Genese Davis's Blog, page 21

Would Your Book Be Shelved?

As I look at the books on my bookshelf, I realize that they fall into three categories:

1) The unfinished, or unread books. They’re the ones that I never want to reach for.

2) The books that I’ve read and liked okay, but I wouldn’t read them again.

3) And the books I’ve read at least twice. The ones I reference frequently, remember, quote, and think about long after reading. The books that never stay on the shelf—these are the books that keep us addicted. These are the “Caffeinated Books.”

Books with caffeinated writing affect us, submerge into our subconscious, and blanket us with their mood. These are the books that seem to stimulate our central nervous system, make us alert, give us a sense of purpose and adrenaline. They hook us. Make us feel addicted to the pages, and rabid to read until the end. The effects of these caffeinated books haunt us when we’re away from the pages. We think about the book all day, about the story constantly and you cannot wait to get your next fix. How do these stories get laced with such addiction? I’ve narrowed it down to a few key angles. If I’ve forgotten any of your favorite factors that make up caffeinated writing, drop them into a comment below!

Bleeding Characters: When we read, we want to be drawn in by rich characters—characters that astonish. Complicated characters that can break our heart in one moment and then inspire us in the next. It is never ignorable when a character’s soul bleeds. We’ll notice if characters feel half empty. They will appear on the page, but nothing about what defines them will be. Without including the grit that makes a character passionate or apathetic, a character will be forgotten and the story will not impact us. It is in the character’s flaws, their honesty, and their choices that make us swoon, make us shiver, cry, laugh and cringe. Writers must not forget to give every character individual attention. They should be in every way alive. They should be forced to face anguish, love, betrayal, and denial. It is then that the reader will connect and fain with them. Because we have felt the same, we will latch onto these characters and right then, at that moment, the story becomes more than a book. It becomes a secret window where we can glimpse another version of ourselves, another version of what our lives have been or will become.

The Neutral Voice: The books that hook are often stories with a quiet voice. The voice of the story should be as beautiful as it is unnoticeable. When we don’t notice the metaphors, references, opinions, and style, we are lost in the world of the book—the perfect place to be. The voice should offer more than we expect without coming across as preachy. The voice is there, but it is hidden within the world, the story, and the richness of the characters.

A Gasping Pace: There is nothing worse than reading a book and thinking, I don’t care about this. Get on with the story. My favorite books are written more like screenplays. In a screenplay, every single word has to matter. You have a limited amount of pages to draw the world and people that will take our breath away or tear our guts out. Not every part of every book needs to have non-stop action—comedic relief or serendipitous harmony are welcome interruptions. Just make sure those in between the action are still moving the plot, characters, goals, or conflict forward.

 

Now, let’s turn the platform over to you, Internet Souls! What books have you shelved and why? What type of writing is “caffeinated” to you?

 

 

 

 

 

Image Credit: Beauty Home Designs

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Legendary Moment

A moment that I’ll remember forever…

I would like to thank all the wonderful friends who were a part of this day. Without you all, none of it would have been possible.

It was September 2011, but I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. Autumn was on our doorstep. For weeks we’d practiced. Twenty-five members made up our team. And all twenty-five of us gathered every Tuesday night. Our only equipment: dedication, determination, and the resolve that we’d overcome anything that lay before us. Minutes became hours struggling over battle strategies and hours became days. If we wiped we’d go back and start over again. No matter what, we always went back. We never faltered to show up every week with the drive and commitment to finish what we’d started, hardmodes and all.

Before the Mists of Pandaria expansion in World of Warcraft, Blizzard announced that they would forge a new legendary weapon, special just for us—a staff! Fellow casters and I cheered.

Dedicated casters in our raid worked tirelessly together. We studied our talents, practiced our rotations, and when Firelands was released and the raid leaders announced we would be going after the server-first legendary achievement all conversations ceased. We took a breath, tasting the moment. Could we do it? Would we one day hold the server-first legendary weapon achievement? The idea drove us. We worked harder than before, dedicating more time and more resolve to down every raid boss, hardmodes and all. And one night, after months of following quest lines, forging relics, carrying fire, dancing between lava, it happened. We downed the last boss, I collected the last of the Smouldering Essences, turned in the final quest, and an achievement bar populated on my screen. Server-first legendary weapon achievement, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest!

Even though new raiding tiers will release and new legendary weapons will be forged, this legendary moment belongs to me and my team. We can own it forever, look back, smile, and raise our glasses to our collaborative efforts. This is a huge part of what makes raiding with friends in online games so special. Our events in game are celebrated like major real life events outside of the game. They are just as special, just as sentimental, because acquaintances become friends and friends become family. Everyone in the raiding team works together toward common goals and celebrate when we achieve them. It’s awesome. I feel very honored to have been a part of the raiding team called Girl Problems. They were with me when I got the server-first legendary, and without them it wouldn’t have been possible.

Raiding is a unique sport. Its inspiring challenges push and evolve us. To every raiding team I’ve gotten to know: you guys offered the experience and guidance for me to grow and continue getting better at shadowpriesting. And I couldn’t be more grateful. Assassin Nation, Pandora, Epinicion, Overwhelming, Knights of Arcadia, Girl Problems, Gag Reflex, Fear Engine… (and any other group I’m missing) you guys are incredible, free-thinking, brilliant, inspiring, kindred spirits. You are the best kind of friends anyone could ask for. Thank you for sharing so many fun-filled moments with me, and I look forward to so many more to come!

XOXO, Loxy (aka Genese)

P.S. One of our raiding mates wrote a short story about that night. Here it is:

Associated Press

Woman on a Flying Dragon Devours Stormwind.

Written by: Wildclaw

In a surprise move late Tuesday night, a translucent woman named Loxy was spotted astride a giant dragon hovering over the Stormwind Cathedral, accompanied by high-pitched screams of delight emanating all over the area. City officials were baffled. Commerce in the trade and dwarven districts came to a halt as some speculated that the pair intended to destroy us all. “I ain’t never seen no dragon that huge before”, said Auctioneer McCallifer. Citizens were urged to stay out of the beast’s way so as not to antagonize it further.

“We don’t know why it chose our town, but frankly, this entire night has been a bit disconcerting,” said a local businessman.

King Varian Wrynn assured the public that the woman nor the dragon posed any threat but that his mighty biceps could handle it if need be. However, some citizens argued in a trading forum whether this spelled doom for us all or not. Others openly discussed that people concerned about the enormous dragon should “get a life”. They were summarily ignored.

A source at local mens’ club, Knights of Arcadia, released a statement regarding the high-pitched screams. “We regret any inconvenience this may have caused to the sleep of our fellow citizens. We assure you, those were yelps of joy, and this gigantic dragon and the woman who rides it poses no immediate threat that we are aware of. Grats, Loxy!”

A short while later, the woman matching the description of the suspect in the sky was seen dancing in the Dwarven District. Slung casually over her back was a fine-ass [Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest].

–Article Comments Below–

[Kapulani]: Grats to Loxy! A+++++ to the Associated Press! Would read again!

[Mortainus]: Hey Grats, Loxy on the Staff

[Furtim]: Grats to Loxy, and nice bit of RP there, Wild.

[Khadys]: First of all, grats, Loxy! on your staff! Per wowprogress, that legendary moved her up really far on gear rankings! (See Picture Below)

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Title Reveal!

How often do we get to reveal the titles for our new books? Not often, right? It takes years to write books, but only a few short seconds to reveal the title! So, it’s truly exciting to take the next few seconds to share with you the title of my debut novel:

THE HOLDER’S DOMINION

Wow! I can finally say it out loud. For over two years I’ve been working on this novel tirelessly—a day would become a daze working eighteen hours straight writing and editing. What a tremendous feat! Fellow artists: virtual hugs and cheers all around, for every day we dug deep inside ourselves to find just the right word eighty thousands times until we finished our stories. Then our editors had us working double time, and the proofreader too! Until finally, our publishers tell us the book is done!

Thank you all for sharing this moment with me. Fellow artists, supporters, family, friends, and wonderful internet souls… You all are inspirations!

P.S. THD cover announcement coming soon! Keep an eye on www.theholdersdominion.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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