures and romance. I also am doing research on my next steampunk book, so I’m reading a somewhat dry non-fiction book about Victorian sensibilities.
And comics! I’ve been reading the latest Batman comics where Jim Gordon has taken over the role of Batman while wearing a robot-style suit. It so much better than it sounds from that premise.
5. What are you working on now?
Several projects at once. I’m revising a spooky supernatural ghost story that includes a m/f/m threesome, I just finished a rough draft of an urban fantasy based on Arthurian legend inspired by Mary Stewart, and I’m writing the steampunk story longhand, away from the computer.
Next up after that is the fifth book in the Phoenix Institute series, which will bring us back to Alec and Beth!
LinksWebsite: www.corrina-lawson.comTwitter: @CorrinaLawsonFacebook: www.facebook.com/corrinalawsonwriterBook Blurb
Phoenix Rising (Phoenix Institute Book 1)
He was born to be a weapon. For her, he must learn to be a hero.
Since birth, Alec Farley has been trained to be a living weapon. His firestarter and telekinetic abilities have been honed to deadly perfection by the Resource, a shadowy anti-terrorist organization—the only family he has ever known. What the Resource didn’t teach him, though, is how to play well with others.
When psychologist Beth Nakamora meets Alec to help him work on his people skills, she’s hit with a double-barreled first impression. He’s hot in more ways than one. And her first instinct is to rescue him from his insular existence.
Her plan to kidnap and deprogram him goes awry when her latent telepathic ability flares, turning Alec’s powers off. Hoping close proximity will reignite his flame, she leads him by the hand through a world he’s never known. And something else flares: Alec’s anger over everything he’s been denied. Especially the passion that melds his mind and body with hers.
The Resource, however, isn’t going to let anything—or anyone—steal its prime investment. Alec needs to be reminded where his loyalties lie…starting with breaking his trust in the woman he’s come to love.
Warning: Contains telekinetic sex, nuclear explosion sex hot enough to melt steel, and various and sundry swear words.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt“I’m trying to get you to reconsider what you’ve been forced into doing for your entire life. There’s a whole world out there you haven’t seen.”
She walked over to the coffee table, reached down and brushed her fingertips over the gun. Her hand trembled. The gun looked like the same kind that her kidnappers had used, years ago. If he stayed with the Resource, Alec might become like those men, using any ends to justify the means.
“Hey! What’s with the nerves? Where’s my competent, no-nonsense counselor?”
The gun rose from the coffee table, floating in air. She turned and followed its flight. He snatched the gun out of midair with a smile and holstered it.
“See?” he said. “I control the guns, not the other way around.”
“And who controls you?”
His chest, Kevlar vest and all, rose and fell in a deep sigh. “I know someone in this room who’s trying to control me. What’s wrong, Beth?” He walked to her and lifted her chin with two fingers, his dark eyes crinkling around the edges.
“This is not a life you chose, this is a life that’s been imposed on you, from birth.”
“And?” His fingertips moved along her jaw, in a soft caress. I should move away. It feels too good. But he’s listening.
“I’m scared. About this mission, about you being locked up inside the Resource forever.” Deathly afraid, so afraid her stomach felt like a heavy lump of coal. “There’s so much you don’t know about the Resource and about Lansing, so much you don’t understand. And you need to know it before it kills you.”
“Hey, I know Lansing can be a bastard. And that he’s overprotective and controlling. I’m working on it. But it doesn’t change the fact that this is my job.” Alec leaned closer to her face. “We can talk about that another time.”
“Do you really think there’s going to be another time?” Her voice rose, almost panicked now. She wasn’t getting through. “What if you get hurt tonight?”
“Look, this cell might have a dirty bomb. They need to be stopped, and I’m the one who can do it. I have to do this, right now.”
“Just that simple?”
“Yep. I walk away, people get hurt. I do my job, people are saved. That’s the deal, that’s my life. You analyze things too much.” He cupped her face in his hand. “But if it took this mission to find out you care, then good.”
She shuddered. Wrong, wrong, she shouldn’t let him touch her like this. Yet it felt like he touched her somewhere far deeper than her skin. A shiver, like the one from their first meeting, traveled from her neck to her toes, setting her nerves jangling. “This is wrong.”
“The mission isn’t wrong,” he said, misunderstanding her. “Relax.” His face was less than an inch from her lips and his breath fell on her cheek. Her skin felt inflamed, sensitive to the slightest movement of his hands.
He kissed her.
His lips were softer than she had expected, tender, not at all like his casual, even macho, confidence. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling those strong muscles and pulling him against her, intensifying their contact, even as her mind screamed in protest. This is not what I came for!
Her body became enveloped in that strange energy, alive as never before. It was like the kiss had a second level, one which she responded to instinctively, creating a living connection between them. He drew her lips apart with his tongue, still tender, still allowing her the chance to back away. But she opened her mouth to him instead, her whole self consumed with wanting to touch him, her face flushed with desire. She grabbed the buckles of his body armor for balance, her equilibrium lost along with her reason.
He crushed her against him, no longer tender, a bruising kiss demanding conquest. She allowed him full control, despite the buckles digging into her shoulder. He lifted her completely off her feet and brought her up to his eye level.
“Beth,” he breathed, brushing his lips against her neck before moving back to her mouth.
Her mind whirled, too lost to remember that she should stop him. She wanted him too much. The air heated up, warming them. The papers on the coffee table began to smoke.
Comic book flavor! I’ve been in love with superheroes since I can remember. My writing tends to be fast-paced, fun, and full of my sometimes out-there imagination.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Choices, choices! Alec and Beth are young, about 23, so we need some younger actors to play them.
Victoria Justice is how I imagine my heroine, Beth Nakamora, who’s mother was a native of Japan.
For actors? For Alec, I might go to someone who was once Superman, the adorable Brandon Routh from Arrow or Matt Boomer, who played Superman in an animated movie.
3. What is your favorite scene in Phoenix Rising?
It’s the scene where they finally relax with each other and fix dinner together. Alec has fun showing off how he can cook eggs in his hand, and they tease each other, and it devolves into a water fight with the spray hose from the sink.
Which makes Alec take off his shirt. :)
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
I just read Lois Lane: Fallout, a young adult book about Lois Lane moving to Metropolis by Gwenda Bond and loved it. I have a bunch of Science Fiction romance books on my TBR pile and I’m looking forward to diving into stories with spaceships and adventures and romance. I also am doing research on my next steampunk book, so I’m reading a somewhat dry non-fiction book about Victorian sensibilities.
And comics! I’ve been reading the latest Batman comics where Jim Gordon has taken over the role of Batman while wearing a robot-style suit. It so much better than it sounds from that premise.
5. What are you working on now?
Several projects at once. I’m revising a spooky supernatural ghost story that includes a m/f/m threesome, I just finished a rough draft of an urban fantasy based on Arthurian legend inspired by Mary Stewart, and I’m writing the steampunk story longhand, away from the computer.
Next up after that is the fifth book in the Phoenix Institute series, which will bring us back to Alec and Beth!
LinksWebsite: www.corrina-lawson.comTwitter: @CorrinaLawsonFacebook: www.facebook.com/corrinalawsonwriterBook Blurb
Phoenix Rising (Phoenix Institute Book 1)He was born to be a weapon. For her, he must learn to be a hero.
Since birth, Alec Farley has been trained to be a living weapon. His firestarter and telekinetic abilities have been honed to deadly perfection by the Resource, a shadowy anti-terrorist organization—the only family he has ever known. What the Resource didn’t teach him, though, is how to play well with others.
When psychologist Beth Nakamora meets Alec to help him work on his people skills, she’s hit with a double-barreled first impression. He’s hot in more ways than one. And her first instinct is to rescue him from his insular existence.
Her plan to kidnap and deprogram him goes awry when her latent telepathic ability flares, turning Alec’s powers off. Hoping close proximity will reignite his flame, she leads him by the hand through a world he’s never known. And something else flares: Alec’s anger over everything he’s been denied. Especially the passion that melds his mind and body with hers.
The Resource, however, isn’t going to let anything—or anyone—steal its prime investment. Alec needs to be reminded where his loyalties lie…starting with breaking his trust in the woman he’s come to love.
Warning: Contains telekinetic sex, nuclear explosion sex hot enough to melt steel, and various and sundry swear words.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt“I’m trying to get you to reconsider what you’ve been forced into doing for your entire life. There’s a whole world out there you haven’t seen.”
She walked over to the coffee table, reached down and brushed her fingertips over the gun. Her hand trembled. The gun looked like the same kind that her kidnappers had used, years ago. If he stayed with the Resource, Alec might become like those men, using any ends to justify the means.
“Hey! What’s with the nerves? Where’s my competent, no-nonsense counselor?”
The gun rose from the coffee table, floating in air. She turned and followed its flight. He snatched the gun out of midair with a smile and holstered it.
“See?” he said. “I control the guns, not the other way around.”
“And who controls you?”
His chest, Kevlar vest and all, rose and fell in a deep sigh. “I know someone in this room who’s trying to control me. What’s wrong, Beth?” He walked to her and lifted her chin with two fingers, his dark eyes crinkling around the edges.
“This is not a life you chose, this is a life that’s been imposed on you, from birth.”
“And?” His fingertips moved along her jaw, in a soft caress. I should move away. It feels too good. But he’s listening.
“I’m scared. About this mission, about you being locked up inside the Resource forever.” Deathly afraid, so afraid her stomach felt like a heavy lump of coal. “There’s so much you don’t know about the Resource and about Lansing, so much you don’t understand. And you need to know it before it kills you.”
“Hey, I know Lansing can be a bastard. And that he’s overprotective and controlling. I’m working on it. But it doesn’t change the fact that this is my job.” Alec leaned closer to her face. “We can talk about that another time.”
“Do you really think there’s going to be another time?” Her voice rose, almost panicked now. She wasn’t getting through. “What if you get hurt tonight?”
“Look, this cell might have a dirty bomb. They need to be stopped, and I’m the one who can do it. I have to do this, right now.”
“Just that simple?”
“Yep. I walk away, people get hurt. I do my job, people are saved. That’s the deal, that’s my life. You analyze things too much.” He cupped her face in his hand. “But if it took this mission to find out you care, then good.”
She shuddered. Wrong, wrong, she shouldn’t let him touch her like this. Yet it felt like he touched her somewhere far deeper than her skin. A shiver, like the one from their first meeting, traveled from her neck to her toes, setting her nerves jangling. “This is wrong.”
“The mission isn’t wrong,” he said, misunderstanding her. “Relax.” His face was less than an inch from her lips and his breath fell on her cheek. Her skin felt inflamed, sensitive to the slightest movement of his hands.
He kissed her.
His lips were softer than she had expected, tender, not at all like his casual, even macho, confidence. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling those strong muscles and pulling him against her, intensifying their contact, even as her mind screamed in protest. This is not what I came for!
Her body became enveloped in that strange energy, alive as never before. It was like the kiss had a second level, one which she responded to instinctively, creating a living connection between them. He drew her lips apart with his tongue, still tender, still allowing her the chance to back away. But she opened her mouth to him instead, her whole self consumed with wanting to touch him, her face flushed with desire. She grabbed the buckles of his body armor for balance, her equilibrium lost along with her reason.
He crushed her against him, no longer tender, a bruising kiss demanding conquest. She allowed him full control, despite the buckles digging into her shoulder. He lifted her completely off her feet and brought her up to his eye level.
“Beth,” he breathed, brushing his lips against her neck before moving back to her mouth.
Her mind whirled, too lost to remember that she should stop him. She wanted him too much. The air heated up, warming them. The papers on the coffee table began to smoke.
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: Next Year is Here!
Chicago Cubs fans are born, not made.
We were so close! Back to the Future assured us that 2015 was our year, and Cubs fans held our collective breath as we reached the post season and...were swept by the Mets. Ouch. Wait 'til next year, right?
I have heard of the concept of “fair weather” baseball fans who jump on the bandwagon of a team that’s doing well, but the bandwagon seldom travels past Wrigley Field, so you really have to be born a Cub fan to stay a Cub fan. Few things toughen the spirit quite like it. Every fall we hear the unofficial anthem of “wait ’til next year."
Everyone knows that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 100 years, but that doesn’t stop Cub fans from showing up at Wrigley Field. When the Cubs are down you’ll see fans wearing their rally caps, waiting for the team’s luck to change, because real Cubs fans never give up.
Why? Because we love our team. Even when they lose.
This November, there will come a dark moment where you hate everything about your novel. Your word count will be dismal. Your muse has checked out, and you'd much rather be binge watching Jessica Jones on Netflix. You'll think, "This story sucks. I'll try again next year."
Don't give in to that temptation. This is your year!
Cubs fans have a special devotion to our team—the kind of devotion that only a writer can understand. Writers are a peculiar breed. We live to tell the stories of the characters living in our heads. We compose dialogue in the shower, and dream of plot twists and character quirks. When the words flow onto the page it's beautiful, like an out-of-the-park home run! But when you hit a block it's agony, like a series of strikeouts (against the White Sox, boo!). There will be days in November where the blank page and the blinking cursor mock your pain.
Don't give up!
A day without words is discouraging, but it’s not the end of the world, or the end of your novel. Ernie Banks, better known as “Mr. Cub,” was famous for saying, “It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let’s play two!” even when it wasn’t a doubleheader. Because he loved baseball, and who wouldn’t want to spend their whole day in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field? We write because we love it, even when we lose.
There will be moments when your novel makes you want to scream, cry, and tear your hair out. But if you give up, you’ll never win the World Series, or NaNoWriMo.
Don’t worry about next year, because next year is here. Now play ball!
About the Author
Falling in love has never been so deadly.
Five supernatural thrillers packed with action and romance, each introducing you to an exciting series. Honorable heroes, strong heroines and relentless suspense combine to bring you five page-turners you won’t soon forget.
Veiled Target—USA TODAY bestselling author Robin Bielman: Tess wants revenge, but thrust into an inconvenient alliance with her sexy enemy, she must trust the shifter she’s supposed to kill or risk losing everything.
Blood, Smoke and Mirrors—Robyn Bachar: Hunted by a powerful evil, exiled witch Cat must entrust her fate to the man who betrayed her. Now Lex faces the fight of his life to keep her safe. If they both survive.
Slayer’s Kiss—Cassi Carver: Fallen angels Gavin and Julian have been sent to protect Kara, but she’s determined to track down a killer, even when she realizes her target may be the creature hunting her.
Soul Bound—Anne Hope: Jace is no longer human. Something dark and powerful has taken root within him. Something that that could destroy the one woman he’d sacrifice everything to protect.
Phoenix Rising—Corrina Lawson: Everyone looks at firestarter Alec Farley as a weapon. Beth is the only one who sees a hero. But proving that could be deadly.
Warning: Contains shifters, vampires, witches, fallen angels, a firestarter and troublemaking faeries. Watch out for gratuitous violence, gripping emotion, unconventional sex, some foul language, and a love triangle that gives new meaning to the term hot-wings.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt
“I’ll be here as long as you need me.” Lex looked down at me, seeming sincere, and I shook my head at him.
“Don’t, Lex. You’re only here on orders. You’ll be gone and on to the next as soon as this assignment is over.”
“What if I don’t want that?”
“What if I do? I’m all for the life-saving thing, but I don’t want you in my life again.”
“Are you sure of that?”
Scowling, I took a steadying breath and prepared to launch into an explanation of the myriad reasons why I wasn’t about to go through another round of heartbreak with him, but before I could speak he leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips.
A warm tingling suffused my body as soon as our lips met, the sort of electric reaction I usually associate with casting magic, but much, much better. He was hesitant at first, probably afraid I’d slap him or zot him with a spell, but when I didn’t object he slowly began to deepen the kiss. My knees went weak as my good sense vanished, and I slipped my arms around him to steady myself. Lex held me close as he continued to kiss me, and I leaned into him. I’d forgotten how well we fit together. He sighed, as though my lips were delicious and he savored them.
“This is a bad idea,” I murmured.
“No, this is a good idea.” Lex nudged me back toward the couch, and I sat down in a less-than-graceful flop. Next he joined me and drew me into his arms.
“Oh yeah? How?” My hormones were obviously happy to see him, but I still had a little bit of brainpower left, enough to be skeptical of the situation.
“Because letting you go was a bad idea. I don’t want to make that mistake again.” His voice was low and strained, and I wished it wasn’t so dark so I could see his expression. I sighed, a mix of old pain and new uncertainty, but he kissed me again and I stopped arguing.
I relaxed into the embrace, returning the kiss passionately. I felt better instantly—safe, warm, desired. Lex stroked my braided hair and let his hand rest at the small of my back. I ran my own hands up and down his back, debating whether or not it would be a good idea to tug his shirt off, but then I felt him unhooking my bra. My pulse jumped, and my magic decided to take that opportunity to wreak havoc on a pair of unsuspecting table lamps. With an electric sizzle followed by two sharp pops the light bulbs flashed and exploded. Startled, we jumped apart, the mood broken. We stared at each other, and I felt a guilty blush heat my face.
“Cat—” he started, and I held a hand up to stop him before he could say anything further.
We were so close! Back to the Future assured us that 2015 was our year, and Cubs fans held our collective breath as we reached the post season and...were swept by the Mets. Ouch. Wait 'til next year, right?
I have heard of the concept of “fair weather” baseball fans who jump on the bandwagon of a team that’s doing well, but the bandwagon seldom travels past Wrigley Field, so you really have to be born a Cub fan to stay a Cub fan. Few things toughen the spirit quite like it. Every fall we hear the unofficial anthem of “wait ’til next year."
Everyone knows that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 100 years, but that doesn’t stop Cub fans from showing up at Wrigley Field. When the Cubs are down you’ll see fans wearing their rally caps, waiting for the team’s luck to change, because real Cubs fans never give up.
Why? Because we love our team. Even when they lose.
This November, there will come a dark moment where you hate everything about your novel. Your word count will be dismal. Your muse has checked out, and you'd much rather be binge watching Jessica Jones on Netflix. You'll think, "This story sucks. I'll try again next year."
Don't give in to that temptation. This is your year!
Cubs fans have a special devotion to our team—the kind of devotion that only a writer can understand. Writers are a peculiar breed. We live to tell the stories of the characters living in our heads. We compose dialogue in the shower, and dream of plot twists and character quirks. When the words flow onto the page it's beautiful, like an out-of-the-park home run! But when you hit a block it's agony, like a series of strikeouts (against the White Sox, boo!). There will be days in November where the blank page and the blinking cursor mock your pain.
Don't give up!
A day without words is discouraging, but it’s not the end of the world, or the end of your novel. Ernie Banks, better known as “Mr. Cub,” was famous for saying, “It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let’s play two!” even when it wasn’t a doubleheader. Because he loved baseball, and who wouldn’t want to spend their whole day in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field? We write because we love it, even when we lose.
There will be moments when your novel makes you want to scream, cry, and tear your hair out. But if you give up, you’ll never win the World Series, or NaNoWriMo.
Don’t worry about next year, because next year is here. Now play ball!
About the Author
Robyn Bachar enjoys writing stories with soul mates, swords, spaceships, vampires, and gratuitous violence against the kitchen sink. Her paranormal romance Bad Witch series, historical paranormal romance series Bad Witch: The Emily Chronicles, and spicy space opera romance trilogy Cy’ren Rising are available from Samhain Publishing. Her books have finaled twice in PRISM Contest for Published Authors, twice in the Passionate Plume Contest, and twice in the EPIC eBook Awards. As a gamer, Robyn has spent many hours rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors, and slaying creatures in mmorpgs.Book Info
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/ZGbTnTwitter: @RobynBacharFacebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRobynBacharGoogle+: http://google.com/+RobynBacharGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/iamtherobyn
Falling in love has never been so deadly.Five supernatural thrillers packed with action and romance, each introducing you to an exciting series. Honorable heroes, strong heroines and relentless suspense combine to bring you five page-turners you won’t soon forget.
Veiled Target—USA TODAY bestselling author Robin Bielman: Tess wants revenge, but thrust into an inconvenient alliance with her sexy enemy, she must trust the shifter she’s supposed to kill or risk losing everything.
Blood, Smoke and Mirrors—Robyn Bachar: Hunted by a powerful evil, exiled witch Cat must entrust her fate to the man who betrayed her. Now Lex faces the fight of his life to keep her safe. If they both survive.
Slayer’s Kiss—Cassi Carver: Fallen angels Gavin and Julian have been sent to protect Kara, but she’s determined to track down a killer, even when she realizes her target may be the creature hunting her.
Soul Bound—Anne Hope: Jace is no longer human. Something dark and powerful has taken root within him. Something that that could destroy the one woman he’d sacrifice everything to protect.
Phoenix Rising—Corrina Lawson: Everyone looks at firestarter Alec Farley as a weapon. Beth is the only one who sees a hero. But proving that could be deadly.
Warning: Contains shifters, vampires, witches, fallen angels, a firestarter and troublemaking faeries. Watch out for gratuitous violence, gripping emotion, unconventional sex, some foul language, and a love triangle that gives new meaning to the term hot-wings.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt
“I’ll be here as long as you need me.” Lex looked down at me, seeming sincere, and I shook my head at him.
“Don’t, Lex. You’re only here on orders. You’ll be gone and on to the next as soon as this assignment is over.”
“What if I don’t want that?”
“What if I do? I’m all for the life-saving thing, but I don’t want you in my life again.”
“Are you sure of that?”
Scowling, I took a steadying breath and prepared to launch into an explanation of the myriad reasons why I wasn’t about to go through another round of heartbreak with him, but before I could speak he leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips.
A warm tingling suffused my body as soon as our lips met, the sort of electric reaction I usually associate with casting magic, but much, much better. He was hesitant at first, probably afraid I’d slap him or zot him with a spell, but when I didn’t object he slowly began to deepen the kiss. My knees went weak as my good sense vanished, and I slipped my arms around him to steady myself. Lex held me close as he continued to kiss me, and I leaned into him. I’d forgotten how well we fit together. He sighed, as though my lips were delicious and he savored them.
“This is a bad idea,” I murmured.
“No, this is a good idea.” Lex nudged me back toward the couch, and I sat down in a less-than-graceful flop. Next he joined me and drew me into his arms.
“Oh yeah? How?” My hormones were obviously happy to see him, but I still had a little bit of brainpower left, enough to be skeptical of the situation.
“Because letting you go was a bad idea. I don’t want to make that mistake again.” His voice was low and strained, and I wished it wasn’t so dark so I could see his expression. I sighed, a mix of old pain and new uncertainty, but he kissed me again and I stopped arguing.
I relaxed into the embrace, returning the kiss passionately. I felt better instantly—safe, warm, desired. Lex stroked my braided hair and let his hand rest at the small of my back. I ran my own hands up and down his back, debating whether or not it would be a good idea to tug his shirt off, but then I felt him unhooking my bra. My pulse jumped, and my magic decided to take that opportunity to wreak havoc on a pair of unsuspecting table lamps. With an electric sizzle followed by two sharp pops the light bulbs flashed and exploded. Startled, we jumped apart, the mood broken. We stared at each other, and I felt a guilty blush heat my face.
“Cat—” he started, and I held a hand up to stop him before he could say anything further.
October 21, 2015
5 Past Midnight: Interview with Anne Hope
Interview1. What flavor is your writing?
Cinnamon and spice. Some scenes are sweet, while others have bite!
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
If Soul Bound were made into a movie, I’d cast Jensen Ackles as Jace Cutler. Dean from Supernatural and Jace have a lot in common. They’re both tough in a vulnerable sort of way, two loners who walk a fine line between good and evil. But don’t be fooled. Beneath that rough, bad-boy exterior beats the heart of a hero. As for Lia, I’d cast Julianne Hough. She’s got the blond hair and blue eyes, and I can easily picture her playing the introverted Lia.
3. What is your favorite scene in Soul Bound?
My favorite scene in Soul Bound is when Jace shows up at Lia’s house, injured, and ends up falling asleep in her arms. That’s the first time these two really connect on an emotional level, so it’s a pivotal moment in the book. Jace is used to being on his own. His mother abandoned him when he was a baby and his father couldn’t stand the sight of him. He learned at a very young age to shield himself from rejection by keeping people at arm’s length. The fact that he trusts Lia to take care of him when he’s at his most vulnerable is both significant and touching.
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
Five Past Midnight! I have four fabulous books to read from four fabulous authors: Veiled Target by Robin Bielman, Blood, Smoke and Mirrors from Robyn Bachar, Slayer’s Kiss by Cassi Carver and Phoenix Rising by Corrina Lawson.
5. What are you working on now?
Soul Reaping, the fourth and final installment in my Dark Souls series. This book features the Watcher’s enigmatic leader, Cal. He’s my most complicated hero yet, with many interesting facets to his personality. He can be extremely compassionate one moment and utterly ruthless the next. For six millennia, Cal has been driven by a single goal: to wipe out the Nephilim. But to save mankind and redeem himself, he may have to sacrifice everyone he loves, including the woman who once proved to be his downfall.
LinksWebsite: www.annehope.com
Twitter: @AnneHopeAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annehopeauthor
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/AnneHope
Book Blurb
Soul Bound (Dark Souls, Book One)
The one man she wants is the one man destined to destroy her.
Sooner or later we all end up dead. Jace Cutler doesn’t have the luxury of staying that way. After receiving a fatal stab wound, he awakens in a hospital room in Portland, Oregon, with no memory and a big hole where his soul used to be. Worst of all is the glow. Everyone is surrounded by a strange white aura he hungers to possess, none more compelling than the one enveloping Dr. Lia Benson.
Lia has always been ruled by reason, refusing to put stock in such nebulous things as destiny. Until Jace dies in her arms, then miraculously comes back to life. Whenever he’s near, her soul responds and her body burns. And she’s consumed by odd dreams she’s convinced are Jace’s lost memories.
When Lia is kidnapped, Jace tracks her and discovers a shocking explanation for who—and what—he is. Something no longer human, a dark legacy that until now has lain dormant within him. Something that could destroy the one woman he’d sacrifice everything to protect.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
ExcerptHe retrieved the driver’s license, which belonged to Jace Cutler. So now he had a first name to go with the second. Unfortunately, it still didn’t trigger a memory. The man in the photograph was a complete stranger. He quickly scanned the description provided: six-foot-two, dark brown hair, green eyes. The height felt about right. The guy in the snapshot had a cleft on his chin. He ran his thumb across his jaw and traced the slight indentation.
Suddenly curious, he headed to the mirror hanging over the pedestal sink. The man gazing back at him was no more familiar than this place, this room, the nurse he’d apparently scared half to death. He wasn’t very old, early thirties he guessed. He slanted a glance at the ID again, quickly did the math. Yup, thirty-two.
Peeling off his hospital gown, he stood in front of the tiny mirror, as naked as the day he was born, studying himself. From the looks of it, he worked out regularly. His legs were long and lean, his stomach flat and ripped. But that wasn’t what shocked him. What blew his mind was that he didn’t have a scratch on him, not even an old scar to show he’d lived some kind of life. How did a person exist for thirty-two years and maintain skin as untarnished as a baby’s?
Another presence slowly invaded the room, one that made everything inside him come alive and the darkness retreat. For a moment, he felt almost human again. Almost.
Jace turned around, not caring that he didn’t have a stitch of clothing on him. The woman entering his room froze at the sight of him.
He squinted. Glancing at her made his eyes hurt. She was so damn bright, he needed a frigging pair of sunglasses just to look at her. The nurse who’d examined him earlier paled in comparison, and not because this woman was any kind of beauty. She was plain at best, with blond hair pinned in a ponytail and not a drop of makeup on. Still, something inside him recognized her.
She checked him out briefly before averting her gaze. “Looks like you’re feeling better.”
He couldn’t find his voice to answer. Waves of emotion washed over him, constricting his windpipe. He’d felt nothing since he’d awakened in this stifling hospital room, and all of a sudden he couldn’t get his feelings under control long enough to offer some kind of greeting. Her glow enfolded him, and the hunger returned with sharpened fangs.
“Katie, the nurse who was just in here, told me you were awake, but I had to see for myself.”
She took a step toward him, then another.
Please, don’t come any closer. I can’t stand it.
“Who—” The word scraped his throat. “Who are you?”
Her gaze latched on to his face. Confusion and a touch of fascination glimmered in her clear blue eyes. Right there and then, he could’ve sworn he glimpsed her soul, and it was a beautiful thing to behold, potent and familiar.
She shook her head, swallowed hard. “The person who watched you die last night.”
Cinnamon and spice. Some scenes are sweet, while others have bite!
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
If Soul Bound were made into a movie, I’d cast Jensen Ackles as Jace Cutler. Dean from Supernatural and Jace have a lot in common. They’re both tough in a vulnerable sort of way, two loners who walk a fine line between good and evil. But don’t be fooled. Beneath that rough, bad-boy exterior beats the heart of a hero. As for Lia, I’d cast Julianne Hough. She’s got the blond hair and blue eyes, and I can easily picture her playing the introverted Lia.
3. What is your favorite scene in Soul Bound?
My favorite scene in Soul Bound is when Jace shows up at Lia’s house, injured, and ends up falling asleep in her arms. That’s the first time these two really connect on an emotional level, so it’s a pivotal moment in the book. Jace is used to being on his own. His mother abandoned him when he was a baby and his father couldn’t stand the sight of him. He learned at a very young age to shield himself from rejection by keeping people at arm’s length. The fact that he trusts Lia to take care of him when he’s at his most vulnerable is both significant and touching.
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
Five Past Midnight! I have four fabulous books to read from four fabulous authors: Veiled Target by Robin Bielman, Blood, Smoke and Mirrors from Robyn Bachar, Slayer’s Kiss by Cassi Carver and Phoenix Rising by Corrina Lawson.
5. What are you working on now?
Soul Reaping, the fourth and final installment in my Dark Souls series. This book features the Watcher’s enigmatic leader, Cal. He’s my most complicated hero yet, with many interesting facets to his personality. He can be extremely compassionate one moment and utterly ruthless the next. For six millennia, Cal has been driven by a single goal: to wipe out the Nephilim. But to save mankind and redeem himself, he may have to sacrifice everyone he loves, including the woman who once proved to be his downfall.
LinksWebsite: www.annehope.com
Twitter: @AnneHopeAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annehopeauthor
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/AnneHope
Book Blurb
Soul Bound (Dark Souls, Book One)The one man she wants is the one man destined to destroy her.
Sooner or later we all end up dead. Jace Cutler doesn’t have the luxury of staying that way. After receiving a fatal stab wound, he awakens in a hospital room in Portland, Oregon, with no memory and a big hole where his soul used to be. Worst of all is the glow. Everyone is surrounded by a strange white aura he hungers to possess, none more compelling than the one enveloping Dr. Lia Benson.
Lia has always been ruled by reason, refusing to put stock in such nebulous things as destiny. Until Jace dies in her arms, then miraculously comes back to life. Whenever he’s near, her soul responds and her body burns. And she’s consumed by odd dreams she’s convinced are Jace’s lost memories.
When Lia is kidnapped, Jace tracks her and discovers a shocking explanation for who—and what—he is. Something no longer human, a dark legacy that until now has lain dormant within him. Something that could destroy the one woman he’d sacrifice everything to protect.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
ExcerptHe retrieved the driver’s license, which belonged to Jace Cutler. So now he had a first name to go with the second. Unfortunately, it still didn’t trigger a memory. The man in the photograph was a complete stranger. He quickly scanned the description provided: six-foot-two, dark brown hair, green eyes. The height felt about right. The guy in the snapshot had a cleft on his chin. He ran his thumb across his jaw and traced the slight indentation.
Suddenly curious, he headed to the mirror hanging over the pedestal sink. The man gazing back at him was no more familiar than this place, this room, the nurse he’d apparently scared half to death. He wasn’t very old, early thirties he guessed. He slanted a glance at the ID again, quickly did the math. Yup, thirty-two.
Peeling off his hospital gown, he stood in front of the tiny mirror, as naked as the day he was born, studying himself. From the looks of it, he worked out regularly. His legs were long and lean, his stomach flat and ripped. But that wasn’t what shocked him. What blew his mind was that he didn’t have a scratch on him, not even an old scar to show he’d lived some kind of life. How did a person exist for thirty-two years and maintain skin as untarnished as a baby’s?
Another presence slowly invaded the room, one that made everything inside him come alive and the darkness retreat. For a moment, he felt almost human again. Almost.
Jace turned around, not caring that he didn’t have a stitch of clothing on him. The woman entering his room froze at the sight of him.
He squinted. Glancing at her made his eyes hurt. She was so damn bright, he needed a frigging pair of sunglasses just to look at her. The nurse who’d examined him earlier paled in comparison, and not because this woman was any kind of beauty. She was plain at best, with blond hair pinned in a ponytail and not a drop of makeup on. Still, something inside him recognized her.
She checked him out briefly before averting her gaze. “Looks like you’re feeling better.”
He couldn’t find his voice to answer. Waves of emotion washed over him, constricting his windpipe. He’d felt nothing since he’d awakened in this stifling hospital room, and all of a sudden he couldn’t get his feelings under control long enough to offer some kind of greeting. Her glow enfolded him, and the hunger returned with sharpened fangs.
“Katie, the nurse who was just in here, told me you were awake, but I had to see for myself.”
She took a step toward him, then another.
Please, don’t come any closer. I can’t stand it.
“Who—” The word scraped his throat. “Who are you?”
Her gaze latched on to his face. Confusion and a touch of fascination glimmered in her clear blue eyes. Right there and then, he could’ve sworn he glimpsed her soul, and it was a beautiful thing to behold, potent and familiar.
She shook her head, swallowed hard. “The person who watched you die last night.”
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: Gingerbread Will Help You Plot by Carol A. Strickland
Gingerbread Will Help You PlotGingerbread cookie cutters, that is. If you’re just sitting down to that new book idea that’s floating hazily out in the ether, remember the old rule:
Characters are more important than plot.
It took me a few years to get this drummed through my thick, plotting head, but it’s true. Darn it. As a plotter, when I begin a book I usually know three things: how it ends, what the midpoint (or perhaps some other important turning point) is, and a Cool Scene that makes the book so worth it. No, it’s really, really super-cool. You’ve got one, right?
But there have to be PEOPLE to make these scenes happen. How to come up with a vibrant cast quickly? And make sure it’s fluid enough so it can change as your book evolves?
I began by using a good-sized piece of foam board that was lying around. You might use a regular board, or maybe heavy illustration board.
Now go down to your local crafts store and grab some Velcro™ “dots.” They’ll come on a long spool, with an A side and a B side. While you’re there, choose several colors of construction paper. If you want to be cliché, include a good supply of pink and medium blue. If you don’t have a gingerbread man cookie cutter, get one about 6” tall.
When you return home, use the cookie cutter to trace a bunch of gingerbread men (GM) on the various colors. Cut them out.
Using the size of your gingerbread men to judge how far apart rows should be, attach a few rows of Velcro dots onto your board. Make sure you’re consistent in using the same side of the dots (A or B). Done? Now use the other side of the Velcro dots and smack one on the back of each of your gingerbread men. Easy there. You won’t need them all, and you can make more as needed.
You’re ready to go! You’re writing romance? Choose a pink GM for the heroine and a blue GM for the hero. If you’re into other combinations, choose as needed. Put them center on your board, stuck to the dots. Print their names on their GMs or, if you don’t know those yet, just put “hero” and “heroine.”
When I first started this I’d just read a treatise by Jenny Crusie, who always assigns a BFF for the heroine in her book. That meant I chose another pink GM to stand alongside my heroine GM. I slapped a blue GM next to my hero so he could have a buddy (even though she turned out to be his cousin). Pink would mean they were closely associated with the heroine, no matter what their gender might be, and blue meant the same for the hero’s side. Other colors are used when you’re not sure or when they don’t have particular loyalties.
If you’re operating by the Hero’s Journey (or even Heroine’s Journey, which is different), go ahead and assign GMs to the various roles in that, like the Mentor. Maybe some of your GMs will be animals who play important roles.
Now think about your book. What will it really need, cast-wise? Can some positions be combined? Maybe Mentor is also BFF? Maybe some can be eliminated altogether. Does the heroine have too many people on her side of the board? Give the hero some as well, or cut back on the heroine’s posse.
If you’re writing a series with different leads, the h/h’s that will be appearing down the line might appear somewhere on your board. If they aren’t going to have large roles in this particular volume, maybe you don’t need to show them, or perhaps you have a smaller GM cutter to use just so they don’t feel left out.
Don’t forget the villain! Does s/he have friends/allies? (Perhaps some of these will combine with figures already on the board.) (Combined roles add layers to characters.)
Eat some gingerbread cookies as you ponder some more. Can you simplify? Are characters’ roles beginning to change as you see how they relate to the others on your board? Move ‘em around. Reassign. Trash. Make new GMs.
Once I had to draw wings and make a little halo for one of my heroine side’s GMs, as I realized that her mother was dead, though she still played an important part in the story, appearing in flashbacks.
HAVE FUN with the chart. Switch people around and see how they look. When you start to understand things, write down some characteristics on each GM: personality, looks, what important element(s) they provide the plot. THIS WILL CHANGE as your book progresses. Don’t worry about it; GMs are only paper. You can cross out info on the GMs or even plunk a new blank one in the scribbly old one’s place.
And no, you don’t need a board and Velcro. You can do all this on a tabletop with stickie notes. If you’re like me, you don’t have a clear tabletop in the house, or at least one’s not going to stay clear for long. Or maybe you have cats, who have their own ideas about how your novel should be organized. I find that having this board propped up somewhere near or on my desk saves room and allows me to glance over and remember my characters’ relationships to each other. The velcro eliminated a previous problem with stray breezes blowing stickie notes around.
All done? What are you waiting for? Write!
About the Author
Volume 4 of the Three Worlds saga
Returning to Earth was no honeymoon
The exciting THREE WORLDS superhero romance saga continues!
After the interstellar chaos of the past few weeks, Lina Starhart thinks she now has time to catch her breath and get used to the idea of not only being a bride but of being married to the galaxy’s most powerful man. But she has yet to learn what the job fully entails.
Enemies all around
Not only does her famous husband Valiant have to bear the constant scrutiny of celebrity-watching networks, but he has enemies whose attention now turns toward Lina, whom they see as the hero’s primary weakness.
Can Lina step up to her new responsibilities and show herself to be a mega-level champion?
(That is, if she can survive that long.)
Characters are more important than plot.
It took me a few years to get this drummed through my thick, plotting head, but it’s true. Darn it. As a plotter, when I begin a book I usually know three things: how it ends, what the midpoint (or perhaps some other important turning point) is, and a Cool Scene that makes the book so worth it. No, it’s really, really super-cool. You’ve got one, right?
But there have to be PEOPLE to make these scenes happen. How to come up with a vibrant cast quickly? And make sure it’s fluid enough so it can change as your book evolves?
I began by using a good-sized piece of foam board that was lying around. You might use a regular board, or maybe heavy illustration board.
Now go down to your local crafts store and grab some Velcro™ “dots.” They’ll come on a long spool, with an A side and a B side. While you’re there, choose several colors of construction paper. If you want to be cliché, include a good supply of pink and medium blue. If you don’t have a gingerbread man cookie cutter, get one about 6” tall.
When you return home, use the cookie cutter to trace a bunch of gingerbread men (GM) on the various colors. Cut them out.
Using the size of your gingerbread men to judge how far apart rows should be, attach a few rows of Velcro dots onto your board. Make sure you’re consistent in using the same side of the dots (A or B). Done? Now use the other side of the Velcro dots and smack one on the back of each of your gingerbread men. Easy there. You won’t need them all, and you can make more as needed.
You’re ready to go! You’re writing romance? Choose a pink GM for the heroine and a blue GM for the hero. If you’re into other combinations, choose as needed. Put them center on your board, stuck to the dots. Print their names on their GMs or, if you don’t know those yet, just put “hero” and “heroine.”
When I first started this I’d just read a treatise by Jenny Crusie, who always assigns a BFF for the heroine in her book. That meant I chose another pink GM to stand alongside my heroine GM. I slapped a blue GM next to my hero so he could have a buddy (even though she turned out to be his cousin). Pink would mean they were closely associated with the heroine, no matter what their gender might be, and blue meant the same for the hero’s side. Other colors are used when you’re not sure or when they don’t have particular loyalties.
If you’re operating by the Hero’s Journey (or even Heroine’s Journey, which is different), go ahead and assign GMs to the various roles in that, like the Mentor. Maybe some of your GMs will be animals who play important roles.
Now think about your book. What will it really need, cast-wise? Can some positions be combined? Maybe Mentor is also BFF? Maybe some can be eliminated altogether. Does the heroine have too many people on her side of the board? Give the hero some as well, or cut back on the heroine’s posse.
If you’re writing a series with different leads, the h/h’s that will be appearing down the line might appear somewhere on your board. If they aren’t going to have large roles in this particular volume, maybe you don’t need to show them, or perhaps you have a smaller GM cutter to use just so they don’t feel left out.
Don’t forget the villain! Does s/he have friends/allies? (Perhaps some of these will combine with figures already on the board.) (Combined roles add layers to characters.)
Eat some gingerbread cookies as you ponder some more. Can you simplify? Are characters’ roles beginning to change as you see how they relate to the others on your board? Move ‘em around. Reassign. Trash. Make new GMs.
Once I had to draw wings and make a little halo for one of my heroine side’s GMs, as I realized that her mother was dead, though she still played an important part in the story, appearing in flashbacks.
HAVE FUN with the chart. Switch people around and see how they look. When you start to understand things, write down some characteristics on each GM: personality, looks, what important element(s) they provide the plot. THIS WILL CHANGE as your book progresses. Don’t worry about it; GMs are only paper. You can cross out info on the GMs or even plunk a new blank one in the scribbly old one’s place.
And no, you don’t need a board and Velcro. You can do all this on a tabletop with stickie notes. If you’re like me, you don’t have a clear tabletop in the house, or at least one’s not going to stay clear for long. Or maybe you have cats, who have their own ideas about how your novel should be organized. I find that having this board propped up somewhere near or on my desk saves room and allows me to glance over and remember my characters’ relationships to each other. The velcro eliminated a previous problem with stray breezes blowing stickie notes around.
All done? What are you waiting for? Write!
About the Author
When you think of strong women and strange worlds, think Carol A. Strickland. A one-time comics letterhack and outspoken member of various comics message boards, Carol has found herself the basis for two comic book villains. (At times her opinions have not been taken well by the books’ creators.) Her sixth novel, Worlds Apart, is vol. 4 of a fantabulous superhero romance/adventure series that you’d love to read. Really!Book Info
Volume 4 of the Three Worlds sagaReturning to Earth was no honeymoon
The exciting THREE WORLDS superhero romance saga continues!
After the interstellar chaos of the past few weeks, Lina Starhart thinks she now has time to catch her breath and get used to the idea of not only being a bride but of being married to the galaxy’s most powerful man. But she has yet to learn what the job fully entails.
Enemies all around
Not only does her famous husband Valiant have to bear the constant scrutiny of celebrity-watching networks, but he has enemies whose attention now turns toward Lina, whom they see as the hero’s primary weakness.
Can Lina step up to her new responsibilities and show herself to be a mega-level champion?
(That is, if she can survive that long.)
October 20, 2015
5 Past Midnight: Interview with Cassi Carver
Interview1. What flavor is your writing?
The Shadow Slayers series is super spicy! It was an experiment blending urban fantasy and erotica in book one, Slayer’s Kiss. I’d say book two and three in the trilogy tend toward paranormal romance. They’re still super sexy, but the heroine’s relationships get deeper, more emotional, and more committed as the series progresses.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Great question! I’d choose Chris Hemsworth for Gavin and Aidan Turner (of Poldark) for Julian…and that’s if Aidan Turner could be made to look half Native American. LOL For the part of Kara, I’d choose…ME! I look nothing like her and have none of her ass-kicking skills, but if I was acting next to Chris and Aidan, I’d try really hard—especially on the sexy parts!!!
3. What is your favorite scene in Slayer’s Kiss?
Slayer’s Kiss has a slightly tragic, very epic ending. One hero may meet his end and the other may declare his devotion to the heroine. That has to be my favorite part of the whole novel! I cry every time I read it. The great part is that the series is already completed so readers don’t have to wait to find out how it turns out. My books and series are always happy in the end!
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
The last series I read that really blew my mind was Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts. I’m still waiting for book six to come out next year. It’s been delayed, so I’ve been counting down the months.
5. What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on a brand new paranormal romance series! This one is set just a little in the future after a catastrophic event that affects the entire world’s population. I love building new realities with new rules and making everything work together cohesively. I love populating my series with characters that you’ll want to meet in future books, and I adore threads that twine through the whole series, so as one book’s crisis is solved, the overarching intrigue just grows deeper.
LinksWebsite: http://cassicarver.com/Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CassiCarverAuthorTwitter: @CassiCarverPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cassicarver/Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5307736.Cassi_CarverBook Blurb
Slayer's Kiss (Shadow Slayers Book 1)
Kara Reed is a supernatural failure. But where her magic falls short, her fists get the job done. The criminal element doesn’t stand a chance once she hits San Diego’s dark streets.
When two smoking-hot tenants move in next door, she thinks her love life might finally be heating up. Just being near Gavin and Julian is enough to make her want to offer her body on a platter.
Gavin and Julian know it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. They’re fallen angels sent to watch over the king’s daughter, one of the last females of her kind. Trouble is, she doesn’t seem to think she needs watching—unless they’re watching her shimmy out of her clothes.
No matter how tempting her guardians, Kara’s not about to let anything stop her from tracking down a sadistic killer who carves into his victims and leaves them for dead. Even when she realizes her target may be the very scourge of heaven from which her angels swore to protect her…
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
ExcerptAfter a quick handshake, just a fleeting grasp of one wrist to another, Gavin broke away from the other man and came through the door. His gaze arrowed through the crush of bodies and landed squarely on Kara.
Her mouth went dry. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Her heart throttled from zero to sixty in one glance, hammering as if she’d run a hundred miles through the desert.
But he was the oasis she’d been waiting for.
Gavin reached the bar, pulled out a stool and settled himself on the brown vinyl perch.
“Miss Reed.” He tipped his chin in greeting. His suit jacket was draped across one knee, leaving him in slacks and a white-collared shirt with the first button undone. With the way the fabric stretched around his biceps, he didn’t look like any businessman she’d ever met.
Her mind raced. Maybe he’d thought through her unspoken offer. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d felt the connection. Her body flushed, but not in embarrassment this time—this was simply blood rushing to all her important parts.
She nodded back and smiled, trying not to look as smug as she felt. “You found me.”
“I did. It must be nice working so close to home.”
“Yeah. It’s not a bad gig.” She wanted to laugh. It was clear he had something to say, and she already knew what it was going to be. Mutual attraction this strong couldn’t be denied. She wasn’t going to play hard to get just to get even with him. He might deserve it, but that wasn’t her style. She rarely wanted a man, but when she did, she let him know flat-out. “I’m glad you rethought my offer.”
He clasped his hands on the bar before him. “It’s the key.”
She put down the bottle in her hand and cocked her head. “What’s the key?”
“The reason I’m here.”
“Huh? I’m confused.” Confused and sinking like that rock in the pit of her stomach.
Gavin looked like he’d swallowed a bug. “The key doesn’t work.”
The blood drained from Kara’s face. “Oh…you’re not here to see…me.” She was the world’s biggest jackass. Such an ass, in fact, she was surprised she hadn’t brayed the soft, mortified words from between big blocky teeth.
“Technically, I am here to see you. The key doesn’t fit. I can’t move in my things until you open the door.”
She turned her back on him under the pretense of getting another bottle of tequila from the low storage cupboard, but she needed a minute to get herself under control. She rummaged around, shifting bottles, until she thought she could speak without her lips quivering.
“Take this for your trouble.” She handed him a shot of their best tequila. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what could have happened—they’re all numbered. But don’t worry. I have a set of master keys. As soon as I get off, I can let you in.” She swabbed the counter near him with shaking hands.
“Kara.” He reached out and covered her hand with his. “It’s all right. I waited weeks for that apartment. A couple more hours aren’t going to kill me.”
About the Author
The Shadow Slayers series is super spicy! It was an experiment blending urban fantasy and erotica in book one, Slayer’s Kiss. I’d say book two and three in the trilogy tend toward paranormal romance. They’re still super sexy, but the heroine’s relationships get deeper, more emotional, and more committed as the series progresses.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Great question! I’d choose Chris Hemsworth for Gavin and Aidan Turner (of Poldark) for Julian…and that’s if Aidan Turner could be made to look half Native American. LOL For the part of Kara, I’d choose…ME! I look nothing like her and have none of her ass-kicking skills, but if I was acting next to Chris and Aidan, I’d try really hard—especially on the sexy parts!!!
3. What is your favorite scene in Slayer’s Kiss?
Slayer’s Kiss has a slightly tragic, very epic ending. One hero may meet his end and the other may declare his devotion to the heroine. That has to be my favorite part of the whole novel! I cry every time I read it. The great part is that the series is already completed so readers don’t have to wait to find out how it turns out. My books and series are always happy in the end!
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
The last series I read that really blew my mind was Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts. I’m still waiting for book six to come out next year. It’s been delayed, so I’ve been counting down the months.
5. What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on a brand new paranormal romance series! This one is set just a little in the future after a catastrophic event that affects the entire world’s population. I love building new realities with new rules and making everything work together cohesively. I love populating my series with characters that you’ll want to meet in future books, and I adore threads that twine through the whole series, so as one book’s crisis is solved, the overarching intrigue just grows deeper.
LinksWebsite: http://cassicarver.com/Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CassiCarverAuthorTwitter: @CassiCarverPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cassicarver/Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5307736.Cassi_CarverBook Blurb
Slayer's Kiss (Shadow Slayers Book 1)Kara Reed is a supernatural failure. But where her magic falls short, her fists get the job done. The criminal element doesn’t stand a chance once she hits San Diego’s dark streets.
When two smoking-hot tenants move in next door, she thinks her love life might finally be heating up. Just being near Gavin and Julian is enough to make her want to offer her body on a platter.
Gavin and Julian know it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. They’re fallen angels sent to watch over the king’s daughter, one of the last females of her kind. Trouble is, she doesn’t seem to think she needs watching—unless they’re watching her shimmy out of her clothes.
No matter how tempting her guardians, Kara’s not about to let anything stop her from tracking down a sadistic killer who carves into his victims and leaves them for dead. Even when she realizes her target may be the very scourge of heaven from which her angels swore to protect her…
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
ExcerptAfter a quick handshake, just a fleeting grasp of one wrist to another, Gavin broke away from the other man and came through the door. His gaze arrowed through the crush of bodies and landed squarely on Kara.
Her mouth went dry. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Her heart throttled from zero to sixty in one glance, hammering as if she’d run a hundred miles through the desert.
But he was the oasis she’d been waiting for.
Gavin reached the bar, pulled out a stool and settled himself on the brown vinyl perch.
“Miss Reed.” He tipped his chin in greeting. His suit jacket was draped across one knee, leaving him in slacks and a white-collared shirt with the first button undone. With the way the fabric stretched around his biceps, he didn’t look like any businessman she’d ever met.
Her mind raced. Maybe he’d thought through her unspoken offer. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d felt the connection. Her body flushed, but not in embarrassment this time—this was simply blood rushing to all her important parts.
She nodded back and smiled, trying not to look as smug as she felt. “You found me.”
“I did. It must be nice working so close to home.”
“Yeah. It’s not a bad gig.” She wanted to laugh. It was clear he had something to say, and she already knew what it was going to be. Mutual attraction this strong couldn’t be denied. She wasn’t going to play hard to get just to get even with him. He might deserve it, but that wasn’t her style. She rarely wanted a man, but when she did, she let him know flat-out. “I’m glad you rethought my offer.”
He clasped his hands on the bar before him. “It’s the key.”
She put down the bottle in her hand and cocked her head. “What’s the key?”
“The reason I’m here.”
“Huh? I’m confused.” Confused and sinking like that rock in the pit of her stomach.
Gavin looked like he’d swallowed a bug. “The key doesn’t work.”
The blood drained from Kara’s face. “Oh…you’re not here to see…me.” She was the world’s biggest jackass. Such an ass, in fact, she was surprised she hadn’t brayed the soft, mortified words from between big blocky teeth.
“Technically, I am here to see you. The key doesn’t fit. I can’t move in my things until you open the door.”
She turned her back on him under the pretense of getting another bottle of tequila from the low storage cupboard, but she needed a minute to get herself under control. She rummaged around, shifting bottles, until she thought she could speak without her lips quivering.
“Take this for your trouble.” She handed him a shot of their best tequila. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what could have happened—they’re all numbered. But don’t worry. I have a set of master keys. As soon as I get off, I can let you in.” She swabbed the counter near him with shaking hands.
“Kara.” He reached out and covered her hand with his. “It’s all right. I waited weeks for that apartment. A couple more hours aren’t going to kill me.”
About the Author
Cassi Carver writes spicy urban fantasy, contemporary romance, and paranormal romance. She lives in sunny Southern California with two dogs, four kids, varying numbers of pet chickens and tropical fish...and one very patient husband.
When Cassi isn't busy plotting or writing, she enjoys reading, gardening, horseback riding, spending time with family and friends, caring for pets, volunteering at the local animal shelter, drinking copious amounts of Diet Dr. Pepper, and watching sappy movies that deliver reliably happy endings.
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: Tips and Tricks to Win NaNoWriMo by Paula Millhouse
Tips and Tricks I use to Win NaNoWriMo I’ll be honest. During my first NaNoWri Mo back in 2012 I failed miserably. When the end of the month of November rolled around, I had 12,000 words of an unfinished manuscript. An accomplishment, sure, but far from the 50K I needed to qualify. It happens. How did I go forward to win the next competitions and cross the finish line?
I’ll share three tips I learned along my writing path. Write every day. Check in with someone. Set a timer and write in sprints.
Write every day.Carve out your writing time and protect it like a mother dragon protects her nest. Let your family and friends know you’re serious about this competition, and you will be unavailable during your scheduled writing time. Try to write first, before interacting on social media. I’ve found it’s helpful to me to write at the same time every day.
Set a timer, and sprint with other writers.There’s something magic about sprints. If you’ve never done them, the concept is simple. You agree to write for a specified amount of time: 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour. Usually a group leader calls the time, the group writes, and at the end of the time period everyone posts their word count. Again, the key to successful sprints is finding a supportive environment, with like-minded writers. I’ve gotten more words down on the page during sprints than with any other technique.
You can win NaNoWriMo this year. My latest release, Chalvaren Rising is proof that with a little preparation you can do this too. Take the time to clear your daily schedule and carve out and protect your precious writing time. Utilize either groups you connect with on the NaNo website, or cultivate your own list of supportive writers to check in with – accountability matters. Find yourself a group of sprinters, set those timers, then write your story for all you’re worth.
About the Author
With the love of Kort, Chalvaren’s warrior-prince heir, Mia Ansgar will seize her birthright and become the great dragon-riding wizardess prophesied to free that elven kingdom from her embittered sorceress kin.
TO ASCEND TRIUMPHANT
Twenty-five years ago, Theo Ansgar abandoned the Kingdom of Chalvaren for a hiding place on another world. Some called him traitor. Some, thief. Now his fully grown daughter Mia must return to the land of her birth…and their war.
It was the elf prince Kort Elias who brought her back. Theirs was an instant connection, an inescapable union of body, soul and sorcery, reminding Mia of what she truly is, and what she must become. There is also Magnus, destined to be more potent than any wyrm Chalvaren has ever seen, a three-day-old dragonlet Mia must nurture and then ride. And then there is the Dragonstone, an artifact of power nonpareil. Joined, they can tip the scales of battle against the wraith-possessed forces of darkness, of Mia’s own embittered kin.
Redemption will be offered, the protected will become the protector, and an ancient prophecy will come to fruition, but only righteous love can conquer all.
Chalvaren Rising is available at Amazon.
I’ll share three tips I learned along my writing path. Write every day. Check in with someone. Set a timer and write in sprints.
Write every day.Carve out your writing time and protect it like a mother dragon protects her nest. Let your family and friends know you’re serious about this competition, and you will be unavailable during your scheduled writing time. Try to write first, before interacting on social media. I’ve found it’s helpful to me to write at the same time every day.
Set a timer, and sprint with other writers.There’s something magic about sprints. If you’ve never done them, the concept is simple. You agree to write for a specified amount of time: 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour. Usually a group leader calls the time, the group writes, and at the end of the time period everyone posts their word count. Again, the key to successful sprints is finding a supportive environment, with like-minded writers. I’ve gotten more words down on the page during sprints than with any other technique.
You can win NaNoWriMo this year. My latest release, Chalvaren Rising is proof that with a little preparation you can do this too. Take the time to clear your daily schedule and carve out and protect your precious writing time. Utilize either groups you connect with on the NaNo website, or cultivate your own list of supportive writers to check in with – accountability matters. Find yourself a group of sprinters, set those timers, then write your story for all you’re worth.
About the Author
Paula Millhouse is the writer of books where fantasy, romance, and suspense collide, including Chalvaren Rising, it’s prequel, Dragonstone, and Three Wishes. Dragonstone also appears in the anthology, A Gift of Fantasy. These stories are published by Boroughs Publishing Group.Book Info
“I wanted to find out what would happen if I designed a world where fantasy lovers get their adventure quest, but also gave their girlfriends a healthy dose of grown-up romance along the way. How can we blend High Fantasy and Romance into a story that leaves the Reader breathless, where magic and suspense collide in a spellbinding imaginary world?”
She is also the author of a romantic suspense series, where fast-paced thrillers collide with high-heat romance. The Wishes Chronicles includes Careful…, and All Your Wishes…
When not following her muse on quests for happily ever afters, Paula works in the field of medicine as a Family Nurse Practitioner by day, and micro-gardens in her potager with her husband and their pack and pride of furry babies. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, where Spanish moss whispers tales in breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, as a child Paula soaked in the sunshine and heritage of cobblestones, pirate lore, and stories steeped in savory mysteries of the south.
She’s a PRO member of Romance Writers of America, and the Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal Writers specialty chapter. She lives in the mountains now, but she honors her southern heritage as a storyteller by sharing her adventures in fiction with readers.
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006991RF8Website: https://www.paulamillhouse.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/pmillhouseFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamillhousefans and https://www.facebook.com/PaulaMillhouse.AuthorGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5398221.Paula_MillhouseGoogle+: https://plus.google.com/+PaulaMillhouse/postsPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pmillhouse/boards/TSU: http://www.tsu.co/pmillhouseYou Tube: https://youtu.be/q2FCU-gJPog
With the love of Kort, Chalvaren’s warrior-prince heir, Mia Ansgar will seize her birthright and become the great dragon-riding wizardess prophesied to free that elven kingdom from her embittered sorceress kin.TO ASCEND TRIUMPHANT
Twenty-five years ago, Theo Ansgar abandoned the Kingdom of Chalvaren for a hiding place on another world. Some called him traitor. Some, thief. Now his fully grown daughter Mia must return to the land of her birth…and their war.
It was the elf prince Kort Elias who brought her back. Theirs was an instant connection, an inescapable union of body, soul and sorcery, reminding Mia of what she truly is, and what she must become. There is also Magnus, destined to be more potent than any wyrm Chalvaren has ever seen, a three-day-old dragonlet Mia must nurture and then ride. And then there is the Dragonstone, an artifact of power nonpareil. Joined, they can tip the scales of battle against the wraith-possessed forces of darkness, of Mia’s own embittered kin.
Redemption will be offered, the protected will become the protector, and an ancient prophecy will come to fruition, but only righteous love can conquer all.
Chalvaren Rising is available at Amazon.
October 19, 2015
5 Past Midnight: Interview with Robin Bielman
Interview1. What flavor is your writing?
Veiled Target (my novel in the Five Past Midnight boxed set) is my one and only paranormal romance so far, and I had the best time writing it. I love the way you described my opening scene, Robyn: like a Buffy/Alias mash up. That’s exactly what I was going for! By the end the book I hope I’ve taken readers on an adventurous, sexy, will she or won’t she ride.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Alex O’Laughlin (love him!) would play Hugh and Yvonne Strahovski would play Tess.
3. What is your favorite scene in Veiled Target?
Hmm… my favorite scene in Veiled Target is probably the one where Tess gets caught following Hugh and she learns who he really is. She doesn’t have time to process it, though, because something big, bad and ugly comes after them and they have to team up in order to stay alive.
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
My TBR pile is huge. I don’t have a shoe problem. I have a book problem. :) I’m currently reading Pale Moon Rising by Paula Altenburg. It’s aliens meet the Wild West and it’s awesome.
5. What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third book in my contemporary romance series, Kisses in the Sand.
LinksWebsite: http://robinbielman.com
Twitter: @RobinBielman
Facebook: http://facebook.com/RobinBielmanWriter
Book Blurb
Veiled Target
Never take Fate along on a date. The kiss goodnight could be deadly.
Tracking down Veilers—non humans—is only a sideline for Tess Damon. Vengeance for her fiancé’s murder is her reason for living. But with two botched jobs on her record, if she fails to eliminate her next mark, she’s dead.
She’s not afraid to die, but not before she gets even. Too bad fate has a really bad sense of humor.
Hugh Langston, a wolfen half shifter, lives to keep both humans and his pack safe. But when rogue humans kidnap his apprentice, his rescue mission is compromised by a hot-as-hell, kick-ass woman who makes him think only one thing: mine.
Tess tries to ignore her feelings, but temptation trips her up. Especially when Hugh figures out he’s her next target and forces her into an inconvenient alliance that tests all the laws against their attraction. Now, with the line between good and evil getting blurrier by the minute, it becomes clear Tess’s only hope of living to see another day—and finding a murderer—lies with the one man she’s supposed to kill.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt“Cut the crap, Tess. Why were you following me?”
“How do you know I was following you?” Oops. She meant to say, “What makes you think I was following you?”
He gave a knowing smile—that looked ridiculously sexy rather than irritating. “I know you don’t want to insult my intelligence so let’s just say for argument’s sake, if you were following me, why would that be?”
At least she’d gotten him to change his tone.
“Truthfully?” She leaned a little closer to him. She couldn’t help it.
“That would be nice.”
“I’m really not a very nice person,” she announced.
“Neither am I.” He reached out and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.
Was he trying to confuse her? Because it was working. She’d nearly fallen into his hand before he pulled it away. He was indeed a very bad man.
“That’s good. I hate nice guys. So where does that leave us?”
“I haven’t got all night, Tess.” He lowered his chin, indicating—she presumed—he was growing tired of their banter.
She lifted an eyebrow. “No? That’s too bad. I’m a night owl. I can—”
“Answer my question before I haul you to your car over my shoulder.” His tone sent a little zing of pleasure right to the tips of her breasts.
“As if you could—” She was over his shoulder in one second flat. He moved swiftly, quietly and with superhuman strength. Uh oh. “Hey, put me down!”
He started down the alley, seemingly unbothered by her spastic attempts to get him to let her go. “You ready to walk and talk now?”
“Fine,” she conceded, although the view of his backside was pretty damn good.
When both feet securely hit the ground, she tugged down her dress and shifted the V-neck into place. He watched her squirm to put the rest of the material back where it belonged and his roving eyes heated her from the inside out.
“I followed you because I wanted to help.”
He started walking. “Do I look like I need help?” A little gleam—and major interest?—flickered in his sideways glance.
“Well, no. But I’m very capable and I didn’t feel like going home, so I decided there was no harm in making myself available to you should you need me.” She took a deep breath. It was time to put the question out there. “Did you know Dane is a—”
“Wolfen? Yeah I know.”
“How do you—”
He stopped and turned toward her with confusion and passion in his deep blue eyes. For several seconds he stared at her, like he was trying to get inside her head. Guess what she was thinking. “I’m the leader of the Night Runners,” he finally said.
She imagined he’d told her something he’d never told another human being before.
What the hell was she going to do now?
About the Author
Veiled Target (my novel in the Five Past Midnight boxed set) is my one and only paranormal romance so far, and I had the best time writing it. I love the way you described my opening scene, Robyn: like a Buffy/Alias mash up. That’s exactly what I was going for! By the end the book I hope I’ve taken readers on an adventurous, sexy, will she or won’t she ride.
2. If this book was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?
Alex O’Laughlin (love him!) would play Hugh and Yvonne Strahovski would play Tess.
3. What is your favorite scene in Veiled Target?
Hmm… my favorite scene in Veiled Target is probably the one where Tess gets caught following Hugh and she learns who he really is. She doesn’t have time to process it, though, because something big, bad and ugly comes after them and they have to team up in order to stay alive.
4. What are you reading now or what books do you have in your TBR pile?
My TBR pile is huge. I don’t have a shoe problem. I have a book problem. :) I’m currently reading Pale Moon Rising by Paula Altenburg. It’s aliens meet the Wild West and it’s awesome.
5. What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third book in my contemporary romance series, Kisses in the Sand.
LinksWebsite: http://robinbielman.com
Twitter: @RobinBielman
Facebook: http://facebook.com/RobinBielmanWriter
Book Blurb
Veiled TargetNever take Fate along on a date. The kiss goodnight could be deadly.
Tracking down Veilers—non humans—is only a sideline for Tess Damon. Vengeance for her fiancé’s murder is her reason for living. But with two botched jobs on her record, if she fails to eliminate her next mark, she’s dead.
She’s not afraid to die, but not before she gets even. Too bad fate has a really bad sense of humor.
Hugh Langston, a wolfen half shifter, lives to keep both humans and his pack safe. But when rogue humans kidnap his apprentice, his rescue mission is compromised by a hot-as-hell, kick-ass woman who makes him think only one thing: mine.
Tess tries to ignore her feelings, but temptation trips her up. Especially when Hugh figures out he’s her next target and forces her into an inconvenient alliance that tests all the laws against their attraction. Now, with the line between good and evil getting blurrier by the minute, it becomes clear Tess’s only hope of living to see another day—and finding a murderer—lies with the one man she’s supposed to kill.
Five Past Midnight is available for only $4.99 for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, iTunes, Kobo, and Samhain.
Excerpt“Cut the crap, Tess. Why were you following me?”
“How do you know I was following you?” Oops. She meant to say, “What makes you think I was following you?”
He gave a knowing smile—that looked ridiculously sexy rather than irritating. “I know you don’t want to insult my intelligence so let’s just say for argument’s sake, if you were following me, why would that be?”
At least she’d gotten him to change his tone.
“Truthfully?” She leaned a little closer to him. She couldn’t help it.
“That would be nice.”
“I’m really not a very nice person,” she announced.
“Neither am I.” He reached out and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.
Was he trying to confuse her? Because it was working. She’d nearly fallen into his hand before he pulled it away. He was indeed a very bad man.
“That’s good. I hate nice guys. So where does that leave us?”
“I haven’t got all night, Tess.” He lowered his chin, indicating—she presumed—he was growing tired of their banter.
She lifted an eyebrow. “No? That’s too bad. I’m a night owl. I can—”
“Answer my question before I haul you to your car over my shoulder.” His tone sent a little zing of pleasure right to the tips of her breasts.
“As if you could—” She was over his shoulder in one second flat. He moved swiftly, quietly and with superhuman strength. Uh oh. “Hey, put me down!”
He started down the alley, seemingly unbothered by her spastic attempts to get him to let her go. “You ready to walk and talk now?”
“Fine,” she conceded, although the view of his backside was pretty damn good.
When both feet securely hit the ground, she tugged down her dress and shifted the V-neck into place. He watched her squirm to put the rest of the material back where it belonged and his roving eyes heated her from the inside out.
“I followed you because I wanted to help.”
He started walking. “Do I look like I need help?” A little gleam—and major interest?—flickered in his sideways glance.
“Well, no. But I’m very capable and I didn’t feel like going home, so I decided there was no harm in making myself available to you should you need me.” She took a deep breath. It was time to put the question out there. “Did you know Dane is a—”
“Wolfen? Yeah I know.”
“How do you—”
He stopped and turned toward her with confusion and passion in his deep blue eyes. For several seconds he stared at her, like he was trying to get inside her head. Guess what she was thinking. “I’m the leader of the Night Runners,” he finally said.
She imagined he’d told her something he’d never told another human being before.
What the hell was she going to do now?
About the Author
When not attached to her laptop, USA Today Bestselling Author and RITA Finalist, Robin Bielman loves to read, take hikes with her hubby, and frequent coffee shops. A California girl, the beach is her favorite place for fun, relaxation, and inspiration.
She loves to go on adventures, and has skydived, scuba dived, parasailed, gotten lost in the wilderness (and only suffered a gazillion bug bites for it) hiked to amazing waterfalls, and swam with dolphins. In her spare time she also tries to put her treadmill to good use while watching her favorite TV shows, indulges her sweet tooth, and plays a mean game of sock tug of war with her cute, but sometimes naughty dog, Harry.
Writing is a dream come true, and she still pinches herself to be sure it’s real. She lives in Southern California with her high school sweetheart husband and younger of two sons. Her oldest is out in the real word and she couldn’t be prouder. She loves to connect with readers. Get the scoop on Robin, her books, and sign up for her newsletter on her website at http://robinbielman.com.
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: 5 Tips for Writing Faster by Anna Durand
Naked Writing: 5 Tips for Writing FasterWant to write faster? Read on if you dare, if you can shed your writing inhibitions and strip down to the bare essentials of creativity. You've probably heard at least snippets of the debate between so-called plotters and pantsers. Well, I have a radical suggestion for you.
Forget the pants. Take it all off!
Welcome to the world of naked writing. It exists in a realm beyond the reach of the plotter/pantser debate, where typos are not shameful and changing your plot mid-draft is perfectly acceptable. Once you get the fundamentals down, like grammar and punctuation, then you've crossed the border into serious writing. Time to strip down to your creativity birthday suit!
Back in September, I challenged myself to write a complete 20,000-word story in five days (read my blog post about it here). I succeeding writing just over 20,000 words in five days, which comes out to about 4,000 words per day, and finished the first draft of Dangerous in a Kilt. At that rate, I could write 50,000 words in twelve days – since I averaged a little more than 4,000 words per day during my writing challenge. That's less than two weeks to finish a NaNoWriMo-length challenge. And I didn't write ten hours a day. I have a day job, so that's not feasible for me. I carved out three to four hours each day for writing.
How did I train myself to write faster? Everyone needs to develop an individual method that works for them, but I'm going to share my method. If you are a perfectionist, as I once was, you may freak out when you get to #2 on my list of tips, but I encourage you to think long and hard before dismissing it as nonsense. There's a reason I called my blog post about my writing challenge "Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist"!
5 Tips for Writing FasterEliminate distractions. "I can't get rid of everything!" you might scream. That's true, but if you start with the basics and expand from there, you'll find you really can live without your cell phone and Facebook for a few hours every day. Turn off your e-mail. Close your web browser. Send the kids to grandma's house. Lock the cat and dog out of your work space. Turn on music to drown out noises. If you use Scrivener, as I do, to write your drafts then you can put it in full screen mode to block out on-screen distractions.Assassinate your inner perfectionist. I debated whether to make this #1 or not, because this tip is crucial to writing faster. If you don't think you're a perfectionist, think again. You probably are — at least partially. Research can wait (make a note of things you need to check). Fixing typos can wait (don't let me catch you going after that misspelled word). Screwy character motivations and plot holes can wait. Seriously, all of it can wait. We have a little thing called editing. Stop fearing it and USE it. You can't edit if you don't have a finished draft. Assassinate your inner perfectionist. Yes, I am advocating murder here. That red-eyed devil on your shoulder must die!Assassinate your inner procrastinator. Here we go again—embrace your dark side and destroy the other devil on your shoulder. You know which one I mean. This devil whispers "hey, we deserve a break to read People magazine" or "ugh, we're so tired, let's take a nap." To write faster, you must keep writing. You can read about Kim Kardashian later and if you're really tired, drink some coffee or (my favorite) Dr. Pepper. Jump up and down a few times (you'd be surprised how well that works). Crank up the volume on your favorite energizing/motivating songs. My favorites include "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic and "Sweeter" by Gavin DeGraw.Adjust your expectations. If you've never written more than 200 words in a day and/or you don't write every day, then don't expect to write 4,000 words per day right off the bat. I needed a year to work my way up to writing faster and my 20,000-word challenge was the culmination of much hard work on #2 and #3 on this list. Last year, I decided I would write something every day, no matter how little it might be. The funny thing? The longer I did this, the more I wrote every day. Now I can write 4,000 words or more in a few hours. Set feasible goals and don't punish yourself if you sometimes fail. Take NaNoWriMo as an opportunity to practice writing faster, rather than as a deadline you must meet. You'll get plenty of those from editors, trust me!Have fun. Yes, the universe has given you permission to enjoy writing. If you aren't having fun writing the first draft, then I suggest taking a step back to see if the story you're working on is really a story you want to write. Yes, writing is hard work and sometimes you'll feel like you're digging a trench with your bare hands, but those are the moments you need #5 the most. Change a character, tweak the basic plot, switch from first person to third or vice versa — whatever it takes to make writing fun. After a year of pushing myself to write more, I've reached a kind of Zen place where — horrors! — I even enjoy the editing process. While editing, I don't write new words every day, but I am accomplishing something with my work-in-progress.I hope these tips help you find success during NaNoWriMo, but remember this. Failing to reach the 50,000-word mark is not failure. However much you write in November, you have achieved a milestone, whether it's 1,000 words or 50,000. Celebrate your achievements. And above all, enjoy yourself!
About the Author
Intuition (Psychic Crossroads, Book 2)
Torn apart by their haunted pasts, Grace Powell and her fiancé David Ransom are struggling to reclaim their passionate bond and build a normal life — one without danger and paranormal powers. But David can't renounce his obsession with hunting down Karl Tesler, who abducts and tortures psychics. David endured Tesler's tactics himself, but despite what Grace believes, he's not out for revenge.
Tesler covets her unprecedented abilities and her mysterious connection to a source of limitless psychic power. David will do anything — even abandon and lie to her — to protect Grace from Tesler.
With a psychic stalker on her trail, Grace charges into a desperate mission to uncover the truth about David's obsession. But Tesler's agents are closing in on her, and a terrifying new enemy is rising…
As events drive Grace and David toward a battle of epic proportions, they must risk everything — their relationship, their lives, and even their souls — to defeat an enemy who wields unspeakable psychic power.
Intuition is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Smashwords, Kobo, and All Romance E-Books.
Excerpt
Grace rolled onto her side. Her nose bumped into David's pillow. She drew in a long breath. The spiciness of his aftershave flooded her senses, along with another scent—a subtle, masculine smell unique to David. Indescribable. Delicious. Warmth suffused her, seeping into her heart and mind, smoldering in parts of her that ached for him. She inhaled another draft of his scent, her body responding as if he were there, caressing her. He may drive her nuts at times, but…
Oh, the way he kissed. Her lips tingled from the memory of it.
A chill whispered over her skin. Every hair on her body stiffened. Her sixth sense burst out of its slumber, clanging alarm bells in her psyche. Someone is here.
She bolted upright and whipped her head left and right. Nobody there. She swung her legs off the bed and pushed up onto her feet, nabbing her .357 Magnum revolver from the bedside table. A chill trickled down her spine. Eyes watched. Invisible, ethereal, but real. She turned toward the doorway. Nothing lurked there.
Why couldn't she pin down the source of the sensation? Her paranormal radar was blanked out, as if overwhelmed by input. Psychic energy crackled through her. Behind you. She whirled around, thrusting the gun up, clamped in both hands, and confronted—
The lamp.
Hell. She'd let her unease blossom into paranoia. Nobody hunted her anymore. Probably. Tesler wouldn't find her here. Her cell phone buzzed. A text message had arrived.
David. She snatched up the phone, tapping the screen until the message popped up. As she scanned the words, a shiver rattled through her.
"Come to me," it said, "I can help you. 1325 Meroz Road."
She didn't recognize the phone number the message came from, and no name was given. Oh sure, she'd rush right out to the address texted to her by an anonymous whackjob.
The phone buzzed again. Another text message: "Your lip is bleeding."
Her lip? She dabbed a finger on her mouth. It came away wet. Blood stained her skin. How did the texter know she bit her lip? Her heart pounded. Without moving, she searched the shadows for a figure, a camera, something to explain this, though she knew she'd find nothing. A thick curtain shielded the window. The person sending the messages could either see through solid objects or had another means of viewing her. Extrasensory means.
The phone tumbled from her hand, clattering on the floor.
No, she was jumping to conclusions. An intruder must've stolen into the house. With the revolver in hand, she sprinted out of the bedroom, down the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the living room. Vacant. All vacant. She rushed back to the bedroom and dug through the closet, scoured the dresser, even dropped onto her belly to investigate the space under the bed. No cameras. No stealthy intruders. Not a damn thing. Which left her with one unthinkable possibility.
Maybe she should call the police.
What for? They couldn't help her with this kind of problem.
"You belong with me."
She jumped. Her head smacked into the bed frame. She clutched the gun tighter. Where had the voice come from?
No, no, no, not again. Nausea swelled in her stomach, bile rising high in her throat. The voice did not originate in this room, or from outside. The source was much, much closer. Someone rammed the words into her mind.
A psychic intruder just hacked her brain.
Forget the pants. Take it all off!
Welcome to the world of naked writing. It exists in a realm beyond the reach of the plotter/pantser debate, where typos are not shameful and changing your plot mid-draft is perfectly acceptable. Once you get the fundamentals down, like grammar and punctuation, then you've crossed the border into serious writing. Time to strip down to your creativity birthday suit!
Back in September, I challenged myself to write a complete 20,000-word story in five days (read my blog post about it here). I succeeding writing just over 20,000 words in five days, which comes out to about 4,000 words per day, and finished the first draft of Dangerous in a Kilt. At that rate, I could write 50,000 words in twelve days – since I averaged a little more than 4,000 words per day during my writing challenge. That's less than two weeks to finish a NaNoWriMo-length challenge. And I didn't write ten hours a day. I have a day job, so that's not feasible for me. I carved out three to four hours each day for writing.
How did I train myself to write faster? Everyone needs to develop an individual method that works for them, but I'm going to share my method. If you are a perfectionist, as I once was, you may freak out when you get to #2 on my list of tips, but I encourage you to think long and hard before dismissing it as nonsense. There's a reason I called my blog post about my writing challenge "Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist"!
5 Tips for Writing FasterEliminate distractions. "I can't get rid of everything!" you might scream. That's true, but if you start with the basics and expand from there, you'll find you really can live without your cell phone and Facebook for a few hours every day. Turn off your e-mail. Close your web browser. Send the kids to grandma's house. Lock the cat and dog out of your work space. Turn on music to drown out noises. If you use Scrivener, as I do, to write your drafts then you can put it in full screen mode to block out on-screen distractions.Assassinate your inner perfectionist. I debated whether to make this #1 or not, because this tip is crucial to writing faster. If you don't think you're a perfectionist, think again. You probably are — at least partially. Research can wait (make a note of things you need to check). Fixing typos can wait (don't let me catch you going after that misspelled word). Screwy character motivations and plot holes can wait. Seriously, all of it can wait. We have a little thing called editing. Stop fearing it and USE it. You can't edit if you don't have a finished draft. Assassinate your inner perfectionist. Yes, I am advocating murder here. That red-eyed devil on your shoulder must die!Assassinate your inner procrastinator. Here we go again—embrace your dark side and destroy the other devil on your shoulder. You know which one I mean. This devil whispers "hey, we deserve a break to read People magazine" or "ugh, we're so tired, let's take a nap." To write faster, you must keep writing. You can read about Kim Kardashian later and if you're really tired, drink some coffee or (my favorite) Dr. Pepper. Jump up and down a few times (you'd be surprised how well that works). Crank up the volume on your favorite energizing/motivating songs. My favorites include "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic and "Sweeter" by Gavin DeGraw.Adjust your expectations. If you've never written more than 200 words in a day and/or you don't write every day, then don't expect to write 4,000 words per day right off the bat. I needed a year to work my way up to writing faster and my 20,000-word challenge was the culmination of much hard work on #2 and #3 on this list. Last year, I decided I would write something every day, no matter how little it might be. The funny thing? The longer I did this, the more I wrote every day. Now I can write 4,000 words or more in a few hours. Set feasible goals and don't punish yourself if you sometimes fail. Take NaNoWriMo as an opportunity to practice writing faster, rather than as a deadline you must meet. You'll get plenty of those from editors, trust me!Have fun. Yes, the universe has given you permission to enjoy writing. If you aren't having fun writing the first draft, then I suggest taking a step back to see if the story you're working on is really a story you want to write. Yes, writing is hard work and sometimes you'll feel like you're digging a trench with your bare hands, but those are the moments you need #5 the most. Change a character, tweak the basic plot, switch from first person to third or vice versa — whatever it takes to make writing fun. After a year of pushing myself to write more, I've reached a kind of Zen place where — horrors! — I even enjoy the editing process. While editing, I don't write new words every day, but I am accomplishing something with my work-in-progress.I hope these tips help you find success during NaNoWriMo, but remember this. Failing to reach the 50,000-word mark is not failure. However much you write in November, you have achieved a milestone, whether it's 1,000 words or 50,000. Celebrate your achievements. And above all, enjoy yourself!
About the Author
Anna Durand is an award-winning writer, a freelance librarian, and an audiobook addict. She specializes in sexy romances, both paranormal and contemporary, featuring spunky heroines and hunky heroes. As a member of Romance Writers of America, she volunteers for two of its chapters—as membership chair for Hearts Through History and social media chair for Outreach International. In her previous life as a librarian, she haunted the stacks of public libraries but never met any hot vampires hunting for magical books.Book Info
Website/Blog: http://www.annadurand.com/Twitter: @TheAnnaDurandFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnaDurandFictionGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/annadurandPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Anna_Durand/
Intuition (Psychic Crossroads, Book 2)Torn apart by their haunted pasts, Grace Powell and her fiancé David Ransom are struggling to reclaim their passionate bond and build a normal life — one without danger and paranormal powers. But David can't renounce his obsession with hunting down Karl Tesler, who abducts and tortures psychics. David endured Tesler's tactics himself, but despite what Grace believes, he's not out for revenge.
Tesler covets her unprecedented abilities and her mysterious connection to a source of limitless psychic power. David will do anything — even abandon and lie to her — to protect Grace from Tesler.
With a psychic stalker on her trail, Grace charges into a desperate mission to uncover the truth about David's obsession. But Tesler's agents are closing in on her, and a terrifying new enemy is rising…
As events drive Grace and David toward a battle of epic proportions, they must risk everything — their relationship, their lives, and even their souls — to defeat an enemy who wields unspeakable psychic power.
Intuition is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Smashwords, Kobo, and All Romance E-Books.
Excerpt
Grace rolled onto her side. Her nose bumped into David's pillow. She drew in a long breath. The spiciness of his aftershave flooded her senses, along with another scent—a subtle, masculine smell unique to David. Indescribable. Delicious. Warmth suffused her, seeping into her heart and mind, smoldering in parts of her that ached for him. She inhaled another draft of his scent, her body responding as if he were there, caressing her. He may drive her nuts at times, but…
Oh, the way he kissed. Her lips tingled from the memory of it.
A chill whispered over her skin. Every hair on her body stiffened. Her sixth sense burst out of its slumber, clanging alarm bells in her psyche. Someone is here.
She bolted upright and whipped her head left and right. Nobody there. She swung her legs off the bed and pushed up onto her feet, nabbing her .357 Magnum revolver from the bedside table. A chill trickled down her spine. Eyes watched. Invisible, ethereal, but real. She turned toward the doorway. Nothing lurked there.
Why couldn't she pin down the source of the sensation? Her paranormal radar was blanked out, as if overwhelmed by input. Psychic energy crackled through her. Behind you. She whirled around, thrusting the gun up, clamped in both hands, and confronted—
The lamp.
Hell. She'd let her unease blossom into paranoia. Nobody hunted her anymore. Probably. Tesler wouldn't find her here. Her cell phone buzzed. A text message had arrived.
David. She snatched up the phone, tapping the screen until the message popped up. As she scanned the words, a shiver rattled through her.
"Come to me," it said, "I can help you. 1325 Meroz Road."
She didn't recognize the phone number the message came from, and no name was given. Oh sure, she'd rush right out to the address texted to her by an anonymous whackjob.
The phone buzzed again. Another text message: "Your lip is bleeding."
Her lip? She dabbed a finger on her mouth. It came away wet. Blood stained her skin. How did the texter know she bit her lip? Her heart pounded. Without moving, she searched the shadows for a figure, a camera, something to explain this, though she knew she'd find nothing. A thick curtain shielded the window. The person sending the messages could either see through solid objects or had another means of viewing her. Extrasensory means.
The phone tumbled from her hand, clattering on the floor.
No, she was jumping to conclusions. An intruder must've stolen into the house. With the revolver in hand, she sprinted out of the bedroom, down the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the living room. Vacant. All vacant. She rushed back to the bedroom and dug through the closet, scoured the dresser, even dropped onto her belly to investigate the space under the bed. No cameras. No stealthy intruders. Not a damn thing. Which left her with one unthinkable possibility.
Maybe she should call the police.
What for? They couldn't help her with this kind of problem.
"You belong with me."
She jumped. Her head smacked into the bed frame. She clutched the gun tighter. Where had the voice come from?
No, no, no, not again. Nausea swelled in her stomach, bile rising high in her throat. The voice did not originate in this room, or from outside. The source was much, much closer. Someone rammed the words into her mind.
A psychic intruder just hacked her brain.
October 18, 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 Prep: The Sound of Story by A. Catherine Noon
The Sound of StoryCreating characters that seem like real people is a challenge. One way to keep things straight is to figure out what your character would listen to on the radio. One’s musical tastes say a lot about a person – for example, imagine a fan of George Thorogood’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer” meeting a fan of the Three Tenors “Nessum Dorma” at a work function where they have to mingle with each other. Would the sparks fly? Would they hiss at each other like angry cats? Would they walk away, bored; or stay and talk, intrigued?
I bet that you already have a picture of these two characters in your mind. Are they male? Female? One of each? Old? Young? Ethnicity?
See how easy it is to build a character from a musical taste?
What I do is actually build virtual radio stations on Pandora for my characters. Sadly, it’s only available in the United States right now, due to licensing restrictions imposed by the recording industry. Outside the States, one could build stations on YouTube, especially with the automatic continue function. You can let YouTube pick the next songs for you, too, which can create an element of what I look for in Pandora: because the software picks the songs, it’s as though my character, and not me, is selecting the playlist.
My coauthor and I found an interesting phenomenon when we started using this process: when it came time to edit a book, it might be months after it was finished. In order to get back into the headspace of a particular character, one can use the character’s musical station to “set the mood,” and remind oneself of the character’s personality.
What about you, Dear Reader? What’s your favorite kinds of music or musical performers? If you could create a soundtrack for your favorite character, what would you include?
About the Author
When you’re an ex-Marine tiger shifter, love comes with a high cost – is it too much to pay?
Mitchell Brayden is an ex-Marine tiger shifter looking for love in all the wrong places. When he decides to rescue a young ocelot shifter from a rich, spoiled playboy, he embroils himself in a conflict that goes back generations.
Guadalupe Salazar grew up as a pampered pet of a benevolent patron. After his patron’s untimely death, he stays on with the patron’s son – a self-centered, weak man who got ensnared by the drugs and fast living in the States. One night, it goes too far and Lupe is beaten nearly to death. He is taken to a secret shifter clinic where he meets an unlikely knight in tarnished armor.
Together, Mitch and Lupe confront the playboy and his friends – but will their actions draw the rest of the jaguar familias, not to mention the ocelot clans, into a battle over Lupe’s future? Will the delicate balance of power destroy everything that Mitch’s small band of tiger shifters has built in Chicago?
Cat's Cradle is available at Amazon.
I bet that you already have a picture of these two characters in your mind. Are they male? Female? One of each? Old? Young? Ethnicity?
See how easy it is to build a character from a musical taste?
What I do is actually build virtual radio stations on Pandora for my characters. Sadly, it’s only available in the United States right now, due to licensing restrictions imposed by the recording industry. Outside the States, one could build stations on YouTube, especially with the automatic continue function. You can let YouTube pick the next songs for you, too, which can create an element of what I look for in Pandora: because the software picks the songs, it’s as though my character, and not me, is selecting the playlist.
My coauthor and I found an interesting phenomenon when we started using this process: when it came time to edit a book, it might be months after it was finished. In order to get back into the headspace of a particular character, one can use the character’s musical station to “set the mood,” and remind oneself of the character’s personality.
What about you, Dear Reader? What’s your favorite kinds of music or musical performers? If you could create a soundtrack for your favorite character, what would you include?
About the Author
For author and textile artist A. Catherine Noon, it's all about the yarn, both metaphorical and literal - spinning a yarn, knitting with yarn, weaving, sewing, painting, sharing stories and good times over a cup of coffee with dark chocolate. She teaches creative writing, creative expression and textile arts.Book Info
Blog: http://acatherinenoon.com/category/blog/Website: http://www.acatherinenoon.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acatherinenoonTwitter: @acatherinenoonGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/noonyAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/A.-Catherine-Noon/e/B005HKG4EO/LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/acatherinenoonPandora: http://www.pandora.com/profile/a.catherine.noon
When you’re an ex-Marine tiger shifter, love comes with a high cost – is it too much to pay?Mitchell Brayden is an ex-Marine tiger shifter looking for love in all the wrong places. When he decides to rescue a young ocelot shifter from a rich, spoiled playboy, he embroils himself in a conflict that goes back generations.
Guadalupe Salazar grew up as a pampered pet of a benevolent patron. After his patron’s untimely death, he stays on with the patron’s son – a self-centered, weak man who got ensnared by the drugs and fast living in the States. One night, it goes too far and Lupe is beaten nearly to death. He is taken to a secret shifter clinic where he meets an unlikely knight in tarnished armor.
Together, Mitch and Lupe confront the playboy and his friends – but will their actions draw the rest of the jaguar familias, not to mention the ocelot clans, into a battle over Lupe’s future? Will the delicate balance of power destroy everything that Mitch’s small band of tiger shifters has built in Chicago?
Cat's Cradle is available at Amazon.
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