Working with a Strained Brain

I know Saturday is a bad day for these goal posts since everyone is out doing stuff.  Yet, I’m seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron tomorrow and I’ll be gone for the morning/early afternoon.  I plan on making a little post about that movie.  Honestly, I’m just hoping for a low key day at the movies tomorrow.

Quiet frankly, I need a day like that because this week was rough on the grey matter . . . or is it gray matter?  I finished editing Merchant of Nevra Coil, Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts, and added a handful of minor edits to Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  I cooked, vacuumed, did laundry, and all the usual weekday antics.  Promotions were done for my books, which are doing their usual slump and are off the lists as the writing of this post.  That makes me fear for the future installments that don’t have the ‘romance’ tag to help them.  Honestly, I’m out of ideas for marketing right now.  I have the May stuff starting up soon, so we’ll see what happens there.  At least Ichabod debuts on June 1st and I’m hoping to garner some opening reviews from the beta readers.  Seriously, I’m not sure what I’m doing any more and I’m just wiped out.

The reason I’m wiped out isn’t even the marathon of editing I did from Monday to Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, which is a blur.  I started writing that paranormal thriller that I mentioned last weekend.  It’s so far out of my comfort zone that I’m basically crawling through it.  I’d say I’ve been working on it for 3 days and only have 20 pages/2.5 chapters done.  My brain is melting here because I’m pushing for an atmosphere that I’m not used to, keeping my fantasy author habits in check, and not working with the detailed outlines that I usually do.  I did a basic character list and chapter list then dove into it.  Then I realized that the characters had different issues than I expected and I’m not even sure what’s going on with the ‘bad guy’.  Mostly because I realized there’s a mystery that I don’t have an answer to.  Not sure I ever will and I’ll let people ponder it.  Anyway, this project is going slower than expected and draining my energy rather quickly.  Every word feels like it has to be chosen meticulously and I can’t bring myself to just go.

On the non-writing front, we have baby bunnies in the backyard.  That’s really it for that part of life.  New washer/dryer too.  And people wonder why I don’t talk about my non-writer life here.  Nothing really happens.  Let’s get on with the goal list:

  1. Continue writing the paranormal thriller.  Target is to finish it in 2 weeks.  Might start moving quicker as I get a feel for things.
  2. See Avengers 2 tomorrow.  Remember not to finish ‘medium’ drink before the 20 trailers are done.
  3. Take son to dentist and keep him occupied since he’ll be home from school that day.
  4. Outline if time or brain is too mushy for other stuff.
  5. Uncover the secret of life.  Forget information is in pocket when doing laundry.
  6. Continue to let my son believe Batman is a bad guy.
  7. Cook the bike.
  8. Stop imagining that I’ll ever get a chance to sleep in.
  9. Make a note that the paranormal thriller may be a shorter work than Legends of Windemere, but it still deserves a pizza reward.
  10. Occasionally make posts for June if I can think of any topics.

On that last note, I’m always looking for post questions and topics.  It can be on almost anything.

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Interview of Moi on #RRBC’s Blogtalk Radio Today at 12:00 CDT.

John W. Howell's avatarFiction Favorites

a book-club-badge-suggestion-copy-1a microphone

Just a quick post to let you know if you need some company with lunch today I will be interviewed by the gracious Bethany Turner on her show Behind the Pen on Rave Reviews Book Club Blogtalk Radio.

You can listen in by clicking on  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub.

I will try to avoid cringe-worthy statements but won’t guarantee it. Bethany will have control and we will talk all things authorly. (Is that a word?)

Thanks.

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Giveaway!

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Ask An Author

Toni Betzner's avatarWrite of Passage

The first Friday this month happens to fall on the first. It just so happens to also be time for another Ask the Author, the feature that puts the author in authoritative.


phpXT7GODPMMay’s featured author is none other than Charles E. Yallowitz, author of the Legends of Windemere. He also happens to be one of the first authors I followed when I started my blog back in 2013.

Back then he had two books published in his fantasy series. Now he’s up to number seven in just over two years! He makes it seem easy, doesn’t he, but planning and writing a series is hard work. Have no fear, because Charles has plenty of advice about planning, writing, and marketing a series whether your series consist of three or twenty books.


Creating and Marketing a Series

may5The Legends of Windemere series is a fantasy adventure that currently has 7 books out and is planned for 15 overall. I believe…

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Occasional Soulmates free through Sunday!

Kevin Brennan's avatarWHAT THE HELL

Small Soulmates Cover

Right on schedule, the Amazon freebie has kicked in, and you can now download Occasional Soulmates for free. The deal runs through Sunday evening.

If you have a spare mo or two, let your readerly friends know about it via Twitter, Facebook, email, sky writing, semaphore, Morse code, secret languages, or even telephone. They need to read this book! Your mom needs to read this book.

If you never thought a dude could write chick lit, Occasional Soulmates will prove you wrong.

Just sayin’.

Grab your copy today, and help move some virtual paper by spreadin’ the word for me.

As always, much obliged!

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Dark Member of the Week: Legends of Windemere

This is really cool and I have to share:

AWESOME!

AWESOME!

Big thank you to Shannon A. Thompson for this honor.

Check out her books here.

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Welcome to the Character Addition Center

Akuma from Street Fighter

Akuma from Street Fighter

Welcome to the Character Addition Center where we help you insert a new face into your existing story.  We talked on the phone and you said your series needed a new hero.  Is this a replacement, a temporary stand-in, or a long-term face?  Option three, huh?  Well, that’s a little trickier than a temp who doesn’t need much since they’ll be gone after a book or two.  Replacement would have been bad if you needed it quickly.  That usually requires at least a book to get people into the new guy and prepare them for the fall.  In other words, we can help you and just need some information.

Now the first thing you need to do is examine your existing heroes.  Is there a role you’re missing or a personality that doesn’t exist within the dynamic?  Don’t concern yourself with relationships yet.  Those will come naturally when you introduce the new face . . . if you want them to appear naked under a waterfall then that’s your funeral.  I only pray there’s a reason for it.  Shock value . . . I think I’m starting to remember when you were here for the first few heroes.  Guess I owe Larry a hundred bucks since you made it beyond book one.  Anyway, what do you have so far?

This is a tough one.  You already have speed, smarts, strength, magic, and stealth.  So your group is pretty well-rounded.  Tossing someone else in could unbalance the entire thing, which means you need to focus on personality.  I would suggest coming up with powers that are not held by anybody else, but try to find a void in the temperaments and characterizations of your heroes.  You have short fuses, calm under pressure, and a lot of strong personalities.  Maybe you can have somebody that is normally timid, but will explode when pushed too far.  Though you need some friction when this person comes in.  Not enough to destroy all chance of them being accepted, but just make the new face earn their place.

I can see you’re getting confused and ill.  Use the bucket by you feet because we get that reaction a lot.  Understand that adding a new figure into an established group comes with a lot of risks.  It could push other characters to the background or destabilize a plot because the new hero can solve it immediately.  You also need to find a reason for this person to butt heads with the villains.  They need to have something at stake that brings them into the group.  I haven’t even gotten to what could happen if the readers don’t like the new . . . ugh . . . clean up!  I told you to use the bucket.

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5 Reasons to Read Local

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Pinch Points In Fiction Writing

Sue Coletta's avatarCrime Fiction Writer Sue Coletta

A few people have recently asked me what Pinch Points are, which made me wonder if others are struggling with what they are and how to use them. After a quick Google search I realized there isn’t really much written on the subject, oddly enough. And they are crucial milestones in fiction writing because they show the face of evil in its purest form. The Pinch Points demonstrate what your hero is up against, what causes him/her to jolt straight up in bed, the bogey man in the nightmare.

“We need to see that antagonist form in its purest, most dangerous and intimidating form. Or if it isn’t dangerous then at least we need to feel it for ourselves.” — Larry Brooks

“An example, or a reminder, of the nature and implications of the antagonist force, that is not filtered by the hero’s experience.” — Larry Brooks, Story Engineering

evil eye

Two…

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How to Increase Twitter Engagement and Followers

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

I found this little gem on Effrosyni Moschoudi’s blog, then traced it to its origins, on QuickSprout. If you feel overwhelmed by all this, Neil Patel, the infographic’s creator, has this to say in conclusion:

“If you only have time to follow one piece of advice from this infographic, make sure you tweet on Saturday and Sunday at either 9am, 12pm, 3pm or 6pm as that is when you’ll end up getting a lot of engagement.”

From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

Why not test Twitter by reading my children’s book, Runaway Smile, for free and tweeting about that?

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