Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 65

Tree is up, lights are on, nobody is home…

Kindle

At least it feels that way. I’m focused on finishing up the books I’m working on…plus, I’ve got the rough outline for a new RS series coming together in my head.

So I’ve been absentee author.

We have our Christmas tree up. I’m almost done shopping. Almost, not quite. I almost spend more than I should. I need to focus on work and I can’t. Anyway, I’m going to get back to work in about five minutes.

Here’s a snippet from one of the RS books due out next year, SWEETER THAN SIN…

It could be said that Adam Brascum loved women.

It could be said.

But it would be off-target. Adam didn’t love women—he didn’t hate them, but he didn’t love them, either. He needed them.

The soft curves, the scent of their skin, the husky voices as they whispered to him in the night. If he worked it right, he could spent the night with any number of them, and he wouldn’t have to be alone unless he wanted.

Wouldn’t have to be alone, with just the voices in his head, the memory of a phone call, the memory of a smile, the memory of the girl he might have been able to save.

If only he’d done something.

Part of the SECRETS & SHADOWS series…

Coastal Magic… prizes, fun stuff…

Kindle

Post is sticky. Newer ones may be below.

 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, my lovely reader friends!! Now that Thanksgiving has passed (and while we’re all trying to fit back into our clothes after yesterday’s dinner) it’s time to start passing out presents!!! Ok, maybe not ALL the presents, but how about some virtual “Secret Santa” presents to our favorite characters in the urban fantasy and paranormal romance world, and some very real convention registrations for two of YOU!!

That’s right. One blog hop commenter will win free registration to the 2014 Coastal Magic Convention in Daytona Beach, Florida, in February. A second winner will win registration to the 2015 event!! This is a weekend full of fun panels, meet & greets and face time with some of your favorite authors in the UF/PNR genre. Over 50 authors will be featured, and you’ll be surrounded by fellow book lovers.

A few of the participating blog hosts are Featured Bloggers for the Coastal Magic Convention, and a few are Featured Authors. Be sure to ask them questions or leave them comments about the con if you’re curious about it, or if you’re planning to attend. They’ll be thrilled to hear from you!! To find a list of confirmed Featured Authors and other information about Coastal Magic, be sure to check out the website.

In addition to the two overall, grand prize winners… some of the blogs will be featuring individual prizes, so keep an eye out for those as you’re checking out the other stops on the hop!!

Here’s how to enter:

1 – The ENTIRE urban fantasy and paranormal romance world is yours to choose from. Imagine every name in a giant Santa hat… whose name do YOU pick?? List that person’s name, what book they’re from, and what gift you would give them in the comments section of this blog.

2 – Click on the Rafflecopter link and complete the entry tasks you’d like to participate in. The ONLY mandatory entry is your “secret santa” comment, but there are a few other ways to get extra entries. (just a few, I promise )

3 – Visit other blogs on the list between today and December 6th to play again!

So… easy peasy, right?!? I’m excited to see who each of you chooses!!!

GOOD LUCK, everyone!! Let the season of giving begin!!

Participating Blogs:

Coastal Magic Convention Official Website
Books Make Me Happy
Little Read Riding Hood
Readers Confession
Smart Girls Love SciFi and Paranormal Romance
Sarah Nicolas
Aria Kane
Lucienne Diver
Shiloh Walker
Lia Davis
Sandy Williams
MANtastic Fiction

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pretty cool… :)

Kindle

There’s music, be warned.

BROKEN BLADE at Netgalley

Kindle

If you want to request BROKEN BLADE from NetGalley, please do so soon.

It won’t be up there forever.

What do you write?

Kindle

When I was in New Jersey, I went out to dinner with a lady from my street team and a couple of writers.  We had a great time and one of the writers looked at me and asked me what I wrote.

But she wasn’t exactly talking about genre.  She’d mentioned a discussion she’d had with another writer.  He’d just looked at her and told her she wrote about tribes.  Families.  And he was right. She did.

I thought about it for a minute and then I said, “I write about broken people.  Then I fix them.  And sometimes second chances.”

I’d never really boiled it all down in a nutshell like that, but I guess that’s the running theme throughout my books.

One of the reasons I ended up writing the Kit Colbana books was because I wanted to play with the idea of having somebody who was weaker than the others, who had frailties and weaknesses others around her wouldn’t understand, but who got by because she was stubborn and wouldn’t give up.

I didn’t want a kick-ass heroine who bowled everybody over.  I wanted somebody who was battered, who had to fight and scrabble for every step she took, but she kept taking those steps anyway.  It’s a different sort of strength, but sheer will and determination keep her going.

Underneath all that stubbornness, she was a broken mess and I see all those wounds even though some of them don’t really start to come out until the third book, maybe even the fourth one.  She’ll probably still be finding out who and what she is as the series goes along, but I couldn’t fix her in one book.

The Protected had a broken hero…he was messed up.  We can’t even call him a bad boy.  He spent his life taking care of one person–himself–and whoring, stealing, fighting his way to accomplish his goals and then a phone call changes everything and he has to go from watching his back, to fighting for a kid’s life.  He never trusts anybody and then he suddenly has no choice.  Fixing him was fun and it was just as much fun to watch him fall.

A Forever Kind of Love had a hero who walked away from the girl he loved in high school all because he wasn’t ready to be the responsible guy, be an adult, all that.  He comes back years later, realizing he still loves her, only to find her married to his best friend.  Then life sucker punches all three of them.

Yeah.  I think broken people are just my thing.  :)

I guess, being a writer and all, that knowledge should come in handy.

So, writers out there… what do you write?

 

Romancing the Holidays

Kindle

I totally flaked out and forgot to post the details about the annual Cincy signing at the West Chester B&N.

It’s December 7 from 1-3 pm.

Barnes & Noble

Streets of Westchester

The Streets of Westchester, 9455 Civic Centre Blvd

West Chester, OH

This really IS my last signing of the year.

Wanna send some Christmas Cards for some troops?

Kindle

Got an email from my friend Kelley who works with an SOS unit.  She had this names passed onto her…

 

GySgt Heather Vecchia;

GySgt Fatima Herrera;

Sgt Kim Barton;

Cpl Liza Cabanillas;

Cpl Tylena Murray;

Cpl Chavez;

Cpl Tiffany Webster;

LCpl McCartney; LCpl Rhodes.

CLB-13

Unit 16045

FPO AP 96427-6045

 

~*~

Cpl Showni Anderson

MCE-A BAGRAM

APO AE 09354

 

~*~

LCpl Jordan Somerson

1/9 A Co.

UNit 13955

FPO AE 09510-3955

~*~

Lcpl Miquel A. Vidal

Lcpl Nicholas Mcdonald

Lcpl Juan M. Molina

Lcpl Mathew Guelzow

Cpl. Klye Vanalmkerk

BLT 1/4, Det 2, Charlie Co.

UNIT 16053.

FPO. AP. 96427-6058

~*~

Sgt Jo Moody

CLR2 TS Company

Unit# 73760

APO AE 09510-3760

~*~

Sgt Jorge A. Pineda

HMH-462

Unit 26050

FPO AE 96427-6050

~*~

Roneshia D. Owens

MALS 40 SUPPLY/ S-SHOP

UNIT 78372

APO AE 09510

~*~

SPC Nailea Silguero

NATO ROLE 3 MMU

Kandahar

APO AE 09355

Works in the trauma hospital in Kandahar. She shares with all of the injured men and women.

Sgt Nichols, Ashley

8th Ordnance Co

APO, AE 09354

 

~*~

Lcpl Logan, Adam E

R4OG IMEF

UNIT 42190

FPO-AP 96427-2190

 

Kelley says we’re mostly looking for Christmas cards, although if anybody wants to adopt a name for gifts, etc, that’s fine.  Ideas for gifts, care packages can be found here.  Keep in mind, these people are looking for cards, letters, support…nothing beyond that  This is being stated because …well, it needs to be stated.

RT Award Noms!

Kindle

Let me squeal a moment…

 

 

The Protected and Night Blade were both nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice award.

Okay.  Squee moment is over.  Gotta get back to work.  Really close to finishing up Darker than Desire and Forged Blade, so my brain is mush.

So…wow. Deeper than Need

Kindle

Isn’t it pretty?  The cover for my next full length romantic suspense, due out in June.  This will follow the e-book novellas, Burn for Me, Long for Me & Break for Me.

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS.

Eager to put a dark, troubled past behind her, Trinity Ewing buys an old house that will make the perfect refuge for her and her young son once renovations are complete. The last thing on her mind is finding someone new…but the contractor she’s hired is an irresistible distraction—and Trinity can’t help but fantasize about all the business they could be doing behind closed doors.

SO DOES ONE MAN’S TOUCH…

Noah Benningfield thought he’d put his demons behind him. But the moment he lays eyes on Trinity, the temptation he feels is too powerful to deny. Soon the attraction between them explodes into something neither of them could have imagined. But their desire will be put to the test when a shocking local murder has them dodging danger at every turn. Can the beautiful and damaged Trinity trust someone like Noah, whose own past is as haunted as her own? The only thing she knows for sure is that she can’t live without a man who makes her feel this good—over and over again…

 

 

snippet!

The bottom of his stomach dropped away as she froze and went white—white as death itself.

“Trinity?”

“Noah…”

Her voice broke.

Following her gaze, he found himself staring.

It took his mind a minute to process it—another to adjust. All the while, in the back of his mind, he heard the echo of a familiar voice…just a ghost by now, but one that haunted him for a long, long time.

“Trinity.  You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

“Nuh…no, no.”

He nodded.  “Then move back, now,” he said, his voice taut.  Pulling the flashlight from his belt, he peered into the dark maw, still staring at what Trinity had seen.  “I’m coming down.  I’ll boost you out and you can get my ladder.”

Trinity was whimpering by the time he got down there, carefully, unwilling to take his eyes off the gruesome discovery.

He touched her shoulder and she hurled herself at him, burying her face against his neck.

He didn’t blame her. He didn’t want to look, either.

But he couldn’t look away.

Nothing could make him look away from the odd, almost mannequin-like display stretched out on the dirt floor.  It’s not real, some part of him thought.  It couldn’t be real.

Parts of it were nothing but bone.  That wasn’t the worst.  The worst were the almost flesh-looking parts, bits that looked a strange, greyish-white.

“Tell me that isn’t a person,” Trinity said, her voice low and soft.  “Please tell me it isn’t.”

Noah wished, more than anything, that he could do that.

Instead, he just cupped his hand over the nape of her neck.

In the back of his mind, he heard the words… Noah, just trust me…

 

Read more here…

Sketching stories

Kindle

I had this idea at the NJRW conference to take elements from my Writing Hot workshop and devise a new sort of workshop, one on characters.

I’m not, by nature, a plotter.

The way I learned plotting (my way of doing it, at least) was by doing character sketches.

My first attempt at a character sketch came from two places, and I built on it from there.

I was visiting Lora Leigh years ago and she mentioned how she uses pictures just to keep her characters looking different.  It seemed like a good idea…I kept making my heroines red-headed.  I like red hair.  But all of my heroines can’t be redheads. So I started doing that, kind of using one of her templates that she’d given me for just sketching out the rough outline of a character.

Then I was playing around with Lynn Viehl‘s Novel Writing Notebook-for you in depth plotters?  Get this.  This may be right up your alley.

It’s too in depth for me, but some aspects of the Novel Writing Notebook, and Lynn’s 3 questions:

Who are you?
What do you want?
What is the worst thing I can do to you?

Helped me figure out what I need to know about my characters, even before I start writing.

My stories come from my characters.  I usually know them first, and once I know them, it’s like they just want to tell me their story.

Take for example…

Damon. (from my Kit Colbana books).

The rough beginning of book 1, titled dead men tell no tales, sat on my hard drive for over a year.  I had about 10k of the story down. I knew what I wanted to do.  I thought. I had a love interested for Kit.  His name was Damon.  He was a white guy, really cool, played a sidekick kinda of part and they fell madly in love, almost from the beginning.

That was the plan.

And the book stalled.

I didn’t know my characters.

Then, I was on twitter. Lightning strike came in the form of this:

Damon Johnson, Image courtesy of IMDB

Dwayne Johnson.  He was on twitter and I think what did it was the way he’d been chatting with some of his fans.  I’d been thinking about that book–again–and he said something to a fan, referring jokingly to himself, He’s an asshole.

It’s a weird way a writer can get a lightning strike.

But I went back and looked at the book.  Then I hit the internet and looked at some pictures of Dwayne Johnson.

Thought about my character Damon some more.

Thought about Kit.

Okay.

Who are you?  

Well. Damon’s an ass.

What do you want?  

If you want to know that, you have to read the book.

What’s the worst thing I can do you…

Again, read the book.

Then I flipped those Qs around, put Damon in the equation…as I was starting to see him now, and asked Kit those questions.  A whole new story came into view, and more questions.

In the end, what I had was the story.  I had Blade Song and it was written within a week.

The questions I had weren’t really for Damon so much, not this early in the series, but I did need to know more about him.  Initially, the way I’d written him was all wrong.  He wasn’t laid-back and easy-going.  He was, in short, an asshole.  I didn’t know, exactly, what he wanted, although half through book 1, I figured it out.

But as I was making notes and writing in a frenzy, I learned who Kit was. I What she wanted is too complicated to explain in one sentence, but she has a mission and she has goals and the story evolves from there.

Although more often than not, my notes for characters end up on pinterest, or scattered inside my head, the basically boil down to something like this…

 

Character image (use a blank area to add your character image…keep in mind, images are copyrighted.  I make online sketches, use private boards on pinterest or buy magazines and cut things out)

 

Name

Age

Height

Weight

Build

Eye & Hair color

Occupation

Education

 

Hometown

Currently resides

Likes

 

 

Dislikes

 

Hobbies

 

Who is s/he? (Note, this isn’t about her name… but who she is… is she writer, a lost soul, an artist, a scared kid…who is she on the inside.  Like me, I’m a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a reader, a writer, a child of God, a brat and a troublemaker)

Mission? (a reason or being here?)

 

Any enemies?

 

What does s/he want? Why can’t s/he have it?

 

If you aren’t a plotter, but you feel like you have a good handle on your characters, or if you want to start trying to go down that road, this is what helped me.

I’ve got a a doc file if anybody is interested in using it.  Permission to re-use granted, although crediting it back to me is nice if you share it with others.