Colleen Houck Book Club discussion
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Defiance
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Tawney wrote: "When you have writer's block, is there anything you do that helps bring the creativity back?"Writer's block is simply my mind telling me I've missed something. Maybe I'm approaching the scene from the wrong angle, or my pacing is off. I take a little bit of time (no more than a day or two at the MOST) to let it play around in my head until I figure it out. Sometimes talking it out with my editor or an author friend helps. Sometimes I just need to take a drive by myself and let my mind wander through all the possibilities, not just the ones I thought I would use.
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Loki is full of awesomeness. Have you seen his conversation with cookie monster? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ubV...
Tawney wrote: "Hi my names Tawney! Big fan. So what do you do when you aren't writing?"I'm a mom to my 5 kids and a wife to my fabulous hubby. For down time, I love to go see movies or watch Netflix. And of course, I love to read!
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I do! Playlists are super important to my writing process. I create a different one fo..."
C.J. wrote: "Shara wrote: "Do you have a playlist you listen to while you write? Does it change for each book if you do?"
I do! Playlists are super important to my writing process. I create a different one fo..."
C.J. wrote: "Shara wrote: "Do you have a playlist you listen to while you write? Does it change for each book if you do?"
I do! Playlists are super important to my writing process. I create a different one fo..."
Why a coffee shop? Is it always the same place or do you sort of hop around to different ones to get different vibes?
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I have a playlist for each book too but I can't listen to it while writing. I listen to it on a walk and that gets me going thinking about the story. Like your term transported.
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Lexi wrote: "So do you relate to Rachel? Do the characters, protagonist or antagonist, relate to people, feelings, or activities in your life? What advice would you give to a writer who is trying to get publish..."I related to pieces of my characters, but they are fully formed individuals in my head. They aren't based on anyone in real life, though of course, I pull from my own observations so that I can describe ticks or traits. Usually, though, I pull from my own experiences even if my experiences differ from my character's. So for Rachel, I pulled from a time that I experienced trauma and went into shock for when I wrote the wagon scene in Defiance, even though the trauma I experienced was much different from hers.
Advice to writers: at some point, you have to set the story down and start a new one. Every book you write, and especially every book you revise, will teach you enormous lessons on craft. No book is ever going to be perfect, including books that are published. You do the best you can at your current ability, revise to the best of your ability, and then surprise yourself at your own improvement when you sit down to write the next one.
Kimmie wrote: "When you start writing a new book or series, where do you find the inspiration for your characters? Are any ever based (even a little bit) on people you know? Do you dream them up from scratch? Do ..."My characters generally arrive in my head already fully formed, and I just have the job of discovering who they are. I don't base them on anyone I know in real life because that would be distracting and would interfere with my ability to write them with freedom. I have, however, used names of friends and family (though never for major characters). Many of the barely-mentioned secondary characters in Deception are names of friends of mine in real life.
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That's a good question! That's a tough choice. I think I'd want the mega yacht. That thing was pretty awesome. Of course I couldn't afford to staff the thing but I'd sure love to tour it.
Emily wrote: "Was it difficult to get started in your writing and what advice could you give to an aspiring author? I've just finished my fourth time editing my first novel and now I'm working on a query letter,..."It can be overwhelming! My advice is do your best, let it go once you send out the queries, and get excited about the next sparkling new idea. When you keep yourself busy and excited by a shiny new story, it's easier to weather the sting of rejections you'll receive until you finally get a yes. I queried several projects for several years before getting an agent and then heard nothing but NO on two separate manuscripts for over two years with her until I wrote Defiance and finally sold a book. Hang in there! Write what you love. Don't expect to be perfect, but expect to keep learning. And always be working on the next thing.
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That's excellent advice. It's hard to let a world go sometimes. Getting caught up into a new world is fun but being at the tail end of an already developed world is much easier and I sink into it more smoothly than one still in development.
Shara wrote: "C.J. wrote: "Shara wrote: "Do you have a playlist you listen to while you write? Does it change for each book if you do?"I do! Playlists are super important to my writing process. I create a dif..."
I live in a small town and the book store coffee shop is the best place to go. I sit at the same corner table every time. I don't care much for variety with my writing routine. :)
Shara wrote: "There is a series by Cornelia Funke, Inkspell is one of the books in the series. The story is about the ability to enter a book. Certain people in the story have a natural talent, and when they r..."While I'd love to see the Cursed One in all his fire-breathing glory, I think I'd take Logan ... :)
And maybe I'd give them fire extinguishers because my characters could really use that.
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I like that advice. It will never be perfect anyway. I look back at what I wrote five years ago and wince. That's completely normal. You get better each book.
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I don't either. I like to work at my home desk. I can't write on the road or in a plane. Have you written on a plane before?
Christine wrote: "Dear C.J. What's your favorite movie and holiday and drink and food and color and tv show and book and weather season and song?"
Movie: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Holiday: Christmas
Drink: Peach tea
Food: PIE. And also QUESO. But not together because blech.
Color: Purple
Tv Show: Sherlock
Book: I can't pick just one!! Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Girl of Fire and Thorns, 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare ... ack! I know I'm forgetting a ton of books I love!
Weather: Fall
Song: Again ... I can't pick just one! I listen to a ton of music. I love Ruins by Bebo Norman, Star-crossed Wasteland by In This Moment, just about everything by Shinedown or Evanescence ... and more!
Colleen wrote: "Who inspired your villain?"No one directly inspired him. I just looked at the kind of society he'd created and figured out what kind of person he was. (Spoiler alert: douche)
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We must be from different eras. The only one I recognize is Evanescence. I'm an 80's girl all the way. Except for Taylor Swift. I love her.
Colleen wrote: "What made you want to tell the story from different perspectives and how do you balance that as a writer?"I wrote over half of the book from Rachel's POV alone, and then realized that it wouldn't work. Logan has just as much at stake in the series, and also Rachel went to a very dark place inside her head. Readers wouldn't want to spend the entire book with her (and neither did I). Also, Logan was doing some amazing stuff, and I wanted to show that to the reader.
I balanced it by deciding who had the most at stake in a scene, and that's the perspective I used. I had to look at the events and surroundings in a given scene through either Rachel's emotional, intuitive lens or Logan's analytical, logical lens.
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That's one of my favorite series too."
Yes! totally started me off reading."
Hi Valerie Lovely to have you on the chat. =)
Colleen wrote: "C.J. wrote: "Again ... I can't pick just one! I listen to a ton of music. I love Ruins by Bebo Norman, Star-crossed Wasteland by In This Moment, just about everything by Shinedown or Evanescence ....."Oh I love Taylor! Shake it Off is my personal anthem at the moment.
Colleen wrote: "C.J. wrote: "I don't care much for variety with my writing routine."I don't either. I like to work at my home desk. I can't write on the road or in a plane. Have you written on a plane before?"
I've written on a plane. In an airport at my gate. In a crowded hotel lobby ... deadlines, kids, and travel mean I've had to lose my inhibitions as far as writing goes. Again, the playlists help so much!
Colleen wrote: "Would you say your world is a dystopian Earth or does it more closely resemble another world?"It's a dystopian Earth (although reading the next two books will reveal that each city-state has their own unique government and culture, so not all of them are dystopian).
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Me too! Love that song. It's just the perfect song for authors and life in general.
Colleen wrote: "Can you share with us the significance of the talon ring or do we need to keep reading to find out?"The talon is the Commander's symbol (each city-state has one, most of them related to the Cursed One, the creature that forever altered their world) and so he had it melded onto a ruby and set into a ring to remind his people (and the other rulers) that he was unafraid to strike out at his enemies.
Valerie wrote: "Colleen wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Colleen wrote: "C.J. wrote: "The first book that changed me as a writer was THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. "That's one of my favorite series too."
Yes! t..."
Thanks for coming!
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Valerie wrote: "C.J. wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Hi, CJ, fascinating story. What was your inspiration for the male-dominated society - especially the ritual of the Claiming? I fear I would have perished in such a drea..."I ended up writing a long Tumblr post about it because I kept hearing from readers who were so certain that we couldn't slide back to that archaic misogyny. I appreciated their perspective, but much of the world is STILL treating girls like second rate non-humans, and it's important to explore what it would look like to live like that, and also to look at what would happen if we put our considerable resources toward getting those girls educated.
Thank you all for such fantastic questions!
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I didn't realize you had five kids. How do you get anything done?"
yes, I have a much deeper respect for you and how you can do multi-task. Wow!