Auden Johnson's Blog, page 2

Adult Fantasy and Horror Books to Read

I’ve been struggling to find adult fantasy and horror books to read. Maybe my tastes are slowly changing but most books I start, I don’t finish. If I do finish them, I didn’t enjoy it enough to buy the sequel. Mostly, I’ve been listening to story podcasts like NoSleep and Scary Stories Told in the Dark. I’ve kinda given up on novels and instead focus on manga.

I’ve caught up with Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. Waiting for the next volume.

GoodreadsAmazon

It’s one of my favorite series. If you want to jump in, I’d suggest starting with Fairy Tail Vol 1. This series is long so you’ll have plenty to read. I’ve also been binging anything by Junji Ito. He’s one of my favorite mangakas. If you’re a horror lover, I highly recommend him. I started with Gyo, then moved to Uzumaki. Now, I’m inhaling his short story collections. I just finished Shiver. The artwork will give you nightmares.

GoodreadsAmazon

I might do another post about manga. But, I do want to get back into adult fantasy and horror books, like actual novels. Reddit’s r/fantasy is a good place to find fantasy recommendations. It’s also a great resource for fantasy writers. I talked about that in the post Who Is Your Fantasy Book’s Audience? Reddit Can Help. I actually found books I’m excited about reading.

Smoke and Stone by Michael Fletcher

After a cataclysmic war of the gods, the last of humanity huddles in Bastion, a colossal ringed city. Beyond the outermost wall lies endless desert haunted by the souls of all the world’s dead.

Trapped in a rigid caste system, Nuru, a young street sorcerer, lives in the outer ring. She dreams of escape and freedom. When something contacts her from beyond the wall, she risks everything and leaps at the opportunity. Mother Death, a banished god seeking to reclaim her place in Bastion’s patchwork pantheon, has found her way back into the city.

Akachi, born to the wealth and splendour of Bastion’s inner rings, is a priest of Cloud Serpent, Lord of the Hunt. A temple-trained sorcerer, he is tasked with bringing peace to the troublesome outer ring. Drawn into a dark and violent world of assassins, gangs, and street sorcerers, he battles the spreading influence of Mother Death in a desperate attempt to save Bastion.

The gods are once again at war.

GoodreadsAmazonThe Demonic by Lee Mountford

Danni Morgan thought she knew fear, but she is about to find out what it is to be truly afraid.

Years ago a young girl ran away from her childhood home and vowed never to go back. It was a place of fear, pain and misery at the hands of an abusive father. But now her father is dead, and she is forced to break that vow and return home – to lay his body to rest and face up to the ghosts of her past. However, Danni is about to learn that some ghosts are more real than others. Something beyond her understanding waits for her there, lurking in the shadows. An evil that intends to kill her family and claim her very soul.

Experience supernatural horror in the vein of The Conjuring, Insidious and the legendary Ghost Watch. The Demonic will get under your skin, send chills down your spine and have you sleeping with the lights on!

GoodreadsAmazonThey Come Out at Night by Benedict Patrick

He locked himself away from the dark, but in the Magpie King’s forest nowhere is safe…

Lonan is an outcast, accused of letting the monsters that stalk the night into the homes of his fellow villagers. Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…

Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.

Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.

They Mostly Come Out At Night is a Dark Fantasy novel from Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series. If you like Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss then you will love this captivating, dangerous world in which ordinary people struggle to find their place in a land ruled by stories.

GoodreadsAmazonPerdido Street Station by China Mieville

Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies the city of New Crobuzon, where the unsavory deal is stranger to no one–not even to Isaac, a gifted and eccentric scientist who has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before encountered. Though the Garuda’s request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger. Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur that will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon–and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes.

GoodreadsAmazonThe Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan

A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy.

The city has always been. The city must finally end. When three thieves – an orphan, a ghoul, and a cursed man – are betrayed by the master of the thieves guild, their quest for revenge uncovers dark truths about their city and exposes a dangerous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born.

Cari is a drifter whose past and future are darker than she can know. Rat is a Ghoul, whose people haunt the city’s underworld. Spar is a Stone Man, subject to a terrible disease that is slowly petrifying his flesh. Chance has brought them together, but their friendship could be all that stands in the way of total armageddon.

Goodreads

I’m currently listening to The Demonic on Audible. Loving the voice acting so far. I’m still at the beginning so, holding judgment. I can’t wait to dive into these books. It’s been a while since I’ve found any novels I’m excited about reading.

Hiking in Hot Weather: Tips for Summer Day Hikers

It’s summer which means 90+ degree weather. I far too often hike in hot weather. My first trip this year in Beacon, NY probably wasn’t the smartest. 90 degrees with little shade. I didn’t wear a hat. I threw my hoodie over me to get some relief from the heat. But that obviously meant I got hotter. I couldn’t only find my heavy hoodie. Got some good photos, though. It was perfect conditions for infrared photography.

The obvious solution would be to avoid hiking in hot weather. Start my trip early in the day or later to avoid that high midday sun. But, that’s not really an option right now, at least not all the time. It takes me about 2 and a half hours to just reach the trailhead. It seems a waste to travel that far to only be on the trail for half a day. Also, infrared photography works best when shooting midday.

If you’re like me and find you’re hiking in hot weather, here are some tips to keep you safe.

Wear a Hat

Or cover your head in some way. I don’t have one of those hats with the 360 brim but I might invest in one.

Bring Lots of Water

Ideally, you’d have a hydration bladder. You can carry more water and the hose makes it easier for you to drink. I don’t have one yet. I generally bring water and a Gatorade. I’ll add lemon juice to the water. To me, that makes the water refreshing even when warm.

On that note, I’ve added Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System to my hiking wish list. This way, I’d be able to grab water from lakes, rivers and streams in an emergency.

Hike in the Shade

That trail I took in Beacon, NY had no shade. None. It was a nightmare. If you’re going to hike midday on a hot day, pick a trail with a lot of shade. Fortunately, that hike was fairly short and it ended by the waterfront, under the shade with a nice wind blowing.

Listen to Your Body

Hiking often means pushing yourself past your limit. But be careful with that, especially if you’re solo hiking in hot weather. If you get sick on the trail, help is often pretty far away. Get to know your body, your limits, and judge when you need to keep going and when you need to rest. Stay safe out there and enjoy your trip.

More Hot Weather Hiking Tips

Hot-Weather Hiking Tips

5 Ways to Stay Cool While Hiking in the Heat

How to Hike And Backpack In the Heat

Turning Nature into Colorful Infrared Landscapes

Don’t be too hard on yourself when starting something new. Easier said than done, I know. You start a new project yet your results don’t look like everyone else’s. You get frustrated. That’s what happened when I started photographing infrared landscapes. We are not going to be good at something from the start. I had to learn to be patient and just keep trying.

After about a month and a half of frustration, my infrared landscapes are finally looking the way I envisioned. I honestly thought about giving up a few times. My photos weren’t turning out like the ones I saw online and I couldn’t figure out why. I talked about that frustration in the post Getting into Otherworldly Infrared Landscape Photography.

My first photo looked like this:

Pretty colors but out-of focus.

When I got the scene in focus, it looked like this:

I have to keep telling myself this isn’t a bad photo. It’s really not. But, it isn’t what I want.

This is:

It’s taken a little over 700 photos to reach this point.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may already know some the things about this journey. I started infrared landscape photography with the screw on Neewer IR filter.

I tried this filter for weeks and I wasn’t getting the photos I wanted. Maybe it only works with certain cameras. The case came with four different filters. I may experiment with them more. So far, I haven’t found any photographers talking about issues with these filters.

Recently, I decided to spend $65 on a Hoya R-72 IR filter. Almost, every infrared photographer I’ve watched use this filter. It isn’t expensive compared to most camera equipment. But, when you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, spending more than $50 on anything is a lot. Didn’t expect it to come in such a fancy case, though.

The Hoya filter didn’t work for me right away. It’s darker than the Neewer filter. I experimented a bit with my camera settings and now I’m getting somewhere.

A few things I’ve learnedBuy the Hoya filter and save yourself the frustration.Be patient and go easy on yourself. Infrared photography is not easy. Not for beginners. If you’re just starting out in photography, I’d suggest holding off on infrared landscapes until you’re comfortable with camera settings, composition, exposure and post-processing.The magic is in the editing. I use a combination of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.Study other infrared photos to get editing ideas. Go full Manual Mode. I usually use Aperture and Shutter Priority mode. But neither worked for me. I now have to use Manual Mode for infrared photos. Beware windy days. To get a properly exposed infrared shot, you need a slow shutter speed. I set mine for 30 seconds. Nature needs to be still, which rarely happens. Beecause of the wind, most of my photos are partially blurry. Cover your viewfinder when shooting. With infrared photography, you’re more likely to see hotspots when editing. You can see mine in the below shot. That pink spot right in the middle of the tree. Ideally, you’d buy a better lens. But, I can’t. One Youtuber suggested covering your viewfinder with something (not your hand). That seems to have done the trick.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Auden Johnson (@audenjohnson)

I love infrared photography. Each edit gets me so excited. I’m turning my photos into fantasy landscapes. I have a lot to learn. For that white tree, I don’t know exactly how I did that. So far, I’ve only been able to get pale blue trees. I’m still happy with how my photos are turning out.

If you want to create infrared landscapes

Here are a few things that helped me. I found videos easier to follow than blog posts. I also collected some photos for inspiration.

Infrared Photography YouTube Playlist

Inspiration: Pinterest and Behance

20 Stunning Infrared Photographs

A Guide to Infrared Photography

Beginner’s Guide to Infrared Photography

How to do Surreal Digital Infrared Photography Without Expensive Gear or Camera Conversions

How to Do Infrared Photography With Basic Camera Gear

Infrared Prints Now Available

I wasn’t sure if I could start adding infrared photos to my shop. But, a few of my recent shots passed my 100% test. I don’t put up photos if they fall apart when zoomed in to 100%.

Shop Prints

Join me on Instagram to follow my infrared landscape photography journey.

Writing Emotions Readers Can Feel

I was reading a pretty interesting book. However, for some reason, I had moments where I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the story. I couldn’t figure out why. As I kept reading, I realized the author did a lot of telling instead of showing. Made it hard for me to experience with the characters were feeling. You’ve probably heard show don’t tell a lot. It’s more like find a balance between showing and telling. Both have their places. Except when writing emotions. In most cases.

It’s difficult to feel the characters emotions if you simply write:

Happiness bubbled within her.

You’d be better writing:

Her face hurt from smiling so much. Her stomach danced to an almost uncomfortable level. But she didn’t care. She wanted to dance with it. She wanted to open her window and sing.

How can you write emotions readers can feel?

Read

I sometimes read a book wondering if the author has ever read a book. I see this happen often with indie authors. When you read a lot, you get a better sense of what you think is good writing. You learn how to balance showing and telling. Eventually, you gain instincts that tell you which one is right for your scene or when you’re scene goes on for too long.

Find Guides

When I struggle to write emotions, I consult the Emotions Thesaurus. You’ll get a general idea of what happens to the body both internally and externally when a person experiences certain emotions. Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint is also useful for new writers.

It’s a handy book if you’re struggling with point of view as well. Emotions Revealed is another useful book I found on my quest.

Writing Emotions From Your Own Experience

When I feel something strongly, I open my notes app or a story and write it down exactly what I’m feeling. I mentioned in an Instagram post that when I was feeling sick, I opened The Sciell Legacy and did exactly this. As it happened, one of my characters was feeling sick and I had been struggling to describe it.

Divine’s body was heavy. Rocks had dropped at the base of his skull. He piled on layers of clothes and still he was cold. The pain in his head thumped to the rhythm of his steps. He was too tired to keep walking. The pain twisted and writhed whenever he stopped.

When doing this, be mindful of your own mental health. I don’t want to remember certain things let alone write them down to use in a story. Sometimes writing has us traveling the darkest part of our minds. But, we have to be prepared for that journey.

Ever heard the rule never use the word to define the word. It can be distracting if you always tell the reader what the character is feeling. Try to avoid using things like fear welled up inside me. Think about the last time you were scared. At that moment, did you think fear was welling up inside of you? I’m actually surprised what little goes through my head as those moments. My brains usually get stuck on one thought. Get to know your characters. How would they react when scared?

More Resources

How to Effectively “Tell” Emotions in Fiction

How to Write With Emotion and Make Your Readers Feel

Pinterest: Writing Emotions

You’re So Emotional: Describing a Character’s Emotions in a First Person Point of View

Nature Photography Prints: Where to Begin

A lot of the artists I follow sell nature photography prints. They also say their print sales make up the smallest portion of their income. I’m kinda used to that by now having published 15 books. When it comes to being an entrepreneur, it’s all about multiple income streams. If selling one kind of artwork pays your bills, that’s awesome. I’d also suggest not walking into this expecting photography or books by themselves to pay your bills. They don’t in most cases.

If you’re thinking of selling nature photography prints, where do you begin?

Preparing Your Photos

I started by researching how to prepare my photos for print. It’s more than just editing them in Lightroom and uploading them on a site.

8 Crucial Steps to Prepare Images for Printing

A pro’s guide to prepping your digital images to print (and sell!) beautifully

How to easily prepare your photos for printing

I generally avoid sharpening my photos. If my shots need any, then I don’t use them. But with print photography, it seems you need to do a small amount of sharpening. Just be careful. Too much sharpening can make your photos look crunchy.

What To Sell

Having sold images through stock photo sites like Shutterstock and iStock, I mostly think, if the photo will get rejected by those sites, then they aren’t good for print. Zoom into your photos at 100%. Are they still sharp? If not, they aren’t good for print. I avoid photos of private homes and people, both of which often need the homeowner or person to sign a contract with you, giving you permission to use their likeness or property for commercial purposes.

This photo did better then my other ones on Instagram.

But, it’s not sellable. Partially because of the motion blur. But I took this shot at a location that doesn’t allow you to use photos for commercial purposes without written consent. Check their website to make sure. As a general rule, if you have a pay to get into someplace, you can’t use those images for commercial purposes without written authorization.

If there’s a person in my photo, I try to make sure they’re unrecognizable.

Like this photo.

[image error]

I could easily remove that person but I took this shot because I didn’t know you could walk out there until that person did it. Do you see those waves? This dude’s a champ.

Where to Sell

I started off planning to sell through this website using WooCommerce. I bought an Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 photo printer. Had an idea of how I was going to ship them. But the cost of doing it myself kept going up. I have to buy PO Box. In order to send people a tracking number, I’d have to buy an add-on WooCommerce plugin. At the moment, I can only sell photos in one size. So I started researching places that’ll print and ship photos for you.

How to Sell Your Photography Prints Online (Best Platforms 2021)

Beginner’s Guide to Selling Photography Prints

Fine Art America seems the go-to for most photographers. It’s free for 25 images. Premium membership is $30 a year which isn’t bad. I’m starting with the free version. From the reviews, most people don’t have many issues with it. I haven’t seen their royalties yet. With Shutterstock, I got $.25 per sale. As long as it’s more than that. With Fine Art America, my photos can be turned into prints as well as spiral journals, totes, and blankets and other merch. I just started so I don’t know yet how well it works. Selling on Fine Arts America relies heavily on your marketing, just like book publishing. You can’t just upload photos and expect them to sell. I’ll keep you updated on my experience.

Check out my new shop on Fine Art America.

Shop Prints

Epic Dark Fantasy Passion Project: The Sciell Hardback

Sometimes you do things simply because they’re fun and you’re curious how it’ll turn out. Turning my epic dark fantasy novel, The Sciell into a hardback book was one of those passion projects. I’ve heard hardback books don’t do well for small press authors. Make sense since we struggle to get our titles into bookstores. But, designing for me is fun and relaxing.

This new project gave me an excuse to update the maps. Back when I first did The Sciell, I was just learning how to make maps. Mine were okay but there was room for improvement.

I had a vision of how I wanted the book to look. Fortunately, IngramSpark had the options that could make my vision a reality. I wanted to be able to design separate covers for the book and jacket.

For any authors thinking of using IngramSpark, I like them for the most part. They’re on the expensive side of most of the self-publishing options I’ve used. The Sciell is my second hardback book with IngramSpark. The only thing I don’t like is that you don’t know what your book will look like in print without releasing it to the world and ordering a copy for yourself. IngramSpark doesn’t provide print proofs and the digital proof is a single page pdf document, no spread. If you order a copy and find something wrong, as I did, you have to pay $75 to update your book.

Like most things, this project wasn’t entirely enjoyable. It took me about a month to get IngramSpark to accept my jacket cover file. I’d submit one file. They’d reject it. I’d fix it and submit it. They’d reject it again for another issue. After a while, I was tempted to just leave the book as is, with its issues and all.

But, I pushed forward because I knew it would be worth it. And it was. I plan to release the other books in the series as hardbacks in the coming years. I may not use IngramSpark again. Not because I don’t like them but I’d like to see if there’s a cheaper option out there like Lulu.

I talked about some of the things I’ve dicovered during this process in the post 9 Things I’ve Learned About Print Book Cover Design.

Check out The Sciell and other books in The Merging Worlds series.

The Merging Worlds Series BooksRead about the World and the Sciell

Getting into Otherworldly Infrared Landscape Photography

Ever play a video game that frustrated you so much you had to stop or you’d throw your controller across the room? That’s infrared landscape photography for me. In the post Creating Fantasy Landscapes with Infrared Photography, I talked about why I was getting into this kind of photography. I’d love to turn my photos into colorful fantasy worlds.

Once my infrared filters came in, I was ready to start taking photos. Only, nothing I did was working. My photos and edits weren’t looking like the ones in the tutorials and I couldn’t figure out why. It was so annoying. I had to step back. When you reach the level of frustration, it’s hard to think clearly.

All the infrared landscape photography tutorials said you need Adobe DNG Editor. They said it was free to download. All we had to do was Google it. However, Adobe no longer offers DNG Editor. Every download link takes you to an error page. This program seems to be vital to infrared photography.

Right off the camera, infrared photos can look like this:

I know, awful. We can trick Lightroom into fixing the photo the way we want. We use DNG Editor to create an infrared-specific profile (or filter). Then, we apply the new profile to the photo and set a custom white balance. It’s all talked about in this video.

I don’t know if you can create a good infrared photo without a DNG Editor. One video talked about how we could make a new profile in Photoshop. I tried that but it didn’t give me the results I was looking for.

Fortunately, one YouTuber posted a link in their video’s comments to the zip file where I grabbed Adobe DNG Editor. So far, no viruses. If you know of an alternative to DNG Editor, comment below. I’ve searched high and low and all the tutorials keep pointing to that dead link. So far, you need this app to do infrared photography. As soon I created a profile in DNG Editor, the photos started doing what I wanted.

My shots still don’t look like the infrared photos I’ve seen on Pinterest, Behance or any of the tutorials I’ve used. They look dirty. The shots are fine but they aren’t what I want. They aren’t sharp.

On top of that, certain editing techniques don’t work for me. It could be I’ve hit my camera’s limit. But working a minimum wage job doesn’t leave too much room in the budget for a new camera. I’m hoping it’s my settings and not my equipment.

This photo is probably the closest I’ve gotten but it shows another issue I’m having.

Because the shutter speed is so slow, the scene needs to be perfectly still. But, I can’t just tell trees to stop moving for 30 seconds while I shoot this scene. Wind blows and foliage gets blurry.

If you’re new to photography, I’d suggest not jumping into infrared until you get the basics down. I can’t imagine learning my way around a DSLR and photo editing software while trying to do figure out infrared photography.

Here’s a YouTube playlist of the tutorials I’ve been watching.

This may sound as if I’m not enjoying myself. And, for the most part, I’m not. It’s frustrating when things don’t work and you can’t figure out why. Over the weekend, I walked an hour to Greenwood Cemetery in the hopes of capturing my dream shot. Spent about3 hours there. Killed my back and legs and I didn’t get the shot. But, I really want to make those sharp colorful infrared landscape photos. It’s fun being out in the field and trying to picture what scene would look best in infrared.

This process reminds me of hiking. You’ve reached a point on the trail where it’s all uphill. You’re tired, hot. No matter how long you sit and rest, your body never fully recovers. Your water’s gone warm and you start regretting your life choices. But then you reach the peak and you realize it was all worth it.

Writing Dialogue: Tips for Fantasy Authors

Never assume you’re bad at something until you get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. I used to think I was bad a writing dialogue. But, workshops, beta readers and editors kept complimenting my dialogue. We are probably the worst at telling what’s good or bad about our writing.

I read somewhere that you need to be good at talking to writing realistic dialogue. I’d have to disagree. I wouldn’t say, I’m quiet but, I don’t talk as much as most people. I much prefer listening. That’s the key. You need to be a good listener to write great dialogue.

How else can you write good dialogue?

Use Said but Sparingly

When I first started writing, I cracked open a thesaurus and tried to find all the different way to say said. Don’t do that. Instead, stick with the tried and true, said, yelled, cried, screamed… You don’t have to break out things like exclaimed or articulated.

You also don’t want to use said too much. It can get a bit repetitive. Alternate your dialogue tags with actions. Take the below example for instance.

The white haired female turned. Blae grabbed her wrist. She frowned. Her nostrils flared. She snatched away her hand.

“What,” she snapped.

Blae grinned. “Thought you’d be happier to see me, sister.”

Her face relaxed. Divine felt her amusement even if her expression remained annoyed. Sister? Somehow, it made sense.

“I’m thrilled to meet you, little brother.” She bowed dramatically.

And now there were two of them. Great.

Introducing Characters

The above example also shows another issue I’ve read in dialogue. Often, when an author wants readers to know characters are related, the person will call the other, little brother or big sister. As an older sibling, I have never called my sibling, little brother. I’m not saying to never introduce your characters this way. Find a realistic way to show familial relationships. In The Sciell, Vayle calls Shade baby sister all the time. For him, it’s a term of endearment. In the above example from Chains of the Sciell, sister and little brother are used more condescendingly. At this point, readers already know they’re related.

Similarly, I’ve read some awkward introductions in first-person stories. The author needs the reader to know the narrator’s name, so they’ll have another character say their full name. It usually comes off awkward. There’s no one way to introduce characters through dialogue. Read to find authors who do it best.

Know Your Character’s Voice

Having taken the NY subway often, I’ve seen many discarded bottles in train cars rolling around and just being generally annoying. As a fun exercise, I’ll imagine how each of my characters would react to this rolling bottle.

Depending on her mood, Shade would shake her head at the humans or try to figure out how it got there. Vayle would be amused at Shade’s reactions. Xurice would ignore it. Lafeyette wouldn’t understand the interest but he’d want to share Shade’s amusement. At the next stop, Tearani would pick up the bottle and throw it out the open door.

Get to know your characters. They should all have their own voice. Read your dialogue out of context. Can you tell which character is talking without the dialogue tags?

Cut It If It Doesn’t Move the Story Forward

I’ve had to delete dialogue with good character-building information because it didn’t move the story. No matter how interesting it is, if it stops your story, it has to go. I loved the below scene. Still love it. It has some good information about the character’s race. But The Lost Sciell was already pretty long. I had to be ruthless in my editing. This scene didn’t move the story.

 “There still isn’t a lot known about non-normals?” Josephine asked.

Tearani shrugged. “We are a small race with little resources and, in the past, we had no sense of community. If a being discovered something new, they weren’t sharing.”

 “Why are Del’Praeli different from other beings?”

“You certainly are chatting today. I like it.”

Josephine’s face heated. “I’m only curious.”

She couldn’t stand another silent dinner. Tearani always answered their questions even if she made them suffer for it.

“And you’re getting defensive. You are so cute.”

The last thing someone Josephine’s age wanted to be called was cute but saying so would make Tearani tease her more.

“Del’Praeli are different,” Tearani continued, “By giving our bodies to the Darkness so often we were more connected to it and the vile things people stuffed it in. We are animals in human skin. Despite no longer being as connected to the Darkness, our children will be born like us. The effects the Darkness had on us is already engraved in our bodies.”

She reached over and plucked a noodle out of Josephine’s plate and plopped it in her mouth. Josephine looked from Tearani to her defiled bowl and pushed it away.

Tearani winced. “Still disgusting.”

Josephine slapped her hands on the table, causing all the bowls to rattle.

“Calm down, Nee,” Bel said.

He held his bowl in his hands. 

“But she put her dirty hands in my food.”

“Hmm,” Tearani cocked her head, “Pouting is only cute on Shade.”

Understand Pacing

Dialogue tags make sure readers understand who’s speaking but, they also slow down the story. If you have some witty banter between two people, cut the dialogue tags. Included them at the start of the conversation so readers know who’s talking. Then, ditch them for the rest of the dialogue. Or, instead of tags, use character expressions or movements. For the below example, I stopped using dialogue tags towards the end of the conversation.

“Is it just us?” Kiran asked.

En curled his face and glanced at the shifters.

“I mean our team,” Kiran snapped.

He faced her. “You should’ve said that. No, I’m expecting three more people.”

“Do I know them?”

“I know how lovely you can be but no stranger is going to work with you. Of course you know them.”

En had been carrying that foul mood for weeks now. It was getting old.

“Why can’t you answer the question without giving attitude?”

Break Up Long Dialogue

Most advice tells you to keep your dialogue brief. I’d agree for the most part. However, with fantasy, in particular, a character may be explaining something about the world. This scene could go on for a while. I suggest not making those long dialogues a habit. But, they can be unavoidable. I’ve written a few. Break them up by having someone ask a question. Maybe have the speaker get briefly interrupted by a sudden loud noise. Or, if they’re talking on the go, describe the scene between explanations. Study dialogue in books to know when yours has gone on for too long.

Writing Dialogue with Fantasy Languages

Recently I’ve gotten into making new language for my worlds. Incorporating them into a story has been a struggle. I don’t want to confuse readers. So, for the languages, I’ll include a glossary at the front of the book. And, I’ll try to add context clues around the word so readers can pick up its meanings.

“What is it?” Lock asked.

“Anuli tried to escape again, Lock-Yanwha,” Manyt said.

Of course, Manyt wouldn’t answer the question when Haylan asked it. Lock-Yanwha or just Yanwha was far too formal to use when it was just them. Manyt had a habit of rolling those titles out at random times, probably just to be annoying.

If you’re struggling with your dialogue, inhale other books. Study how other authors handle them. Make sure you have someone read your book and give you feedback. What we think is good, may not be. Or what we think is bad, may be one of the best things about our books.

More Resources

How to Write Dialogue: Master List of Dialogue Punctuation & Tips

Your Guide to Writing Better Dialogue

Spring Flower Photography Ideas

I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The season’s perfect for flower photography and my neighborhood smells heavenly. But, I have seasonal allergies and I’m bad at taking medicine before going out. My photo sessions usually end with sniffles and watery eyes. On top of that, pollen’s everywhere. It gets caught in my dog’s fur. Brushing her is the only way to get it off. Usually, during springtime, Oreo and I would go on long walks around my neighborhood while I photograph all the different colors. But, Oreo’s 12 now. Long walks are out of the question. Shorts photography walks are still in, though.

Shooting flowers can be a struggle. They’re pretty but, it’s still possible to capture a boring photo. I have this problem particularly with cherry blossoms. I love those flowers, photograph them every year. Now, I’m wondering how I can shoot them in a way I haven’t before.

Here are a few ideas to spice up your flower photography.

I talked about my equipment in the post Affordable Nature Landscape Photography Gear. For flower photography, I mostly use my telephoto lens. Certain shots didn’t need the superzoom, though. I simply used my 18-55 mm lens and got really close. Before going out, check out a few flower macros to get some ideas. I have a Pinterest board for inspiration.

Photograph Top Down

Top-down is probably my favorite angle for flower photography, especially if that plant’s glass-shaped. Looking inside is like getting to peek at the flower’s secrets.

46 mm, 1/80 sec, F/11, ISO 400Pay Attention to What’s Around the Flower

Flowers can be pretty all by themselves. At certain times, the environment adds something special to the photo. I like how this flower is embedded in the bush behind it.

In the below photo, I purposely wanted to get the little curl in frame because it makes the flower feel like a hidden secret.

300 mm, 1/500 sec, F/11, ISO 400Look at Shapes and Textures

Sometimes a flower’s interesting on its own because of its shape. This one with its face to the sun didn’t need anything added. It was screaming to be photographed.

300 mm, 1/640, F/9, ISO 400

This next photo does two things. The petals have an interesting frayed texture. I could’ve zoomed in and focused just on them. But, I wanted to get in the surroundings as well because of the water drops.

33 mm, 1/320 sec, F/11, ISO 400Point Your Camera at A Tree and See What Happens

As I mentioned before, it’s a struggle to get an interesting shot of cherry blossom trees because I’ve photographed them so much. I grabbed my telephoto lens, stood under the tree, pointed my camera up and tried to find a good composition. I was searching for groups of flowers I could isolate. Most of the shots didn’t work. A few did.

120 mm, 1/500 sec, F/7, ISO 400Look for Contrast

This shot drew my eyes because of the flowers standing in a bed of blue.

300 mm. 1/200, F/11, ISO 400

It’s one of my favorite shots partially because this is a simple front yard garden. But, the composition makes it look so much more.

Don’t Forget Weeds

Weeds are annoying in general but they can make pretty flower photography, especially if they have a nice color combination.

300 mm, 1/400 sec, F/11, ISO 400

Be mindful of your backgrounds, even if it’s blurred. You don’t want things distracting from your subject. When you’re heading out to photograph flowers, remember to be observant. Avoid snapping the first pick you see. Look at the flower for a minute or two and see how you can make the shot more interesting.

6 Tips on Writing a Fantasy Series

All the advice said writing a fantasy series is better than several standalone books. Despite, that, when I first started thinking about publishing, I had no intention of writing a series. I don’t remember why exactly. I think up until that point, I’d only ever written standalone books and wasn’t interested in a series. However, three standalone books took place in almost the same world. The stories demanded they be made into a series.

Right now, I have three fantasy series going on. You can check them out on my Book page. One is going to be four books and the other 2 will continue without a foreseeable end. If you’re planning on writing a series, here are a few things to think about.

How Many Books Will It Be

I thought my Merging Worlds Series was going to be three books. That was until book 2 turned out to be about 200,000 words. Way too long for one book. I split it into two stories which meant I was now creating a 4 book series. However, Book 1 said The Merging Worlds Trilogy. It was a pain to change the book cover so it no longer said trilogy. Before you published book one, have an idea of how long your series is going to run.

Decide on a Structure

On that note, will your series have one overarching plot or will the books be episodic? For instance, each book in my Other Investigator Series will be about a paranormal case the characters are solving. Readers can jump in the middle and enjoy the story. As of right now, there’s no overarching baddy they have to fight. The Merging Worlds Series is not like that. It’s not meant to be like that. I don’t do detailed outlines. But, I at least knew how this series would end when I started writing Book 1.

Create Your Own Wiki

For my Merging Worlds Series, I created a style sheet. It’s just a Word document full of important points about my story. If I describe a setting, I’ll copy that description and paste it into my style sheet. If there’s a plot point I need to remember, it goes in the style sheet. In Book 4 (my WIP), I’ve been calling one character Tanri until I checked my style sheet and realized I change their name to Karit.

It doesn’t have to be a Word document. You could use Evernote or WorldAnvil. I’ve been playing with their interactive map. At the beginning of my series journey, I had a world-building journal.

I use the Character Planner app for Android to keep track of character backstories and appearances.

Notes are important. By Book 3, you are not going to remember certain detail from Book 1. I have to check my notes often just to be reminded of character appearances.

You Need a Map

You know how much I love maps. I drew this and put it up o my wall as reference.

Understand POV

I’ve stopped reading some interesting sounding books because the author didn’t understand POV. The story would be in close third person told from one character’s perspective. But, without warning, we’d get the thoughts of another character. It’s called head-hopping. It can be done right but most cases of head-hopping are done by authors who didn’t seem to understand point-of-view. I don’t like head-hopping, in general, but some people don’t mind it. If you’re going to head-hop, research it. Read books that do it right.

On a similar note, understand that if you do a single POV in Book 1 and then switch to multiple POVs in Book 2, that’s going to be jarring for readers. You can do it, just know it may take readers a while to get into your story. Book 1 kind of sets the standard for the rest of your series. When readers come into Book 2, they expect the same structure as the first book in the series.

Know Fantasy Tropes and Cliches

I didn’t use to have an issue with chosen-one stories. Now, it’s done so often I skip them. I don’t want to read another book about a magical school. Similarly, one dark fantasy book was being vague about the villains. They sounded fairly interesting. Until I found out they were elves. Then I lost interest. I generally don’t mind reading about chosen-ones or elves but they’ve been done so often, I kinda just want to read about something else. If you’re diving into a well-used trope, figure out a way to make it unique.

If you’re writing a fantasy series, read a lot to get an idea of what readers expect when they come into your story. It’s okay to break the rules. Just do so with a general understanding of how readers will react.

It’s important to create a guide for your own book. Depending on the story, readers are okay with some loose string at the end of standalone books. At the end of a series, readers expect loose strings to either be tied up or at least addressed.

More Resources

5 Tips for Writing a Fantasy Series

How to Plan a Book Series

How to Write a Series: 5 Fundamental Tips for Expanding Your Story

Exploring Three Ways to Structure Your Book Series