I always sleep with a notebook next to me. Most of my stories stem from my dreams, and I’ve learned how to keep notes during the night without waking up the missus. This has also helped me with remembering my dreams the next morning when I write them down in more detail.
So, I was intrigued by this idea for a guest post, courtesy of Adam Kyle, a sleep expert at MattressReviews.net. A workaholic by nature, it wasn’t until his late twenties that Adam realized the importance of sleep for his health. At that point, he focused on learning everything he could about sleep. Now, Adam specializes in how his environment and his physical well-being affect his sleep. A San Francisco native, he finds the sounds of the city soothing and struggles to get to sleep in quieter environments.
I hope you find it useful and it will help with your…
I’m writing this Friday night since I’m hoping to focus on writing in the morning. My son has a 3 hour thing, which means I can possibly get a section done. We’ll see how it all goes because weekends rarely go as planned. There’s always something that comes up to cause a distraction or requires that it be a higher priority.
My goal last weekend was to write 2 chapters. I got maybe 1 done because things took an interesting turn. On Saturday, I interviewed for a summer job and got it. Has a lot of responsibilities and will be a lot of fun, but it also meant that I needed to start thinking about things. I spent the rest of the day working out a schedule with events that I’ll adjust as I get more information. This left me with only Sunday to do writing, which was something. The day fell apart near the end because of an issue that left me emotionally drained.
That’s something that I keep bringing up, but this week brought me to a new level thanks to ‘events’. Schedule-wise, my son had several review sessions on top of his usual evening appointments and activities. This meant I would get him from school, take him to a place to eat quickly and do homework, and then rush off to where we had to go. We didn’t spend a lot of time at home, which is why I’m hoping to take it easy with him this weekend. He has toys that need to be played with and an Aquaman DVD that we both want to watch at some point. Most of that will probably be on Sunday because today is beautiful. It’s been a while since the weather was great enough to allow for outdoor play. He was told about a math-based video game by his teacher, which I promised to set up. That’ll be on the rainy day though.
Not much else that I can talk about as far as last week went. That life event . . . One of these days I’ll be able to give it a real name. Maybe by the time the summer hits because this is frustrating. People who have asked me in private know, but it’s still awkward to pussyfoot around the topic. Anyway, that took the spotlight when I wasn’t busy working and working with the munchkin.
This coming week will hopefully be milder or at least the busyness will only happen at work. It will be nice to get a little writing done during the weeknights. Next weekend isn’t going to see much writing. Saturday will be an early birthday outing and Sunday will be, hopefully, the announcement that War of Nytefall: Rivalry is available. I’ll be announcing it here and then send out the guest post emails. Can’t think of anything to do as far as promoting goes beyond GoodKindles, AskDavid, and the blog tour. Nothing else seems to work and even those aren’t what they used to be. Still, it’ll be nice to put a new book out there. If I can pull it off, I’m even going to do a cover reveal one of these weeknights.
There was something else . . . What am I forgetting? Oh yeah! I’m hoping to see ‘Shazam’ next weekend. That looks like a lot of fun and I could use a movie that is filled with action, humor, and heart. My interest in superhero movies tends to be rather ephemeral. The film needs to have something that really grabs my attention or be a character that I always wanted to see on the big screen. Haven’t been seeing much of that lately. Although, I do wish ‘John Wick 3’ was coming out this weekend too. That would make me attempt a double feature, which I haven’t done since college.
I’ve written a lot of couples throughout my books, but Xavier Tempest and Nadia Sylvan from War of Nytefall kind of stand out. They aren’t on/off or complicated like the Luke Callindor/Kira Grasdon/Sari triangle or the Nyx and Delvin Cunningham relationship of Legends of Windemere. Even those who are happily married seem to miss a spark that is unique to this vampire couple. After some thought, I decided that they deserve a post to touch on this important, but overshadowed piece of the series.
First, Xavier Tempest and Nadia Sylvan never met in the games that the characters originated in. He wasn’t even a noble when I played him, but a vampire looking for information on his past. She was a noble in a live-action RPG that I was in as another character, so I only connected them in the books. This is something that I did from the beginning because Nadia fit in her role as a vampire matriarch and Xavier, whose original name was Alucard, had this regal look to him. Both of them worked well as foils to Clyde and Mab as well. It made sense to make them a couple, but I think it was the comparison that locked in their spark.
With Clyde and Mab always being either not a couple or one that can’t get its act together due to pride, Xavier and Nadia turned into an openly romantic pair. They were a rock of a relationship that could not be chipped much less broken. I always try to make at least one mention of their wedding rings, which I noticed isn’t a common tradition in Windemere. I have them use cute names at times and they both claim this protective ownership of each other. My favorite part is when I decide to give them a little time to dance or do something romantic after a stressful scene. While it would normally feel out of place, it seems to work for them. They take solace and comfort in each other’s presence even after centuries of marriage.
And there we have a main part of what makes these two unique. Xavier and Nadia are immortals who have not gotten bored with each other. Centuries together and they haven’t lost their love or even considered that something new might be out there. I would go so far as to say that they are probably the deepest soulmates that I’ve written to date and might ever write. Can’t really count Ichabod Brooks and his wife since she hasn’t made an appearance yet. Anyway, I really do like how eternity hasn’t diminished what the Lord and Lady of Nyte have. It gives them a strength that the other characters lack and that’s what makes them intriguing to me.
Me mentioning this might give people a clue as to what is going to be threatened in War of Nytefall: Rivalry. Xavier and Nadia do have some interactions with the Vampire Queen, who has some issues with their relationship. I won’t say if they work with her or Clyde, but there is friction. It was fun to write because I never thought about ways to really challenge these characters. Even then, I felt like I was throwing water balloons as a steel wall because nothing really shakes them. The closest might have been in War of Nytefall: Lost, which showed them having a fight that didn’t really put the relationship at risk. In the next book, I tried again and it made me wonder why I want to put them through a rough patch. What’s wrong with having one unbreakable married couple within my books?
So, has anyone else ever written a couple that has no drama or major downturns, but it still works? Do you think it’s realistic? What is a major contributor to characters being an unbreakable couple that audiences can relate to or at least enjoy?
This is a guest post by Liana Simmons of Ewritingservice.com. Ewritingservice provides effective communication of your message across to the reader.
5 Tips for More Effective Writing
Good writing is not necessarily effective writing but effective writing leads to good writing. While everybody has their own idea on what constitutes good writing, defining effective writing is simple: it gets the job done.
When writing, your message should be plain, simple, and well understood by others. Writing is a form of communication. Just as a person may not communicate effectively when talking, one might fail to get their thoughts across in writing, too.
1. The objective
Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your writing. The written word is more than just a means for informing the reader. To achieve the objective of your writing you need to be clear about it yourself: do you want the reader to feel…
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Like many writers, the morning seems to be the best time for me. I don’t get up that early, but if I start writing before the trivia of the day starts cluttering my brain, I find I do better work.
What is your most interesting writing quirk?
I don’t stay in a genre. Since I write purely for myself, my writing is based on an inspiration that strikes like a bolt of lightning. So, my first published book was a memoir, because Mark Twain said “Write what you know.” And because my life had been – interesting to say the least. But I always gravitated toward fiction in my short stories, and so Fluffy’s Revolution turned out to be young adult science fiction. It was inspired by a news article about geneticists injecting human DNA into the brains of unborn mice…
As usual, here is your warning that this story has cursing, sex (not graphic), innuendo, and violence. It’s my Rated-R action adventure called Derailing Bedlam. This is the fourth outing (third official) for Cassidy and Lloyd, so feel free to click on one of the two covers to see how it started. Each one is 99 cents!
The March 29th release of my book, kongo.com is tomorrow! It’s a bit different than your typical novel or short story collection. It is comprised of four related novellas that each tell a distinct story about a behemoth corporation, kongo.com.
It’s no secret that online organizations are part of our everyday life. The company portrayed in this book takes what we know today to the next level.
It takes place in a not to distant, potential future. The stories in this book are all based on the possible evolution of existing technology – nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and our obsession with our devices.
Leading up to the release, I’m going to tell you a bit about each novella. Three of the four were previously published on my blog as serials. these three have been enhanced and modified. The fourth story is brand new and is meant to tie the previous three…
Rivalries can make or break characters because everyone needs a little adversity when they’re protagonists. I’m not only talking about heroes and villains, but even the friendly competitions that force two people to excel. There doesn’t always have to be animosity like in War of Nytefall: Rivlary since you can even call allies rivals in some stories. Legolas and Gimli were this to some extent with their contest. Cyclops and Wolverine are allies and romantic rivals. The point of a rivalry is that there is some type of ‘conflict’ that pits them against each other to some extent. So, what are some things to consider when creating a rivalry?
You don’t have to make the characters hate each other. They can still have respect and consider each other rivals. A sense of competition and conflict doesn’t always come with negativity. Consider what the two characters want in the end and decide if it’s worth making one of them a villain. You can even write a whole story about a friendly competition if you think it through.
The underdog is a common character in rivalries. This is typically your main protagonist who is trying to pass a stronger character. Having a powerful opponent can force them to train harder and become more disciplined, especially if they are facing someone with ‘natural’ talent. One thing to be careful of is not to make the underdog rise too quickly. That could make your other character appear weak and destroy the whole rivalry. Was the inferiority all in the hero’s head?
Don’t forget to have both sides get stronger if you want them to be seen as equals. It comes off as one-sided when a character grows and the other stays the same. In fact, this can easily backfire into turning the ‘lazier’ hero rival into the villain because they’re seen as smug. You could also give them an ego as they watch their friend train, which could make for a bad reaction to losing. That’s if they aren’t enemies, which means the fall could be even worse for a villain. Remember that there are at least two sides to every rivalry.
Create a believable reason for the rivalry. Hatred and other negative emotions are easy to use since they’re realistic motivators for action. Avenging a slight is fairly common and possibly overdone, but it’s so basic that you can twist it easily. Something to consider is that it could be more the passion and emotion that the characters feel towards the core of the rivalry than the actual topic. If they are rather lackluster about fighting over a trophy then the audience won’t care either. Yet, an emotional rivalry that happens between roommates because one drank the last chocolate milk of the other could grab people.
As odd as it sounds, you can have a rivalry with more than one person. It can get messy and chaotic, but it can also be realistic. A prize or goal isn’t always wanted by only two people, especially if it’s public knowledge. In fact, you can look at sports and see how everyone in the league is competing for the same shiny object. You don’t have to be that massive because it would be a headache, but you can pick a handful of interesting characters to highlight.
Never be afraid to include mean nicknames. Yeah, it’s immature, but you can have a lot of fun with it.
Keep the audience guessing about who will win in the end. It can be fairly easy to make such a finale clear, especially if you go with hero vs villain. Yet, you can do some back and forth in the hopes of throwing people off. Some might enjoy the journey even if they know the destination, but you have to put some effort into masking most, if not all, of the details.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
What is your most interesting writing quirk?
Legends of Windemere 