Hannah L. Clark's Blog, page 6
February 12, 2014
Uncovering Cobbogoth ARCs!
This pic was waiting for me in my inbox today! My marketing contact at Cedar Fort sent it to me, and I'm very excited to announce that I get to host a couple ARC giveaways here on my blog over the next little while. So stay tuned if you want one of the first peeks ever of Uncovering Cobbogoth!
Definitely want to get in on these goods! ;-)
Definitely want to get in on these goods! ;-)
February 11, 2014
Writing Gem #10: Resonance and Originality
Here's this weeks Writing Gem!If anyone is interested in reading the books I talked about in this Gem, here are the links to Amazon:
Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing by Dave Farland ($2.99 for kindle)
Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker ($16.47!? for kindle)
Hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by!
Writing Gem #11: Resonance and Originality
Here's this weeks Writing Gem!
If anyone is interested in reading the books I talked about in this Gem, here are the links to Amazon:
Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing by Dave Farland ($2.99 for kindle)
Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker ($16.47!? for kindle)
Hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by!
February 10, 2014
Book Review: "Doon" by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes?
When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt---and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation.
Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for... or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.
I really like the musical Brigadoon. I've loved it ever since I saw my sister perform in it back in . . . well, a long time ago. I watched it last night for nostalgia purposes, however, and unfortunately realized it wasn't as good as I remembered from my childhood. What ever is, though? Childhood is just a magical time of life.
But anyway, I still love the idea of a kingdom taken up in the mist as the result of a prayed for miracle. I love that the villains were a coven of witches. Just being able to pass into another world and see a simpler, purer, possibly happier way of life, long forgotten, always seems to enchant me a bit. I mean, aren't we all longing for a Brigadoon? At least that's what the message of the musical was. That and if you love someone enough, anything is possible. Even if you've only known them for a day. (This is usually where I roll my eyes and groan internally, even though I knew I was going to marry my own husband after only a day. Ha! Love can be funny like that. But I will say that I had the advantage of knowing his family very well, and at least knowing of him for seven years prior. So, it wasn't a brainless, fairytale-induced decision.)
Anyway, illogical timing and sappy love story aside, this book, which is a rough re-telling of the musical was fun. I liked how Corp and Langdon gave the story a bit more depth by whisking our two heroines into the world of Doon two weeks prior to the day the city was supposed to open up (unlike the musical, in this book the kingdom of Doon lives on in a parallel dimension, but on their own time table, and only opens up to Earth's realm every 100 hundred years--20 years in Doon time.
I also liked how Corp and Langdon explained the instant love connection away by coming up with something more palatable called "The Calling." Every 100 years, right before the bridge to Doon opens up to Earth's realm, people who are destined to find their true love in Doon begin receiving visions of that person calling to them, and vise-versa. (Even though it's through dreams, this at least gives them the chance to get to know each other. That way, when they meet for the first time, they're acquainted--on a much more personal basis--for at least a bit longer. I thought it was a nice logical touch via magic.
On the down side, this book and it's main characters didn't have a lot of depth for me, which is fine, because it really isn't that kind of a story. It was just a light, fluffy, sometimes too angst-ridden, fairy tale, and it turned out to be a fun ride.
As mentioned above, there are two parallel love stories playing out. I have to say I was more into Kenna and Duncan's love story than Vee and Jamie's. It was funnier and seemed more authentic. But, then, I've never been a huge fan of brooding, Heathcliff-types (Jamie) and dragging out the teen-angst. However, I liked the ending of Vee and Jamie's story better than where Kenna and Duncan left off.
Speaking of endings, I think Corp and Langdon pulled off a clever ending to this story--I didn't see one particular twist coming, which fit perfect. There was some nice cyclical stuff going on too, and I didn't feel like there were any major loose ends left to tie up, so that was satisfying. They also left a nice cliff hanger, and while I wasn't mad about Doon when I finished, I liked it enough that I'm pretty sure I'll take a chance on the next book in the series.
It was a fun book.
Parental Caution: I didn't label this review "Great Reads for Teens" for the following reasons: there wasn't a ton of depth to the story, I didn't feel like the main characters were particularly emulation worthy, there were a few inappropriate references to anatomy, and a less than "sweet" love story. But I'm really careful about wholeheartedly recommend a book, and in the grand scheme of YA literature, Doon was pretty clean. So, allow your teen to read at your own discretion, read it together, or just read it first.
When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt---and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation.
Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for... or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.
I really like the musical Brigadoon. I've loved it ever since I saw my sister perform in it back in . . . well, a long time ago. I watched it last night for nostalgia purposes, however, and unfortunately realized it wasn't as good as I remembered from my childhood. What ever is, though? Childhood is just a magical time of life.
But anyway, I still love the idea of a kingdom taken up in the mist as the result of a prayed for miracle. I love that the villains were a coven of witches. Just being able to pass into another world and see a simpler, purer, possibly happier way of life, long forgotten, always seems to enchant me a bit. I mean, aren't we all longing for a Brigadoon? At least that's what the message of the musical was. That and if you love someone enough, anything is possible. Even if you've only known them for a day. (This is usually where I roll my eyes and groan internally, even though I knew I was going to marry my own husband after only a day. Ha! Love can be funny like that. But I will say that I had the advantage of knowing his family very well, and at least knowing of him for seven years prior. So, it wasn't a brainless, fairytale-induced decision.)
Anyway, illogical timing and sappy love story aside, this book, which is a rough re-telling of the musical was fun. I liked how Corp and Langdon gave the story a bit more depth by whisking our two heroines into the world of Doon two weeks prior to the day the city was supposed to open up (unlike the musical, in this book the kingdom of Doon lives on in a parallel dimension, but on their own time table, and only opens up to Earth's realm every 100 hundred years--20 years in Doon time.
I also liked how Corp and Langdon explained the instant love connection away by coming up with something more palatable called "The Calling." Every 100 years, right before the bridge to Doon opens up to Earth's realm, people who are destined to find their true love in Doon begin receiving visions of that person calling to them, and vise-versa. (Even though it's through dreams, this at least gives them the chance to get to know each other. That way, when they meet for the first time, they're acquainted--on a much more personal basis--for at least a bit longer. I thought it was a nice logical touch via magic.
On the down side, this book and it's main characters didn't have a lot of depth for me, which is fine, because it really isn't that kind of a story. It was just a light, fluffy, sometimes too angst-ridden, fairy tale, and it turned out to be a fun ride.
As mentioned above, there are two parallel love stories playing out. I have to say I was more into Kenna and Duncan's love story than Vee and Jamie's. It was funnier and seemed more authentic. But, then, I've never been a huge fan of brooding, Heathcliff-types (Jamie) and dragging out the teen-angst. However, I liked the ending of Vee and Jamie's story better than where Kenna and Duncan left off.
Speaking of endings, I think Corp and Langdon pulled off a clever ending to this story--I didn't see one particular twist coming, which fit perfect. There was some nice cyclical stuff going on too, and I didn't feel like there were any major loose ends left to tie up, so that was satisfying. They also left a nice cliff hanger, and while I wasn't mad about Doon when I finished, I liked it enough that I'm pretty sure I'll take a chance on the next book in the series.
It was a fun book.
Parental Caution: I didn't label this review "Great Reads for Teens" for the following reasons: there wasn't a ton of depth to the story, I didn't feel like the main characters were particularly emulation worthy, there were a few inappropriate references to anatomy, and a less than "sweet" love story. But I'm really careful about wholeheartedly recommend a book, and in the grand scheme of YA literature, Doon was pretty clean. So, allow your teen to read at your own discretion, read it together, or just read it first.
February 7, 2014
Are You a Writer or a Storyteller? That is the Question.
"Story is more important than style. Most Bestsellers aren't stylistic masterpieces. Instead, the authors offer prose that is merely workmanlike. The prose doesn't interfere with the story. Many great stylists are actually challenging to read, and their stories become opaque and obscured due to overwriting. Bestsellers on the other hand are usually easily understood."
-Dave Wolverton (Dave Farland's Kick in the Pants)
I found this quote in my inbox today. I think it's a super hopeful one. I've never claimed to be a great writer, nor have I ever wanted to be. This is because there are writers, and then there are storytellers. I happen to be a storyteller.
When I was in grade school, struggling with dyslexia, I would get so frustrated because I had all of these great story ideas floating around in my head--if you know much about dyslexia, you know that we think in pictures and concepts rather than words. My frustration stemmed from the fact that I couldn't seem to get my brain to find the words to describe my concepts and pictures.
Thankfully, over time, things got easier. But it wasn't until I was a senior year of high school that I finally fell in love with the actual "act" of writing.
Today, I write every day because of the pleasure of the "act," sure, but much more than that, I write, because I need to tell stories. While I think I have a few poetic moments here and there in my work--and they get more frequent the more I write--I'll be the first to tell you that my writing is much more "workmanlike." But I'm okay with that. Why? Because my story is good. I've always known that it was. (It had to be for me to stick with it for eight years ;-).) I just had to keep on working at the writing thing until it was adequate enough to show everyone else my story was good.
Pictured above are the various manuscripts I wrote, revised, tore apart, rewrote, and in short, poured my blood, heart and soul into during 2013. All in all, it was a pretty productive year.
Today, however, I'm very happy to say that this afternoon, I sent my very final edits to my editor at Cedar Fort. Unless there is some unforeseen calamity with the Muse powers that be, Uncovering Cobbogoth is FINALLY finished.
And I am SO happy.
If there is anything I have learned over this journey, it is to believe in myself, to surround myself with other people who believe in me, and to believe in God. I'm not sure why He cares about something as eternally insignificant as my ability to tell stories, but He does. I wouldn't have made it here, otherwise.
No matter what star you're reaching for, you've got to believe.
-Dave Wolverton (Dave Farland's Kick in the Pants)
I found this quote in my inbox today. I think it's a super hopeful one. I've never claimed to be a great writer, nor have I ever wanted to be. This is because there are writers, and then there are storytellers. I happen to be a storyteller.
When I was in grade school, struggling with dyslexia, I would get so frustrated because I had all of these great story ideas floating around in my head--if you know much about dyslexia, you know that we think in pictures and concepts rather than words. My frustration stemmed from the fact that I couldn't seem to get my brain to find the words to describe my concepts and pictures.
Thankfully, over time, things got easier. But it wasn't until I was a senior year of high school that I finally fell in love with the actual "act" of writing.
Today, I write every day because of the pleasure of the "act," sure, but much more than that, I write, because I need to tell stories. While I think I have a few poetic moments here and there in my work--and they get more frequent the more I write--I'll be the first to tell you that my writing is much more "workmanlike." But I'm okay with that. Why? Because my story is good. I've always known that it was. (It had to be for me to stick with it for eight years ;-).) I just had to keep on working at the writing thing until it was adequate enough to show everyone else my story was good.
Pictured above are the various manuscripts I wrote, revised, tore apart, rewrote, and in short, poured my blood, heart and soul into during 2013. All in all, it was a pretty productive year.Today, however, I'm very happy to say that this afternoon, I sent my very final edits to my editor at Cedar Fort. Unless there is some unforeseen calamity with the Muse powers that be, Uncovering Cobbogoth is FINALLY finished.
And I am SO happy.
If there is anything I have learned over this journey, it is to believe in myself, to surround myself with other people who believe in me, and to believe in God. I'm not sure why He cares about something as eternally insignificant as my ability to tell stories, but He does. I wouldn't have made it here, otherwise.
No matter what star you're reaching for, you've got to believe.
February 4, 2014
Writing Gem #9: My Editing Process
Here is my latest Writing Gem. This is all about my editing process.There are a few things I didn't mention in this Gem. First of all, about beta-readers; I don't let other writers read my manuscript until I've had non-writers read it, because I like to give it to other writers when it's really fine-tuned. They tend to be the most effective for me at that point. I said this in the video, and I mean it, that everyone is different, and you might find that having other writers read your work earlier on is more beneficial.
I can't stress enough that writing is such a subjective thing, and the process varies from writer to writer. What I share in my Writing Gems is just my own process--what works for me. My hope is that you will take what I've shared and make it your own!
Here's to wishing you all of the luck in the world!
Writing Gem #10: My Editing Process
Here is my latest Writing Gem. This is all about my editing process. There are a few things I didn't mention in this Gem. First of all, about beta-readers; I don't let other writers read my manuscript until I've had non-writers read it, because I like to give it to other writers when it's really fine-tuned. They tend to be the most effective for me at that point. I said this in the video, and I mean it, that everyone is different, and you might find that having other writers read your work earlier on is more beneficial.
I can't stress enough that writing is such a subjective thing, and the process varies from writer to writer. What I share in my Writing Gems is just my own process--what works for me. My hope is that you will take what I've shared and make it your own!
Here's to wishing you all of the luck in the world!
February 3, 2014
Book Review: "As You Are" by Sarah M. Eden
As You Areby Sarah M. Eden 
I really like Sarah M. Eden. I like her enough that whenever she comes out with a new book, I almost always buy it immediately.
I first heard about Ms. Eden through a good friend after she read Eden's first published novel Seeking Persephone. That book is still, by far, my favorite of all her books, because it is a sort of Beauty and the Beast retelling, and for some reason, I am a total sucker for that fairy tale. Really. My husband buys me little Belle trinkets whenever we're at Disneyland, because, after having believed a I was a tomboy all growing up, he discovered I have a soft spot for that particular Disney Princess. ;-)
Anyway, As You Are runs a close second or third in my favorite of Eden's books. It takes place in the same circle as all of her other books with the Jonquil family. But there's something about this one that really settled well with me. The hero of the story is the quite confident sort, who doesn't realize how great he is. I liked Corbin Jonquil quite a bit. I also liked Eden's heavy themes of proper treatment of women. She deals with heavy women's issues in all of her books, but she does it in such a way that you aren't completely depressed by the end. Because let's face it, to be a woman back in the Regency Era would've been really crappy. I express this fact to my husband every time I finish a Regency novel, and yet for some reason I can't get enough of the genre. It's a peculiar love-hate relationship.
So, all in all, I liked the book a lot. It was a fun, quick, escape read, that left me happy at the end: exactly what I'm looking for when I turn to Eden's books.
And now, without further ado, here is the cover blurb:
Life has taught Clara Bentford that men are not to be trusted. She keeps her distance from everyone, finding security in isolation. But she can't seem to keep herself from noticing her handsome and baffling neighbor, Corbin Jonquil. Could he really be so different from every other man she's known?
By far the quietest of the Jonquil Brothers, Corbin has tended to go unnoticed, content to fade into the background. But when he falls for Clara Bentford, a lovely young widow who doesn't even realize he exists, Corbin has to learn to stand out. Soon his family decides to help him win his fair lady, and Corbin has a Jonquil-sized disaster on his hands.
Here is a list of Eden's other books in order of my most to least favorite
Seeking PersephoneDrops of GoldAs You AreCourting Miss LancasterFriends and FoesKiss of a Stranger A Glimmer of Hope
Books by Eden that I haven't read yet: Longing for Home: A Proper Romance (Part 1)Longing for Home: A Proper Romance (Part 2)
I liked them all, although A Glimmer of Hope was a little too heavy for me.
I really like Sarah M. Eden. I like her enough that whenever she comes out with a new book, I almost always buy it immediately.
I first heard about Ms. Eden through a good friend after she read Eden's first published novel Seeking Persephone. That book is still, by far, my favorite of all her books, because it is a sort of Beauty and the Beast retelling, and for some reason, I am a total sucker for that fairy tale. Really. My husband buys me little Belle trinkets whenever we're at Disneyland, because, after having believed a I was a tomboy all growing up, he discovered I have a soft spot for that particular Disney Princess. ;-)
Anyway, As You Are runs a close second or third in my favorite of Eden's books. It takes place in the same circle as all of her other books with the Jonquil family. But there's something about this one that really settled well with me. The hero of the story is the quite confident sort, who doesn't realize how great he is. I liked Corbin Jonquil quite a bit. I also liked Eden's heavy themes of proper treatment of women. She deals with heavy women's issues in all of her books, but she does it in such a way that you aren't completely depressed by the end. Because let's face it, to be a woman back in the Regency Era would've been really crappy. I express this fact to my husband every time I finish a Regency novel, and yet for some reason I can't get enough of the genre. It's a peculiar love-hate relationship.
So, all in all, I liked the book a lot. It was a fun, quick, escape read, that left me happy at the end: exactly what I'm looking for when I turn to Eden's books.
And now, without further ado, here is the cover blurb:
Life has taught Clara Bentford that men are not to be trusted. She keeps her distance from everyone, finding security in isolation. But she can't seem to keep herself from noticing her handsome and baffling neighbor, Corbin Jonquil. Could he really be so different from every other man she's known?
By far the quietest of the Jonquil Brothers, Corbin has tended to go unnoticed, content to fade into the background. But when he falls for Clara Bentford, a lovely young widow who doesn't even realize he exists, Corbin has to learn to stand out. Soon his family decides to help him win his fair lady, and Corbin has a Jonquil-sized disaster on his hands.
Here is a list of Eden's other books in order of my most to least favorite
Seeking PersephoneDrops of GoldAs You AreCourting Miss LancasterFriends and FoesKiss of a Stranger A Glimmer of Hope
Books by Eden that I haven't read yet: Longing for Home: A Proper Romance (Part 1)Longing for Home: A Proper Romance (Part 2)
I liked them all, although A Glimmer of Hope was a little too heavy for me.
January 30, 2014
Writing Gem #9: Storytelling Tools (Part 2)
Here is my latest Writing Gem--Part 2 of the Storytelling Tools I talked about last time. I hope you find it helpful!
Thanks for stopping by!
January 28, 2014
The Evolution of Norah Lukens
So I think I've done a version of this post at least three different times on this blog, but as you'll see below, that's kind of the point of today's.
That being said, I am pleased to announce that I have finally found a 100% satisfactory visual of Norah Lukens. For those of you who haven't read the first edition of Cobbogoth--now Uncovering Cobbogoth, which will be released by Cedar Fort on May 13th--Norah Lukens is the heroine of the Cobbogoth series.
But before we get to that, let's take a look at how Norah has evolved. Before I decided to self-publish back in 2011, I posted this picture of my niece to illustrate what Norah looked like. I used similar pics of her for Norah in our first book trailer:
She's beautiful, yes? And yet, I was never quite satisfied, because my niece is not anywhere near as fair as Norah, nor is she the same build. She also has these impossibly crystal blue eyes, where Norah has green eyes, hence the need for a black and white photo.
After I decided to self-publish, but had already made the book trailer, I found this image:
I have no idea who this model is, but her coloring was closer to Norah's. However, she looks nothing like Norah in any other way. First of all, she''s too classic-beauty looking to be Norah, and she also looks like she's past her teen years. Plus, there's that blue eye problem again. :-}
As I wrote book 2 of the Cobbogoth series last summer, I started understanding what Norah looked like even more, and so I continued my search for my own creative purposes--it helps me a lot when I have a visual of my character to get inspired over. Soon I came across this photo of Nastya Zhidkova a Russian albino model:
Now, she's absolutely lovely, and peculiar enough for Norah, but even still, the picture wasn't quite right. While she has similar coloring to Norah, I never pictured Norah being quite so petite. Nastya's hair is also too short and wispy to be Norah's. And, there was still the matter of her eyes . . . blue, not celadon green.
Now, for those of you who don't know what celadon green looks like, here is a visual:
It's a peculiar color, and one I don't think I've ever seen on a human before. In the first edition of Cobbogoth, Norah actually had kiwi-green eyes, but after writing the next book in the series, there was a rather important plot development that made me very glad for the chance to change this trait once we got picked up by Cedar Fort last October. After the three separate edit sessions I did to prepare my manuscript for my new publisher, I grew to understand Norah even better. Now she had celadon eyes, and her face became clearer and clearer in my mind.
And so, my hunt for the perfect image of Norah continued.
Well, after SO much searching, I'd actually given up on finding a visual of Norah. But then, the other day, I unexpectedly stumbled across her! It was one of the more surreal experiences of my life, because the likeness to what I've come to see of Norah as in my head is crazily similar.
So, here she is. May I introduce you all to the spitting image of my brain-child, Miss Norah Lukens:
Peculiar, mysterious, and quite lovely, right? It was like seeing a picture of my child suddenly all grown up--an experience I haven't had yet--and it shocked me. I don't know if it was the fact that the model who posed for this pic isn't actually an albino--that's all make up and Photoshop--all I know, is that the moment I saw this image, it was like seeing my main character--especially her eyes--staring back at me.
Erie?
Very.
And while you can't quite tell for sure, I can't imagine this girl's eyes being any other color than celadon green! It just makes sense, because she's Norah, right?! :-)
But this post is called "The Evolution of Norah Lukens" so let me take you back to the start, to show you just how far she's come.
In the very beginning, Norah actually looked like this:
I know; I can't see it either. Interestingly, for as long as Norah looked like this, I couldn't find her voice. I tried and tried. I wrote at least five different drafts with a blurry, black-haired, kiwi-green eyed Norah in my head--two in third person, and the other three in first--but her voice never felt convincing enough. It wasn't until Norah let me know--bit by bit, draft by draft--that she was actually the fair, angelic beauty shown above, that she started to come off the page and feel real to me.
The funny thing is that Norah is the only character I struggled with visually. Everyone else in the story, including James--barring some very minor tweaks--looks pretty much the same as they did when I started writing Uncovering Cobbogoth.
I guess the point of this post is--we're supposed to have a point, right?--don't get discouraged if your characters don't seem life-like right off the bat. Sometimes it takes several things aligning, or something as simple as making sure the character looks just right, before she really starts to speak to you. If there's one thing I've learned about this whole writing thing, it's that a lot of it is about tweaking. Most of the time our instincts for story ideas/characters/plot twists, etc are good, they just need to be developed. And that takes time. Don't be afraid to get it wrong for a while; don't be afraid to completely fail--almost every success is proceeded by a string of relentless failures! (Believe me! 8 years working at this, and failure and I are on each other's speed dial.) You'll find that sometimes big tweaks are necessary (especially in the beginning), but as you get further along, the tweaks will get smaller and smaller, until the littlest ones end up snagging you an agent or a publishing contract.
So keep tweaking! If you quit now, you'll never get to meet your characters face to face.
That being said, I am pleased to announce that I have finally found a 100% satisfactory visual of Norah Lukens. For those of you who haven't read the first edition of Cobbogoth--now Uncovering Cobbogoth, which will be released by Cedar Fort on May 13th--Norah Lukens is the heroine of the Cobbogoth series.
But before we get to that, let's take a look at how Norah has evolved. Before I decided to self-publish back in 2011, I posted this picture of my niece to illustrate what Norah looked like. I used similar pics of her for Norah in our first book trailer:
She's beautiful, yes? And yet, I was never quite satisfied, because my niece is not anywhere near as fair as Norah, nor is she the same build. She also has these impossibly crystal blue eyes, where Norah has green eyes, hence the need for a black and white photo.
After I decided to self-publish, but had already made the book trailer, I found this image:
I have no idea who this model is, but her coloring was closer to Norah's. However, she looks nothing like Norah in any other way. First of all, she''s too classic-beauty looking to be Norah, and she also looks like she's past her teen years. Plus, there's that blue eye problem again. :-}
As I wrote book 2 of the Cobbogoth series last summer, I started understanding what Norah looked like even more, and so I continued my search for my own creative purposes--it helps me a lot when I have a visual of my character to get inspired over. Soon I came across this photo of Nastya Zhidkova a Russian albino model:
Now, she's absolutely lovely, and peculiar enough for Norah, but even still, the picture wasn't quite right. While she has similar coloring to Norah, I never pictured Norah being quite so petite. Nastya's hair is also too short and wispy to be Norah's. And, there was still the matter of her eyes . . . blue, not celadon green.Now, for those of you who don't know what celadon green looks like, here is a visual:
It's a peculiar color, and one I don't think I've ever seen on a human before. In the first edition of Cobbogoth, Norah actually had kiwi-green eyes, but after writing the next book in the series, there was a rather important plot development that made me very glad for the chance to change this trait once we got picked up by Cedar Fort last October. After the three separate edit sessions I did to prepare my manuscript for my new publisher, I grew to understand Norah even better. Now she had celadon eyes, and her face became clearer and clearer in my mind.And so, my hunt for the perfect image of Norah continued.
Well, after SO much searching, I'd actually given up on finding a visual of Norah. But then, the other day, I unexpectedly stumbled across her! It was one of the more surreal experiences of my life, because the likeness to what I've come to see of Norah as in my head is crazily similar.
So, here she is. May I introduce you all to the spitting image of my brain-child, Miss Norah Lukens:
Peculiar, mysterious, and quite lovely, right? It was like seeing a picture of my child suddenly all grown up--an experience I haven't had yet--and it shocked me. I don't know if it was the fact that the model who posed for this pic isn't actually an albino--that's all make up and Photoshop--all I know, is that the moment I saw this image, it was like seeing my main character--especially her eyes--staring back at me.
Erie?
Very.
And while you can't quite tell for sure, I can't imagine this girl's eyes being any other color than celadon green! It just makes sense, because she's Norah, right?! :-)
But this post is called "The Evolution of Norah Lukens" so let me take you back to the start, to show you just how far she's come.
In the very beginning, Norah actually looked like this:
I know; I can't see it either. Interestingly, for as long as Norah looked like this, I couldn't find her voice. I tried and tried. I wrote at least five different drafts with a blurry, black-haired, kiwi-green eyed Norah in my head--two in third person, and the other three in first--but her voice never felt convincing enough. It wasn't until Norah let me know--bit by bit, draft by draft--that she was actually the fair, angelic beauty shown above, that she started to come off the page and feel real to me.
The funny thing is that Norah is the only character I struggled with visually. Everyone else in the story, including James--barring some very minor tweaks--looks pretty much the same as they did when I started writing Uncovering Cobbogoth.
I guess the point of this post is--we're supposed to have a point, right?--don't get discouraged if your characters don't seem life-like right off the bat. Sometimes it takes several things aligning, or something as simple as making sure the character looks just right, before she really starts to speak to you. If there's one thing I've learned about this whole writing thing, it's that a lot of it is about tweaking. Most of the time our instincts for story ideas/characters/plot twists, etc are good, they just need to be developed. And that takes time. Don't be afraid to get it wrong for a while; don't be afraid to completely fail--almost every success is proceeded by a string of relentless failures! (Believe me! 8 years working at this, and failure and I are on each other's speed dial.) You'll find that sometimes big tweaks are necessary (especially in the beginning), but as you get further along, the tweaks will get smaller and smaller, until the littlest ones end up snagging you an agent or a publishing contract.
So keep tweaking! If you quit now, you'll never get to meet your characters face to face.
