C.R. Richards's Blog, page 33

Dipping Your Toes in Other Genres

Conventional wisdom counsels writers should pick a genre and master it. I can see the validity of the point, but there is also wisdom in learning from others. My first published work was a contract co-author gig for a Horror Romance novel (Yep it’s a thing. Devil Music was a finalist for an EPIC eBook award in the category). I’d really hit a rough patch trying to sell my epic fantasy. Seriously, I could not give this thing away even though my friends and critic partners thought it was good. I even considered giving up trying to get published. Then I was presented with an opportunity to go outside my genre. I had an epiphany. Writers write. They aren’t their genre or condemned to one story. They write anything. That was my “Oh What the Hell” moment. I decided to give it a try and was successfully published under the pen name Thia Myles Vincent.

What I learned from Horror: Each year I either attend the World Horror Convention or KillerCon. These conventions offer a great opportunity to learn and to be around some of the nicest, most positive people on the planet. Horror folks (writers, artists, movie makers) joke that they get all their negative and violent thoughts out on the page, so all that’s left inside is positive and kind. I think it’s true. They accepted me into their fold right away.

Go To Horror for Plot and Tension: Horror writers are masters of tension and suspenseful plots. They have you on the edge of your seat, hiding under the blankets as you peak at the page. This genre necessitates advanced tension levels in each scene in order to scare the begeezus out of its readers. There must always be that element of fear and surprise.

What I learned from Romance: This genre should not be entered into lightly. Writing romance and sex scenes without making them silly is harder than it looks. One thing I learned from the experience is that I’m not good at writing romance. My co-author took care of that end while I wrote the plot and action. Deep respect and hats off to Romance Writers everywhere!

Go To Romance for Characterization: If you sit back and think about what makes Romance successful, you’ll find it is the characters. Romance Writers are pros at finding the inner turmoil and motivations for their characters. While plot plays a big role, it is characterization that really drives this genre. My voice is best in Fantasy and Suspense, but I’ve taken what I’ve learned from Romance and put it into all my work. I’m not a pro yet, but I’m getting there.

Final Thoughts: It is important to find your voice and be true to your art. Don’t forget to take the time to learn. The best way to gain new skills is to try new things, especially when they push you outside your comfort zone.

Books and Banter is Blogward Bound!

Being a writer is hard, lonely work. You sweat blood to get your book baby on its feet and ready for publication. Then the big day comes. Now you’re expected to market the thing. You take out ads, do book signings and giveaways. After you’ve knocked on all the virtual doors you can, you retreat to your room and silently pray the damn thing sells.

After going through marketing hell for my first book, I decided to find a way to help others like me who didn’t have the massive marketing department of the “Big Six” behind me. My promotional newsletter, Books & Banter, first came out in Spring 2012. It remains a free resource for authors to promote their new releases. They give me their book information and I send it out to my social media network.

The first edition back in 2012 started out with two wonderful author friends who were nice enough to volunteer. My Winter Edition 2014 contains features on fifteen authors. The popular Halloween Editions have even more! In this last edition, I decided to have a “B&B Featured Author Day” on my blog. This turned out so well (many hits on my blog and I hope many more sales for the authors) I’ve decided to carry it one step further. I’m going to make B&B Featured Author Day a permanent part of my blog and retire the PDF version.

Final Thoughts: To keep the promotions unique, I’m going to stay with the seasonal feel of Books & Banter. New Releases will be featured on the blog either in the month or season they are first published. This seems to work out really well for the authors.

Spring Featured Authors Deadline for Submission: April 15th. Sorry for the short timeline during this transition period.

For more information on this promotional opportunity, please see my website:

http://crrichards.com/Newsletter.html

EPIC Featured Author – Max Overton

Winner of EPIC eBook Award 2014 in Historical category!

January 1945, and the Soviet Army is poised for the final push through East Prussia and Poland to Berlin. Elisabet Daeker and her five young sons are in Königsberg, East Prussia, and have heard the stories of Russian atrocities. They seek to escape to the perceived safety of Germany.

This is the story of their struggle to survive, of the hardships endured at the hands of Nazi hardliners, of Soviet troops bent on rape, pillage and murder, and of Allied cruelty in the Occupied Zones of post-war Germany. ‘We Came From Königsberg’ is based on a true story gleaned from the memories of family members sixty years after the events, from photographs and documents, and from published works of non-fiction describing the times and events that are described in the narrative.

Elisabet Daeker’s sons, and subsequent daughters, all have families of their own, and have carved out meaningful lives for themselves in far-flung parts of the world. One thing they all claim, though, is – we came from Königsberg.

Winner of EPIC eBook Award 2014 in Historical category

About the Author

Max Overton has travelled extensively and lived in many places around the world – including Malaysia, India, Germany, England, Jamaica, New Zealand, USA and Australia. Trained in the biological sciences in New Zealand and Australia, he has worked within the scientific field for many years, but now concentrates on writing. While predominantly a writer of historical fiction (Scarab: Books 1 – 6 of the Amarnan Kings; the Scythian Trilogy; the Demon Series; the Ascension Trilogy, Fall of the House of Ramesses Trilogy), he also writes in other genres (A Cry of Shadows, the Glass Trilogy, Haunted Trail, Sequestered) and draws on true life (Adventures of a Small Game Hunter in Jamaica, We Came From Königsberg). Max also maintains an interest in butterflies, photography, the paranormal and other aspects of Fortean Studies.

Most of his other published books are available at Writers Exchange Ebooks, http://www.writers-exchange.com/Max-Overton.html and all his books may be viewed on his website: http://www.maxovertonauthor.com/

Max’s book covers are all designed and created by Julie Napier, and other examples of her art and photography may be viewed at www.julienapier.com

EPIC Featured Author – Desiree Holt

Winner of the EPIC 2014 eBook Award Action/Adventure Romance!

He’s discovered that his boss, international businessman Charles Bennett, is actually dealing in drugs and illegal arms. Killers are on his trail and Tate Buchanan needs a place to hide and use his hacking skills to get the evidence he needs. He finds it in tiny Connelly, Texas, where he also finds hotter than hot Casey McIntyre. After six years with the F.B.I. and four years in Afghanistan marked by a disastrous love affair, Casey is trying to put both her life and her shattered heart back together. Her instincts tell her that the stranger in the family restaurant has trouble on his back but her common sense tells her to stay as far away from him as possible. Of course, common sense never paid attention to combustible chemistry and it’s not long before Casey and T.J. (as he now calls himself) are spending every minute together day and night. Can he find the proof he needs before the killers track him down? And when they do, can Casey use all her skills to protect him and keep him safe?

A man-in-jeopardy story for a change, where a kickass woman uses all her skills to protect the man she’s come to love.

Known the world over as The Oldest Living Erotica Author, and referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, Desiree Holt

is three times a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award for best BDSM book of the year, winner of the Holt Medallion, multiple winner of the Whipped Cream Book of the Week Award, the Love Romances Café Readers choice Award and is published by five different houses. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today and numerous other national publications.

“Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.” (Romance Junkies)

Learn more about her and read her novels here:

www.desireeholt.com

www.desiremeonly.com

http://www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor

Twitter @desireeholt

Pinterest: desiree02holt

Also on LinkedIn and Google+

Phantom Harvest Wins!

Phantom Harvest is the WINNER of the EPIC 2014 eBook Awards for Fantasy Fiction!  A very special Thank You to the EPIC Judges. This is a great honor.

This book was a team effort. Many Thanks to my wonderful Editor, Marsha Briscoe at Whiskey Creek Press! And to Gemini Judson who did such an awesome job on the book cover and design. Cheers!

For More Information On EPIC: http://epicorg.com/

Check Out Other Books from Whiskey Creek Press: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/

 

Mutants at the Alamo?

My Dark Fantasy Phantom Harvest is up for a 2014 EPIC EBook Award in the category of Best Fantasy. Later this week I head to San Antonio to attend EPICon. The winners will be announced during the conference.  Despite the tough competition, I’m hoping to bring home good news. Fingers Crossed! If I win there will be much celebrating by my sister and I!  If I lose there will be much merry making by my sister and I. Hey, it’s San  Antonio and we’re right on the River Walk.

Tune into the blog next week for the results!

Dreams: A Treasure Trove of Story Ideas

“Where do you get your story ideas?” I’m asked this question often. My work is pretty off the wall and in some cases gruesome. Most people look at me and come up with descriptors like nice, positive or laid-back. One of my friends told me she was sure I’d end up writing children’s books, but the stories I’m given aren’t for children. They’re violent, suspenseful and dark. And one hundred percent of them come from my dreams.

It all starts with a dream scene: I never know when I’m going to have a story dream. Characters appear in my mind as people I feel I’ve known for many years. Their surroundings and actions are so real they could be memories from my own life.  Then the story begins and I feel the raw, unfiltered emotions as  the characters experience what almost always turns out to be the book’s pivotal scene.

In one of my works in progress, I dreamed of a lonely rain soaked grave yard on the Scottish coast. A stranger – foreign and shrouded with mystery – guided a reluctant boy through the gates. Their clothing and lack of industrialization in the environment marked the time as somewhere in the early 1700s. The headstones were fashioned from plain stone and looked fairly new as if this part of the graveyard housed victims of a mass illness.

The boy was reluctant to enter, but the stranger kept a bloodied hand upon his shoulder. I felt perhaps it was superstition or fear of contracting disease. When they stopped at the grave of the boy’s newly deceased mother, however, I felt the boy’s grief and rage. His mother had been murdered. The person who had taken her life remained on the loose.  He fell to his knees, weeping and clutching the wet Earth. Behind him the man wept also. Then they stood and looked out over the violent sea together.

That dream scene spawned a dark fantasy series of five books which are currently in progress. So many dreams, so little waking hours!

Dream Journals are a must: Characters, surroundings and especially emotions are lost when you fall back to sleep. Dream journals are essential. Scratch a quick paragraph or two and you can fall back asleep knowing your next story is waiting for you in the morning.  I used to keep a hand written dream journal. Dreams would come, I’d scramble for the light and scratch out what I’d seen. Now my trusty iPad sits on my night stand. When the dreams come, I type them out in “Pages” and email them to myself. No more re-typing what I’ve written the next day.

Final Thoughts: I’ve been recording my dreams for decades, so my brain has been trained to remember them. It takes practice. Consider starting with a paper and pencil by your bed. Write down what you can remember in the morning. Did you dream? If you did, can you remember any snippets? Write them down.  They may seem a little weird sometimes. Just remember – most of the time dreams are your subconscious’ way of working out things from your waking life. They won’t seem to make much sense, but your subconscious gets it.

Other times, dreams can be sent as encouragement or warnings…BUT, that’s a blog for another day!

Climbing the Literary Mountain

Having grown up as a Rocky Mountain girl, I know to pace myself when I go for a hike. There have been times when I’ve “hit the wall” and had to go back down having been totally dominated by the mountain. The same thing can happen if you don’t pace yourself and play it smart when writing a book. As I write this post, I have been through the book ordeal twice and am in the midst of a third. Each time I tell myself the next book will be different. It never is. I always hit the same trail markers.

Trail Marker 1 – Rough Draft: I made it up the first steep slope. Several aspiring hikers have stopped on the trail behind me. Most have given up and gone home or found another trail to try. Not me though. I’m holding the first draft of my manuscript like a bright shiny penny. I’m proud of myself! This is a great accomplishment!

Trail Marker 2, 3,4, ?? – All those other Drafts: The characters have taken on a life of their own. My plot has become more cohesive with each draft. The penny may not be as shiny, but I’m holding on to it with a faith that is unshakeable. Nothing can stop me as I climb!

Trail Marker – The Final Edit (aka I think I may vomit or pass out or both): I can see the summit, but there are miles to go and they’re all up hill. At this point, I usually feel like sitting on a rock and putting my head in my hands. This is when I question why I started writing the damn book. This is the point I feel like quitting.  The characters are no longer endearing. The plot doesn’t thrill me anymore. I just want to get off this mountain and start climbing the next one.

Scenic Overlook – Perfection (aka The Cliff): Perfection is an unachievable goal. In the software industry they use the saying “There is no such thing as Zero Defects” and they’re right. You know you’ve finished your manuscript when you’ve reached and then surpassed your current skill level. Challenge yourself as much as possible, but know all skills take growth and practice.

Trail Marker – I’ve reached the Summit! Wrong! The summit was an illusion. Stop admiring the view. I still need to climb Publisher Peak and find my way through Marketing Maze. I won’t despair though. When I look just over my right shoulder, I see a brand new trail. It looks really fun. Hey! Is that a penny?

Complex Plotlines: Keeping all the Wiggling Worms Straight

I love complicated plots. Give me a story with twisty turns weaving intricate patterns of clues or deception. These are the books that keep me up until midnight, turning page after page. Tracking each strand of intrigue or character sub-plot in the writer’s mind, however, can be as difficult as sorting worms in a bucket. For instance, how can an author make certain their character A isn’t racing in his speed boat to rescue the scientist while in character B’s point of view, character A is giving a lecture on physics at the same time?

I turn to my experience as a software developer. Computer code, depending on the software application, can be extremely complex. To keep the functionality straight in their minds, developers turn to a process called “Flow Charting”. They use graphic representations of each step their code goes through to get from point A to point B. Sound difficult?  It’s actually very simple. A writer can do this too with pen and paper. Start with the protagonist’s story line. Draw a box and write a brief summary of the scene or event with the perspective of how it impacts your protagonist. Do the same thing with each scene, tying them together with arrows beginning with the first box (scene or event) to the last box.  Voila! You have created a flow chart for your plot.  If you’re using more than one character point of view, then do the same thing with the next character’s storyline.  Try printing out the flow charts for all your character storylines and comparing them.  I’ve discovered quite a few plot holes I would have missed otherwise.

Paper and pencil work just fine as you’re flow charting, but if you’d rather save your work in e-copy, there are software tools available.  I recommend Open Office, because it’s easy to use and it’s free (big plus). Having an e-copy version comes in handy when you’re writing your synopsis.  The major plot points have already been written. You’ll just need to copy/paste into word and then freshen up the language.

Final Thought – Complex plots are difficult to write. If you take the time to carefully flow out each sub-plot, you’ll end up with an intriguing and memorable story.

Sometimes Old Dawgs Need New Tricks

I had some friends stop by for a visit over the holidays. My senior Lab Mix, Buddy has known these folks a long time, but hadn’t seen them for over a year. They were a little disturbed the Bud Man didn’t behave in his typical friendly manner toward them. I explained poor old Buddy was getting up there in years and couldn’t see or hear them anymore. The old man will be fifteen in May. He’s still healthy, but is definitely feeling his age.

I decided to do a little research on changes in behavior for senior dogs. Our pets actually do experience most of the same aging issues we humans do. Hearing loss and deteriorating vision were obvious, but did you know our pets suffer declining memory too? It was a “slap a palm to my forehead” moment. I’ve never considered the Bud Man might be losing his memory. That explained why he didn’t recognize our friends.

I started paying attention to our daily activities. Buddy may shuffle around the house on his three good legs and sleep a lot, but when it’s time for a walk nothing stops him. Sometimes he stops at corners and is a little confused. Poor sight and an aging memory are the suspects here.

I’ve started to treat our daily exercise like a memory game. Every day we take a thirty minute walk (he has no trouble remembering the exact time of day) on our favorite trails. I take the same route for a few days in a row and then change things up. Sometimes it takes a few tries, but Buddy eventually remembers the altered routes. It helps his memory and we both have fun.

Caring for a senior pet takes extra time and love, but they’re very worth it. I’m going to remember the lessons I’ve learned from caring for Buddy. Any new pet that comes along will reap the benefits of what he’s taught me. Daily exercise, organic/ gluten free food and treats, special attention in keeping teeth healthy and lots of love. That is the secret to Buddy’s long life. I’m not sure how much longer he will be with us, but I’m committed to making the time happy and healthy for him.

Final Thought: An active mind in both Humans and Pets makes for a healthy lifestyle.  I’ve made it a point to keep my Pets mentally active and challenged.  Since the day Buddy chose me at the adoption event, we’ve found and traveled new trails together.  Though he can’t walk as far or as long, I still take Buddy to the national parks around Colorado for our weekend adventures. When is the last time you challenged yourself? Get out there and have an adventure…and take your Buddy with you!