Magan Vernon's Blog, page 38

Writerly Wednesday: The action scene

One wouldn't think a girl who writes teen romance would know anything about writing an action scene.

Some reviewers may actually agree with that and say they hate my action scenes in How to Date an Alien. Others think I may have it down and some of you are just wondering how much action there is going to be in Book 3 or Spliced.

Writing action scenes is harder for me than writing a kiss scene, especially in YA. I want the characters to brawl, but I can't just go all shoot-em-up style.

So what's a YA writer to do?

Just like with writing a love scene, it's all about the emotions.

Let's play with an example (You get a Roswell one because I said so!)


In the first book and TV show there is a scene in the cafe in which a shooting occurs. Instead of playing on the action, the author plays on the emotions:

Click.

The muscular man cocked the gun.
Liz wanted to run, she wanted to scream, but she was paralyzed. Her mouth refused to open. Her feet refused to move.
The beefy man gave a howl of fury. He launched himself across the table at the muscular man.
an ear-drum shattering explosion rocked the room.
Liz flew off her feet, she hit the wall behind her and slumped to the ground.
She felt something warm and wet, soaking into her uniform.
"There's so much blood," Liz heard Maria cry.
But she sounded so far away.
So far away...


AND SCENE.

Instead of being all about the action the author uses the emotions: How Liz wanted to run, but was paralyzed. She also used different words and situated them so you could grasp the emotions of the scene:  'Click' 'So far away...'

This is what I try to establish in my own writing. How does the character feel when they are running from an evil being? Is their heart pounding in their chest? Does the crackle of a gunfire sting their ear drums?

How do you work emotion in to your action scenes?

Monday Musings: Want to help with book three?

One of the great things about reviewes (even when they are critical) is that I can see what people loved or hated in the first book and then take that into account when writing sequels.

I read a review that said they were dissapointed in Gavin's role in the first book, this leads to him having a MUCH larger role in the third book. (muahahahahaha)

Several reviews have said that they want more Jen, so now only does she appear more in book 3, but now she will have her own novella to go with the series!

There are so many other things that I look to readers and reviewers for, but now instead of hiding behind the bushes and creeping I'm asking you all directly:  What do YOU want to see happen in the third book? I do promise that all the characters (that I didn't kill atleast) from book 1 & 2 make an apperance in the third book, but what do you want to see?

What do you want from me?

What do you want from me?

Okay...now to close this out with a little Adam.

Friday Freebies

It's vacation season! Time to head to the beach with your favorite book in hand or prepare for a long road trip. But wait...you don't feel like lugging ten books with you on the plane ride or buying a bunch of books to download?

Have no fear because I have a list of great books that are currently FREE for your Kindle, Nook, and Itunes accessories!

Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefeil:  Amazon Barnes & Noble

Bound by CK Bryant:  Amazon  Barnes & Noble

Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon:  Amazon  Barnes & Noble

Loramendi's Story by Angela Carlie:  Amazon

SoulKeepers by GP Ching:  Amazon

Before by Jessie Harrell  Smashwords

Watched by Cindy M. Hogan  Smashwords  Amazon

Anathema by Megg Jensen:  Amazon  Barnes and Noble

Sleepers by Megg Jensen:  Amazon

Unspeakable by SR Johannes  Smashwords

Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick:  Amazon

Born of Fire by Heather McCorkle  Smashwords

Ethereal by Addison Moore:  Amazon

The Almost Assasin by Laura Pauling  Amazon

Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak  Smashwords Itunes Sony

Mind Games by Susan Kaye Quinn:  Amazon

Clockwise by Elle Strauss:  Amazon

Exiled by Rashelle Workman:   Amazon  Barnes and Noble

And OF COURSE

The In His Eyes Anthology by The Indelibles:  Amazon  Barnes and Noble

Happy Reading :)

Writerly Wednesday: Spliced

[image error]
It's done. The first draft of Spliced is DONE. Now I have two first drafts of novels that I get to plow through, but for now it's DONE.

What is Spliced about you may ask?

It's a future in which instead of tattoos or piercings people are getting animal parts fused on to them.

You want more?

Okay here's the little blurb I've been working on:

Pacey Jones wants nothing more than to get spliced -animal parts fused on to her- ever since she saw her first kitten tale on a socialite. Too bad she's not old enough yet and her dad has a strict 'no splicing' policy. But when her best friend, Illena, finds a loop hole in the age requirement Pacey finds it hard to resist the appeal of a pair of wings, no matter how dangerous it could be.

Rowen Mangold used to be a track star then splicing happened. Now he is the army candy of  Emm, the president of students against splicing, and spends his Sundays at the church for the Order of Genetic Conservitists. Each time he see's a student with a new splice he cringes, but his reasons lie much deeper than what anyone knows.

A chance encounter with a pair of bull horns finds the two of them working together in ways they never saw coming. It's the spliced versus the anti-spliced and the winner could lead to deadly consequences for both Rowen and Pacey.

Interested?

Monday Musings: Sometimes I stare at hot men

Isn't it a lovely Monday?

Okay maybe it's a lousy Monday and it's raining out or there is a drought and your water bill is higher than the Empire State Building. Either way I'm still going to talk to you about my muses and today it is all about the boys.

In How to Break up with an Alien and Alien Book 3 (Title reveal to come soon, I'm holding out, bwahahahaahaha), Ace interacts alot mor with the human world. One of the important things I have to think about is how someone from another planet would look at different things like football games or coffee houses. So for some "research" I decided to watch movies and TV shows with other men that are displaced.



 Let's start out with Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted's excellent adventure. To complete a project for school two dudes travel back in time and bring back famous people throughout history. I'm not sure how 'hard' Keanu actually had to act in this role, but his reactions to different people made me laugh out loud. At first it was just the little things, like the fact that I mispronounced 'Socrates' for almost an entire year after seeing this movie since I thought it was the right pronounciation or how Keanu just stared at every single new person he met wide-eyed like they may possibly beat him in his fluffy head. Then I started to notice his body language to different objects and people in the past, how he would lean his body back slightly when he was aprehensive about approaching someone or how he would nod profusely when he actually had no idea what the other person was saying. By watching his body language I was able to gauge a bit on how Ace might react to something like pork chop sandwiches and still think it was impossible to eat a pig out of foil.

 Then of course there is Hugh Jackman in Kate and Leopold. How would someone distinguished from the past deal with modern day society? I love me some Hugh Jackman, especially his sideburns in Wolverine, so any excuse to watch him dressed up like an English noble is a good one for me. Ace has been around Earth for a few decades and when he actually did interact with humans, it was the 1940's a definite different way of life. So I watched how a man from the past interacted with a future world, using different languages, bowing, and just looking so good in a suit. Mmmm men in vests...

Which leads me to my other favorite alien...

 Yes! You are correct the vested man is Joseph Gordon Levitt and he started his career as an alien on the TV show 3rd Rock from the Sun!  JGL is the ultimate in playing a displaced character, he did it throughout his years as a confused, long-haired teen in 3rd Rock and then cut the hair and rocked a vest to play a dream entering hottie in Inception. If you want a laugh you can watch himi and his family with their reactions to life on Earth and dating humans OR you could just watch him wearing a vest in inception...your call.

What males do you use for inspiration? Did you know JGL was an alien?

Hey look I have another book coming out!

THE COVER IS JUST SO PRETTYYYYYYYYY.

I wonder who made it? Oh yeah that's me. It took me a freaking long time to decide on the best cover, but I think this one is the most eye catching. I would totally read it, but that's me.

So what's this book about? More aliens? No, this is actually contemporary and Upper YA. Here is a little blurb for ya:

There are worse things in life than failing out of college- such as having your parents receive the letter that you’ve been kicked out.

 Now to appease her parents self-proclaimed sorority princess Libby Gentry is packing up her Prada bag and heading to work for her great aunt’s newspaper in tiny Elsbury, Louisiana. She’s pretty sure she can tackle the swamp and deal with her great aunt and tom boy of a little cousin, but what she doesn’t know is if she can handle the local town playboy, Blaine Crabtree.

As Libby's feelings for Blaine grow, so does her need for acceptance and all of the insecurities she has kept inside are coming out. She may have survived the Louisiana swamp, but she may not survive Blaine's reluctance to say the 'L' word. When Blaine finally commits to the three words Libby’s been waiting for, she only hopes they haven’t come too late.

Way different than what you are used to, right? It's still funny and cute and this was the little book that I thought may never see the light of day again, but Libby and Blaine BEGGED me to come out.

So it shall be released this August. I'm scoping out E-ARC reviewers and may do a blog tour, depending on how I'm feeling.  For now you can add it on GoodReads. Or drop me a line here if you are interested in possibly doing an E-ARC review.

Some of you may be wondering WTF happened to that other contemp book you were supposed to put out about Lemons? Ugh, that deserves a long blog post, but the short story is that due to unforseen circumstances and legal issues the book will not be published. I love the story and I would love to see it get out to the world, but at this point it is just going to sit on my hard drive.

AND the big question is, "When will Alien Book 3 come out and when will we know the title?" The first draft is done. Once I complete the next draft and get it off to CPs then I will announce a title and possibly have a cover. I'm hoping for an October release.

Other than that enjoy my take on contemporary and swoon over visions of a southern gentleman named Blaine Crabtree.

My take on Fifty Shades

This is not a review, but just my take on the book that EVERYONE is reading.

I didn't want to download this book. I thought $9.99 for an Ebook was crazy, BUT I told myself if I won the drawing for a B&N giftcard at my RWA drawing that I would buy it and see what all the fuss was about. Guess who won the drawing?

I read the first chapter and was intrigued. My RWA chapter actually does a Magic Moment contest every year in which we judge the first ten pages or when the hero and heroine meet. If this manuscript came across my lap as a judge I would give it an A for the sexuality in that first magic moment. After that...ehhhhhh....

Here is what bothers me about this book dubbed "mommy porn"

1.) When I heard that it was based on erotic Twilight fan fiction that was all I could think about. I saw Ana as Bella and Christian as Edward Cullen. Really it was the same characters except one was mortal. I know people say that my books resemble Twilight, but come on now I don't have a brooding egotistical maniac and meek little girl who becomes a sex goddess overnight.

2.) I hated Christan. I found him egotistical and very stalkerish. It was creepy enough that Edward watched Bella sleep, but Christian takes it a step further.  "Hey I'm going to find out where you live, work, and then just show up at your mother's place in Georgia when you say that you need to get away from me. If a guy did that to me I think I would get a restraining order.

3.) The nookie was so unrealistic I felt like I was reading a cheesy porn flick. If you are a girl and you 'got off' and enjoyed it your first time then we should probably meet because I've never met anyone that had that experience. I also never met a girl that enjoyed having a guy put his thumb in her mouth after...ew...ew...ew.

4.) I didn't like the plot, which didn't help that I got bored with the sex every ten pages and started skimming. Same story over and over: shy girl + brooding male = romance. Okay you can say that about the alien series, but at least Alex is a BA and stands up for herself, which leads me to the part I hated the most...

5.) "I'm going to punish you Ms. Steele."

WHO THE HECK THINKS IT'S OKAY TO BEAT SOMEONE IN THE NAME OF SEX?

Yeah whatever I understand the BDSM thing, but this just seemed wrong. Ana really didn't seem to like it and at the end she cried and left. I decided to give it a go and read the next book, but had to put it down because I was so upset by this.

As someone that has been the victim of violence in a relationship I was mortified at the way the author used Christian's "control issues" as an excuse for his spanking and belt whipping fetish. Why was it ok that Ana went home so upset after the belt whipping for her to go back to him? There was nothing sexual about that, it was her bent over and him whipping her like a bad child in the 70's with daddy's leather belt.

So that's my take on the book. I did read the whole first one and put down the second book. I do understand why everyone is into it. It's mainstream erotica that isn't in some backroom or covered with half naked people. The publicist the author spent $100,000 on really worked for her. But everytime someone tells me they want to read this I do have to stress that the violence was not something I tolerated reading.

What did you think of this book series? Are you okay with violence in the name of sex?

What am I reading?

I get asked this question alot, what are you reading?

When I was in high school my creative writing teacher told me that a good writer should always be reading, so I've taken that advice to heart and even though I'm busy with a full-time job, toddler, and a writing career I still find time to read.

In the last few months I have read quite a few great books, but here are some that stand out to me that I've read recentlly and think you all should check out to. (Some of them are free on Amazon!)



An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can't calm the fires raging inside her.

Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she's always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen's alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy? it's FREE on Amazon!



The latest in the book that the hit show True Blood is based off. I would not recommend this book unless you have read the rest in the series. It's a complicated plot, but I cannot put this series down!













True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . . .

Jaden McEntyre and Parker Whalen are a wrong fit from the start. Jaden is driven and focused, Harvard Med School within reach. Parker has a past—a reputation—and the rumors about his mysterious habits abound. So there’s no reason why, when they're assigned to work together on a project in English, they should discover they have anything in common, or even like each other, and they definitely shouldn't be falling in love.





I got a sneak peak of this book. Jealous?

Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.


What are you reading? Anything you want to share?

Cast for How to Break up with an Alien

Since I've given you all my dream cast for How to Date an Alien you probably want to see who I envision to take on some parts for How to Break up with an Alien? I thought you'd never ask!




Gemma played by Maiara Walsh











[image error]  Brad Gage played by  Devon Bostick


  Simone played by Deborah Ann Woll



  Brody played by Sean Michael Cunnhingham

 Alex's Mom (Wendy) played by Laura Linney

  Alex's stepdad (Brian) played by Evan Handler

  Monte played by Adam Levine (I just wanted to use this picture...

  Jen played by Madison Riley

  Malcolm played by Dayo Okeniyi


  Justin played by Rubert Grint
  Rachel played by Emily Osment




Is this who you pictured as the cast? Anyone else you wonder who I pictured? Anyone you pictured differently?

Alien Book 3

I'm not ready to release a title yet, but the first draft of Alien book 3 is DONE!

Now I'm going to sit it aside and work on some other things, but plan to have it out to you all by this fall!

*Hooray*Hooray*Hooray*

I thought to spark your interest for this book I'd share my playlist of songs that I played constantly while I wrote and will continue to listen to while I revise.

Let's just fall in love again- Jason Castro
Drive- Incubus
Teenage Dream- Katy Perry
Going away to college- Blink 182
Marry You- Bruno Mars
Here's to the night- Eve 6
Wonderwall- Oasis
Black Parade- My Chemical Romance
Jump then Fall- Taylor Swift
You and I - Jason Mraz
For your entertainment- Adam Lambert
Love in an elevator- Aerosmith

What can I say? I have interesting taste in music.