Lisa Kumar's Blog, page 8

Six Sentence Sunday

This week's six are from my soon-to-be-released novella, Through the Rabbit Hole, from Astraea Press. Natalie, the heroine, has just landed in the hero's lap.

His would've been a sinfully handsome face, but for the fact he didn't look exactly human. Oh, the eyes, nose, and mouth were there and in the right proportion, as was the general shape of the face. But the eyes glinted with an abnormal light -­-­ a purple iridescent light -­‑ under strongly arched brows.

Brown hair that should have been normal wasn't. It held too many varying shades of red and gold, running the spectrum back and forth between the two. He should've looked like some poster boy for hair color gone bad, but he didn't.

Hope you enjoyed my six! To read other Six Sentence Sunday entries or join in on the fun, go to http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

Galleys and Perfection

To me, the words 'galleys' and 'perfect' are mutually exclusive and don't get along well. Why do I say this?

Well… When I received my galleys for Through the Rabbit Hole, I thought reading this final proof for mistakes would be easy. Uh, no. Perfectionism had to rear its ugly head. Yes, I did catch typos and extra/missing words, but the toughest part was overcoming the urge to change everything.

I've edited the story numerous times, but still cringed when I saw certain words in the galleys. How could I have overlooked them while going through my billionth editing round? Had they magically slipped in and took up residence when my computer went to bed for the evening? Does this sound familiar?

How about the foll owing? "Why, oh why, did I write the sentence/paragraph/story this way? That way would've been so much better because of this reason or that!"

Not the most pleasant of feelings, but I think most writers 'have been there, done that' at some time or another. So when should we halt this madness?

For me, the galleys presented the perfect opportunity. I didn't want to have a mega-long list of requested changes, so I grabbed my perfectionism and locked it up. Yes, it's still screaming behind bars, but I'm not listening…too much. I'm a big girl who realizes nothing will be perfect, no matter how many times I change it. The time to let go had come.

I restrained myself to marking down true errors and repeated word choice. In the end, I had sixteen requested changes. That still felt like a lot to me, but my editor, Stephanie, assured me it was not -- and that my obsession with change was normal.

So writers are 'normal' in their obsessions, who would have guessed that?

For those of you who write, when do you give up polishing your masterpiece?

Picture:

Image: m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Six Sentence Sunday Again for Kary

This excerpt is from my current work in process, Pirate Princess. Lady Brislyn of Komissa has been abducted from her castle and thrown into the cargo hold of a mechant ship. Marchant, Commander of her father's army, had moments before proposed marriage. Though the twenty-year-old girl loves him, she refused his offer, still hurting from his rejection of her five years earlier.

I hope you enjoy:

The Captain screeched out orders, and the beating of foot steps pounded overhead. Finally, the sound of the mooring ropes being hauled onto the deck and the creaking of the old wooden ship as it floated from the dock left little doubt that Bris drifted at sea.

It was too late. Tears streamed down her cheeks into her mouth. She might as well get used to the salty flavor, because she would have plenty of it.

Even if he was now looking, March wouldn't know where to find her.


For more entries by talented Six Sentence Sunday authors or even to join in on the fun yourself next week, check out their site http://www.sixsunday.blogspot.com/.

My Favorite Color Is Purple

A few months ago a writer friend of mine told me that she thought she might be ruined forever to reading because of her writing. I thought I understood what she meant, but I don't think I really did at the time. Now I do.

We, as writers, can get so bogged down with style and craft issues that the actual power of our words can be forgotten. I'm not saying toss every rule aside, but I am saying don't lose the passion of the words just to fit inside a stylistic box. It's great to have guidelines – not hard and fast rules. Writing is still an art, first and foremost. If you never practice with words considered purple, how can you ever learn to use them well?

I came across this passage last week, and it struck me for two reasons: The first is that the power of the words gave me chills. The second is that if this had gone to an editor in today's publishing world, it would have most likely been edited out in the first round.

Do yourself a favor and read this passage out loud:


The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them; before them were the sands, with rocks and little pools of salt water, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking forever and ever on the beach. And oh, the cry of the seagulls! Have you heard it? Can you remember?


The first sentence would not only be criticized as too long but would be labeled as "purple." And dear God, the POV police would lock the author in prison and throw away the key for the last two sentences. When I read this out loud, I get tears in my eyes. I don't have to know why they are on a beach or what the GMC is. I don't care that the second independent clause is passive voice or that the author broke out of third-person past to address the reader directly. I only have to close my eyes to see the beach, smell the briny sea, hear the lonely cry of the seagulls, and the waves washing up on the shore because I am right there with them.

In some ways I, too, am ruined to reading and in other ways my eyes are just opened to it. I don't want to get so ingrained in the mechanics of my writing that I miss the opportunity for something great – something that will give my readers chills or bring tears to their eyes. This is, after all, why I write.

This passage is from CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. If you have not read it, I recommend it.

Lisa's Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! The six this week is from my upcoming release, Through the Rabbit Hole, from Astraea Press.

Here's a little background info. When Natalie tumbled through a dimensional tear, she fell into a fey lord's lap. To her bewilderment, here's what the initial conversation sounded like:


"You're human, little bird."

Her eyebrows drew together. She'd been expecting a threat or demand, not an observation. Just who and what was he?

He smiled, the grin creeping across his face like a ray of light. "We have legends about round-eared humans."


Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by!

Drop by http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/ to see more great entries.

The First Round--of Edits, That Is

No, I wasn't talking about the first round of alcohol, though we may have a virtual round later. What I'm referring to is first round edits.

Last night, I received mine for Through the Rabbit Hole and am happy to say they're aren't as scary as I thought they might be. Sure, I have to fix an odd turn of phrase occasionally and add or subtract a word or comma every few pages. But these are all easy fixes that make my heart jump for joy. No major overhauls required--phew!

I know, who likes to see their manuscript (MS) marked up in red? Probably no one, but as long as the suggestions/revisions are on the mark, they serve the author well. And my edits from Astraea Press were right on, down to the last dot. For those of you familiar with critiques, edits aren't that much different. In fact, I think if your MS has been through serious critiquing, the edits will be a lot less painful.

What I love about Astraea is if I don't agree with an edit, I'm encouraged to give my reason(s) why. Now, I don't think I will need to do this, because I agree with all the edits thus far. But isn't it nice to know that as authors, we still have quite a bit of input over our work?

Now how about that cyber round?

Kary's Six Sentence Sunday

Happy Six Sentence Sunday from Kary.

This is an excerpt from my current work in progress, The Implanting, an epic fantasy romance. Abby has just returned home from a month long journey. Shortly after her arrival, she overhears a conversation in which Petra, her best friend and confidant, declares he's in love with her. The revelation surprises her, but not as much as the feelings it stirs in her own heart.

Taking her in his arms, his face descended to hers. He hesitated, and when she didn't pull away, made full contact with her lips. His mouth moved insistently, like a gentle wind against the new growth of barley. The mint and lemongrass scent of his skin infused her senses, and his arms around her waist conveyed security but not confinement.
Her mind scattered like apple blossoms in the breeze. Was this why she'd come?

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by.

You can find more great entries by going to the Six Sentence Sunday blog site at http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/.

Great Beginnings

Recently I attended a workshop with Anna DeStefano, best selling, Romantic Times award-winning author. Her session called Plotting through Character Development showed her personal technique for plotting her story by first developing character growth. With Lisa's recent post on creating memorable characters this seemed a good topic to continue discussing. To any story, but especially in the romance genre, characters are key.

Here is an excerpt from the session:

Where your characters come from is half the battle – Add punch to the character's present by motivation from the past.
As authors we know story pacing thrives on the here and now, but much of the characters motivation is anchored in the past. Just because the reader never sees all the details of the character's back story doesn't let you as the author off the hook. You must know where your characters come from in order to predict where they will go and make it believable.

Characters are built. They don't just happen – Your characters are reborn each time you learn more about what they need
The focus of each scene from the character's perspective is change. Each scene should bring about a change that moves them towards their turning point. If you know what your characters need to reach their crisis then you can turn up the heat with plot elements and torture them. 

Work hard for those surprises – Revisions are good for spontaneity
Bang out the first draft then go back for intuitive spontaneous character revisions. Interesting, fully rounded characters rarely emerge in the first draft. Character depth usually takes a trip or two back to conquer.

• Commit to the process of understanding your characters better.
• Know your own patterns and weaknesses and put them to use in your characters
• Play to your strengths where your writing gift will thrive but remember change is good. Stretch a little with each new project by picking a character you've never explored.
• Dare to go in a different direction in your character's growth.

I found this session personally helpful because without realizing it, character development is how I plotted my first book. By using these suggestions to fill in the gaps of my own lack of knowledge, my next project will go so much more smoothly.

Six Sentence Sunday

Hi, Lisa here! This is my first week participating in Six Sentence Sunday. The lines I'm sharing are from my short fantasy romance Captive, which is epublished with Books to Go Now. In the story Emma has just been kidnapped by the seductive Cian. The poor girl didn't even know about the existence of other dimensions -- or elves -- until she caught the eye of the handsome Elvin male. Now she's scared of but seriously tempted by the foreign Cian.

Now on to the juicy part!


When he discovered the curve of her cheek next, she closed her eyes. The scent of pine and sandalwood tickled her nose, and her senses flared to life. Pin pricks shivered over her skin. Time and perception coalesced, as if she'd been born just to experience this moment.

The heat of his lips took up the path his fingers had left. "W…what are you doing?"


Hope you enjoyed!

For more entries by talented Six Sentence Sunday authors or even to join in on the fun yourself next week, check out the site of Six Sentence Sunday.

Through the Rabbit Hole Cover Art

I excited to have the cover art for Through the Rabbit Hole, which will be coming out from Astraea Press! The cover artist is the talented Elaina Lee. Without further ado, here's the cover!