Cynthia A. Rodriguez's Blog, page 4

Ten Days of Writing

It’s been ten days since my last blog post. Sorry for taking so long. Life, as usual, tends to get in the way. But, in those ten days, I’ve managed to take Crashing Souls from being an idea, to being an actual story, with a plot and have it all come to life in my mind. Having started three other books after Mystic Waters (Chasing the Tide, The Reigning Waves and Crashing Souls), I have more of an idea of how I actually write/see a story.

I always start at the beginning. Whether it be the first few sentences or the first few chapters, the beginning is always there. Then, I head for the heavy scenes that I know are going to be there; the scenes that are real game changers. These scenes or chapters need to be written almost immediately before I lose the image of them in my head. My characters are telling me where the story is going. They are giving me the pictures and the direction. After that, I’ve usually got then end written, then I go back and fill the rest in. This is my system. The first 30,000 words, I’ve the structure of the story down.

With Crashing Souls, I am saving the scenes between my two most important characters. I have the ending down and parts of the middle.��I even have the meeting of those important characters. But I can’t bring myself to write their relationship yet. I think this is because I want to know Dexter as he is alone before I want to know him as part of a unit. It’s weird. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to drown yet in the way they are. I’m not sure. But I’m sure, once you read the book, you’ll know what I mean.

We’re working hard over here and I thank you all for your patience and support. Synopsis to Crashing Souls will be out soon!

Now playing Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. Classic, I know.

All my love,

Cynth

Crashing Souls

If any of you have seen my Instagram, or have frequented this blog recently, you’ve likely learned a little about a secret project of mine. Crashing Souls was originally something I wanted to try after finishing the Mystic Series. But, as life would have it, I couldn’t get the story out of my head. It was too raw to keep to myself, and I love the challenge it brings.

I’m still on track to bring you Chasing the Tide and The Reigning Waves without a hiccup, but I think this is something I definitely needed to do. Writing three books at once (adding finishing touches to Chasing the Tide, and writing both The Reigning Waves and Crashing Souls) is something I feel I need to get used to. Tackling more than one book at a time is something most authors do. And while it’s usually books within a series, I see a lot of authors doing standalone novels as well, which is what Crashing Souls will be.

This novel is slated to be released after Chasing the Tide and before The Reigning Waves. While I know some of my readers will be annoyed with me releasing a different book in the midst of a series, I think this story has something for everyone. It will definitely broaden my readership.

While the Mystic Series offers an urban fantasy setting, Crashing Souls is a young adult contemporary romance. Some of the main themes are love, of course, and reincarnation. I know that a lot of people don’t want to have religion thrown in their faces, so I tend to follow the story. With this story, although faith and religion are touched upon, it isn’t a Christian novel. There is no one religion specified. There is simply a being, and He is never named nor does He interfere in Dexter’s life decisions. After all, Dex is an 18-year-old high school student. Some would say he has to make mistakes in order to learn lessons.

I hope that this story resonates with readers as it has with me. I couldn’t stop myself from writing it, after all. The reason this book will be released before The Reigning Waves is because it’s a little less intricate. With an urban fantasy series, I have to follow guidelines I’ve placed as well as keep each of my characters happy. For Crashing Souls, it should be a fairly quicker write. I have the basic storyline down already.

Anterior Books, Rosemi, and I hope that the announcement of Crashing Souls brings you the same joy it brings us. I look forward to the day you all have this novel in your hands.

Now playing Coming Home – Part II by Skylar Grey.

All my love,

Cynth

Reading Your Published Work

I watched a Sylvia Day interview a few weeks ago and she said that once her work is published, she doesn’t read it. For the most part, I try to do that. I think that you tend to obsess over what could have been better, the comma that never made it in, or that one freaking typo. It’s a good thing.

But for new authors, like myself, you can learn a lot when reading your work. I’ve learned a lot about my characters (like the fact that Edric was insanely perfect, leading to a conflict I would have otherwise ignored in book two) and my writing. I have definitely grown as an author but there is always more to learn.

So, for the most part, I tend to stay away from my work because I tend to cringe when I read something I would’ve written differently now. But taking a look back into your past is all right. Granted, Mystic Waters isn’t that far into my past, but it feels like it was years ago. That is how much I’ve learned. You are always learning as writers and authors. I recently read and article that I’d love to share with you all. I think it’s such a great idea. Reading this article discussing “Thought” Verbs, had me hating some of my writing. Looking back on how Chuck Palahniuk changed his wording around to avoid “thought” was genius to me. And I agree with him, to an extent.

The biggest things to remember when publishing is that 1) you can’t change your words and 2) you shouldn’t anyway! You get to see your own growth. That is something rare. Not every career choice gives you the ability to see how far you’ve come. So, I’ll accept my being annoyed with my words from time to time and not wanting to go back and read but beneath it all, I’m happy with what I’ve done with Mystic Waters and even more so with Chasing the Tide.

Now playing Skylar Grey’s Invisible.

All my love,

Cynth

Chasing the Tide News + Book Three’s Title!

Hello, hello. I update my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook more often than I do this blog, but for those of you who don’t utilize those sites, I have news.

First, I received Chasing the Tide back from Rosemi. She had only great things to say!

I had a hard time staying awake during duty while I was writing and she was teasing me. I ended up typing in a series of numbers into the MS that obviously weren’t meant to be there. The editing phase is moving a lot quicker than with Mystic Waters. I think Rosemi and I have a bit of a rhythm now, which is fantastic.

Next bit of news: book three has a title. It was announced on my Instagram account two days ago. I blurred the image and a day at a time would lessen the blur until my followers could guess the title. They guessed it by the second post. Here’s the title, ladies and gents:

And because I get a little too excited, I posted a short excerpt from The Reigning Waves. Excerpt is posted below.

Phew! A lot to take in in one post, right? I know. It was a lot to update you guys on. I cannot wait until Chasing the Tide is in your hands and when The Reigning Waves comes out, I can only hope you all will still be following this journey. It means the world to me.

Now playing the acoustic version of Still Here by Digital Daggers which happens to be on the Chasing the Tide playlist.

All my love,

Cynth

Chasing the Tide Update! (And Excerpt)

I know I was supposed to hand Chasing the Tide over in 19 days but…it’s officially with Rosemi! Crazy, right?!

Duty last night was long and everything I wrote, I hated. It wasn’t until I got home, slept for three hours and showered that I got exactly what I wanted. I am so excited. It’s been tough. This book has taught me a lot. Mostly, it’s taught me that some stories will make you face your own demons. I love all of my characters. You’re definitely going to learn a lot more about each of them. In the cases where you don’t, you’ll at least see them grow.

There is a reason for the things my characters do. When we meet Liza, she is meant to be a nobody. She is meant to be a caterpillar. The evolution of Liza is definitely something I have had immense pleasure witnessing. She’s amazing.

There is still work to do before the manuscript is publishable. But I feel better knowing that this step has been completed.

I hope you all love Chasing the Tide. It was a challenging write but there are moments that just take your breath away.

Here’s a small piece of what I’ve been working on. Remember, it’s in the editing process and may not make it into the actual book. Thanks so much for your support and my amazing readers!

I could still hear him as he tried to show me how to bewitch others. You have to want it more than your next breath, Elizabeth. Believe that without it, you are nothing. That passion, that need, it will pass onto them. And you will have succeeded.

Now playing I Forgot Where We Were by Ben Howard.

All my love,

Cynth

The Army Posted An Article About Me!

Hello. This post is late. I’m sorry. The story ran Friday night and I’m only posting the link here Monday night. Apologies.

Here’s the link!

I love being interviewed, mostly because I can talk about my characters, writing, my ideas, forever. I gave the interviewer a LOT more material than he ended up using, but I love the story as is. If we touched base on everything I mentioned, it’d be a very long article!

I have duty tomorrow. Remember those nights in Afghanistan where I’d use my time on duty to tackle my rather large word count jumps? I intend to do the same thing tomorrow. I just stopped myself from getting too into Chasing the Tide because I really need something to work on tomorrow.

I’m realizing just how sad Chasing the Tide is but the growth in my characters…it’s amazing. I can’t even begin to tell you just how excited I am. We’re nearing a lot of anniversaries this fall/winter. Look at how far we’ve come! I was hoping to participate in NaNoWriMo this year but I’ve got too much going on. Maybe next year? I hope you all enjoy the article and make sure you check out my other social media platforms. I tend to post little excerpts and things on those sites.

Now playing Roo Panes’ Tiger Striped Sky. :)

All my love,

Cynth

Sales, Marketing, and Other Profanity

As human beings, we’re always evolving, always learning. So, wouldn’t the same thing be said of our writing? I think the same thing could be said of our entire authoring experience.

I’ve evolved from someone who knew nothing about publishing a book, with just an idea in my head and the hopes that someone would listen. Here I am today, a published author working on the sequel as well as the third book and another project. Juggling all of these things, I began to feel pressured to sell. Selling your book means success. It means the nights that I stay awake writing when I could be resting before another full day of work at 0630 actually meant something, right? I thought this. And I thought that I wasn’t doing enough.

I’ve always told Rosemi that I wanted to make it organically. I wanted to be the book, the author, that someone stumbled upon. That I didn’t want to focus on sales because it wasn’t about that for me. I think I became a stranger, even to myself, the last few weeks. I don’t want millions of readers because I want millions of dollars. That’d be nice but the reason behind my struggle was, I wanted people to care about the words. It’s my first book! And it’s even dearer to me because of the situations I was in when writing the book.

But I’ve finally come full circle. I’ve realized what I wanted again. I think each author will have to come to terms with this and ask themselves an important question: Why do you write and what do you want from it?

Figure it out early on. Because not everyone is going to like your work and some people just aren’t going to care. And you have to be all right with that.

This doesn’t mean I won’t offer my book to bloggers for reviews. It just means that sales aren’t going to be my priority. I’ve done my part, I constantly post something or other about my book because I’m obsessed with my work. But I refuse to let it bother me that I don’t have as many readers as the next author. All in due time. And if that times doesn’t come, I’m fine with that. I’m fortunate enough to have made it this far.

Now playing California Rain by Betty Who. I’m oh so obsessed with her album.

All my love,

Cynth

When I Dream of You by Rosa Sophia (Review)

This review is covering the novella, When I Dream of You. I was gifted this book in return for an honest review.

Blurb: Nina Archer battles memories of a trauma that occurred twelve years ago…

With plans to move to North Carolina, she hopes to separate herself from her mother, whose excessive drinking is becoming unbearable. Then suddenly, fate steps in to help her heal in a way she would never think possible. While running a race in Juno Beach, Nina finds herself next to a man whom she’s immediately attracted to.

Wes Ladner, the same man she dreamt about one year ago… 

Wes is focused on his writing, and has no time for a woman. But the night before they met, he dreamt of Nina. Although they come from two very different worlds neither of them can deny the sparks that fly between them.

As her time runs out to make a decision, Nina wonders if she’s been given the chance to come to terms with her past, and accept a gift that some never receive–true love.

This book is 68 pages long. In those 68 pages, Rosa Sophia managed to pull at my heartstrings. Her writing style isn’t one I’m used to. I felt like the entire time I was watching it happen, which I didn’t mind. It was refreshing. Usually I want to feel like I’m standing in the middle of everything. With When I Dream of You, it felt like I was almost watching it on television or off to the side. There was a certain distance which I felt was needed because Nina’s struggle was so intense. You know, you get close to the fire and you get burned.

Wes was amazing. Even in the short amount of time that they had with one another, he was patient and understanding. He knew Nina had baggage but he understood that his connection with her trumped all else. And he wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable and show that he cared about her. Everyone knows, feelings are kind of scary. Especially when involved with a woman who has been damaged the way Nina has.

All of this, in 68 pages. The only drawback: I wanted more. I wanted to see what else happened! This is a heavy read. But the pleasant ending gave me hope. Thank you, Rosa Sophia. And a job well done! :)

*Side note and completely unrelated to this review but I feel like I need to post this.

Help one another. I am not known. I am not important. But I help authors. And writers. And those who need what I have. If there is anything you can do in this world, it is help one another.

Now playing A Night to Remember by Betty Who.

All my love,

Cynth

If I Could Explain the Magic of Writing

So, I had this really great idea. I want to attempt to explain to you all what writing is like for me. In no way am I saying this is good writing. At the end of the day, I know less about writing than a lot of people (Certainly less than Rosemi–she’s a genius). But I want to share the experience with you guys.

Writing, for me, is like the moment Liza is transitioning for the first time. In a lot of ways, when I settle down and my fingertips hit the keyboard, I know I’m experiencing something amazing. Similar to what Liza experiences when she finally lets go and accepts her mermaid form. In the beginning, I was timid, my words a little less sure. But over time, the quicker your fingers fly, the better the high. I can sit at my desk, clacking away at my keyboard, with some sort of facial expression. A sinister smile, a frown. There are moments where I even chuckle. Juan has learned to ignore me.

As writers, we are constantly battling ourselves and our work. Similar, again, to Liza’s journey. But I have found that comfortable point in my writing career where I’m writing for my characters. I’m not writing for readers and I can’t even say I’m writing for myself (although it gives me extreme pleasure). Some of you may think this is wrong. And in some ways it is. But I have Rosemi.

Rosemi is the angel on my shoulder. She reels me in. And she is my conscience. My books wouldn’t sell at all if it weren’t for her. Because although I write for my characters, Rosemi edits for my readers. What do I mean by that? There are scenes where I’m not as detailed as I should be or I skip over giving information because my characters already understand. Equipped with her witty and, most times, funny remarks, she makes my work sparkle.

Writing is draining. It takes so much from me. But if you’ve ever had a reader sit down with you and discuss their favorite characters with you–the characters that were once just an idea swimming around your brain–you know that being tired isn’t sh*t. We’ll get over some emotional fatigue. We’ll even weather physical fatigue. Because it’s just that wonderful…it’s that damn magical.

Now playing The Goo Goo Dolls’ Without You Here.

All my love,

Cynth

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (Review)

It is true. This blog post is a review. I know, I know. I haven’t reviewed a book on my blog in a very long time. But, after reading as many as ten books in the last two weeks, and writing Chasing the Tide, Ugly Love has left a most lasting impression. So, round of applause for Ms. Hoover. Your words caused me to want to tell the world about them.

Blurb: When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn’t think it’s love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.

Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.

Promises get broken.

Rules get shattered.

Love gets ugly.

I opened this book, began to read Tate’s POV and instantly loved her. I wanted her to be real so I could take her out for drinks and we could talk about how HOT Miles is but also, how genuinely effed up he is. As an author, I know this is what Colleen Hoover wants. And she was successful in making me root for her character.

Ms. Hoover was so successful, in fact, that I rooted for both sides. That rarely happens! One person is good, the other is bad. We all grow up with this in mind. But, even though I loved Tate and hated that Miles was hurting her, I couldn’t hate Miles himself. Because his character was so well-built, so well-written, that I fell for him too. And his story was just so sad.

I give this book a big, fat five star review. I love the characters, I love the flow of the story, it didn’t feel forced, and the sex scenes weren’t absurd. Everyone writing romance is trying to beat out 50 Shades for raunchiest scenes, I swear. But these scenes were actually bearable. Great job, Colleen Hoover.

Now playing True Love by Coldplay.

All my love,

Cynth