Meka James's Blog, page 25

It Comes From Everywhere - #MFRWauthor

Here we are at week 14 of the #MFRWauthor blog hop. This week's topic is all about our story inspiration.
Ideas for stories can come from anywhere. For my first book the idea was based on a prompt. If you guys remember when we talked about hobbies, I mentioned that playing The Sims 3 is what lead me into writing. Fiendish came to life because of that game. The online group I was a part of had the challenge to take a well known fairytale and put our own adult spin on it.

Once I narrowed down which fairytale I wanted to take on, thinking up the twist took a little time. The idea behind Beauty and The Beast is simple, handsome prince/man cursed because of his 'ugly' nature and he needed true love to make him 'human' again. For a while I thought about having the 'beast' be the female instead to try something different then I decided against having beast be disfigured at all. What if the challenge wasn't learning to love someone 'ugly' on the outside but instead learning to love someone who is a true 'beast' in actions, behavior, personality. Could love really change someone like that?

For Not Broken, the idea came from writing Fiendish. I put Calida through hell in that book and thought she needed her happy ending.

Picture source: http://womenforone.com/10-quotes-to-i...


During week 11 I discussed my writing process, or lack thereof. I'm a pantser. Ideas hit me and I go from there. Listening to the radio is a big way to get ideas in my head. I recently heard Lady GaGa's "Million Reasons" and got a story idea for a possible later project. 
I was watching TV the other night and a commercial came on for an IVF clinic. Story idea popped into my head. For that one a title, character names, some of their backgrounds all came along too. I even started writing out the first couple of paragraphs for the first chapter. That one might be my project for Nano in November because I actually started planning, or attempting to plan, out some things I want for that story. 
If I ever were to attempt a YA book, I'd do one on the high school band, focusing on the color guard. It's something my daughter did when she was in high school. There are always books about the football players and cheerleaders, but there are many more options to consider. 
I keep a small memo pad in my purse so I can jot down ideas if something hits me while I'm out and about. There's a vast world around us and idea literally can come from anything. The smallest incident can spark an entire novel. The possibilities are really endless.
So how about you? What is the strangest thing you've encountered that sparked a story idea?
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the inspiration behind the other participants stories.~Meka
***Link isn't currently up. Will edit it in later once/if it becomes available.***

IWSG #11: An Observation About YA Authors

It's that time again for sharing with the Insecure Writer's Support Group.
What is that you may ask, well their mission statement is this:
The first Wednesday of each month, we blog about our fears, insecurities, or even an accomplishment we had. 
As part of my goals for 2017 I wanted to get better at using social media. I wanted to make real connections with people through online interactions. I have an Instagram that I rarely use, and an author Facebook page I use even less. Honestly FB makes it hard to interact with the author page so for groups and things I use my personal account. But I digress. One account I have started to use more as been Twitter. 
I write adult, contemporary romance but I follow a variety of authors on Twitter. I've noticed though in my interactions, that the YA authors have really seemed to have figured things out. They seem to be a tight network group. Of the various authors I follow, it's the YA ones that are on my feed most often. They are a supportive bunch tweeting, retweeting, liking, commenting on posts by others. Of the hashtag games that I participate in, they are all led by a YA author with the exception of one. Now of course they are very welcoming to authors of all genres, but it got me thinking. What do YA authors know that others (or just me) don't about the networking thing?
Maybe it just happens to be that I've not followed the right set of romance authors and there may be some out there that are just as active with the whole social media thing. Even with my limited interactions on Instagram, I've found that it's YA authors that have the 'challenges' monthly and know the ins and outs of the game. It's kind of amazing. It's like they all have the book of how-to with social media and it's working. And I know that the biggest secret to social media is being genuine in your interactions, but it seems like they have something extra. Or I could just be weird which has been the case before. 
My exposure is limited, and there could be just as active authors in other genres that I've not come across yet. If anyone knows where I should look, feel free to direct me in the comments. Either way, my social media experiment, at least where Twitter is concerned, is going well. I'm attempting to reach out more and talk to people when their tweets are something I can relate to. Doing some of the hashtag games has helped me think about my current characters differently which is always a good thing. I'm thankful for the well organized YA authors who put them together. 
Have a wonderful month and thanks for stopping by.~Meka

Music Monday: The Power of Love

Hello all. It's been a little while since I've done a Music Monday post. I'm still working my way through Not Broken but haven't heard a song that really stood out to me again until recently. I have two, so a post this week, and another next week.


The song is beautiful and I've listened to a few songs by Gabrielle Aplin and have loved them all. This one, the lyrics fit the moment of the story perfectly. There's the saying, love heals all wounds, and while the love from Malcolm does aid in Calida's recovery, she has also found self love. That one opens the door to allow her to accept, appreciate, and enjoy the love she receives from Malcolm.

Hope you enjoy the song.

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka

"The Power Of Love" by Gabrielle Aplin

I'm A Weakling - #MFRWauthor

Welcome back to another week of the #MFRWauthor blog hop. Last week's topic was all about our greatest strengths. This week we are on the flip side of that to talk about our weaknesses. This will be a much easier post for me.

Picture source: http://www.picshouse2.com/vb/showthre...
Yes sticking with the Spongebob theme. I spend a lot of time watching that show thanks to my boys.

So the things I struggle with, let me count the ways.

Grammar rules. I mean I know the basics, but the use of commas to semi-colons to colons not so much. Good thing there are editors for that sort of thing.

Making of pretty words. I am simplistic in my thinking. I like going from A to B in the most straight line possible. When I read other author's work their words are pretty, poetic. I guess prose would be the term. Their characters make sweeping declarations of love. The words flow so naturally that you can feel the emotion behind them. Now yes, the everyday person doesn't take in grand gestures, but the have an impact in writing, especially in writing romance. Grand gestures, deep love, it's what it's all about.

From there my next one is probably the biggest. Descriptions. I have the hardest time pulling in the world around my characters. The sights, sounds, smells that bring the scene to life. If my characters are a coffee shop then I'll just say they are at a coffee shop. I won't talk about the smell of the coffee or the background conversations around them. The focus is on them and whatever topic they are discussing. Letting readers know what my characters look like. I have a picture in my head, but I don't translate it. Maybe it's because I write in first person and people typically don't go around commenting on how they look or dress, but it needs to be in there. Readers (some at least) like to have a basic visual of what the characters look like.

These are things I don't actively think about so I tend to skip it. Like I said, I'm basic in my thinking. Just the other day I was working on a scene and I wanted to talk about my MMC's smell and could only come up with sexy, manly scent. Yes it sorta gets the point across, but it's seriously bland. Showed the scene to a friend and she instantly came up with four different ways I could go into more detail on that. I'm not aiming for the lyrical purple prose, just words that are a bit more jazzy and less boring textbook.

The pretty words and descriptions are what I work hardest at. I'm not trying to go overboard, but I do want to add a little extra pizzazz every now and the. The grammar, well I try but I don't waste too much time worrying about it since I know it'll get cleaned up before publication. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing outright terrible, but I'm not stopping to Google participle phrases and things like that either.  

So there you have it. Now you know my weakness when it comes to writing. There are more, but I don't want to bore you with them all.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other participants this week.

~Meka

I Am Good At It? - #MFRWauthor

It's that time again for another week of the #MFRWauthor blog hop. This week's topic is about our greatest strength.



That about sums up how I feel about my strengths. 
Like the guilty pleasures post, this wasn't an easy one for me. I think it's way easier for me to point out my flaws for writing than it is to pin point what I might be good at. I personally think I have room for improvement across the board. I personally couldn't list off anything I felt I was strong in so I turned to the feedback I've gotten.

Even using feedback I only had one thing to list; making realistic, relate-able characters. I am a down to earth person surrounded by other down to earth people. I lead a fairly basic and simple life. That translates into my writing.

No one's perfect so my characters aren't perfect. They make mistake, wrong choices, even if they think it's for the right reasons. Sometimes they make wrong choices on purpose because they want to. It's a crap shoot really. Bottom line my characters tend to have characteristics of someone people might know or have come in contact with at some point in their lives. I guess that comes from me pulling traits from people around me. My characters are a mash up of the people I interact with so I guess that helps them come across as more 'real'.

Some of the negative remarks I got about my FMC, Calida, was that she was too nice, or trusting, non-confrontational, that no one was like that. But a lot of that came from a close friend of mine. She knows people take advantage of her, she even gets pissed about it, but she won't tell them the things she will vent to me and our other friend about. It's just not her nature no matter how many times I tell her to dig deep to find her inner bitch. It pops out every blue moon, but not as often as it should. She simply rather avoid the confrontation. That was Calida's biggest thing and it was based off my friend.

I guess at the end of the day I want people to read my stories and think, yeah I know someone like that. Fiction is about fantasy, but I still find it enjoyable to be able to see how a situation could play out in the 'real world' if applicable. I want my characters to have quirks. I gave Malcolm allergies. That was based off my youngest son. Now he has allergies to pollen, trees, grass, etc. and I made Malcolm's a pet allergy but it was just a thing that gave him a little extra 'real'. His need to own CDs instead of going digital is from my hubby. The man refuses any digital form of music. In the same token, Malcolm's organization of said CD and DVD collection is also from my husband. Malcolm's shoe and clothes collection is thanks to my sister's boyfriend.

That writing 'rule' people talk about; write what you know, I apply that to my characters. My one strength.

What's yours?

Be sure to stop by the other blogs this week to find out theirs.

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka

Writing Process? What Writing Process? - #MFRWauthor

Back again. Thanks for continuing to join me on this year long blog hop. So this week is about our writing process.
Now for all those authors who are planners, I'm sure they will have some really informational posts this week. Words like outline and plotting will be thrown around. There might be mention of calendars and schedules. Notebooks, memo pads, all the things that help you organize which will aide you in your journey.

This will not be one of those posts.

My writing process goes something like this.

Image source: http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.p...
Or this


That's right folks, I'm a pantser. I hated outlining in school and still hate them today. I don't have any concrete idea of what is going to happen in my book. I know what I want to happen, but depending on how much of an asshole my characters want to be, those things may or may not happen.

My process goes something like this:

Idea pops into my head.A 'movie' plays out in my head of possibilities about that idea. That leads to the first few chapters maybe being written out because I have a crap memory and I need to get it down so I don't forget. If not chapters, then just the idea itself. After that I wait. I wait for the characters to tell me what's next. Sometimes it's easy going and they have lots to say. Other times, like the rut I'm in, it's like pulling teeth, getting blood from a stone, or any other saying that would talk about a difficult task.
Really that's it. I don't have a 'process' since things are always changing. My characters are completely in control of the story because it's theirs. I have to let them tell me how things should unfold. I don't always agree, but that's how it happens. If I try to force things to go 'my way' well it makes things harder and usually feels forced. The way Fiendish ended is a prime example of that. I wanted things to go a different way, but as the story unfolded I had to accept what I wanted to happen wouldn't make sense.

I'm also an edit as I go person. I can't just do the traditional first draft thing of getting the story out. I do a scene and then I have to make sure all the holes are plugged, or as plugged as they can be, because let's face it, we can't catch them all. I tried once to just write and worry about editing later, but I failed. So I no longer fight it and just accept it as part of my process.

There's also a lot of whining, cussing, and maybe a meltdown or two along the way. Plus some consuming of wine. I'm lucky to have people that will listen to me then give me a virtual slap to the face to tell me to pull myself together and get me back on track.

Now I've only completed one book, but boy did I give a huge sigh of relief when it was done. Capped off by a spa day thanks to a gift certificate The Hubs had given me nearly a year earlier. I've already told him I needed another spa day when Not Broken is finally finished and that publish button has been hit.

That's it for my process. Check out the other blogs to see how other authors handle this whole writing thing.

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka

It's Good To Indulge - #MFRWauthor

Back again for another week of #MFRWauthor blog hop. This week is all about guilty pleasures.
I admit to having some trouble coming up with my seven for this post. Sad isn't it that I couldn't instantly rattle off things that I enjoy that could be considered a guilty pleasure.

This quote sums up my feelings.


Nevertheless here's what I came up with.
 1) Wine. I don't drink that often, but I do enjoy a glass of wine every now and then. Strictly a white wine gal. I like my drinks of the sweeter variety. 
On the topic of drinking, that would be my second on the list
2) Bailey's Irish Cream. Love the stuff and it comes in different flavors which makes me happy. A girl likes to have choices. 
3) Sweets. Love them. Give me chocolate, cookies, brownies, ice cream I'm happy with them all.
4) Playing The Sims 3. I talked about this PC game in week 6 when we discussed our hobbies. I haven't gotten to play much since I'm trying to finish up my current WIP but it's a great way to relax.
5) Watching Bizarre Foods. I'm not much into reality TV but I do watch things like that. It's crazy some of the foods Andrew will eat on his travels, but it's great to see him try things and have respect for other's cultures and things even when he's not a fan of what he's been served. I know I wouldn't even attempt a quarter of the things he's eaten on his show. 6) Reading erotica. Who doesn't love a little smut every now and then?7) Twitter. For the longest time I didn't get the point of it but recently I've gotten into using it more. I find myself checking it a few times a day and even installed the app on my phone. That is huge because I don't keep a lot of apps on my phone. The ones I have mostly are the ones that came pre-downloaded or a few games I got for my kids. 
So there you have it, my 7 guilty(ish) pleasures. What are some of yours?
Be sure to check out the other participants on the blog hop to see what theirs might be.
Thanks for stopping by~Meka

Book Review: The Forgetting

The Forgetting: What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes. Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories -- of parents, children, love, life, and self -- are lost. Unless they have been written. In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten. But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence - before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.


My Review ** 2.5 STARS **
So if you read my review of Rise Of The Sparrows, you know YA is not my thing, especially not YA fantasy. That being said, I went into that book with an open mind and I enjoyed it.

My goal this year is to read 12 books that are outside of my normal preferred genre, I picked another YA book hoping I'd find another one to enjoy. Since I didn't know what I like or didn't like in this genre I picked based off covers. I went to my handy Nook app and did a search for YA books and proceeded to scroll until I came across covers that caught my eye, then read the description. The Forgetting was my final choice of about 4. The cover was pretty and the premise sounded appealing. 

The pacing of this book is rather slow. This book takes place over the course of seventy days but it felt much longer than that as I read. There were so many people, Nadia the Dyer's Daughter, Gray, the Glassblower's Son, Gretchen the Archivist, Jin (don't remember his fancy tag), Rose (who didn't have a fancy tag), etc. So much going on and so many to keep up with. I like to be able to picture each character and keep them straight in my head, something I did with great difficulty in this book. I have no real grasp on how anyone looked which is something else I like to have in my books. I know that Nadia apparently had long hair that kept coming out if its braids. Gray in turn also had long-ish hair that he kept tied back. Other than that, any descriptions given were vague.

The location, Canaan, apparently a city in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a large wall of some sort, but no one in the town ever got curious about going beyond the borders. No one wanted to know what life might be like outside of Canaan? Especially considering they had their memories wiped every twelve years. How is it that the whole town was just okay with that?

Nadia was an okay character. I liked that she wanted to know more. She wanted to figure out why the forgetting happened so she could protect her family. I can understand the hurt of having people you know and love not know you. Even still to me the book dragged. I guess it was that way so we could see the friendship grow between Nadia and Gray which later turned into romance. I didn't feel their connection. The hottest boy with outcast girl trope. I would have gladly taken less time on that and more time on unraveling the mystery behind the forgetting. Gray, well he was gray just as his name suggested. Nothing that made him stand out to me, he was there to be Nadia's sidekick and romantic interest.

The last ten percent or so of the book is when answers are given and some action is finally shown. The reveal of the villain wasn't the wow moment I'd hoped for. Even after things were all said and done some things didn't sit well with me. The situation with Nadia's father to be exact. How did he choose the way he did after explaining the why of his actions from the last forgetting? It made his whole explanation void in my opinion.

The book ends with things basically wrapped up and people are given their happy-ish endings. After finishing this book I learned there is to be a part two. This book for me was slow, had more telling than showing, and not enough action, so I'm not inclined to take on book two. Overall the book was an okay read for me. The half star for the cover and concept.

Music Monday: Roxanne

Hello and welcome to another week of music Monday. It's been a while since I've done one, so sorry for that.

In my other life I work part-time at a concert venue. Been doing that for a little over a year and it's been an interesting experience. I've gotten to have my horizons broadened with many different types of music.

Because I work at a smaller venue we aren't getting 'big name' stars such as Adele, but it's interesting all the same.

This past Monday we had the biggest star that I've known of the acts, Sting. Now I'm not a big Sting fan, but I know of him. He's been around for years. However I don't know a lot of his songs. The one I do know when his name is mentioned is "Roxanne".

Sting put on a great show, it was fun times and he did perform the one song I knew off hand which is the inspiration for today's music Monday.

Enjoy
~Meka

"Roxanne" by The Police

Ewww, Did You Say That? - #MFRWauthor

Welcome to week 9 of the #MFRWauthor blog hop. When I saw this week's prompt my good friend was more than happy to flood me with all the words that make me say eww when she writes.


So there are a few words in writing that are ick for me. Most have to do with things of the sexual nature. Cum and/or cumming. I don't know why, but I really dislike that word. On the other end, I don't want to hear about her 'juices', seriously why use the word juice? It makes drinking OJ, apple juice, grape juice, etc, really weird when it's now associated with lady bits. Not a fan of cunt, or pussy and try to not use them in my own writing if I can avoid it.

The idea of spit or saliva also makes me go bleh.


For words not of a sexual nature, it'd have to be all the 'new age' words that seem to be picking up steam. Things like 'totes', 'adorbs', 'bae', 'THOT'. Does it really that that much longer to just say totally or adorable? I still don't get the point of bae no matter how many times my daughter tries to explain it to me.


My nephews explained THOT to me. Another one is 'cray'. I get the meaning of this one, but why not just say crazy? All these new slang words really make me feel my age and I never want to feel my age.

So those are a few of the words that make me go ick. What are some of yours?

Be sure to stop by some of the other blogs to see what words are on their list.

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka