Summer Ellis's Blog, page 6

Lions and Tigers and Deadlines – OH SHIT!

Ok, so this will be a very short post. I thought I might enlighten everyone to how my process works.

Step 1… Stay up at night, tossing and turning, coming up with great ideas and motivations to get up early the next morning and start writing. Finally fall asleep (and snore loudly according to my amused husband).

Step 2… Repeat step 1 for the next two months, occasionally coming home from work and disgustedly tapping away at my keyboard to get a chapter or two done just so I don’t kill myself for being such a procrastinator.

Step 3… Realize I have less than a three weeks to complete my book (which I have oh-so-stupidly told everyone would be up for sale immediately after New Years) and freak out just enough to type a blog post about my freak out.

Step 4… log off of this post and proceed to type 40,000 electrifying words in a week and a half – Ok. Here. I. Go.

Good Luck and Holy Shit….

In response to the overwhelmingly warm reception you’ve all given me, I’m making the commitment to a date and announcing it here for the world to read :

“I’M GOING TO PUBLISH BOOK TWO ON JANUARY 2, 2012″

There it’s done – Oh god, I’m going to pass out.  Let’s all join together now, cross our fingers and toes, gather our horseshoes and clover… Oh hell! Somebody rope a unicorn or something!!!!!

Characters Are People Too

Call me weird, but it occurred to me, as I was writing today, that I was starting to develop a small crush on one of my characters.

I’m told it’s not unusual to have strong emotions when focusing on various characters through the changing scenes of a book. (Ok, so maybe I just made that up to make myself feel better about it.) Whatever the case, it’s inspired me to take up the idea of interviewing the characters we’ve both come to know and love. Hopefully as I work my way through your favorites, you’ll find something that makes you smile and think ‘oh yeah, I knew it.’

If you have a burning question in your heart, maybe for Banker or Alex, please feel free to ask. Also, many of you have already done so, but if not, please subscribe to my site updates. I don’t post often, you won’t be bombarded by emails, but it encourages me to know that people are enjoying my work.

Anyway, without further adieu, I present my first interview…

 

The Muse, it’s a love hate thing… (Includes excerpt from Book Two)

There is no book as interesting as the one I’m creating in my head. Wait! Let me explain before you click away, muttering about what a d-bag I am.

I do seriously love reading. I love all of the sex, murder, mayhem, romance, humor, mystery, drama - the more outrageous the better, I say. And if I had a genie in a bottle, there would be a long list of people I would have write short stories for me to read every night before bed. (Check out my blogroll, people! There are some seriously talented indie writers out there.)

However, I have discovered both the love and the hate of ‘the muse’ and will never be the same again. There is nothing like creating your own story, handpicking the characteristics that, both good and bad, turn your characters into real people.

Maybe it’s a power trip, being able to string readers along (and myself as well, if I’m honest). Maybe it’s an escape from a happy, though mundane, reality. Maybe it’s just a hobby turned obsession. Whatever it is, I’m fixated on the ‘who, what, when, where, why, and how’ of it all.

I care for my characters as if they’re flesh and blood. I laugh at their jokes, pout when they’re being assholes, and cry when they’re hurting. Really. I do. My husband has walked in on many occasions, asking what I’m laughing at all alone in my bedroom, or chuckling as I tapped away at my laptop with huge tears rolling down my face.

These moments happen frequently as I work on the second book in my series, Restricted Access, trying to reconcile the woman Alex is with the woman she must be. To this end, I thought it would be nice to present the first draft of chapter one of Restricted Access…

(If you enjoyed this post and/or the first draft excerpt, please enter your email to subscribe to future posts and updates.)