K.M. Shea's Blog, page 74

Squirrel Attacks

Today I think I conducted possibly the weirdest bit of research I’ve ever done for the sake of a book. I spent about half an hour watching squirrel attack clips on YouTube for  a scene that will appear in Beauty and the Beast. My research did not reassure me to the general level of humanities’ intellect, but there were a few genuinely funny clips and it helped give the scene a feeling of authenticity.

This one is my personal favorite. The guy’s commentary as the squirrel is chasing him is hysterical!

Hmmm

It’s a short update today because I’ve got lots to do, but I wanted to warn you, Champions, that I will again be playing around with the format and layout of my blog, and I’m working on getting my domain name hooked up to it. I need to do a wee bit of social media housekeeping, so I’ll be peeking around twitter and my facebook page as well. Basically don’t worry if you happen to pop in for a visit and everything looks wonky. I have the tendency to make things worse before I can get them fixed up.

Beyond that I haven’t much to report. Beauty and the Beast is coming along swimmingly, and I’ve made a commitment to busting my butt the next two weeks to push it forward. I’m about to get tangled up in the romantic part of the story, which honestly I find awkward. It’s a challenge to write romance, my real strength lies in witty dialog and action scenes. When I write romance scenes I end up wanting to yell at my characters “Just kiss already!” This is probably a symptom of watching too many Disney movies as a child.

Bother.

So yes, I’ll be pushing through the awkward romance writing. I shall report back on Wednesday, Champions. Thanks for reading!

Let’s Talk: Writing Dialog

Today I want to discuss writing dialog. We’re going to jump straight into it by looking over dialog’s punctuation format. If you you have a piece of dialog followed by he said/she said/a sentence that modifies the talking, AND you intend to use a period to end the talking, you must, instead, use a comma. (In example: “Right, I totally believe you,” Raven said, rolling her eyes.) If you’re using a question mark or an exclamation mark you insert them as usual without a comma of any sort. If the dialog is at the end of the paragraph and there’s nothing after it, you can still end it with a period. (In example: Morgan shoved Devin away. “I said to back away, not come closer.”) HOWEVER, if there is a sentence before the dialog that modifies it, then a comma goes after that modifier. (In example: Britt arched an eyebrow before adding, “It also helps that you’re handsome.”) Crack open the nearest fiction book and look at the dialog pieces for more examples.

Generally speaking, you want to use exclamation marks sparingly in dialog. If the character is shouting, exasperated, or excited the dialog and description should reveal that. Additionally, try to stick to she/he said. Asked is considered a safe dialog verb as well. Things like shrieked, shouted, yelled, sputtered, etc CAN be used as well, but as with exclamation marks they should be used sparingly.

The above rules may seem like killjoys, but it’s for the reader’s sake. Using different verbs for dialog really pulls readers out of the groove. As a society we have been trained to essentially ignore the he/she said tags. When reading a book you’re barely aware of them. The same cannot be said for more colorful verbs.

There is another alternative. If you’re having a conversation between two characters you can chop off the usage of he/she said altogether. In example….

Britt yawned. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I may be bored.”

Merlin glanced up from his paper work. “This winter season has been quiet. You had best enjoy it while it lasts, lass.”

“What do you mean?”

“Spring is nearly here, and all the wretched warmongers will pop out of the ground with the pretty flowers you love so much.”

I never once used he/she said, but you knew who was speaking every time, first because the actions gave away who was talking, and then because of word usage and word order. Some authors use motions/action tags to let you know who is talking, and others use a character’s voice to let you know who is talking. (For instance, Merlin is the only person in King Arthur and Her Knights who calls Britt lass. If my readers see any dialog with the word lass in it they know it’s Merlin.)

OK, so now that you’ve got a basic overview of how dialog is set up, how do you write dialog itself? If you’re serious about writing good dialog you need to become a people watcher. Listen to the way your friends and family talk, then go out and listen to strangers and see what they talk about and how they say it. Each character needs to have a unique voice. An uncultured peasant isn’t going to talk like a King, just as you Great Aunt Ellie isn’t going to sound like the 15-year-old neighbor boy. A typical teenager uses slang, and people say things differently depending where they live and their economical standing. (Is it soda, pop, or coke? Is it a drinking fountain or a bubbler? How about a couch or a sofa?)

Also, your character’s personality should be reflected in what they say. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice is prideful while his friend, Mr. Bingley, is easy going and amiable. The difference is obvious in the dialog as Mr. Bingley says he finds everything agreeable and Mr. Darcy is typically realistic with  a large dash of criticism. The personality difference should show from character to character, but also between the opposing forces in your story. Your villains must be strikingly different from your heroes. You will never find a group of truly evil villains complimenting each other, or wondering if they’ll find their one true love. Instead they would dwell on conquest and power, and the words they use will be darker.

I’ve barely scratched the surface with this crash course, but hopefully it pointed a few of you budding writers in the right direction. Sorry for the delay in uploading Friday’s post, but thanks for reading!

Battle Bunny

I’ve seen some hilarious kid books in my life as a library skulker, but Battle Bunny is a new breed of hilarity and imagination. At a first glance the book looks like your typical cutesy story about a woodland creature. The illustrations are awash with pastels, fuzzy animals, and blue skies, but at a second glance it appears that a naughty child has defaced the entire book.

The authors of the book essentially wrote two stories in one. The base story features a birthday bunny and his cutesy friends. The defaced “pencil” drawings on top of the cutesy story alter the plot, giving the bunny an variety of hand held weapons and a plan to unleash his evilness.

Not everyone is going to like the defaced story of Battle Bunny, but I applaud the authors and illustrator. It’s hard to do something new in books today–even more so with kids books where the standard fare is 1) princesses 2) animals 3) robots. There are millions of stories waiting to be told, but sometimes I wonder if we’re too stuck on doing ‘what works’ to see the beautiful and creative possibilities. Take for instance, ebooks.

Many years ago–If you think this makes me sound old I WILL punish you–I tried getting published the traditional route. I tried getting an agent, I submitted books to publishers, and I entered stories in contents. Ebooks were new, frightening, and scary. Everyone in the publishing industry seemed to demonize self published ebook authors, but in December 2012 I decided to take a chance and released a second Kindle ebook. I have been so blessed to acquire a lot of great readers who I really cherish since then, and it’s given me the motivation and ability to write even more than I used to. If I hadn’t taken the chance and tried releasing more ebooks I wouldn’t be able to share my books with the wide audience I have today.

That’s why I want to applaud innovators like Battle Bunny, because if we don’t try new things we won’t reach our dreams. Thanks for reading, Champions, and I will see you on Friday.

Characters I love to write

I’ve been slaving away over Beauty and the Beast, and I have to confess, my favorite character to write is the Beast’s shallow, selfish brother, Crown Prince Lucien.

Lucien is unapologetically selfish. He says want he wants, get what he wants, and acts the way he wants. Conversely he is deeply loyal to the Beast, and there is very little he wouldn’t do for him. What I love about Lucien is that he has no sense of reserve. He’s so fun to write because he has very few boundaries and I get to spend my time thinking of selfish, silly things for him to say when I write his scenes. I created Lucien to be a character readers will both like and dislike, so I found it a little odd that I enjoy writing him so much. I decided to look back through a few of my books and see if I could spy a pattern.

In terms of favorites, Britt from King Arthur and Her Knights is certainly up there. She’s easy and diverting to write because even though she’s plopped in the middle of an Arthurian romance she is very down to earth. Asher and Aron–the mischievous Montamous Twins from Life Reader–are high on my list of favorite characters as well. I love the devious twists to their personalities, the fact that they can effortlessly bounce jokes off one another, and I greatly prize their ability to break/hack their way into just about anything. In Red Rope of Fate I really enjoyed writing Tari and Arion, but my secret favorite character is Seer Ringali–Tari’s mentor and instructor. I love the way he holds no criticisms back, stomps over all elvish social norms, and openly wields odd accessories as hidden weapons. My favorite character from the Robyn Hood series is a little more difficult to pin down, but it’s probably either Robyn herself, or the dramatic duo of Much and Will Stutely. I like that Robyn is terrified of being a leader,  not at all courageous, and  that she doesn’t try to hide either of these facts from her men. When it comes to Much and Will Stutely I like the over-dramatic antics they use to get their points across, and the fact that they’re basically the camp gossips.

I could go on, but after looking at just a few books I realized I typically like the characters who do not mince their words and are straight forward. It’s surprising how that character trait can be expressed in dozens of different ways–From Seer Ringali’s rude observations to Prince Lucien’s incessant complaints. There are exceptions, of course–I’m not entirely certain Britt belongs in the straight forward category–but characters who say exactly what they are thinking are undoubtedly easier (and a lot of fun) to write.

That’s what I think, anyway. Tell me, Champions, what kind of characters do you like?

My Tunes

When I talk to people about being an indie author there’s a few typical questions that get asked. How do you come up with your ideas? How long does it take you to write a book? Which of your characters is your favorite? And, surprisingly, what music do you listen to when you write? I’m going to tackle the last question in today’s post.

For starters, I rarely listen to music with words when I write. When I was a journalism student in college one of my professors explained to me that if you listen to music with words while you write it will influence the article. It might make you subconsciously change your word choice, or it might be something as obvious as making your article vaguely rhyme with the song. I tried it out back in my apartment and found that he was right–I had written my homework assignment in a cadence that matched the song.

Since then I’ve switched to instrumental music whenever I write. Of course there are a few exceptions, but usually it’s one song in a play list of 25 or 50. So if mainstream music is out, WHAT do I listen to? A lot of movie and video game soundtracks.

For the King Arthur and her Knights books I listen to a playlist consisting of music from Zelda: the ocarina of time–a video game. For Red Rope of Fate I listened to music from the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie. Lord of the Rings orchestral music was my go-to soundtrack for Princess Ahira, and as I write Beauty and the Beast my playlist consists of music from Final Fantasy XIII–another video game. (Click on the links to visit youtube videos that give you a taste of the soundtracks.) Typically I select a specific soundtrack for every book, but occasionally I’ll build a customized playlist to fit specific moods. In example, for one of my books (which has yet to be finished and released) I built a playlist for battle scenes, drawing songs from different soundtracks.

Choosing the right soundtrack for a book takes time, and it makes the writing process easier. I wrote Beauty and the Beast for roughly two weeks before I decided on the Final Fantasy soundtrack. I’ve been using the soundtrack as my background music for approximately the same amount of time, and my productivity has almost doubled.

Speaking of which, I need to hop off to write. Beauty and the Beast is currently clocking in at 29,000 words, and it’s coming along swimmingly. Thanks for stopping by, Champions, and I will see you on Friday.

In the News: Ebooks

I was reading a book this morning, Publicize your Book!, which has some really great information in it. It teaches authors how to make and use connections, how to be proactive in the publicizing side of publishing, and more. However, when I read one of the last chapters of the book–the chapter dedicated to internet publicizing–I came to a screeching halt. The author, Jacqueline Deval, professes that ebook publishing had a brief golden year, and that the market is too immature and people can’t expect to make a living off ebooks. I was shocked, until I checked the publishing information and realized this book was released in 2003.

To me, Deval’s remarks highlight how much the ebook industry has changed. All authors–mainstream and self published–are working to harness the power of ebooks. Most of my favorite published authors have ebook only novellas available on Amazon. I found an article in the Huffington Post that was published in 2012. It says that for the first time ever online adult fiction ebooks outsold hardcover adult fiction books. It also tabulated that in 2011 30% of the publishing industry’s sales were from ebooks, which is WAY up from 2010 when ebooks made up a mere 13%.

Personally I don’t think publishing houses and actual hard/paperback books will ever totally go away. I love ebooks, but I still love hardcovers too. But, it’s been 10 years since Deval published her book, and the ebook industry has arrived. Why am I talking about this in my blog? Because it directly influences me. It’s only because the ebook industry is thriving that I can communicate with you, Champions. Thank you for making that possible. Thank you for buying ebooks, and thank you for supporting indie authors.

Book Reveal: Beauty & the Beast

Exciting news! First of all, today is my 100th post in the Legendary Archive. Woot! I can’t say my posts have always been…interesting, but our time together has real meaning to me, so thank you for reading!

Secondly–which is really what you have been waiting for–today I’m announcing my next planned release, Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast will be a full length Young Adult fantasy novel–somewhere between 40,000 and 65,000 words. My book will be a slightly different take on the classic. Of course the cornerstones are still there–the magic mirror, the girl staying at the beast’s castle, the transformed prince–but I’ve added some deliciously complicated aspects to this classic fairytale.

In my version Elle, the protagonist, hasn’t been blackmailed to stay at the beast’s castle, instead she’s forced to when she breaks her leg and is stuck hobbling around for three months. The beast is a prince–admittedly an illegitimate one–who before he was transformed into a beast served as the country’s commanding general. Since the transformation he has exiled himself to his godforsaken castle and meets only with his half brother–and closest friend–crown prince Lucien.

There’s more to the story, but that’s for a later reveal. I’ve been working on it all month and I’m just shy of being halfway finished. It will likely be released in December, but I’m hoping for an earlier date.

And that’s what’s ticking in my workshop. Thanks for reading, Champions, I’ll see you all on Monday.

Horrah for Enchanted

Enchanted has been available now for a week, and it’s doing quite well for itself number wise. I’m relieved because Enthroned seem to be a hit or miss for most folk, so I wasn’t sure if Enchanted would perform as well as Enthroned. Thankfully it is outdoing my expectations, but I’m still apprehensive.

It hasn’t received any reviews on Amazon, and the silence makes me  nervous. I suppose if everyone hated it there would be lots of reviews, so maybe the silence is a good thing, but believe it or not I don’t like reviews just for my ego. I actually take what you readers say into serious consideration. Case in point, a review in Enthroned mentioned she wanted to see some more character development for Britt and her men. I received this review when I was already finish with Enchanted, but I decided to go back and add an additional scene, and heavily edit a few other scenes to fulfill that reader’s request.

If you have any desires like that, don’t hesitate to let me know whether it be through a review, a comment here on my blog, or an email. What do you want to see more of? Action? Romance? What characters do you want to see more?

That being said, Enchanted has received two reviews on goodreads that I am thrilled with! Hopefully I can deliver with my next King Arthur and Her Knights book, Embittered, and keep you all in love with Britt and her court. And yes, I have been looking forward to Embittered since I started this series, because now I finally get to pick on Lancelot. Buwaha!

Thanks for reading, Champions, I’ll see you on Friday when I reveal my next book!

Ruuun!–A bad poetry day

The Things I could Do

Oh The things I could do–If I stopped staring at youtube

I could write a book or eat an ice cube

Or find the time to make soup with a bouillan cube

Oh the things i could do–if it’ weren’t for yahoo

I could unclog the sink drain, perhaps visit the loo

I might snooze on the couch, or feed the animals at the zoo.

But why stop there?There’s more to share!

Why, just think of the things I could do if I stopped WASTING MY TIME ON THE INTERNET!!!!

 

Oh yes. It has happened. Today is a bad poetry day. I’m wrestling a lot with my current writing project–the heroine is a personality type I don’t usually write so I have to think very carefully before she speaks. (She hasn’t an ounce of sarcasm, and it is KILLING ME.) And the hero? He’s pretty uninterested. In everything. I know I supposedly control him as the author, but this guy is a new breed of stubborn and calmness. He makes Arion, from Red Rope of Fate, look like a socially adjusted, emotionally competent man.

By the end of the week I promise I will reveal this new project–remember it’s a stand alone book–but I want to get a little farther before I officially announce it so I can better predict what my release schedule looks like for the rest of the year. So please hang in there, Champions. I would like to take this moment to greet all my new readers who picked up a free (or bought) copy of any of my books this past weekend. You guys are making my blog traffic explode–which I take great joy in. I hope you like what you read and feel free to stick around, comment, or contact me with any of your thoughts! Until then, I’ll see you all on Wednesday.