Kate Lowell's Blog, page 52
August 7, 2013
The Hero’s Journey (or, You Mean I Have to Get Off the Couch?)
One of the things you don’t always realize when you start writing, is that every story, whether thriller, scifi, fantasy or romance, follows the Hero’s Journey. We give it lots of names–character arc, plot arc, character growth–but it comes down to the same set of steps pretty much every time.
I still remember the first time I came across Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces. I was enrolled in a science degree and was looking for something I could write up quickly for my English course, because we were going drinking in the Beer Tree that night. Yes, indeed, we had a beer tree, a lovely ancient oak with spreading limbs that were perfect to perch on, and innumerable nooks and crannies that could have been expressly designed for the short term storage of beer. (One could argue that all beer storage is short term, but my mother taught me never to argue. Revenge is usually much more satisfying.)
/digression
So, here’s the upshot of the Hero’s Journey, as Joseph Campbell sees it:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
The following is my, slightly warped take on it. Apologies in advance.
It breaks down into stages: Departure, Initiation and Return.
In the Hero’s Journey, the Departure is characterized by:
The Call to Action–In which our hero receives a phone call and learns of some derring-do in need of being done or some other lovely in need of being done, and must put down the Xbox controller and pry himself off the couch.
The Refusal of the Call–“Just one more level!” he cries.
Supernatural Intervention–Briiiiing! “Get a move on!” How does your mother always know when you’re being lazy?
The Crossing of the First Threshold–“All right, I’ll go, if it’ll just shut you up!”
The Belly of the Whale–Things have gotten very strange. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…”
In the Initiation stage, you’re really learning stuff.
The Road of Trials– “Kill the ogre, rescue the magic fainting goat and fill out all these forms in triplicate. In PEN. You can’t use White Out.” “I must do ALL THE THINGS!!! OMG, this is so hard.”
The Meeting with the Goddess–”I am your fairy godmother. I love you and will make all your problems disappear. Here is a magic sword with which to kill the ogre.”
Woman as Temptress–”Hey, baby, that’s some sword you’ve got there. Wanna skip the quest and go make out in my Corvette?” “Sure!”
Atonement with the Father–in which our hero must make his peace with the Representation of Authority. “Who’s that? No! Wait! OW! You never told me your father was The Hulk!” BAM!
Apotheosis–The School of Hard Knocks. “I have learned not to canoodle with strange women. This will help me achieve my goals–once I get out of the hospital.”
The Ultimate Boon–The hero shares his prize. “So, yeah, I walked out the door of the hospital and this goat was there. And then it keeled over. I think it’s broken. But I took it anyway. And it’s way cool. Watch this!”
The Return, in which our hero must be convinced to bring his blessings back to his home.
Refusal of the Return–”I think I’ll stay here, thanks anyway. The goat and I are enjoying our margaritas!” *music*
The Magical Flight–Escape from vacationland is hard. “The lure of the margarita is so strong, but I must return with my goat! And it is so far and there are so many bars in the way.”
Rescue from Without–“Hey, drunk guy, need a lift?” “Sure, but I must take my goat with me.” “Throw it in the back there.” “Hooray!”
The Crossing of the Return Threshold–“Hey, there’s my place. Thanks for the drive. Oops, can’t forget my goat!”
Master of Two Worlds–“Come meet the Magical Fainting Goat of Wisdom! And I am now able to make the best margaritas in the world. ” “Meh!” *Goat*
The Freedom to Live–“I have taught others to make margaritas. I will sit on my mountain and wait for students to come to me, while I ponder the existential reality of lime and tequila.”
Okay, pretty warped. I’m getting giddy with the advent of Bite Me Tender. Don’t forget to check out my post tomorrow at Joyfully Jay, where I talk about the Beginning Writer’s version of this journey, because a beginning writer has their own Hero’s Journey to make. (It’s a much better post, I promise.)
Filed under: Uncategorized, writing Tagged: Bite Me Tender, mm romance
August 6, 2013
Tuesday Tickle: Je Veux…
My apologies if I’ve tickled this before–Wordpress is giving me attitude when I try to check which sections I’ve done already.
Anyway, this is the very beginning of my little rockstar romance. I think we all have a friend like this.
Izzy pulled another pair of jeans off the rack as John was talking to the clerk working the fitting rooms.
“Try these, too,” she told him, piling them on top of the pairs draped over his arm.
John fished the tag out of the pocket and whistled at the price. “I don’t think so, Izzy. Starving student, remember?”
She tched at him, pulled one long brown curl out to its full length, then let it snap back into its usual corkscrew. “Two more years, you’ll either be a really successful pediatric resident, or you’ll be opening your own practice. I think you can afford a pair of jeans.”
John tried to give the pants to her to put back, but she pushed them into his arms again.
“Izzy, they cost an entire evening’s tips! No way I’m spending that much on a pair of jeans.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. “I didn’t realize rockstars and movie tycoons were such bad tippers. And the jeans aren’t that expensive—maybe an hour’s worth of tips.”
He laughed. “Izzy, the jeans are too darn expensive.”
“How are you going to snag your Hottie-without-a-Name if you don’t put yourself out there? For a gay guy, you really are obtuse.”
“He has a name, I’m just not telling you what it is.”
Izzy pushed him toward the fitting rooms. “Go try them on. Trust me. Auntie Izzy will make sure you get laid.”
Don’t forget to go back one post and leave a comment to be entered in a draw for a copy of Bite Me Tender. I’ll be drawing tomorrow night. If you don’t win, you can always try again at Joyfully Jay, on the 8th.
One more week…
Filed under: Bite Me Tender, Je Veux..., My Releases, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: mm romance
"Forever is Now" Cover Reveal!
Yay! I just got my final cover art last evening, and I'm not wasting a second sharing it. So flipping exciting!
If you love someone, set him free. If he steals something of yours, hunt him down and make him sorry.
-Kimber
Yay! Look! He copied my old hair! I used to have a blue streak, too.
August 4, 2013
Bite Me Tender Ebook Giveaway!
To celebrate the boys finally making it into the light of day, I’m giving away a couple of copies of Bite Me Tender right off the bat. First giveaway is on this blog, starting tonight. I’ll be drawing for the book on August 7 and posting the winner at 8 pm EST.
Don’t worry–if you don’t win this one, you can take another shot at it, when I visit Joyfully Jay on August 8.
Leave a comment to enter the giveaway. Winners will be chosen at random by an African swallow carrying a coconut over England. Please, no one under 18. You wouldn’t like it anyway. 
Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to send the books themselves until August 13th, but I will send them as soon as possible.
Filed under: Bite Me Tender, My Releases, writing Tagged: free ebook, giveaway 
August 2, 2013
Oh, gentle warriors of the IRS…
Please send me my ITIN.
You see, I have a book coming out. In 12 days. Yes, you’re right, it’s not that many.
But if it comes out before I have my ITIN, I’m going to have to do a US tax return next year, which will be good for no one.
You see, I’m not very accomplished at them. Ask Revenue Canada. It’s lucky they get a deal on those toll-free numbers. For me, it would be totally worth my while to move to the States and stay there for the amount of time it will take me, on your toll-free number, to be sure I’m doing this right.
Why? Because I’ve heard it can be difficult getting a refund processed. And I’m not very good at them.
For the amount of long-distance charges it would cost me, to call you, from up here in the snowy north, I would be better off financially to pack up my sled dogs and ‘take a vacation’, which wouldn’t be much of a vacation, since I would spend the whole time on your toll-free number.
And your hair. You love your hair, right? It’s very nice hair. But, by about the third call, people have been known to start losing their hair. In tufts. Ask Doreen at Revenue Canada. Oh, wait, she’s on leave…
Then there’s the PTSD. The typical symptoms are an almost overwhelming desire to throttle someone every time the phone rings. I don’t think Randy from Revenue Canada ended up doing any time, but I think the person in the cubicle next to him is still recovering. I’d call, but he gets angry.
So, you see, it’s in the best interests of us all, if : car, truck, airplane, homing pigeon, Pony Express, dirigible, your Great-Aunt Fanny. It’s all the same to me.
As long as they can be here by August 13th.
Filed under: Bite Me Tender, Random Weirdness, writing Tagged: ITIN, tax season
August 1, 2013
Ebooks of Sign of Spring are available now at Goodreads
It’s available as epub, pdf and prc. The link to the download page can be found in the story’s thread here.
Please stop by the Goodreads MM Romance group and say thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard to bring these stories out into the world. It was a huge job and they did it superbly.
Filed under: Erotic Romance, My Releases Tagged: Sign of Spring
July 31, 2013
This is how I have spent my day
I’m seriously considering the merits of changing my name and joining the circus as a sword swallower.
On the other hand, listening to this song saved the life a computer.
Filed under: Random Weirdness, Uncategorized Tagged: family, writer frustrations
July 30, 2013
Tuesday Tickle: Bite Me Tender Cover Reveal
And all I can say is “Wow!” And “Thank you, April Martinez!”
Not only is it classy, with lovely colours, but April must have spent hours combing stock image sites looking for those models. The only way we would have gotten closer is if I had suddenly sprouted the ability to draw without tracing. Glyn (the blond), in particular, has inspired a certain amount of reverent silence for the accuracy, not only of his appearance, but the expression/attitude he’s showing.
The fonts, too! I have no talent for picking out fonts. I just look and go “Ooh, pretty!” and stick it in there and then squish it around until it fits, as you can tell by the cover of Sign of Spring (yes, I did it myself. Life lesson learned: Hire someone to do your covers for you.) But, honestly, just looking at the font combination, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on a Big Six paranormal cover.
You know, I’ve been pretty darn lucky so far. Everyone has been fantastic. Actually, the whole journey has been fantastic, from starting with my crit group, to these final, nerve-wracking days as I wait for Bite Me Tender to drop and everyone hides when they see me coming because I’m trying to do ALL THE THINGS.
Kudos to Loose Id. They’ve answered more inane questions than I’m sure they’ve ever seen in their lives (I’m a verbal learner–I often can’t figure out the simplest things until I’ve either asked the question or sent the email.), they’ve been patient with my sudden attacks of nerves and have set me to work with professional and extremely talented people, such as April and my ‘twin from a different mother’ editor Raven McKnight.
All authors should be so lucky.
Filed under: Bite Me Tender, Erotic Romance, My Releases, Tuesday Tickle Tagged: cover reveal, mm romance
