Heather Heffner's Blog, page 17

An Ideal Pairing: the Aran Islands and Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races

This is the third installment in the Ireland Series about studying abroad in Galway, Ireland. Read Part I here. 
YOU CAN’T visit the Aran Islands and not jump on a bike. Possibly a horse would work, too. But there’s no better way to explore the stone fields of karst limestone carpeting the islands than on two wheels. The day Arcadia arranged a bike tour of Inis Mór, the largest of the three islands, the weather was overcast with light winds, ideal for the ferry ride over to village Kilronan. The harbor was sparse, dotted with quaint bed and breakfasts, cobblestone streets, and shops selling merchandise like the famous Aran wool sweaters.




A bike rental was available just a brief walk from the pier. The owner fitted us with bikes and gave us maps. Serious cyclists could take the longer routes that would take them past the Aran Seal Colony, Kilmurvey Beach, and all the way to the Dun Aonghasa World Heritage Site, a half-circle stone fort situated on the cliffs, built by Celts back in 2000 B.C. This trip would take the majority of our time here, a little over half a day. 

The Aran Seal Colony. Selkies, anyone? Hmmm... Image Courtesy of Marjorie Claire's Emerald Isle Blog. 2010. < http://emeraldislemcf.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html >.


For us slackers, there were other sights to see closer to the harbor, which would allow us to take our time and explore. I hadn’t ridden a bike for a while, but the island terrain was well-suited to bike travel, even for beginners. Hills rolled gently up and down, creating a seamlessly smooth path that guided us through a maze of slab-rock fences cookie-cutting the landscape. We followed the road signs written in Gaelic and English, passing by quiet farmsteads and fields dotted with horses, cows, and sheep munching on sparse fauna.  Old abandoned churches were about a dime a dozen out here; I recalled my uncle saying they made good camp sites for the avid bike traveler.




We hopped off for a break near a historic lighthouse and signal tower cresting the bay, and hiked up to take a closer look. There was plenty of fun scrambling up and down the rocks to get to the top of a sentry post, where we gazed out upon the vast expanse of the sapphire-blue Galway Bay.

It was guarded by this fearsome horse.




I couldn’t help but think of Maggie Stiefvater’s enchanting novel The Scorpio Races while writing this post. Incorporating touches of magical realism, The Scorpio Races takes place on the mythical island of Thisby, where every year the islandfolk hold a deadly horse race. The winner has the chance to become richer beyond their wildest dreams. The catch isn’t so much the race course as it is the horses themselves: the bloodthirsty capaill uisce, or water horses, come from the sea itself and if left unchecked, they will eat their riders. Their alien beauty, incredible speed, and bond with the ocean entrances Sean the stable boy, who develops an unlikely relationship with one of these fearsome beasts. Meanwhile, fellow villager Puck has fallen upon hard times. Her family is in risk of losing their home, so Puck enters the race in hopes of winning the money. However, she is wary of what the capaill uisce are capable of and chooses instead to rely on her own small horse, Dove, and her knowledge of the island itself to succeed.




It’s a surreal and darkly atmospheric book with slow but steady plotting, much like a mirror of the quiet island life itself. The relationship between Sean and Puck, as well as between them and their respective horses, is quite captivating to watch unfold. I was delighted to find a book focusing on a more obscure myth than we see in most fantasy novels nowadays, that of the water horse, which is spun with a mix of Irish, Scottish, and Manx folklore. You bet I was picturing the Aran Islands when Stiefvater was describing the herd of fairy horses pounding across the beaches, or when she described the perilous cliffs along the race’s path. It’s a great pairing, and I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy of The Scorpio Races for anyone reminiscing over their past Aran Islands adventure.

To be continued…
Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact.

May 2014 Book Review: Sweet Evil

SWEET EVILBy Wendy Higgins~Book Review~





Warning! Minor Spoilers!


CUTE writing, lots of hot innuendo-ing, fantastic world-building, and characters Kaiden, the Twins, and Blake were awesome. I only wish the plot was as much. The potential, oh the potential! The Dukes of Hell walk the earth, each the embodiment of a sin or a vice. Their children, the Nephilim, are enslaved to do their will. Let’s take Kaiden Rowe, for instance. As the son of the Duke of Lust, he’s charged with making others give in to seduction. Sound like a great idea for a story? Of course it does! There are many Dukes, each one with a different "sin” (you have your traditional Seven Deadlies and then you have some new ones that are primarily “acts” such as lying, adultery, theft, murder). How the Dukes’ children have to deal with being agents of Hell or forging their own path creates enough tension to make me squeal with delight!
Unfortunately, instead we follow sweet, demure Anna around. Anna’s likeable, but she reminds me of a Bambi that every once and a while grows fangs but for the most part plays a passive, reactionary role. Anna has seen colorful auras around people for as long as she can remember, but it isn’t until she meets the alluring rocker Kaiden Rowe who has a British accent (gasp!) that she realizes this ability is to aid her father Belial, the Duke of Substance Abuse (wuh, waaaah!), in making people give in to their drug or alcohol addictions. Fans of star-crossed romance rejoice: Wendy Higgins couldn’t have done more to make Anna Kaiden’s polar opposite. This is innocent meets experienced, naïve meets jaded, “saint” meets “devil” type fantasy love. It’s okay, though. All of the PG-rated teasing and dropped innuendos really make Sweet Evil an entertaining read—Higgins obviously knew what readers wanted, and tried to push the envelope as tastefully far as she could for a teen book.
Where I was not amused was the lack of a satisfying climax. I mean, if you can’t give me one in the romance department, then at least rev up the stakes for the big battle. Kaiden, Anna, and the other Nephilim children taking a stand, duking it out with the Dukes, shedding some blood, sweat, and tears—yeah, nowhere to be seen. The sense of danger to the main characters’ lives was not present (not counting the angst. I know you were worried, but never fear. There’s lots of angst). Sadly this is a trend that continues throughout the series. It has potentially explosive set-ups for a big kabang confrontation (Prophecy! Epic battles! Nephilim armies!), and then it just doesn’t go there. This is Twilight plotting as opposed to Harry Potter, Vampire Academy, or Percy Jackson.
Worth the read? Definitely. Sweet Evil was a very creative take on angels and demons, the romance was sexy, and I appreciate that Higgins didn’t limit her story to American borders. We have a few people of color, like Blake the son of Envy (Filipino-American) and Kopano, the son of Wrath (born and raised in Malawi), who plays a romantic part in Anna’s life. In Sweet Peril (Book II), they travel overseas where we meet another interesting character Zania, the daughter of Hatred (from Syria). Just be forewarned for some plotting frustration. If you like more action in your angel/demon books, I’d recommend Jessica Shirvington’s The Violet Eden Chaptersor Courtney Allison Moulton’s Angelfirebooks. Sweet Evil is more like the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, but incredibly more well-developed and compact.
Btw, Sweet Evil is another fail in the “oh, I forgot, they’re teenagers so they need some sort of guardian. I’ll just make one up who takes actions most convenient for the advancement of Anna and Kaiden’s sexy kitten luuuuv” phenomenon going on in teen paranormal books.
Recommended for fans of: Becca Fitzpatrick, Cassandra Clare, Jennifer ArmentroutUpcoming Book Review: ??? I don’t know! Life has been busy and I haven’t had time to read! What Duke’s vile treachery is this? Rawr!

May 2014 Book Review: A Fistful of Nothing

A FISTFUL OF NOTHING
By Dan Glaser~Book Review~ "DIESELPUNK"— post-steam, and pre-cyber punk, characterizes A Fistful of Nothing , quite well, as this is the 1950s set in a distorted underground Hollywoodholes. The atmosphere and time period run together with cinema-like quality, and if you’re going to embark with Jim on his investigation to solve two brutal murders, then you’d better brush up on your 1950s lingo: “For a habitual pantywaist, the hopped-up shitkicker threw a nasty right hook into Jim’s side, and the alarming jab stung like salt and sweat as it slapped his gut” (Chapter 1). Names like “The Mad Dog,” and “The Kid” abound. Jim “Jimbo” Maynard’s a classic hard-boiled noir detective, maybe the ancestor of Harry Dresden (Dresden Files by Jim Butcher). What begins as a gambling dispute ends up with two dead bodies on Jim’s lap. To find the culprit, he’ll have to out-talk and sift through a whole assortment of untrustworthy, “nutso”-characters from L.A.’s underworld.
The prose is over-the-top purple at times, but toward the end of Part I, I found that I’d settled into a comfortable rhythm with it. The plot also picks up then—before you never felt like Jim was in much danger, but going into Part II, the stakes are raised. The murder mystery is fully enhanced by the wonderful bizarre underworld—usually I like to race along to find out who dun it and how, but in “A Fistful of Nothing,” I found myself lingering over details and enjoying how the case unraveled. However, I wasn’t quite sold on Jim’s motivations for getting so involved in the case in the first place and why the first death struck him so hard; for me, his character didn’t veer too much from the brooding detective model obsessed with Fortuna to really stand on his own. I really liked Betty, though, she was funny:

“You got bourbon. I wanna get wet, sister.”
“So go find a puddle or something.” (Chapter 3)

Haha.

The Hollywoodholes Series promises more gritty violence, murder, and one-liners to come. I enjoyed the sneak peak at the end into Book II: A Lungful of Glass, and the destination it takes place. 
Recommended for fans of: Jim Butcher and Simon R. GreenUpcoming May Book Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Welcome to NUI Galway

This is the second installment in the Ireland Series about studying abroad in Galway, Ireland. Read Part I here.

AS MUCH AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED to jump on the first bus to Cork, Limerick, or the Cliffs of Moher and go exploring—there was that school thing. We Arcadia students assembled first thing early in the ivy-clad courtyard of the NUI Galway Quadrangle to sign up for fall classes. NUI Galway has an estimated 12,000 undergrad (4,000 grad), and hosts around 500-600 visiting students each year.

 Class registration wasn’t how it is these days—the kind where you log onto your computer, and in a few swift clicks, you’re registered. The undergrad system at NUI Galway differed from the American one I was used to as well. As early as freshman year, Irish undergrads tend to specialize in a certain area—Medicine, Arts and Social Sciences, Commerce, Engineering, Science—because those classes will determine what programme they’re accepted into for their Bachelor’s (3-4 years until completion, Medicine takes longest). There are no elective or general requirements. Unfortunately with today’s job market and the rising financial costs of attending college, knowing what you want to major in from the get-go is vital. I’d chosen the Arts and Social Sciences route on my application.
Now all of us waited in a long line that wound twice around the courtyard, waiting to register (we definitely had enough time to think about what classes we’d like to take). Sadly, I hadn’t gotten up early enough, and so my coveted Jane Austen Seminar was already filled. I ended up with a primarily Humanities-focused schedule: a Playwright Literature class, an Irish Women in History one, a Tom Murphy seminar, and to round it out: a Criminology class (what the heck, try something new, right?). The majority of those classes would transfer over to my American university. We would be graded based on a combination of Continuous Assessment, research papers, and final exams.
I miss walking by this ruin on the way to school.
There were also a lot of afterschool clubs to join like rowing, cycling, and rugby--which a lot of my East Coast friends were very excited about. I ended up signing up for the dance club, since the autumn/winter rains made me think twice about rowing down the freezing River Corrib. I don’t know how those swans did it.


I already mentioned the awesome housing-style living in place of dorm rooms. Student residences were primarily these red brick two-three story slender houses all nestled together in “courts.” Our neighborhood, the Gort na Coiribe, was one of the larger ones that housed some 657 students, but there were smaller residences like Donegan Court (54 students). A third housing option was what a fellow study abroad friend of mine did—she found her own apartment-style housing in town instead of relying on a program like Arcadia to set it up, which is probably cheapest. I think her roommates were young, local workers. They definitely knew Galway inside and out, hooked her up with a bike, and showed her around. If I’d been older, that’s the way I would have liked to experience Galway--if only to avoid the Circle of Death.

 The Circle of Death is this innocent-looking roundabout that the poor car-less pedestrian must endure to reach the places of food: Tesco, shopping mall, ect. When I was looking through my Galway pictures, I noticed all these pictures of a roundabout and thought, "Why the hell did I take so many photos of that?" And then I remembered--the countless minutes spent praying for a lull in the traffic so I could run to the first median in the center. More minutes trickling by as I waited again to bolt to the safety of the shopping center parking lot, the growl of my stomach growing louder. There might have been one "crosswalk," but it mostly served as decorative paint on the cold, impassive cement face watching you throw your pitiful body through traffic to reach the gleaming sign for Tesco. It was even more fun coming back from the store, because then your arms were laden down with grocery bags. Thankfully, they were the sturdy, reusable kind--you have to pay a fee to use plastic bags per Ireland's PlastTax--which is good for the environment and good for pedestrians whose feeble plastic bags might otherwise break while traversing the Circle of Death, condemning innocent oranges and vegetables to an instant demise. Yeah. Just some road design notes.
My Arcadia roommate and I shared a small room with three other Irish flatmates. I noticed our flatmates often went home over the weekend to do laundry or visit family—many of them didn’t live too far away!—so my roommate and I would have a whole house to ourselves. Then we’d invite our friends over, and we could have in-house collective dinners or go out. There was also a coin laundry on premise.
 It really mattered if your house was designated as a party place or not. Just around the corner, one house in Gort na Coiribe routinely tried to cram as many people as possible into the small living/kitchen area for weekday parties. The cost? One large shattered front window and a whole bunch of decimated furniture. I don’t recall how long it took to repair that giant window, but man, the wait must have been cold.

  

On the topic of weekday parties: when my favorite Irish roommate came bursting into our room, asking if we wanted to go out clubbing, I was kind of confused—wasn’t it Tuesday night? In my American university experience, Tuesday was the deadest, dead night of the week. I know. My birthday fell on a Tuesday one time back home and we triedto go out—the bars and clubs were empty. In Galway, Tuesday was possibly one of the best nights to grab a drink. Downtown Galway was throbbing and awake with lots of hole-in-the-wall bars and alleyway venues—I think that night we might have gone to Club Karma. Needless to say, my Irish flatmates’ habit of heading home on the weekend wasn’t unique; many did, and thus weekdays became the best nights to go out when the most people were around.
   That would prove to work out extremely well, for there were a lot of tour groups offering trips into the surrounding hinterlands like the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher on the weekends. When Arcadia offered a good deal to take a ferry ride across the bay to the Aran Islands, a huge group of us eagerly signed up.

To be continued…
Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact.

Sources:“Study Abroad at NUI Galway.” National University of Ireland Galway. 2013. http://nuiginternational.wordpress.com/category/introduction/

April 2014 Book Review: The Iron Traitor

ATTN: A while back, I made it a goal to reach 10,000 blog views in 100 posts. You guys made it possible in 98 posts and already over 10,000 views! Here's post #99 and thank you for your continued support! Now, time to shoot for 100,000 views, baby! Thanks again all :)

THE IRON TRAITORBy Julie Kagawa~Book Review~

 *Contains MAJOR spoilers, proceed at your own risk*
            ALRIGHT, Meghan’s little brother: what’ve you got? 

The Iron Traitor is Book II of the Call of the Forgotten Series, based in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey world. This is a spin-off series that switches the narrator from Meghan Chase to her younger half-brother, Ethan. The Lost Prince is the first book, in which Ethan reconciled (somewhat) with his fear of the fey by going on a little Faeryland adventure of his own. On the way, he befriended (somewhat) his sister’s princeling son, Kierran; Kierran’s boring summer fae love interest, Annwyl; and he more-then-befriended his classmate Makenzie, who is dying of leukemia and thus finds the fey world exhilarating.
Before we begin: I’m an uber huge fan of The Iron Knight (Iron Fey Book IV), which had no annoying Meghan and focused on Ash and Puck’s bromance as they underwent one of the most creative and jaw-dropping fantasy adventures ever through Faeryland—to the “End of the World” itself. Everything was well-paced and plotted, and the characterization? You couldn’t ask for better character chemistry. So I was super excited to hear about Kagawa re-visiting Faeryland in the Call of Forgotten Series, although I was apprehensive when I heard the narrative voice would shift to Ethan.
Ethan’s okay. He’s not too riveting, but he’s not one-dimensional, either; he’s just kinda a guy who wants to do the right thing. And who cares, when he’s gonna show us more of Faeryland, with its devious, deal-making Fae, intricate world-building, and the king of one-liners, Grimalkin.
In Iron Traitor, Ethan attempts some semblance of a normal life with his now-girlfriend, Makenzie, before he receives news that Kierran has gone missing. Since Kierran’s life revolves around Annwyl, a very passive but beautiful banished Fae who is Fading, it doesn’t take too long for Ethan to figure out that Kierran is attempting to stop her Fade by dealing with some very seedy characters. All Fae fade if they spend too much time away from Faeryland or if they’ve been forgotten by humankind. Speaking of, the Forgotten Fey are back, and they’re determined to no longer remain forgotten in the minds of humans through any means necessary.
Ethan jumps to help Kierran and Annwyl (hey, it’s more interesting than anything he’s got going on at home) and thus faces a series of difficult decisions as to how far he will go to save a loved one’s life—which successively get harder and harder, and more convoluted, and more destructive.
Of course, such decisions don’t seem to be too difficult for our boy Kierran, and you have to give him points for how long he’s able to manipulate the group. At other times, you have to rant. Excuse me for a moment.


KIERRAN, Kierran, Kierran. *Pats him on the shoulder and sighs*. Okay, maybe Ethan gets a pass on Politics 101 because he obviously spends his school days hanging out in the principal’s office rather than in class (*cough, cough* and is content to blindly follow your rebellious little teenage butt around *cough*). But Mr. Prodigy Son of Meghan and Ash! When the merciless Queen Titania--who is an awesome wicked character in her remorselessness but who has never once done something remotely beneficial to others—makes you the following offer:


MAJOR SPOILERS!!!



MAJOR!!

How ‘bouts dis: you go into the realm of my SWORN enemy, the Winter Fae, and kill off this giant mysterious beastie living in the heart of the Frozen Wood, and then I’ll considerlifting dear sweet Annwyl’s banishment. Consider. Consider. CONSIDER.
A.k.a: ha ha, no.
Her insane offer is so blatantly obvious that Annwyl’s reinstatement ain’t never gonna happen that she’s practically insulting the main characters’ intelligence. Which is funny, but they take her seriously. How desperation dost blind the brain past any sense of reason (Kenzie, that would have been a good time for you to step in). Let’s consider why Titania would want some age-old power living in her opponents’ realm dead. Hmmm, out of the goodness of her heart to get a terrible monster off the Winter Queen’s plate? No. If it’s causing havoc in the Winter realm, then she has a lot of motivation to let it be. So why would she want a beneficial/neutral creature in the Winter realm gone? Obviously by getting rid of it, then it will benefit Summer somehow. Make Winter more vulnerable. Probably piss them off a lot. And since she’s so vague about why she wants it dead, then you know the stakes are pretty high—as in game-altering-causing-a-war type of high. Maybe a little more negotiating and turning the attention back to Summerand asking if there’s any pesky Fae running around Summer’s territory that they could get rid of, they would be able to tease out her true intentions instead of accepting her lies at face value.
But then we wouldn’t see Ethan and Co. face down a giant, terrible ice monster, and who doesn’t want to see Ethan fight an epic battle with an ice monster out of Kagawa’s fantastic imagination? No arguments here.
So Kierran’s soul is being corrupted and he doesn’t give a damn about Winter and Summer. Clearly this corruption comes with a little stupidity, too. But whatever. We get a cool journey through the Winter Realm and an epic showdown. From there, you’d think the answer would be to knock Kierran out and have his ass fired from the “saving Annwyl” operation, but he’s more interesting when he’s running around causing mayhem. And boy, does he. The interesting question in the third book—besides if we’ll see Titania fight more—is if Kierran can redeem himself.



*END OF SPOILERS!*


*END*

So if you can suspend your disbelief for more than just the hobgoblins running around New Orleans and understand that all of the characters’ actions are going to be along the lines of: “Yeah…we probably shouldn’t be doing this…but what the hell. We’ve gotta save what’s her name—Annwyl,” then you are in for yet another entertaining adventure in Faeryland, far more intriguing than Book I: The Lost Prince, in my opinion. Kagawa brings up fascinating dilemmas like how the fey know they can live forever…as long as they aren’t forgotten (what must they do to ensure that?) and I still think her Summer/Winter Fae conceptions are some of the best ‘round fantasy town. Here’s to Book III—and given the shocking (but not unforeseen) cliffhanger to Book II, whatever delightful surprise Kagawa has waiting for us next.
Recommend for fans of: Melissa Marr, Richelle Mead, Andrea Cremer
Upcoming April Book Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I'd like to give kudos to Kyra Halland for inviting me to the Writing Process Blog Tour. This one's been ongoing for quite a while and authors from all over the blogosphere have been weighing in about how they write what they do. Read Kyra's contribution here .

My Writing Process (The Heffinator Style)
1) What am I working on?

As usual, my mind goes in many directions before it finally hones in on one writing project to get it done (or as done as it get can get, anyway). I'm currently working on the first Changeling Sisters novella (Summer 2014) about a minor character in the Year of the Wolf who really surprised me by demanding to share her story about what really happened to her. I'm also formulating the plot for Changeling Sisters III: Year of the Dragon, in which the stakes get higher for our Alvarez sisters, as well as streamlining ideas into my Afterlife Chronicles II cache, so the latter two are still in their nebulous phases.
 
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work stems off others in the fantasy genre in a lot of ways from a lot of different time contexts, because I grew up reading fantasy favorites Tamora Pierce, Terry Brooks, Roger Zelazny, Octavia Butler, Robert Jordan, Ursula K. Le Guin, T.A. Barron, J.K. Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and those authors can never leave my writing. So in a way, I processed fundamental writing techniques from their books that I really enjoyed--memorable characters, fully-realized fantasy worlds--and channeled them into my own world-building and writing. While I developed my craft, the urban fantasy phenomena was unfolding to a wide-reaching audience. However, high fantasy books like Eragon still enchanted readers as well, so I definitely saw how contemporary and high, epic fantasy elements could combine to create resonating stories that capture the imagination. 

My personal touch is to tweak or turn tropes of the fantasy genre on their head. I'd like to challenge how they came to be that way, or make them feel uncomfortable. Why is a happy ending equivocated with a main character finding their soul mate, when many of us go through many different kinds of soul mates during our lives? What happens when neither the hero or the villain wins, leaving the state of things in an unclear mess? What am I reproducing when invoking "Light" as good and "Dark" as bad; how can I complicate such binaries? How did concepts like the hero's journey or characterizations like Mary Sue/Gary Stues become things, anyway, and how do they serve to constitute what's considered "normal"?

3) Why do I write what I do?

In mainstream fantasy regulated by the traditional publishing market, I did see how a certain dominant narrative was re-articulated again and again. Main characters are often white and heterosexual, as are all of their friends. People of color are relegated supporting roles; gay characters are routinely cast as "the gay best friend". People with differently-abled and marginalized body types are also non-existent, unless the entire story revolves around Character A being fat, for example. We've all heard the stories about publishers pushing for a main character's age to be younger than perhaps what the original manuscript called for (ahem, high school instead of college age). 

When Citlalli Alvarez revealed to me that she would, no ifs, whats, or buts about it, be the lead kick-ass heroine of the Changeling Sisters Series, I realized that I had a choice about whether or not to perpetuate this dominant mainstream narrative. I chose to craft the Changeling Sisters world in a way to disrupt that, to incorporate Korean and Mexican-American culture and language as dominant and just as legitimate as "white", to challenge the mainstream reader with what they may be unfamiliar with, and to spark their curiosity about what they're missing by sticking to traditional publishers who sell a certain kind of story. I'm white, so my presence is still there, and any mistakes I make are my own. But I have the opportunity to write about the world and friends I know, a colorful, diverse world, and I will keep taking that path again and again.

4) How does your writing process work?


*It begins with a question or an idea. For example, with The Tribe of Ishmael(Afterlife Chronicles I), I read Dante's Inferno for class and found myself riveted by one encounter with the demons, who had been cast into Hell to torment wicked human souls for an eternity. I wondered about how Hell would look when built from their views and experiences.  

*So I build the fantasy world, pulling on things I've seen outside of me and more often than not, dreams. Dreams are awesome world-building fuel because they combine things in ways you would have never imagined in waking life. 
*From there, I search for my main character(s) to carry the story and explore their relationship with the world. Have they just been dropped into it? What could have brought them there? How do they interact with each other and why? I'll usually settle on four main characters, one of which is...
*The villain(s)! Where's the points of friction between them and the main character(s)? Where do their interests coincide, in that they could seduce the main character(s)? What's the baddie's back-story (No one ever comes out of a vacuum)?  
*By now the beginning just flows out of me. Easy as pie. Stream of consciousness. It could go in all directions, it touches on a mystery and attracts attention, it's wonderfully bizarre and difficult to make sense of. It might be a sign of my generation: I think in terms of multimedia. I plot out "scenes" through movie or video game frames, and then I translate these visuals to paper. Anyway, beginnings are easy to write because they could go anywhere.
*The middle is tough. There aren't as many possibilities. What gets told and by whom needs to be weighed and re-examined. I might have to go back and re-write the beginning, or re-assess a previously minor character's role. The story is unfolding toward some semblance of an "end," and I have to choose where that resting spot will fall and the degree to which it will be satisfactory. The middle is also difficult because it is where many nuances in character development take place, so they've grown to a point the reader can recognize as "changed" by the time the climax approaches. During this middle part, I often write brief character conversations or scenes I see revealed in the end.
*I like writing the climax. Dispense with all flowery imagery--(although I'm prone to doing that)--just use hard, fast verbs that convey urgency and atmosphere. Then the winding down after the climax isn't so bad either--although by that point, my characters will probably already be waving on a path(s) ahead about where they see themselves going next. The hardest part is to leave them to wave so I can revise, revise, revise, edit, edit, edit, and then glance up to see if they're still there.
*Beta-reading time: I submit the manuscript to people I trust--and people I trust to be honest with me--and hope that what I wrote makes sense. Do they understand what I was trying to do with Character A? To what degree do I succeed? How does the story feel all together? I put away the manuscript and don't look at it for a while so I can re-visit with a fresh pair of eyes. Maybe I write about my waving characters and ideas for future books, but by then, the moment has been lost.
*I collect the varying sources of in-put and continue re-editing. At some point, the manuscript reaches finished-draft status. Then I get to share it with everyone I know and everyone I don't, which makes me incredibly happy! The engagement process with the book continues with every new reader who reads, and I truly enjoy hearing how their reading experience unfolded, what worked, and what didn't. After all, writing is a process and it is constantly in a state of becoming, never finished.


The Writing Process Blog Tour continues! Pop by next week to visit:

Dennis Upkins
Upkins is from Atlanta, Ga. An urban fantasy author, his writing credits include Hollowstone, Stranger Than Fiction, and West of Sunset. Upkins also regularly critiques and analyzes the representation and portrayal of minorities in comics and media as a regular contributor to Ars Marginal. Follow him at DennisUpkins.com and on Twitter, @drupkins.

Also check out:

Autumn M. Birt
Birt, author of elemental and epic fantasy books, shares her thoughts. 

Yvonne Hertzberger
Hertzberger shares her love of magical realism here.

The Tribe of Ishmael Participates in Kindle Countdown Deals!

Looking to immerse yourself in a dysfunctional, dark, fantastical afterlife journey? Starting Monday, April 7-13th, The Tribe of Ishmael will be available at 70, 50, and 30 percent off on Amazon, slowly returning to its original price by the end of the week. Check it out here , the earlier in the week, the better!

April 2014 Book Review: Sanctum

SANCTUM By Sarah Fine~Book Review~
  *Warning! Spoilers!*
THERE’S NOTHING like a wholly immersive and unique underworld experience—and Sarah Fine’s Sanctum delivers in terms of the dark and creepy city behind the Suicide Gates. The city is such a complicated, riveting character in this YA paranormal-romance that it practically steals the show!
In the beginning, there is Lela. She is a scarred fighter, which contributes toward why she can’t understand why her best friend Nadia would choose to end her life. Another part has to do with her own experience standing on the brink of suicide—and the sight of the forbidding city she saw waiting for her in the afterlife. Little does she know, she caught a glimpse of the Shadowlands’ Suicide Gates, patrolled by formidable guards and nasty demon-like Mazikin who are intent on bringing more of their kind into the city by taking over human bodies. So when she finds herself in a position to rescue Nadia from her unholy resting place, she takes it.
Along the way, she meets the Captain of the Suicide Gates, Malachi, who reluctantly agrees to help her. We’re treated to the usual goggly-eyed stream of “ohmygosh, he’s smokin’ hotness!” from Lela while Malachi is “intrigued” by her, which instantly sucks all the tension out of where that relationship is going. I’ve definitely grown weary of “eternal love” romance lines, which is probably why I spent less time interested in Malachi for his hot bod, and more time curious about how he became Captain, what he was keeping in the city as much as keeping out, and what he could tell Lela about Fine’s afterlife in general. It was hinted at that there are other “cities” in the Shadowlands for other untimely circumstances of death, and the place the Mazikin are trying to escape from sounds none-too-pleasant. The time Lela initially spends wandering around the city trying to find Nadia were some of the most nail-biting, tense moments, because the Mazikin were still unknown and scary enough to convey how vulnerable Lela was. However, Lela spits back whatever the city throws at her, evil tower that tries to eat her and all, and gains some kick-butt allies in the form of Guards Malachi and Ana.
I’m uncertain of Ana’s background, but if you check out Malachi’s journal entries on the author’s website, you learn of how she comes to join the Guard and that she was a Spanish-speaker—Takeshi is her love interest, and Lela is American but tentatively claims Puerto Rican ancestry, so yay for a strong POC presence. However, I was kind of disappointed that the beginning centrality of Lela and Nadia’s friendship fell by the wayside in favor of romance. Throughout the entire book, Nadia remained a ghost to me—I don’t think I ever really got a sense of who she was, which, in some respects relating to the heavy subject matter, may be the point. Unfortunately, that means I didn’t really feel the connection that would motivate Lela to take the action she does in the end; Nadia just feels too much like a symbol rather than a person.
The plot is very strong and the atmosphere enthralling—I wanted to know what would happen, and I refused to put down the book until I had my answer. However, as I mentioned before about the unique creepiness of the city taking on the semblance of a character in its own right—and in a large part, differentiating The Shadowlands Series from many other YA paranormal/urban fantasies out there—then I’m worried that the engrossing urgency it conveys will be lost in the second book, Fractured , which moves to the evil earthly realm of—high school. I constantly found myself asking more questions about the dark city rather than the characters, so hopefully the Shadowlands will continue to make its menacing presence known in future installments!
Recommended for fans of: Susan Ee, Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Shirvington
Upcoming Book Reviews: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins and The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa

March 2014 Book Review: Artemis Fowl

ARTEMIS FOWLBy Eoin Colfer~Book Review~
Minor Spoilers!
To wrap up our Ireland-set fantasy book month:
WOW I read this book a long time ago. And personally, I like the old cover :D I remember thinking it made the book seem all mysterious. The back cover bore the cryptic phrase, which went something like: STAY BACK, HUMAN. YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH, and I remember thinking: You're right. I really have no clue.
Then in walked Artemis Fowl, a pale, arrogant kid genius who always gets everything he wants--except for a family. He won me over by the first chapter. With his mother's mental health teetering, his father dead, and the Fowl Manor coffers in trouble, Artemis Fowl decides like any normal twelve-year-old boy that the best solution is to rob a bunch of powerful, underground dwelling fairy folk who have tons of riches. The ever-suffering Butler (his loveable bodyguard) reluctantly agrees to his scheme, and they catch a break when they track down an alcoholic sprite banished to live among the Mud People (that's us), whom Artemis tricks in order to study her Book. All fairies have Books that issue strict protocol to follow, and guidelines about when to replenish their magic. Such a magic-drained fairy should be popping up in Ireland any day now to renew her magic under the light of the full moon. Artemis and Butler hurry to trap her so they can hold her for ransom.
Unfortunately for them, they've captured LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police) captain Holly Short, who although initially surprised by this devious Mud Person's intelligence, soon unhatches several schemes of her own. The Underground fairy folk aren't delicate or romanticized; they're formidable, blaster-wielding, and ultra-technologically advanced. Now that Artemis has a scientific genius centaur, a crude dwarf with a secret weapon, and the whole of LEP coming after him, he'll have to re-evaluate what he really wants. This book aimed for teen and younger readers is a whole lot of hilarity, twists, and inventiveness, with a thought-provoking eco-message and a Code written in the Fairy language that you can crack if you're really a  hardcore fan. You might not be sure how the story ends, but you do know that Artemis has finally found a true opponent in the Fairy Folk.
Recommended for fans of: J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, T. A. BarronUpcoming Book Review: Sanctum by Sarah Fine (I said I'd do this one a while back, sorries! :)

Abroad in Ireland

A tale of one girl’s study abroad trip to Galway, Ireland. The university was just one part of it...

Happy St. Patty's Day! You can bet we were listening to this song a lot while in Galway:
“Galway Girl”


And we might have enjoyed the movie P.S. I Love You a bit too much. Anyway.
  GALWAY IS A  gorgeous, atmospheric city on the northwest coast of Ireland. The Docks teamed with fishing and sailboats against a backdrop of red, blue, and yellow buildings. Cobblestone paths interweaved past Lynch’s Castle, the colorful Eyre Square, and Galway Cathedral; old bridges overlooked rowing team practices on the River Corrib. Few cars roamed the streets, especially at night when foot traffic was heavy on route to a vibrant night life complete with famous pubs such as The King’s Head, the Quays, and Monroe’s Tavern—and smaller niches (The Cottage Bar in Salthill, Crane Bar on Sea Road) where aspiring musicians are welcome to join onstage bands. Both The Saw Doctors and Dolores and Sean Keane (De Dannan) hail from Galway, and the town hosts a variety of music festivals as well as a famous Arts Festival in July.

WELCOME TO GALWAY
It had always been a dream of mine to study abroad during undergrad. National University of Galway (NUI Galway) caught my eye as set in a unique and smaller city than Dublin, so I figured I could get to know the area better. The university was certainly an English Major’s dream—seminars included in-depth looks at Jane Austen, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Y.B. Yeats, and John Milton. It felt different to be studying these authors closer or within their homeland for some of them, like a seminar I ended up taking and really enjoyed about Irish writer/playwright Tom Murphy. There was also a family connection to Ireland—my uncle, who first traveled there on a bike trip in the 70s, slept in old churchyards overgrown with ivy, formed fast friendships, and kept finding a reason to return ever since. The land was a stunning inventor of the word “green” and was written with dark, fascinating histories and the wry attitudes of the people who lived them. I applied to NUI Galway through Arcadia University here in the US, determined to make the financial situation work, and when I was accepted, I boarded a plane in August study for a semester in Galway.


I really should have picked the spring. I hear it rains slightly less then.

DUBLIN

Galway has an airport, but the university program set up the orientation for its international students in Dublin. I arrived with giant roller suitcases in hand, and walked up and down the main riverside street several times before I found the group meeting hostel near the Temple Bar area/Trinity College (I remember the discouraging feeling of being lost, before I figured this was a pretty cool place to be lost in). Our Arcadia student body had been broken into groups of six who would each share rooms, get to know one another, and so have a familiar face to look forward to when we arrived at NUI Galway’s version of dorms—awesome, two-or-three story small houses with full kitchens and baths, all lined neatly up next to one another with the University a 15-20 minute walk down the street, and a Tesco supermarket nearby. Most of the students in the Arcadia group were from East Coast USA, but there were a few from California. So I was the Washington student representing—hell yes.
 
For breakfast, we enjoyed a marvelous spread of bacon, toast, fried egg and tomato, sautéed mushrooms—and the infamous white/black pudding (that might have remained untouched). The day was spent exploring the city. A tour bus dutifully shipped us around the various Dublin hotspots—we snapped pictures of the lovely Botanic Gardens, traipsed through the courtyards of Trinity College, locked ourselves up in Kilmainham Gaol, and peeked in on the Book of Kells. Later that evening we visited my first pub—somewhere in the Temple Bar district—where I discovered for the first time what all the fuss about Guinness was about, and then found another brew that more fuss should be about in the US—Bulmer’s Hard Cider. Crisp, refreshing, amazing. The pint glasses, too, all artfully engraved with Smithwicks or Murphy’s, added something extra—hell, even Bud Light tasted better when served in a stylish pint glass.
A silly little thing like glass won't stop this man from getting his Guinness.  The cool thing about having castles...you can host events like this: Secret Castle of Magic celebrating Bram Stoker. Photo accredited to Trip Advisor (2014) .  The following morning on our third day in Ireland, all of us still pumped up with adrenaline, we boarded the bus for a three hour drive to the opposite coast (Citylink and Bus Éireann are major bus lines), where the ivy-clad stone courtyards of NUI Galway, like some unearthed Emerald City, were waiting.
To be continued…

Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact.