C.R. Richards's Blog, page 27

Start Spreading the News

Start spreading the news.

I’m leaving today.

I wanna be a part of it – New York, New York!

Frank Sinatra does it better. And it’s not really me who’s going to the Big Apple. My dark fantasy (aka urban fantasy), PARIAH, will be on display in print and eBook at this year’s BookExpo America May 27 – May 29th. BookCon Days are May 30th – 31st.

Fantastic! Stupendous! Ummm – what exactly is BookExpo America (BEA)? I didn’t know either until I started exploring new approaches for building readership. BEA is the leading book and author event in North America. It lasts for three event-packed days and features 600+ authors, hundreds of new titles, and the largest show floor in North America.

In the past, BEA was attended mostly by publishers, booksellers, librarians, distributors and the media. BookCon was added in 2014, allowing ten thousand members of the public to explore new titles and meet attending authors. This has really opened things up for Indie Authors like me. Interested in taking a look at these new titles? Check out Combined Book Exhibit’s Catalogue  of participating authors! BTW – PARIAH is #288.

Earth Eye Candy

I attend the 25th Anniversary of the World Horror Convention and Bram Stoker Weekend in Atlanta, GA. It was an extraordinary experience. My poor brain is full of new information, questions and considerations. I was going to do a post about the many layers of the Horror Genre, but the brain isn’t cooperating right now. Instead, I’m going to share some restful pictures of the Atlanta Botanic Gardens. I had the opportunity to visit before the convention started. Enjoy!

Drive up the tree lined road into a garden of rare beauty. Mr. Frog is waiting, pensively taking stock of the visitors passing by.

 Enter into the magical world of raw nature. Explore its hidden treasures.

 

Nature provides. Tea? You’ll have to make it first. 

 

Treasures inside a special Orchid House.

Delicate and beautiful, the Orchid thrives.

 Art draws us outside again. 

Take a walk upon the canopy trail hanging 40 feet above the ground.

The Earth Goddess waits for you beside her quiet pond.

Headed to the Weird South

WHC2015

If you’re going to honor Southern Gothic, is there any better place to do it than Georgia? Some of you might say New Orleans. Well, Y’all hush. We went there last year ;)�� This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and the World Horror Convention. The WHC2015 is being held at the beautiful Atlanta Marriott Marquis. If you’re attending the conference this year, don’t forget to check out the Programming page. It lists the seven themes of the conference to help you plan your schedule. There are so many good panels and readings this year, it’s going to be difficult to choose.

Speaking of panels, I’ll be participating in the “Writing Horror in an eBook Age.” I’ll be sharing my experiences as an Indie Author and a reader who travels for work. Business travelers are (and will continue to be) a huge eBook consumer group. The team of Project Managers I work with travel all over the country. All of them love to read. All of them read on either their iPad or their smart phone. Carry on space on airplanes continues to shrink in availability and grow in expense. It simply isn’t practical to take two or three paperbacks with you on trips anymore. eBooks are a godsend to folks like me.

I foresee some interesting conversations this week. I better be ready!

Box of books shipped and on its way to Atlanta
Business cards packed (I’m not forgetting them this time!)
Prepped for Saturday’s Panel (9am): SCAREBIZ: Technical Terrors: Writing Horror in an eBook Age
Ready to network with some fun and interesting folks!

I Am The Storyteller

I am the Storyteller and I am very old.

I spoke my truths when the mountains were young.

I began telling my tales before there was fire.

I made my way across the land, singing in rhymes and bringing news.

I learned to make pictures upon a page to tell my truth to the masses.

Then I learned how to use technology to send it across the world.

I am the Storyteller. Though the method I use to tell my tales may change, the need for my truths remains.

 

I am the Storyteller. Sometimes I live in luxury. Other times I am outcast.

At my worst, I chase luxury and fame.

At my best, I expose truth.

At my worst, I can elicit hatred and intolerance.

At my best, I can encourage love and understanding.

 

I am the Storyteller.

I will always be relevant.

I will always tell my truth, because I must.

It is my purpose and my purpose will always be needed.

By C.R. Richards

 

Cut It Out!

You’re deep into edits. Things are going well until you come across what I call an “Author’s Meanderings.” This is a scene you’ve nurtured and coddled along like a baby chick. It’s brilliant! It’s gold! Hell, everything you write is gold right?! Then why isn’t it working in the story?

In situations like this, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. Let your inner editor take over, because you only have three choices:

Choice the First: Change the surrounding events in your story in an effort to force the scene to work. This sounds like a lot of extra work to me and pretty high risk. Who’s to say you won’t ruin the entire chapter? Note: I’ve taken this approach and had to delete the scene anyway.

Choice the Second: Cut your irrelevant wanderings out of the current story and paste it into a blank word doc for use at a later time. Or until you have enough time and therapy to eventually let it go.

Choice the Third (aka the right choice): When in Doubt, Cut it Out! Less fluff is a good thing.

I know it’s hard to cut the fluffy bits out of your story. I am editing a favorite scene in my WIP as I write this post. My hero’s sidekick has just been busted by his mother with a girl he supposedly hates. Reading through the chapter with my heartless editor’s eye, I realized some of the scene wasn’t working. While adorable and funny, it’s incredibly fluffy. Highlight and delete.

Sage advice from a guy who knows: Stephen King’s On Writing

The reference book I keep close when I do those intense edits: James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-Editing for Publication

If I were an Earth Mage

Spring has arrived in all its flamboyant glory. Green things have begun to pop their heads from out their beds. It is a time of excitement and a wee bit of trepidation for northern gardeners. Did the perennials I planted last year make it through the harsh winter? Will the new little saplings grow or did they reject the earth I put them in? On weekends like this, I’d love to be an Earth Mage.

Colorado had an early, bitter frost last fall. It took three of my evergreen shrubs. I’m still waiting on pins and needles to see if my first year poppies and columbines made it. Alas, the lavender garden I planted last year may be another innocent victim of frost kill and my own stupidity.

����

Who doesn’t love lavender? It’s beautiful, attracts butterflies and bees, and you can make your own yummy smelly stuff with it. I planted a circle of pink English Lavender (shown in the left picture above) and purple French Lavender as borders. It did really well in the hot sun. My blooms were beautiful.

Had I been an Earth Mage, I would have walked through the logic and understood Lavender is a native of temperate climates. It loves hot sun. Winter chill is its Kryptonite. I would have used my mad mage skills to plant this garden in a place it would have received tons of sun and been protected from Mr. Winter.�� Case in point – Look at the picture above on the right side. This is an old growth French Lavender bush I slapped in the ground years ago. It gets several hours of full sun and is close to the warm walls of my house. This thing cannot die. It has been dug up several times by my dog and is regularly a kitty bed. While it looks dead this time of year, you can just make out a few sprigs of new growth. It will eventually spread to the whole plant.

Surprises I cannot explain:

Here is a reoccurring “What?” surprise I have each Spring. A few years back, I threw an old packet of German Chamomile seeds into a dumpy looking planter. While I am surprised it grew at all, the real miracle is it comes back each year. What’s the big deal? German Chamomile is not a perennial! These plants are reseeding themselves within the planter. They come back stronger every year. I’d love to have these tiny white flowers growing along the fence. I’ve tried to re-create this in my large herb garden, but the Chamomile won’t have any of it. If I were an Earth Mage, maybe I could reason with it?

I’ve had a wonderful new surprise this year in the garden. ��The Tarragon I left for dead is coming back in a big way. Yep – It’s perennial, so I should have expected it. However, it’s where I planted it that’s so stunning. I’ll tell you I’ve tried to plant Tarragon for several years and it didn’t like any place I put it. Finally, I tried the blue pot at the corner of the garden shed. Quite often it is covered in the shadows of my giant Russian Sage. Well, I guess the Tarragon made friends with the Sage. It came back and I’ve already snagged a couple of licorice flavored leaves. Perhaps if I were an Earth Mage, I would have understood plant relationships can be like human ones. Some fit well together and get along nicely. Others seek to overtake and destroy.

I wish I was an Earth Mage, but I’m not. Like most gardeners, I have to use trial and error. I’m at nature’s whim and must prepare as best I can for her fury. While she does bring death and loss, she also brings great abundance. I’m grateful for her generosity. Seriously though – If anyone knows a good Earth Mage, let me know.

The Five Phases of Editing

Dear Loved Ones, Friends, Co-Workers and Fellow Planet Dwellers of the Writer:

I think it’s time someone explains why your Writer-in-Residence behaves like a sulking, caffeine-addicted mess during long stretches of time. In a word: Editing. Yes, it’s an ugly problem with no solution. The following are common phases of editing:

Initial Edit/ re-write after the rough draft

Mantra: “It isn’t that bad. I can fix this.”
Signs: Normal dress. Bright eyes, slight concern.


Fleshing Out the Story Draft

Mantra: “Hey, this is really good. I think this just might be my break out novel.”
Signs: Normal dress with the occasional day in PJs. Lost in thought. Nods often to themselves.


Plot Hole Fixes Draft

Mantra: “What the hell was I thinking? I suck. The book sucks. This will never sell.”
Signs: Unintelligible muttering. Glossy eyes. Irritability. Throws laptop across the room.


Razzle-dazzle Draft

Mantra: “Oh Gawd! When is it going to be over?”
Signs: Openly weeping. Loss of sleep.


I Hate This F’ing Book Final Draft

Mantra: “I’m dead inside.”
Signs: Weight gain. Depression. Empty take out boxes littering the floor.

How you can help your Writer-in-Residence:

Phases 1-3:�� Be supportive. Tell them you have faith in their talent. Read their crappy draft of the novel and provide sincere, but kind feedback.

Phases 4 and 5. Put a pot of coffee and several boxes of take-out next to their laptop. Walk away. Don’t poke or prod your writer (even if they appear dead) until the manuscript has been sent out.

The Pitfalls of Impatience

(Image from dotcomwomen)

Like most creative folks, I’m always antsy to start my next new endeavor. Those fresh day dreams of strange characters and exotic lands excite me. They’re like a first kiss or eating chocolate ��clairs in Paris. Time goes by all too quickly as I work on the relationship. Then here we are again. An old married couple, tired of the same conversations.

I want a divorce.

Yes, childish I know. If the impatient bug hits me, I take some time away from my WIP.�� After all, trudging up the mountain path of edits will be worth it one day. I still love my characters and am invested in their lives. I remain loyal until the very end (almost). Of course, there is nothing wrong with a little “Something Something” on the side. Kicking out a draft outline of my Paris chocolate ��clair keeps my writer brain fresh. I return to my WIP, renewed (but not repentant).

Final Thoughts – If you can’t shake off the impatient bug, step away from the keyboard. Go outside, give yourself a good slap and understand there is no “next book” if you don’t do the best job you can with the one you’re working on now. Put your reader hat on. If an author half-assed a book, would you give their next book a read? Of course not. Readers have thousands of choices at their finger tips. Don’t give them a reason to throw yours aside. Do your absolute best on everything you write.

Winter, I Defy You!

There are big snowflakes falling from the sky over my house this morning. Not cool, Nature! I know it’s March in the Rocky Mountains. March is the snowiest month, etc. However, you’ve given us temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s long enough to wake up the spring bulbs. Apparently, you’ve changed your mind. Fine. I’ll just share a bit of Colorado Springtime on my blog today.

World Building: Some Rules Aren’t Made to Be Broken

Every country has laws or rules its citizens have to follow. You can disregard them, but there are consequences. Some rules can’t be broken without a miracle or technology. Try to break the laws of gravity and you’ll fall on your backside (unless you work for NASA). Human beings can’t defy gravity without assistance. There is no such thing as magic. Or is there?

Storytellers create worlds which break all the rules of mundane reality. Within the pages of a book, we can fly, shape shift or even cast elaborate spells. Our story worlds, however, still have rules which must be followed. Why? First – Rules make the fantasy world believable. Second – Rules confine characters thereby enhancing conflict/tension in the story. Who decides what the rules are? You, the storyteller.

Don’t think the rules matter? Who cares anyway? Readers care. If you write Fantasy, sooner or later you’ll be called out on the rules you’ve developed in your story world. It happened to me on my urban fantasy novel, Phantom Harvest.

One of the main characters, Maialen, is an empath. Her powers are so strong, the slightest touch of her hand upon another person can destroy their mind. Being the anal retentive soul I am, many hours were spent making certain I didn’t break this rule. Maialen never touched anyone unless it was key to the story. She was either interrogating a bad guy or sharing a moment with the only person her powers couldn’t hurt – Gideon, the other main character.

One of my readers thought he had caught me rule breaking. The friendly conversation went something like this:

Reader: “So, if Maialen can’t touch anybody, then why was she able to touch her friend Norm?”

Me, pulling out a copy of the book: “She touched his coat, not his skin.”

I was able to answer this time. Heaven help the storyteller who gets caught with their quill down. You may think an unexplained breaking of the rules won’t be noticed, but you’d be wrong. Readers care and they will walk away from your book if you get sloppy.

Rules for the Rules

They have to make sense in your world. Example – Your character can’t touch black powder. The stuff hasn’t been invented yet. Doesn’t make sense to put it in your story.

They should add value to the story. Example – The rule needs to add depth to your story world. Perhaps the rule shows cultural constraints like the banning of books? Or members of rival families must never speak to one another (a Romeo and Juliet affair)?

There should be consequences if the rule is broken. Example – Each time Gideon (Phantom Harvest) uses the magic in his tattoo, it drains time off his life. If he uses the weapon too often, it could kill him. This adds conflict/tension. It has to be a dire emergency before he uses the weapon. If he could use it all the time, then there would be no sense of danger.

Final Thoughts – Careful not to write yourself into a corner on these rules. Leave your character a way out. I’ll use Return of the Jedi as an example. Luke has confronted the Emperor and now the old man is zapping him, because he won’t join the Dark Side. Darth Vader watches as his son is dying. The known rule throughout the Star Wars Epic for Vader is “I must obey my master.” What if Vader hadn’t been able to finally break that rule? Luke would be dead. The rebellion would have failed. There sure wouldn’t have been all those prequels.