Judith Post's Blog, page 117

Writing: being a hero isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

I just finished the final polish for my new Babet & Prosper novella. This story features Babet’s father, Gazaar. He was a warrior angel before Lucifer and his band of rebels were thrown into the pit. Then, someone needed to keep guard over them, and he volunteered. In time, more angels dropped from the heavenly ranks, some turning to evil, and the pits filled with more demons. Gazaar got promoted to gatekeeper to make sure everyone stayed where they were supposed to be. Now, I ask you. Who’d want that job? But when Babet asks her father why he took it, he shrugs and says, “Someone has to do it.”

That’s the way most urban fantasy heroes are. They take on a conflict out of a sense of duty or responsibility. When I’d run, they stay and face the foe. They have the strength or knowledge or skills to, hopefully, survive and defeat the bad guys. Most of the protagonists take on a challenge to protect other people. They aren’t looking for power, but it’s often a by-product of the struggles they undergo.

Defeating villains makes a hero dig deep and changes him. A long, long time ago, I attended a mystery conference where Mary Higgins Clark was the keynote speaker. She explained the elements needed to write a woman in jeopardy story. It’s been too long ago to remember subtle points, but the main ingredients were: a good woman is living an ordinary life; a bad guy is bent on a journey of destruction; the two collide; the woman has to struggle to survive; and she’s forever changed by coming into contact with evil. Even though she didn’t choose her journey, she chose to do everything in her power to survive it.

Stakes have to be high, and body count isn’t enough. The reader has to care about the victims, or a body sprinkled here, and another one there, just feels like a plot ploy. I’ve read books and watched movies where every time the pace slows a bit, I know another person’s going to bite the dust. Sometimes, it works–if I learn something from the death or there’s a ticking clock or the victim was sympathetic. Sometimes, it doesn’t–when I feel like the writer didn’t know what else to do so killed someone. The deaths have to provide some kind of emotional impact.

Not all heroes face fierce enemies. When I wrote the short, romance novellas for The Emerald Hills collection, the heroes’ goals often involved chasing dreams. The hero in the romance I wrote for my agent was chasing a dream, too. I can relate to that. But achieving a story’s goal can never be an easy undertaking. Things go wrong. Nothing’s as simple as it could be. The goal has to be earned. The stakes have to be high, or the book’s tension is low.

In Demon Heart, a demon escapes one of Gazaar’s pits when he’s off-duty. Babet hopes the demon stays far, far away from River City, but Prosper and his fellow detective, Hatchet, hope it comes to them. As Prosper says, “Who else can deal with him like we can?” Babet is every bit as much of a hero as Prosper. She’s just a reluctant one, and when the demon comes, she doesn’t back down from the fight.

May your heroes have plenty of conflicts and survive them all. (I like happy endings). And happy writing!

Writing: How bad can bad boys be?

I recently read the first books in Ilona Andrews’ and Jeaniene Frost’s new urban fantasy series, and I loved both BURN FOR ME and ONCE BURNED. Both have spunky female protagonists–a must for urban fantasy. And both have love interests who are, of course, stronger and badder than anyone around–another must. On top of that, it seemed to me that both authors ramped up the “heat” index until the chemistry between heroines and heroes sizzled. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Both Vlad and Mad Rogan are sexy as sin. And both break rules to follow their own codes of honor. Which brings me to the question: how bad can bad boys be?

I signed up to read BURN FOR ME as part of Goodreads, but I’m so slow and got so far behind, I ended up reading the comments other readers made and didn’t add any of my own, because by then…what was the point? But it interested me that a few readers agreed with the book’s heroine, that Mad Rogan is a sociopath–a tempting, I’d throw myself at him, gorgeous, smart, intriguing sociopath–but still….

Since I’d read the two books close together, it made me wonder why Vlad didn’t get the same comments, but then, he’s a vampire. And everyone knows that vampires do whatever they please, so being called a sociopath is the least of their worries. Mad Rogan is a mortal with massive amounts of magic, so I’m guessing readers expect him to show more restraint. It got me thinking, and I was surprised by the heroes who have been my favorites lately. Jorg, from Prince of Thorns, is no nice guy. Mad Rogan would gladly eliminate you if you got in his way. And Vlad–well, his magic is fire. You’d probably be a crispy critter. The thing is, to me, they’re NOT sociopaths, because in their worlds, they’re probably better than anyone else who has the same powers they do. It’s all relative. They have a reason–to find and protect usually–for the things they do; whereas, the bad guys only strive to promote self-serving interests.

A true sociopath lacks empathy, but Vlad and Mad Rogan have that. They don’t follow normal social rules because they don’t live in a normal, social world. Their friends and enemies possess lots of power. The bad guys use power to do evil. The good guys use power to battle them. They risk their lives to fight villains. The conflict in the stories is usually good vs. evil. Jorg, he’s a little more ruthless than the norm, but so is his world. In Prince of Thorns, it’s hard to feel sympathy for even the ordinary citizens. They’re not very nice either. And the rulers? They tend to be violent and power-hungry. Jorg just does it better.

I’m shaking my head at myself. It’s hard to believe I went from doting over Mr. Darcy, Deerslayer, and Harry Potter to cheering for Vlad, Mad Rogan, and Jorg. But they’re all heroes, in their own ways, who defy the norm of their social worlds to see beyond it. The one rule a bad boy might get in trouble for breaking? Cheating on the heroine. I’m a fan of Faith Hunter’s, too, and when Rick cheated on Jane Yellowrock–even though, technically, he was a bit coerced–readers weren’t happy with him.

Who are your favorite heroes? And why? Are you hooked on any bad boys?

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Anya Breton featured me on her blog–wow!

Anya Breton featured my Fallen Angels series on her blog, and she did such a beautiful job, it made me dance with joy.  She usually features romance, sexy stuff, and erotica, but she’s a fellow Indiana writer and bent the rules a tad for my books.  Anyway, I want to plug her blog a little.  So here’s the link: http://blog.anyabreton.com/2015/01/sp...  If you write romance, you might want to try her out.

I posted a short-short story on my webpage

Just wanted to let you know that I put up my January post on my webpage and added a new Babet & Prosper short-short story: Rowan’s Story. Have a great 2015! http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/rowans-story.html

Writing: Stretch a little

Too many cookies. Too much rich food. But one wonderful Christmas. My daughter and son-in-law from Florida came up to stay with us from Monday to Sunday, and my grandson’s staying with us over college break. What a bounty of good times! So no writing got done, and I don’t care. But I did a little marketing for my latest book release, and hopefully, I found some new readers. I had good luck with kboards, if anyone’s thinking of trying it. I got my newsletter up and running, and hopefully, I’ll find MORE readers with that. Sometimes I want to kick myself that I haven’t made more progress, but looking back (it’s that time of year) over the last 2 1/2 years since I put up my first e-books, I realize that I’ve learned a lot. And I want to keep learning.

I’ve talked a few times about marketing–how I’d have been ahead if I wrote a series and posted a new book every three or four months with the same characters and setting. But I didn’t, because I didn’t have a clue when I first started e-books. And I think that’s made it harder for me to find readers, because if they liked Fallen Angels, then they really didn’t pay much attention when I published Wolf’s Bane with an entirely different set of characters and supernaturals, and they scratched their heads when I published Empty Altars with Greek/Norse myths as the story’s base. On top of that, I wrote a kazillion (okay, probably not, but it felt like it at the time) novellas to post between books. Not my most brilliant move, since each series of novellas was completely separate from the novels I posted–so there STILL wasn’t any set of characters and familiar settings to follow. I shake my head over my lack of marketing brilliance, but you know, when all is said and done, I’m happy. Sometimes, stepping outside of your comfort zone makes you grow as a writer. And the past two years pushed my learning curve harder than I’ve ever been pushed before.

My daughter, Holly–who faithfully reads all of my first drafts–missed the mysteries that I used to write, so she bugged me to come up with something that combined paranormal with a mystery plot. I love odd challenges like that, so I started the Babet/Prosper series–still my “go to” novellas when I want to write for myself, for fun. Mostly because, Babet and Prosper have become “voices” in my head who are pretty darned particular about how I treat them on the pages. They like getting central billing over any clever mystery device I can think of, and I’ve tried for some of my favorites. One Less Warlock–in the first bundle–came to be because I wanted to test myself and see if I could write a clever, locked room mystery. A Different Undead (in the first bundle, too) is a “face in the crowd” mystery–when you see someone walking around who’s supposed to be dead. I’ve had a great time with Babet and Prosper. I have a new one to post early in 2015, and then I’ll offer the first bundle at a special price or maybe for free to try to find more readers for them.

My agent asked me to write a romance this year, something I considered impossible to do. But I wrote one, and I’m happy with it and so is she. I don’t know if it will sell, but I’m glad I tried it. Each new thing I’ve taken a stab at has enriched me as a writer and forced me to grow. I’ve stretched writing muscles I didn’t know I had.

I’ve read a lot online lately about writing quickly for e-books, and I’m not against that. Writers who post a book every other month develop a following faster than writers who take half a year to write a book. I get that. All that I’m saying is that some of my all time favorite authors whom I’ve read for YEARS have let me down this last year–(not in urban fantasy, I might add. I love Ilona Andrews’ and Jeaniene Frost’s new series). But authors I usually buy automatically feel like they’re sick and tired of writing the same, old thing. I know writers need to make money. And I know there’s pressure to produce more and more. But my goal for 2015 is to do my darndest to make each book I write better than the book before it. I hope you stretch your wings, too, and find a way to combine writing and marketing into a happy blend. May 2015 be a good writing year for you!

my webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

my author’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

Writing–End of Year Thoughts

Do you know, when I first started writing aeons ago when cave men used pigments on stone walls, people kept telling me, “If you want to be published, write a good book.” Quality, according to them, was your only concern. If your book was good, someone would buy it. I’ve been on writing panels where I hear writers spout that same wisdom. Do I agree? Bull Pucky!

I’ve met wonderful writers who knock their heads against the Great Wall of Publishing. Why? Publishers are concerned with making money. Can’t blame them. They can’t keep their profits afloat each time a child believes and claps his hands. It worked for Tinker Bell, but businesses have to pay attention to the bottom line. I understand that. I just wish publishers embraced mid-list writers a little more. Everyone’s looking for the “BIG” book these days. Or the latest trend. I used to be perfectly happy buying a lot of mid-list authors.

Mid-list probably still wouldn’t help me sell. I seem to be one of those writers who’s always writing the wrong thing at the wrong time. There are authors who hit the hot trend at its upswing and ride it to success. I’m not one of them. I’m one of the writers who gets notes from editors who say, “love your writing, but can’t buy this. The market’s glutted.”

I’m not trying to pierce anyone’s balloon, but if you write what an editor has too many of and the market’s shrinking, it doesn’t matter if your writing’s topnotch. No one’s going to buy your stuff. That used to be the end of it. You tossed your book in a drawer and gave up on it. These days, you can try your hand at self-publishing. That’s what I did, and I’m happy about it. But…here I go again…if you go that route, you’d better be ready to learn some marketing. Because there are a LOT of books on Amazon or smashwords or Barnes & Noble or wherever it is you decide to try. And if your field was glutted with publishers, it’s going to be even more glutted online. So you have to figure out a way to help readers find you. My stab at marketing? I started this blog, made an author’s Facebook page, made a webpage, and joined twitter. Did it help me find readers? Darned if I know. Did it make my sales go up? Not that I’ve noticed. But I’ve made lots of online friends whom I enjoy and appreciate AND learn from. I still had to turn to some advertising sites, though, to promote my books when they went up…with mixed success.

Another truth, some people are going to dislike or hate whatever you do, and it rankles and hurts at first, but it’s okay. You can’t please everyone. Some writers say your novel is too bland if a few people don’t trash it. But hopefully, eventually more readers will find it who’ll appreciate it.

Things I’ve learned:

1. I should have started with a series. And I should have put up three books in that series in quick succession.

2. Book covers matter. Make yours good! Make them fit your genre, and make each book in a series have the “feel” of the other books in the series.

3. It helps to post things more often than not to remind readers that your characters are doing interesting things that they’ll enjoy. Some writers post novellas between their books just to keep their readers happy. Or they post out-takes from their novels or short snippets from a minor character’s POV. I’ve tried that with my webpage. I’m not sure how successful that’s been, but then, I did everything wrong, so doing a few things right isn’t going to take right away.

4. Marketing is essential. Twitter helps, but I can’t say that I’ve sold a lot of books because I tweet. I have, however, learned a lot from other generous writers on twitter–things that have proven helpful. I love writing my blog, but I’m not sure it’s helped me sell books. Again, though, I’ve met some interesting, wonderful people. My author facebook page is still a mystery to me, but I’m getting more comfortable on it. For the first time ever, I sent out an e-mail newsletter to people who signed up to receive it, and my mother would have washed my mouth out with soap if she’d have heard all the cussing involved in setting up my account and campaign on MailChimp. I’m no computer guru, and every time I have to learn something new, it’s a challenge. MailChimp felt more like torture, but I love the results. Too soon to know if it’s effective or not, but it’s my attempt at reaching READERS.

5. Writing a good book might not help you sell your first book or find a publisher or an agent, but it WILL help you sell the second one in the series. Readers know quality when they meet it. So make your book the best it can be.

This isn’t an all-inclusive post. It’s an end-of-the-year look back at what worked and didn’t work for me. I hope 2014 was good to you, and I hope 2015 is even better. Keep writing and good luck!

My webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

My facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

My newsletter: http://eepurl.com/_P_Eb

At twitter: @judypost

Fingers crossed

My husband has avoided me most of today. Can’t say that I blame him. When I struggle with learning new things on my computer, I’m no joy to be around. But maybe, just maybe, I’ve learned how to set up an account for a newsletter with mailchimp. Here goes nothing.

http://eepurl.com/_fal5

Holidays trump writing

The holidays–what can I say? Things get busy. BLOOD LUST, my new Fallen Angels novel, is now on Amazon, http://amzn.to/1zghb1h, but I haven’t gotten around to advertising it anywhere yet. Decorating the house, my writers’ club carry-in, and special get-togethers have swallowed a lot of my time. My poor book got caught in the crush. To promote it a little, I’m going to offer Fallen Angels for free from December 26 through the 30th. Blood Battles will be 99 cents, and BLOOD LUST will be $2.99. I’m trying to set up a sign-up for an author newsletter on mailchimp so that I can send out e-mails when I have something new to offer or specials for readers who are interested. I was hoping Mailchimp would be easy. It looked easy, like something even I could manage, but so far, I posted a campaign, but can’t figure out how to send it. I keep getting a message about cookies–not the type I bake for Santa–the internet kind. I’ve deleted them and my past history, but that didn’t do the trick. I’m still struggling. Wish me luck. Any ideas…?

This coming week, I need to get the house and food ready for guests. My grandson’s staying with us over his Christmas break from college, and my daughter and son-in-law from Florida are staying from the 22nd to the 27th or 28th. The house will be full, and I love it when that happens. That means I won’t really get my wits about me again until January, so my writing and promoting will just have to hum Christmas carols until I can get to them again. Sometimes, I give in and let life interfere instead of trying to juggle too many things. I’d rather not get frustrated. I love my writing AND my friends and family. I’d like to keep it that way…and stay sane. Hope you keep your sense of balance, too.

Whether you’re writing or the holidays have claimed you, enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Blood Lust is available for Kindle

Just wanted to let everyone know that Blood Lust is on Amazon now, and that Blood Battles is on special for 99 cents. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=Blood+Lust%2C+Judith+Post

Hope you’re having a great December!

Writing: Does it EVER cooperate?

Okay, if you’ve written long enough, you know that the entire process can mock you. Or maybe the Muse is nicer to you. She can be a real bitch to me. It’s like if you have one easy streak, she has to remind you that you should stay humble. And she’s good at that.

I enjoyed writing my last book a little too much. It felt like it came easy. Too easy. Whenever I like a book too much, it usually means it has problems and I wasn’t tough enough on it. Blood Lust will be online this week, and I might have to hide my head under my pillow. I hope readers like it as much as I did. It has as much of a mystery plot as an urban fantasy/action feel, so who knows? But that’s what felt right to me. The romance my agent wanted came easy, too. I was starting to do a happy dance, thinking that I’d finally found the Nirvana of what worked for me. Silly me.

I like to write shorter stuff between novels to decompress. It’s my treat before I start plotting a new book and drawing up character wheels. Babet and Prosper always make me happy, so I thought I’d sit down and pound out a quick, fun novella. But I couldn’t get the damned thing to start right. I couldn’t capture the right feel. I tried to pummel it into submission with plot points, and it just stuck out its tongue at me. I hate it when stories do that. Finally, I threw up my hands in disgust and gave it to my critique partners and said “help!”

They told me it didn’t work, either. But no one knew what to do with it. Disgusted, I tossed it in the pile of “I’ll get to it someday” crap I have on my desk. (Don’t ask). And guess what? Just when I was ready to cast Babet and Prosper into the no-man’s land of pain-in-the-ass stories, they spoke to me. They told me I started in the wrong place. I started with the story’s set-up and big problem, and I should have focused on them–because that’s what I like about Babet and Prosper–the characters and their relationships. So I listened to them, rewrote it, and now, I’m happy with it.

The Muse can be evil, but she’s still my best writing friend. Hope she’s nice to you in December!

Blood Lust should be online this week.