Tuesday Takeover: Write Where It Hurts by Alycia Christine

It’s 6 a.m. and I’ve already been up for two hours. I’ve sent my husband off to work, finished a few house chores, and dressed for the day. Sitting in front of my computer with a steaming cup of tea and a half-eaten bowl of cereal by my side, I open a document and skim the last four pages of yesterday’s writing. I have a few precious hours of quiet in which to work before heading off to my regular job. I can’t waste them. Today starts me off in the middle of a scene in which one of my characters has been abducted and the other characters are still reeling from the shock of losing her. The tension couldn’t be higher—for them or for me.

After writing six books, you would think that book seven would be easy, but it isn’t. The newest novel has proven persnickety so far. Beginning a book in the right place is one of the trickier parts of writing for me. This means that I’ve written three different drafts of the Fireforger prologue before finally getting it right. I’ve been working on this manuscript for months now—living with it day in and day out. Dreamdrifter might be new to the eyes of the world, but it’s already 30,000 words behind me. I’ll sit at this desk for the next two hours refining and writing. I still have a lot of marketing to do today since Dreamdrifter just came out, but that will have to wait until I’m finished with my day job this evening. For now, I put aside all of the other worries and distractions. For now, I just write.

So far, life as a writer has been anything but easy or affluent. This is a full time job for me which pays less than minimum wage in exchange for long hours of emotionally exhausting work. This may not be my only job or my easiest job, but it is my best occupation. Writing is the career that I feel called to do because it allows me to be a triumphant survivor by profession and to share my stories of encouragement with others.

I am a survivor and an adapter, and I always have been. I’ve dealt with three disabilities since early childhood to make it this far in life. In the past five years, I’ve buried three loved-ones, watched a fourth slip beyond sanity, and lost half of my belongigs to fire, electronic failure, and financial downsizing.

As painful as life can sometimes be, there have been two constants to help me slog through all of the mess: my loved-ones and my writing. The blessings of true love and friendship have helped me overcome every obstacle—no matter how small or large. We cling to each other for support as we swim these turbulent seas. There are those I know who have endured lives far harsher than mine and I remember their stories as I write.

Like so many of us, my characters are all survivors of something—broken homes, broken hearts, broken hopes. Each has had his or her share of tragedy or catastrophe. Katja, the main character of Skinshifter, Dreamdrifter, and now Fireforger, lost her entire clan in a single bloody night. While she managed to survive the sudden massacre that destroyed her family, it took her much longer to relearn how to live. Her friends helped her find hope again just as my family and friends have helped me.

When I write, my yearning is to remind readers not to wade through this wonderful and terrible life by ourselves. Yes, sometimes the waves are gentle enough that we can make it a stroke or two on our own without drowning, but we don’t have to wade through it alone. We need each other to help celebrate each other’s successes and help to buoy each other up through all of the upsets.

My words help keep me swimming toward that new dawn peeking just over the dark shore, but they do no good for you or anyone else unless they are shared. I write not just to survive life, but to understand and overcome it. I write to hope. I write to thrive. My dearest hope is that my words help you thrive too.

Alycia

~

Thanks so much, Sarah, for inviting me to share today! Thank you, readers, for taking part in a bit of my writing journey. If you would like to read more of my writing, please see my links below:

Free Stuff!

The Dryad’s Sacrifice (Free only for today and tomorrow!): https://www.instafreebie.com/free/HG1o2

Samples:

Skinshifter sample chapters: http://alyciachristine.com/books-and-stories/fantasy-books/sylvan-cycle-series/skinshifter/

Dreamdrifter sample chapters: http://alyciachristine.com/books-and-stories/fantasy-books/sylvan-cycle-series/dreamdrifter/

Social:

Website: http://alyciachristine.com/

Facebook, Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alycia-Christine/102673903123325

Facebook, Sylvan Scribes book club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1695736057307543/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7046533.Alycia_Christine

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alyciaczs/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlyciaCZS

Book Purchase Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alycia-Christine/e/B00MT9IG92/

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/alycia-christine/id881250279

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Alycia%20christine%22?

Kobo:

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/search?query=Alycia%20Christine&fcsearchfield=Author

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PurpleThornPress

Art Purchase Link:

Gifts: http://alyciachristine.pixels.com/

Author Biography:

Alycia Christine grew up near the dusty cotton fields of Lubbock, Texas, with a fearless mutt for a dog and a backyard trampoline that almost bounced her to the moon. She fell in love with fantasy and science fiction books when her father first read them to her at age ten. Her love of writing them blossomed during her time at Texas A&M University. The Sylvan Cycle, the novel series begun during her college career, has received wide praise for its unique characters and vivid world. Her award-winning art photography has been featured in Times Square. When she isn’t writing or shooting photos, Alycia enjoys long walks with her husband, drinking copious amounts of tea, and coaxing her skittish cat out from under the living room furniture. Don’t miss her latest book Dreamdrifter due out in September 2016!

Tuesday Takeover: Creating Memorable Story Worlds Using the Five Senses by Christina Rozelle

Remember the last time you were so sucked into a story that you felt like you were there? You were so consumed in that world that you lost track of time; you felt what the characters felt, saw what they saw, heard what they heard, and so on?

This is the magic of great storytelling.

But what is it this magical thing that makes a story draw you in like this? Chances are, when you’re deep in the belly of it you aren’t stopping to look at actual word usage and mechanics. So here we’ll discuss what exactly it is that makes the magic work. I’m going to give you a little behind the scenes, so you’ll be able to improve your own writing, better painting that story picture for your readers. And readers, this’ll show you some secrets behind the magic. 😉

A few years ago I received a beta reader’s notes on an early novel, pointing out where my imagery and world building were lacking. What a jerk. How dare he imply that I needed any such improvement? After all, I’d been writing since the moment I picked up a crayon and chose a random wall to scribble my brilliance. It didn’t matter that I had never before written a novel; I didn’t need criticism of my obviously top-notch work. Right?

Wrong-O.

After I pouted and stamped my baby writer feet for a few days, waving in my naïve pride and arrogance flag around like nobody’s business, I surrendered and took another look at the notes. Once I had oiled the squeaky trap door of my mind and allowed it to open, I was stricken with an overwhelming yuckiness. I stood face-to-face with the ugly truth: my story needed more meat on its bones.

Though I bucked it at first, I soon realized how much fuller and richer and just better the story was with these added morsels. To remind myself of the important aspects of imagery/world building, I pasted a sticky note on my desk that read:

What do you: Hear? See? Taste? Smell? Touch/Feel?

A few months of burning these words into my mind and I had trained myself to slow down and daydream. Yes, daydream—one of the most important aspects of writing, in my opinion. Because some of these answers didn’t come right away. That’s when I knew the story hadn’t fully incubated in my mind yet. To paint the perfect story picture for the reader, I knew I had to give them important details to draw them in, yet without “info-dumping,” or tossing in every boring and meaningless detail. It’s a delicate balance, a dance, a volatile experiment, an alchemy. Too much bogs down the reader or puts them to sleep. Too little and the story is flat, lacking.

So how do you know when and what to add? How do you know what to leave out?

As a general rule of thumb, if a detail doesn’t move the plot forward or enrich the story, it’s unnecessary. If a detail fleshes out a scene, character, or setting, brings it more alive for the reader, or plants tidbits of foreshadowing and/or clues, then it’s necessary imagery, in my opinion. But it’s important that these details be balanced. You don’t want your characters smelling something in every paragraph, obviously, but if smelling something moves the plot forward and fleshes out the story, then it should be used in conjunction with other sensory details.

Here’s an example of a scene that lacks in world-building:

Dana opened the tank and stepped out, realizing she was all alone in the lab. Where had everyone gone? She crossed the room, shocked to find the door that had been bolted shut for two years standing wide open.

Here’s the same scene with added imagery/world building:

With a shaky hand, Dana opened the glass tank and stepped out onto the cold marble floor. She was all alone in the lab. The hum of the generator that had once been a murmuring white noise, a lullaby to help her sleep, was now silent, dead. A metallic odor hung in the stale, thin air, and she couldn’t breathe deep enough to fill up her lungs. Where was everyone? Her heart pounded as she crossed the room to the heavy iron door that had been bolted shut for two years. A red light blinked slowly beside the exit sign on the low ceiling. The door was open. The darkness beyond it beckoned her.

Do you want to know what happens next? I do!

*jots notes for future story*

The right adjectives are an important part of showing world-building through the five senses. See how the scene comes alive with those extra details? It’s the difference between a “good” story and a “great” story which hooks the reader.

I’m happy to say I don’t need the sticky note to remind me anymore, as this now comes naturally to me. It took time, lots of practice, and patience to get there, but it was worth every second. Many readers have mentioned how much they love my world building in reviews, so it’s something I take a lot of pride in today. I encourage you to critique your own writing to see where you can add some more sensory “meat” to its bones. You’ll be glad you did!

Thanks so much for inviting me to be here today, Sarah, and thanks to those reading. I wish you the best of luck with your writing and all of your other endeavors. If you’d like to check out my books or follow me on social media, all of my links are below. And if you’d like a taste of my writing, you can download the first two books in my Mature YA Dystopian Scifi series, as well as my YA Fantasy Adventure novelette for free for a limited time at the following links:

Book 1, “The Treemakers”

https://www.instafreebie.com/free/sqCDC

Book 2, “The Soultakers”

https://www.instafreebie.com/free/7cFOa

“The Truth About Mud”

https://www.instafreebie.com/free/tPO8r

Stalker Hotlinks, fresh from the web

The Rozelle Army Mailing List: http://bit.ly/RozelleArmy

Christina’s Website: ChristinaLRozelle.com (Currently under construction)

The Official Christina L. Rozelle FB Fan Page: http://bit.ly/CLRFanPage

FB Author Page: http://bit.ly/CLRozelleFB

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/CLRGoodreads

Instagram: http://bit.ly/InstaCLR (ChristinaLRozelle)

Twitter: http://bit.ly/CLRTweet (@CLRozelle)

Spotify: http://bit.ly/ChristinaonSpotify

Purchase Links:

 Amazon.com: 

All books: bit.ly/CLRAmzn BarnesandNoble.com:

The Treemakers and The Soultakers: http://bit.ly/CLRBAN Walmart.com:  The Treemakers- http://bit.ly/TTMWAL The Soultakers- http://bit.ly/TSTWAL Jet.com: The Treemakers: http://bit.ly/TTMCLRJET Books-A-Million:

The Treemakers and The Soultakers: http://bit.ly/CLRBXAMIL

Christina is a mother of four currently hiding from the sun somewhere in Dallas, Texas. You may find her out on rainy autumn days narrating her life in her head. You’ll also find her taxiing her children around in traffic, or stopped in random places, like your local produce section, to take notes before her ideas flitter away into the Great Beyond. Though her current series is YA Dystopian, she has many stories in the works in various sub-genres of speculative fiction (including NA and Adult) for the near future. You’ll definitely want to stick around to see what she comes up with next.

Tuesday Takeover: A Reader’s Perspective by Colleen Cosgrove Maliski

Each time I open a book, whether it’s tangible or digital, it feels as though I’m stepping through a magical doorway. What lies beyond is always a mystery. When I first open the door I always feel a little nervous. Will this book disappoint me or will it be a new favorite? I read synopses and look at the book cover before actually picking up a book but even books which pass the first few tests can let me down on the third and most important test- the actual story. This last step’s fail or pass result is determined by several factors.

What I look for in a book- Does it have a strong opening? Does it capture my attention within the first few paragraphs? If it doesn’t is it still intriguing enough to continue on. I think most readers can decide on whether they enjoy a book or not based on the first chapter. Sometimes first chapters or prologues fall flat but if my interest is peaked I may at least give it till I’ve read the next chapter.

So what piques my interest? I love having an action scene, a mystery, a first day with nervous anticipation or an internal struggle open up a book. If an author seems to drone on about scenery or something mundane and they don’t do it in a way that captures my imagination then they’ve lost me.

Reading is subjective. What I find enthralling may be a snoozer for others and vice versa. We all have our favorite reads and preferred genres. For me, I enjoy YA, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and romance. I’m a fiction fan and very seldom do I enjoy non-fiction. However, I have read several books outside of my favorites and have thoroughly enjoyed them. It’s all in the delivery.

What are my biggest book turn offs? Firstly, build your world. Develop your characters. Without these deeper delves, the book will come off flat with no depth. Another thing I really dislike when authors try to be something they clearly aren’t. I read a book awhile back that was full of flowery, poetic writing but it was done so poorly it came off as unauthentic. Stick to what you know. I feel authors should write because they have a story to tell. I think writing for fans and expecting a payout are often what give a book a forced feeling. Write what you love and I think that everything else falls in to place after that.

Colleen Cosgrove Maliski is an avid reader, a humanitarian, and a jack of all trades. She’s always right about everything. And this reader doesn’t tolerate hypocrites, racists, and jerks.  She costars in the upcoming new release Ren: A Monster’s Adventure because cool people make great characters.

Tuesday Takeover: Dear Author by Stephanie Colman

Dear Author,

I want to start this diatribe by saying I love your books, well no that’s a bold faced lie… Some of you, I love your books and the worlds into which you transport me, I need your next book like I need air. Others of you, the books are good, the friendship is on a stalker level, and I need you like need air so I guess it all evens out in the end.  Some of you, it’s a mix of both great books and more, you know who you are.  Others of you, please hire an editor that doesn’t suck.  Seriously editing, so important!

Oh for the love of all the shiny pretty glossy covers… Yes, covers matter! There, I admitted it. If the cover art is unattractive and I wasn’t looking for you or your book specifically then I’m passing you on by. Also, if your cover and your story do not match that is a huge pet peeve.  In fact a non matching cover to the story has made me stop reading.  False advertising is not cool!  One more cover pet peeve while we’re at it… Cover art for a series, every book doesn’t have to be perfectly matchy matchy, if that isn’t your style.  Please be you, show me your personality on that cover some!  But, the covers need to at least seem like they belong in the same world.  Authors that just throw random covers on books in a series, you know who you are and yes, I am giving you side eye.

To me it isn’t about how popular of an author you are, how wildly bestselling or award winning the book/series is, if you are indie or mainstream or purple with green polka dots! It’s about did you write a story that transported me away from my daily life, after all that’s why I shared my time with you.  I read to be taken somewhere, anywhere in fact on a journey!  I’m the odd duck in the mix and I read all sorts of genres – I love fantasy and Sci-Fi true, but I love a good wild romance, or some YA paranormal something just as much, throw me a historical fiction and I’ll read that too.  Literally throw me a book and I will probably attempt it.  The common thread? Characters I can buy into, storylines that flow, and stories that aren’t predictable.  However, if it’s bad and you know what I mean… Riddled with spelling and grammar errors, plot holes abound, the ending telegraphed from the beginning kind of stuff and I’m bound to toss it to the side after not too many pages.  Life’s just too short to read bad books!!

Also, if you are the scholarly or artistic sort of author and write in a world where there is an entire lexicon which I must assimilate for use please unless you like me cursing you and your characters learn the purpose and proper use of a glossary in your book. Additionally, if your world is so vast and encompassing or your characters are of the exploring variety please employ the use of a map.  Because if you don’t, then I will probably come up with my own version and it isn’t my fault if my version didn’t match what you had in mind… dear author you had the first opportunity!!

Wonderful author please for the love of all that is holy I’m going to give you a tip here from me to you… Cliffhangers are fine, honest. Cliffhangers where you don’t release the next book for so long I forget about you, not cool! Well, unless you like me badgering you to stop slacking and get to writing, cough cough…  Also, in the same vein just leaving me hanging and waiting for the next book for so long I forget you existed, probably not a great idea for either of us.  Timing is everything, so if you write like a snail you might need to be well into production of the whole series before you start releasing them, just a thought.  Or I might pull a George R R Martin on you and boycott reading your series until you can get your poop together.

Let me conclude by saying thank you so much for sharing your passion and talent with me and all the other minions that read your books. It is much appreciated that you indeed do continue to toil and slave away writing day by day even though some people steal your work outright, or others say it isn’t worth the piddly price you ask for the enormous undertaking that taking a book from idea to production actually is.  The fans know that many of you do this for pride and passion, for the joy of sharing your fantastical book worlds with us.  Thank you for continuing to write not just for yourself but for all of us.

Sincerely,

A Random Reader

Stephanie Colman is a reader, a business owner, and a writer/editor. More importantly, she’s a smart ass. Check out her business, Jars of Sunshine here.