Megan Morgan's Blog, page 33

The Idea Fairy

If you’ve been writing for any reasonable length of time, and the people around you know that you write, you’ve probably heard the question: where do you get your ideas from? This question most often comes from non-writers, who can’t wrap their mind around how you can just make something up and then put that made-up thing on paper, in coherent form, in a way that conveys emotion, message, and a plot. Some writers may ask you the question too, fishing for ways to find their own ideas.

[image error]The thing is, there’s no one clear answer to such a question. And for that reason, it’s complicated–sometimes even impossible–to come up with an adequate reply.

Ideas for stories come from everywhere. Not all the ideas in a story come at once, and they don’t all come from the same place. Stories are more like a puzzle where you take an idea from here, a vision from there, a bit of clever dialog or the elements for a scene from over there…it’s a lot of borrowing from various sources. Also, some of it doesn’t come from anywhere but our own minds.

Here are some places I ‘get my ideas from:’

Other stories. Not just books, but movies and TV, songs, and other forms of entertainment. I don’t mean I steal ideas, I mean that creative works can inspire us to create our own things. Sometimes I use characters I like in other works as rough templates for my own characters. Not meaning that they’re the same, but I take things I like about the original character and twist it around into something of my own. Music is very inspiring for me too. A song can tell an entire story.
My own life experiences. Sometimes it’s beneficial to draw things from your own life. Not only do you know those things well, it can help you understand and work through things.
People I know. The experiences of others can be inspiring as well. Sometimes you meet someone so interesting, or deep, or fascinating, you just have to borrow a little something from their world for your next work.
An inspiring event. Occasionally something happens that’s so peculiar you just have to document it. It might just be an anecdote tucked into a story somewhere, or it can become an entire story unto itself.
Nowhere. Sometimes, ideas just come. It’s hard to pinpoint what sparked them. You just know that you think like a writer and sometimes it happens.

It’s not easy to explain where ideas come from, at least not in the broad sense. If you ask me where I got the idea for a book, that’s hard to answer because the book taken as a whole is a series of ideas from all sorts of places. However, ask me something more specific, like how I got the idea for a character trait, or a scene, or a setting, and I might be able to explain it. Maybe. Maybe it just sprung up and I have no idea!

Where do most of your ideas come from? Do people ask you about them?

Filed under: Monday Blogs Tagged: creativity, inspiration, writing

Book Sale!

Black Mountain Magic is on sale for just 99 cents right now at all retailers! Get it cheap for the holidays!

Black Mountain Magic – Kentucky Haints #1

[image error]Witches and Lycans and hillbillies, oh my!

Lorena Mills is a witch, but she’s not very good with potions and incantations. Working for a government agency that puts down dangerous uprisings of supernatural creatures, she does much more paperwork than spell casting. When her less-than-magical job lands her in the small Appalachian town of Blue Ditch, Kentucky, in the shadow of Black Mountain, her life starts to get a whole lot wilder.

In the forests surrounding the town, Wolvites—twisted, bestial creatures who hunt and kill humans—are posing a threat. When handsome, charming, and altogether reckless local Deacon Kelley insists on taking matters into his own hands, Lorena has more than monsters to worry about. He won’t stay out of her way, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Deacon is a Lycan–in modern terms, the non-shifting descendants of werewolves–and he and his family have protected Blue Ditch for generations. But now, something too sinister to be controlled by their efforts alone is stirring, and the Wolvites are far more vicious than they’ve ever been. Will Lorena be able to stop the threat and uncover the deadly secrets surrounding it before it’s too late?

To keep the town, and Deacon, safe, she’ll have to—and she’s really starting to like this town.

Read the first chapter
Buy it at:
Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | iBooks
Filed under: Black Mountain Magic, Kentucky Haints, Promotion, Publications, Works Tagged: books, information, paranormal, romance

The Language Of Writing

Many years ago, I wrote under a different pseudonym, in a somewhat different genre, and had a modicum of success. The name was Lydia Nyx, if you’re curious, but it doesn’t matter because everything I had published back then is no longer in print/distribution and some of the publishers are defunct. I ended up eventually shifting genres and reinventing myself as Megan Morgan.

[image error]However, despite the fact I didn’t write fantasy/sci-fi, I somehow ended up being a panelist at 2011 Penguicon in Detroit (which is a sci-fi/fantasy con). It’s a funny story, and what I learned from the experience–that we, as writers, no matter where we are on our path or what we write, are all in this together–was invaluable.

I ended up at the convention because I made a comment on a blog post of a fellow author who was published in an erotic horror anthology with me. He mentioned Penguicon and that they still needed panelists (I believe he worked for the organizers? I can’t remember clearly.) and I looked into it, despite the fact I didn’t fit the demographic. When I contacted the organizers, they said indeed they would like to have me, and didn’t care what I wrote, they just wanted published writers to speak. I was scheduled for not one, not two…but SEVEN panels. Keep in mind, I had never spoken publicly on writing before, ever.

The convention ended up being a blast. However, on three of those panels, I sat alongside sci-fi/fantasy authors Jim C. Hines, Stephanie Osborne (who had the coolest NASA ribbons), and….*GULP* Brandon F*kin Sanderson. Needless to say, I was way out of my element and way nervous. I was terrified to sit with multi-award winning, bestselling Mr. Sanderson, who, let’s not be modest about it, 90% of the convention goers were there to see. What’s more, I was expected to sit with him and talk to a huge audience about writing, intelligently.

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I had no idea what to do, so me and my son just got Steampunk’d.

What did I learn from those three nerve-wracking panels? I learned that despite the fact Mr. Sanderson was at the top of the food chain and I was way down at the bottom, in the swamp, and that we write in radically different genres, our love of writing, the way we talk about it, and the techniques we use to evoke creativity are exactly the same. He was a tremendously nice and polite man. He moderated all three panels (basically directing the flow of conversation/controlling the subject matter/provoking the rest of us to speak) and he was extremely pleasant, encouraging, and helpful. I realized despite our different points on the spectrum we were both writers, and we both thought like writers. We could discuss it on the same level, all other things aside. It was incredibly comforting as a young, floundering author.

Jim C. Hines is also a darling of a man. I sat directly beside him for all three panels and he was just a great conversationalist and gentleman. He eased my nerves greatly before each panel.

It was an eye-opening weekend. I also made several fans at the time who were pleasantly surprised to find an author so radically out of place. I met author H.B. Pattskyn there, before she was published, and she was so wonderful and supportive of me on those days when this young author was so scared. I even had her sit with me on some of my other panels!

The thing I learned that weekend, and I still carry with me to this day, is that we’re all in this together, no matter where we are on the ladder, no matter what we write. Writing is a universal language!

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Look how well I fit in! I apologize, my son could only seem to take pictures during earthquake tremors.

Filed under: About Me, Behind The Scenes, Monday Blogs Tagged: appearances, creativity, me, personal life, writing

The Writing Community

One reason I love the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and participate in the monthly blog hop is because of the support it provides. It’s a huge blog hop, and it’s easy to get lost sometimes and there’s so many bloggers involved it’s hard to get to them all, but it’s a great, supportive community of writers who always have your back. By sharing what’s on our minds and what’s bringing us down each month, we find camaraderie, commiseration, and most important of all, sympathetic ears and shoulders to cry on.

This week I posted about how life has been getting in the way of my writing and I’m feeling drained and haven’t made much progress. The outpouring of support was overwhelming and I really want to thank all of you. It makes me feel better to know that other writers struggle with the same issues, and that all of us drop out of the race from time to time. The fact that we’re there to help each other get back in is heartening.

Lots of things can sideline writers and make it so we can’t get our fingers on that keyboard and produce anything:

Real life stress and responsibilities
Major life changes
Health problems
Anxiety and depression
Holidays
Too much on one’s plate

If you’re dealing with any of these things, I’m pulling for you, and I’m here for you. If you need to talk to someone about it or just moan and share your woes, I’m always available. You can comment here or contact me via email, if you would rather discuss something privately. It’s important as writers that we support each other and help each other get back up when we fall. It doesn’t matter what genre we write in, we all have the same love of writing in our hearts.

If you would like to talk in the comments, or you’re in a good place right now and you would like to offer other struggling writers your support, feel free!

Filed under: IWSG Tagged: blogging, creativity, insecure writer's support group, personal life, wellness, writing

Getting Up The Hill

This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the December 7 posting of the IWSG will be Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!

My insecurity this month revolves around the fact that I’m feeling a little drained right now. Okay, a lot drained. I recently got a promotion at work and the adjustment has taken a lot of my energy and caused a shift of focus. Christmas is also coming and all the buzz surrounding that. As a result, I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I’m not working on writing much, struggling to keep my blog up, and generally just feeling drained and zoned out when I sit down at the computer (so then I screw around online instead of doing work).

I know all writers go through this from time to time, when life climbs on your back and slows you down. I’m hoping as things even out at work and the holidays pass, I’ll get the spark again and be able to concentrate. The funny part is, it’s a vicious cycle: the less I write, the worse I feel, and then the more drained I am. I have to break it!

December 7th Question: In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?

My ultimate ‘writing plan’ has always been to be a career writer. That is, I want to make a living off writing and not have a day job. Far-fetched? Definitely. Improbable? Maybe. Impossible? Only if I don’t do anything to reach that goal. I know it’s something that will take a lot of hard work and needs a little bit of luck thrown in as well.

In five years I hope to at least be paying some of the bills with writing, even if I’m not making a total living off it. How do I plan to do it? The only way an author can make a living off writing: write, publish, repeat. Unless I happen to land a bestseller, it will take lots of work and lots of available work to make a living. Though even if I do magically hit it big, I’ll keep writing more books because–I love writing!

My plan is to do a job I love, which is writing, and live comfortably on it. But it’s going to be a long, hard, sometimes uncomfortable road getting there. I think that’s true of a lot of professions, though. No one becomes a doctor or lawyer overnight, either.

This plan seems incongruent with my insecurities this month, doesn’t it? I guess that’s a sign for me!

How are you feeling this month? Have you ever been drained and unfocused?

Filed under: IWSG Tagged: blog hop, creativity, insecure writer's support group, personal life, wellness, writing

The Christmas Spirit Is Here!

I put my Christmas tree up yesterday. A lot of people I know decorate on or directly after Thanksgiving, but I always wait until December begins because I don’t want to get sick of Christmas too fast. This is the first year I’ve had a full-sized Christmas tree, because I live in a bigger place now and I have room to put it. I always had a table top tree before. That means it’s my cat’s first year coexisting with a full-sized Christmas tree as well…

Look how sweet and innocent I am. How dare you insinuate that I would assault a Christmas tree.

We’ll see how she gets along with it. So far, she’s been ignoring it, but sooner or later she’ll get bored, I’m sure.

Do you celebrate Christmas? Have you decorated yet? Feel free to show off your tree/decorations in the comments!

On a completely different note: Black Mountain Magic got an awesome review at Up Til Dawn Book Blog. Stop by and check it out!

Filed under: Holidays Tagged: cats, personal life, pictures

Gatlinburg

Today my heart and thoughts go out to the people of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, who were devastated by wildfires over Monday night and Tuesday morning, resulting in almost all of Gatlinburg being burnt to the ground. The destruction is terrible and many people lost their homes and livelihoods. Unfortunately, most major news outlets barely gave any airtime to the story, instead continuing to rattle on ridiculously about politics. I find it disgraceful that most people had to rely on the internet for any information at all. I’ve never been to the area, but it looks beautiful.

If you would like to know ways you can help, here is an extensive list of places and charities taking physical and monetary donations.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: information

I Just Don’t Care

I’m going to admit something today that will probably get me shunned. Something that some of you may have a hard time accepting. I fully understand if you want to unfollow my blog after this. Are you ready for this confession?

I really dislike Star Wars.

I was going to say I ‘hate’ Star Wars, but I realized I don’t have an intimate enough relationship with the franchise to actually hate it. I very much don’t find anything enjoyable or entertaining about it. I have an aversion to it, really. That sounds more reasonable, I guess. If you love Star Wars you probably shouldn’t read the rest of this post, because I’m not going to change my mind and give it any credit before the end.

Okay, for everyone who stayed:

Perhaps I don’t like Star Wars because, with a few exceptions, I don’t like sci-fi in general. I entirely don’t like space opera-y type stuff. Star Wars is just not my thing. I never even watched any of the first three (or whatever sequence they’re in, I really don’t know) movies until my mid-twenties when my ex-husband (who very much likes Star Wars) made me watch them. I found them so unremarkable I barely remember anything beyond the pop-culture references and that, like–some people were being squished in a room? Siblings kissed to make the space jock guy upset?

A few years later, a friend of mine (who also very much likes Star Wars) dragged took me to see Revenge of the Sith. I can confidently say until this very day, I have never seen a worse movie. From the wooden acting to the fact the ‘plot’ was just a vehicle for the special effects, I had never been so underwhelmed in my life. But here, we come to the actual writing point of this post!

One thing I still remember being driven home for me at the time, for I was a writer then too, is that they sort of foisted upon the audience that we’re supposed to identify with Anakin’s angst over Padme because for goodness sakes she’s his wife. Amongst all the other horrible tropes in the movie, we’re just supposed to implicitly feel emotional about it because they’re married. This sat so wrong with me then and underlined such an important rule of writing that even all these years later, I’m reminded of it everytime I see it in action.

The issue is this: Revenge of the Sith was not by far the only movie–or book–where the author(s) simply expect the viewer/reader to care about a relationship based on what it fundamentally is. “Of course you must understand/identify/have an emotional connection because character x is character y’s wife/husband/brother/sister/father/mother/best friend/cousin!” I mean, who can argue with that?

All well and good, but not all of us have the same life experiences. Some of us don’t have a wife/husband/brother/sister/father/mother/best friend/cousin, or we don’t love/care about our wife/husband/brother/sister/father/mother/best friend/cousin. Some of us don’t speak to those people or would like to see them buried in a pit. You’re not going to make me instantly identify with the connection characters have just because they have a socially-recognizable relationship. For example, I don’t understand anecdotes about the close relationship between cousins because I don’t actually have any cousins.

So how can you make sure your readers come to identify with a relationship they may not have–or that they may have, but are not going to readily accept because you say so? This is done by building character and by showing the relationship in action, and in peril. Saying ‘our bond is strong because we’re married/related!” is not enough to make us care. Show us why we should care. Show us the relationship, the emotions, the things they love about each other and how they connect and interact. Give us a reason to care beyond ‘because everyone cares about that person!’ Show us what they’ve been through and why their bond has survived it.

What mutual interests or concerns do they share?
What has their life been like together? What have they been through?
What do they tell each other–and what secrets do they keep?
How do they resemble each other? How are they different?
Why would it be hard for one to live without the other, beyond the formalities of their relationship?

I never cared about Anakin and Padme, mostly because they were little more than accesories in a CGI-fest, but also because I’m not going to feel their angst just because they’re married. If it makes you feel any better, I thought Mr. and Mrs. Smith was an awful movie too, and didn’t emotionally connect just because they were husband and wife.

I apologize to any Star Wars fans out there. Maybe the movies got better, but I don’t plan to find out. Thank you for not breaking my knees because I used it to make a writing point! Please don’t break my knees, I need them to walk.

Filed under: Monday Blogs Tagged: creativity, movies, writing

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving today in the US. Enjoy some turkey, family, and feasting! It’s also a day for thankfulness, and I’m grateful for all of you! Hope you have a great holiday!

Filed under: Holidays

Ten (More) Life Lessons We Can Learn From Our Cats

One of the most popular posts on this blog is Ten Life Lessons We Can Learn From Our Cats. Since, like that day, I’m struggling to come up with a topic, I thought why not find ten more lessons to keep you laughing? So here we go:

Ten (More) Life Lessons We Can Learn From Our Cats:

If you don’t like your food, complain until someone gets you something better.
Sometimes you just have to let the hairball it all out.
If you hear a weird noise at night, it’s best to be over-alert and anxiously on guard. It might have been just the wind, but it’s probably an axe murderer breaking into the house to chop you to pieces.
On that note: always overreact and hide from most noises.
The most comfortable sleeping positions are weirdly the ones that twist you into strange shapes.
Find a high spot and watch the world from above, with an air of superiority. That’s why you’re up there, after all, because you’re better than everyone else.
Don’t wait for treats, find them and take them.
A sunbeam is a good place for a nap.
If someone accuses you of something, just give them big eyes and make cute noises, they’ll forget about it.
If you don’t want to be touched, bite.

Have a great Wednesday!

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: cats, funny