The Sunshine Award: Why Not?

So I was nominated by Ed Ireland to do this award thing.  I don’t usually do these and I know I’ve rejected plenty in the past.  The difference here is that I’m currently locked in limbo for the next hour and looking for something to do.  Not the noblest of reasons, but maybe this will jog me of my melancholy too.

So I answer Ed’s questions, write some of my own, and then nominated 5 people to do as they will.  Either ignore or carry on.  Here we go:

sunshine-award

 

My answers:

  • What are your favorite things to wear while writing?  Clothing.  Preferably warm stuff in the winter and airy stuff in the summer.  Usually something of the denim persuasion is on me.
  • Who inspires your works?  So many people, places, and things.  I leave myself open to just about everything.  The two current series have different origins.  Legends of Windemere is off a Dungeons & Dragons game.  Crossing Bedlam started as a quirky daydream and probably stemmed from Mad Max, Deadpool, and other violent action flicks.
  • How much are your characters a copy of real people? Who are they?  Since the current series is based off a D&D game, they share aspects of the players.  Beyond that I don’t usually do characters based off real people.  I used to in high school, but people found out and that opened a door of opinions and critiques.
  • Are you a planner or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser type writer?  Judging by the shelf full of notebooks, folder full of outlines, and scraps of notes everywhere, I’m going to say planner.  Either that or I enjoy owning the processed corpses of trees.
  • Aside from what your preferred genre is, what other type genre do you enjoy writing?  I’ve tried a few beyond fantasy, but most haven’t really grabbed my attention.  That and I didn’t feel like I was good at them.  My newest series is going to be a Rated-R action, comedy, post-apocalyptic ride, which was a lot of fun.  Just threw off the restraints and let my inner imp run wild.  So I might be adopting whatever this is as a secondary genre.
  • What famous faces are behind your characters? Start the casting call.  I actually don’t have anyone.  I used to just grab random names off IMDB and act like I knew what I was doing.  Then I just stopped.  Maybe the D&D thing affects this too since the players have their faces kind of on the characters.
  • Which modern writer do you find fascinating?  Hard to choose since I’m a horribly slow reader.  I’m really into John Flanagan’s series Ranger’s Apprentice, which I love for the world-building and characters.  As far as fascinating goes, I don’t really know who I’d pick.  For a bit, I was fascinated by the whole 50 Shades craze, but only in that I was confused on how it got so mainstream.  Don’t remember erotica getting that much attention and spread.  Then again, I never really paid attention to it in general.
  • What famous voice would you like to hear reading your book?  Torn between Morgan Freeman and Mark Hamill.

So my victims are:

  1. C.S. Boyack
  2. John W. Howell
  3. Melissa Barker-Simpson
  4. Tracy Carrig
  5. Nicholas Rossis

My questions:

  1. If you could have only one enhanced sense, what would it be?
  2. Are you going to eat that?
  3. Do you think a stubbed toe or a paper cut hurts the most?
  4. What is the one thing you wish someone told you about being an artist?
  5. The protagonist of your latest book is at your door.  Is this a good or bad thing? What will you do?
  6. Is there one aspect of your personality that you’d never wish on a fictional character?
  7. What animal would you want as a totally tame, will never hurt you pet?
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Evolution of a Villain

Stephen by Kayla Matt

Stephen by Kayla Matt

One part of The Mercenary Prince that I’ve yet to mention is that it’s a big step in Stephen Kernaghan’s development.  This seems to be running alongside Delvin’s journey and it isn’t pretty.  Mostly because he’s a sadistic monster who has rapidly become more unhinged as the series progresses.  So how do you evolve a villain who you want to stay truly evil?

I won’t call myself an authority on this because there’s probably a hundred ways to accomplish this feat.  I went with Stephen getting worse and becoming even more monstrous with every defeat and victory.  His goal has become entirely about bending Nyx to his will and using her against his father along with Trinity.  It’s no longer about the champion prophecy or being a good son, which makes him more dangerous than ever.  In a way, he’s become weaker too because he lacks what little caution and patience he had.  This book is where Stephen either recovers or breaks entirely, which does culminate in one of my favorite scenes to write.  Still, it wasn’t easy keeping him truly evil through it all.

Part of the problem is that I enjoy villains with a touch of humanity in them.  The Lich had loyalty to his master and Trinity fights for her people.  Baron Kernaghan is rather benevolent and kind for an immortal warlord.  Stephen never had a good side and I made it a point to prevent that from coming up.  In fact, one could see how he’s probably the weakest of all the characters in the series.  Sure, he has magic and power to throw a small army around with ease.  Yet, mentally he’s really nothing more than a scared man who is doing whatever he can to prove he is powerful.  I’ve come close to pitying him at times, but then I remember how much of a bastard he is.  Stephen is definitely one who earns whatever hate he gets.  This makes his evolution even more difficult, but maybe one could call it a de-evolution instead.

What do you think about evolving villains?  What’s your favorite one where the villain didn’t become a hero?

See Delvin & Stephen clash in THE MERCENARY PRINCE!

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New Book in Series – Legends of Windemere – The Mercenary Prince by Charles Yallowitz

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Questions 3: Wacky World of Writing

writer meme

The unexpected can happen when you’re writing.  Minor characters can rise to main cast while big events can fade away.  No matter how much you plan, things can make a wrong turn without warning.  So let’s share our wacky experiences:

  1. What is the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you when writing or reading?  (For me: Timoran Wrath ending a fight with one blow instead of the complicated battle I had in mind.  In fact, I think he’s done this twice.)
  2. Has there ever been a character that caught you by surprise by being either bigger or smaller than expected?  (For me: Kira Grasdon.  Began as background and steadily made her way up to central supporting cast.)
  3. How do you react to people saying ‘writing is easy if you have a plan’?  (For me: I nod my head and try not to laugh. Then again, it probably works for some people.)
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#Read ‘What Jennifer Knows’ for 99p / 99c from 14th to 18th January 2016…

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Discounted Book Offer – What Jennifer Knows by Wendy Janes – 14th -18th January

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#Read An Excerpt from ‘TALON Come Fly With Me’ – Book 1, by Gigi Sedlmayer

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

TALON, COME FLY WITH ME

A Walking and Climbing Talon

(Please Nore – any formatting issues are mine when transferring to WordPress, Not Gigi’s)

Friday was cloudy with thick rain clouds hanging over the mountain, but Matica and Talon still walked to Ramah for his practice. They hadn’t arrived back home yet when bullet-sized raindrops thundered down on them. They ran the last hundred meters to the village and took shelter in Amos’s house where Talon pressed himself close to the wall and waited, anxiously looking at Matica and the rain.

‘Poor Talon,’ said Jose, who had come home to shelter from the rain as well, ‘it looks as if he does not like the rain, but it will not last long. It is too heavy.’

And so it was. After ten minutes, it suddenly stopped as it had begun. The blazing sun shone through the clouds, filling the air with hot dampness. Even…

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Lisa the robot interviews John W. Howell

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

“Hey, Lisa. I need you to do something for me.”

“Sure thing, what’s up.”

“I’m really busy today, and I need you to interview an author for me.”

“Wait a minute. Personal assistant, robot girl, spokesmodel. That’s my entire job description. Where does it say conduct interviews?”

“Well – You’d be assisting me, so it’s part of the assistant job.”

“Fine. Who is it?”

“You remember John W. Howell don’t you.”

“He was at the block party, back in September.”

“Yeah, he’s a great guy.”

“He wore a lampshade and kept asking me to turn him on.”

“I think you’re reading too much into it. Ask him about his new book. People love you, all you have to do is talk and make notes.”

“Fine.”

ooooo00ooooo

I took the formerly haunted biplane to Port Aransas, Texas. I touched up my hair and makeup at the airport, and changed into my…

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Yagervan Plains: Where the Hooded Lions Roam

savannah

Yagervan Plains was designed as I went along with The Mercenary Prince.  It had always been in the back of my mind since I had only mountains, forests, and the desert region.  The jungles were there too.  It was hard to find a place for Yagervan to appear and thrive, which happened when Delvin went on his adventure.

This land is similar to the desert in that it has nomadic people.  The tribes, all of which are named after birds, follow the same route every year and try to stay on a schedule to avoid the harsh weather that can spring up.  Many follow herds of animals, which gives them a food and clothing source too.  Each tribe has their own symbols and rites, but they all have a distrust of the outside world.  Not enough that they’ll avoid trading when times get tough.  There’s only so many resources in the plains after all.  Another thing they have in common is being superstitious, which is why they don’t venture beyond the borders very often.  All contact is made on the border and their closest ally is the Snow Tiger Tribe, which is stretching the term.  At best, they have mutual respect for each other and see a kinder spirit in structure.

There are bazaars too, which act as social hubs.  Information and supplies can be purchased here as well as other things.  Sadly, there is a slave trade in Yagervan because there’s no central government.  Nobody trusts the flesh peddlers and those who buy from them.  They stay in business because of exiles and foreigners who happen to wander into the area.  It’s nobles and those with more money than morals that buy slaves.  All attempts to smash the industry has been met with an increase in activity and the merchants setting up shop somewhere else.  This isn’t to say people don’t try to cause trouble for the flesh peddlers or buy slaves to set them free right away.  This is definitely the seedy underbelly of the region.

One of my favorite parts of creating Yagervan was the wildlife.  I don’t want to reveal too many because they’re fun to stumble upon in the book.  The one I will mention is the Hooded Lion.  This predator is very dangerous and looks like a regular lion.  Only the males and females all have manes, which resemble hairy fans.  They can be folded over the face enough to block the sun and are part of the mating display.  The way to tell the difference between the genders is mostly by size.  Females also have a red tint to their manes, but you might be too busy trying to get away to notice.

You’d be surprised how much goes into planning and describing a wide expanse of tall grass.  There are factors that one might forget like the wind, the sun, and even the smell of the terrain.  Putting the occasional tree and rock formation helped break up the tedium, but its flat land for the most part.  You have to think about the borderlands too and figure out how that is maintained.  Do you have a man-made wall, a river, or a sudden change of terrain?  The area is actually bigger than the desert and jungle regions combined, so I plan on visiting it in the future.  This means I might not be done with Yagervan’s growth and there’s a touch of excitement to that.

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#Read ‘Silence and Circumstance’ for 99c/99p from 13th to 31st January

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