Christine Rains's Blog, page 112

IWSG for September 2012

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brilliant idea of our Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. On the first Wednesday of every month (or as close to the date as possible!), writers can express their doubts and concerns without feeling foolish. We all can offer each other sympathy and advice, strengthening our already awesome community. Please stop by to visit the other participants and offer them a few kind words.

This month, I want to offer everyone a big helping of inspiration and encouragement. The writing community never ceases to amaze me. You people are fantastic! Here are a few quotes for you.

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins." - Jim Stovall
"A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success." - unknown
"Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize." - Elizabeth Harrison
"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." - Sally Koch
"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

Wicked Wednesday - exceptional abilities for exceptional characters?

Many people argue that for the main characters to be interesting in a paranormal romance, they must have fantastic supernatural abilities. Readers don't want a Doug Ramsey. (And if you knew who that was without clicking on the link, a thousand geek points to you!) They want characters with unique gifts like mind control and shape changing.

I disagree. I believe if a writer can create a character that makes the readers fall in love with them, they don't need to be hyped up on super powers. While having great abilities makes them stand out and gives them extraordinary experiences, a writer can write an amazing character with no supernatural gifts and still have a fantastic tale.

I love to read stories where the protagonist is human and must deal with paranormal events. I also love to read about characters that have lesser abilities and find some amazing uses for them. Passive abilities like empathy or third tier super powers like nauseate. It's great fun to read about the underdog.

What do you think? Do you think heroines and heroes in paranormal romances need to have exceptional abilities to make them spectacular characters?

Teaser Tuesday with Partials

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!So far this YA dystopian is amazing. Partials by Dan Wells is about a teenage girl named Kira living in a world that humans have been nearly annihilated by a virus. No baby has been born that has been born in eleven years has survived, and Kira is determined to find a cure for the virus. She believes the cure can be found in humanity's greatest enemy: the Partials. Partials look human, but they're organic weapons created to fight wars for humans. The story has yanked me in. I can't wait to see where it takes me.
Here's your teaser:
Haru glared at her. "Do you have a problem with the Defense Grid doing their job?"
"I have a problem with 'making people disappear' suddenly becoming part of their job." (page 86)

Anthologies seeking submissions - September 2012

It's that time of month again. I don't have any idea what I'm going to write for a short story this month yet. I'm browsing a couple of sites to see if my muse perks up at anything.

URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY - 1-time print (Elektrik Milk Bath Press); h/f/magreal/humor/lit (fic). Pay: $30. Words: 1k-5k. RT: <6 weeks. Reprints: query. E-subs: PREFERS . Angela Charmaine Craig, Editor. Deadline: October 31st or when full.

URBAN GREEN MAN - 1-time print (Edge SF & Fantasy); f (fic/poem). Pay: 3½¢/word (poem=$20). Words: <5k. RT: <3 months after DL. Reprints: no. E-subs: ONLY . Adria Laycraft & Janice Blaine, Editors . Deadline: November 30th.

SONG STORIES - 1-time print/eAntho (Song Stories Press); sf/f/h (fic). Pay: 1% per 1k words. Words: <5k. RT: <2 weeks. Reprints: query. E-subs: ONLINE FORM ONLY . Wakefield Mahon, Editor. Deadline: December 1st or when full.

YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT! - 1-time POD/eAntho (Cruentus Libri Press); Christmas-themed h (fic/art). Pay: shared royalty, £3/150 copies sold. Words: 2½k-7½k. RT: receipt=<1 week; final=<2 weeks after DL. Reprints: yes. E-subs: ONLY . Kevin G. Bufton, Editor. Deadline: October 31st.

STORY QUEST SHORT STORY CONTEST - annual; sf/f/h (fic). Words: 1k-3k (strict!). Fee: $0. 3 Prizes=$175 +pub (of all short listed stories). Reprints: no. Judges: Gerry Huntman, Esme Carpenter, Warren Goodwin, & Daniel I Russell. E-subs: ONLY . Contact: Gerry Huntman. Deadline: October 31st.

ZOETROPE: ALL-STORY SHORT FICTION CONTEST - 16th annual; all genres of literary fiction (fic). Words: <5k. Fee: $20. 3 Prizes=$1750 (& 7 HMs), lit agent consideration. Reprints: no. Guest Judge: Karen Russell. E-subs: ONLINE FORM . Queries or questions only. Deadline: October 1st.
(I usually don't post contests that have a fee, but the first prize in this one is absolutely amazing. For those of you who have $20 to spare and a polished short story, this is a great contest.)

Have a great weekend!

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!I'm excited for September.Bring on autumn!

Writing Quotes from the Master of Horror

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that." “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”  “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” “A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”
“Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy."

Wicked Wednesday - most popular paranormal romances

I've been checking out lists with the top paranormal romances. What do these books have that make them so popular? I see big authors like J.R. Ward, L.K. Hamilton, Christine Feehan, and Sherrilyn Kenyon. Each of them are different, but they've managed to sell millions.
Here are a few things that I picked out:
1) Every book in the most popular lists is part of a series. There are no stand alone novels. I think it's reasonable to conclude paranormal romance fans love series.
2) A lot of the books feature vampires. Yes, we're told that people are getting tired of vamps, but they still remain the main characters in several best selling paranormal romances. Am I suggesting you write about vampires? No, but if you are, there's still a big fan base for them.
3) Comparing the lists from the last five years, there are more YA books on it now. The YA paranormal romance genre is growing. Readers from all age groups love them.
4) The majority of the books are slow romances. The readers want to experience the build up of tension. Again, this is a change from five years ago where we had more fast romances.
5) The authors have definite formulas. While I enjoy reading books by those big authors, each of their books have similar plots. They've discovered what works for them and they can quickly write new novels.
6) There's still a lot of broad male chests and curvy women on the covers. Not so many couples in an intimate pose, though. I've seen a rise in covers that feature symbols or an object, but the most popular books still have a person or people on them.
What else do you see in popular paranormal romances these days?

Teaser Tuesday with Karma Girl

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!Cheesy and over-the-top, but it's so much fun! Karma Girl by Jennifer Estep tickles the comic book geek within me. It's a paranormal romance about superheroes and ubervillains. You'll laugh out loud when you read it.
Here's your teaser:
I also locked and loaded the tranquilizer dart gun I'd purchased a few months ago and tucked it in the back of my jeans. Despite its name, Good Intentions Lane wasn't in the best part of town. (page 63)

Taking some time

It's going to be a very busy week and then I'm off to visit the in-laws on the long weekend. I won't have much time online at all. I'm going to take a bit of a sit-down away from the blogging world for two weeks. I need some time to find a cool patch of grass and get myself together. Hopefully in September, I'll be able to settle into a routine and find time to actually write. My current projects are getting cold.

I have a few posts scheduled, and I'll pop in to say hi. I hope to be back rested and refreshed. I'll see you guys soon!

LOOK! Meme

Thank you very much to Tania Walsh for tagging me in this fun challenge. The rules of the challenge involve me searching my work in progress for the first usage of the word “look,” paste the surrounding paragraph into my blog, and tag as many people as possible. (Actually, that's a lot of tagging. I'll just tag five like Tania did!)

Here's a paragraph in my steampunk short story, WHAT LAY BELOW.

Five steps in and I was by my father's – Captain Foster's - side. I let go of my skirts to take his arm with my hands. Surely he would offer some reassuring words. He glanced at me before turning his gaze to the clear sky. With that one look, my dread deepened. It clutched at my very soul and turned it cold.
I'm tagging:
Cherie Reich
M. Pepper Langlinais
Clare Dugmore
Kyra Lennon
Ciara Knight