Portraying Emotion in your Writing

Throughout December I was touring around blogland promoting my newly released short story JUMP. In case you missed my stop at Julie Campbell’s blog, here is my post on the importance on portraying emotions in writing. Enjoy!!

I want to talk to you about portraying emotion in writing. Not an easy thing to do sometimes. I am a very emotional person, luckily for me this works well in my writing. I want the reader to FEEL the words, to cry at the sad parts, to at least smirk at the funny ones and have their hearts speed up during tense or action packed scenes.

Easy to say, but there is a fine line between making the reader feel and being over descriptive and causing their eyes to glaze over so they skip ahead to a less wordy paragraph.

It’s not always the quantity of the descriptive words used, but the quality. This can be as simple as using a descriptive tag instead of a simple one. Example: “You really piss me off,” she said. Try instead “You really piss me off,” she snarled. Even better, try removing the tag all together and add a brief description instead; “You really piss me off!” Trembling in anger, she struggled not to throttle the idiot.

Don’t forget to portray what your character is feeling. You may know, however does the reader? This can be done by simply writing what they feel– Happiness bubbled within her. Or you can portray their feelings through their actions or reactions; She clenched her jaw, Her eyes narrowed, She looked away, a faint smile coming to her lips.

It is also important to not only display your characters emotions, but also their feelings toward other characters, objects, actions etc. How does the character feel around another? How does this feeling cause them to react? Does it make them smile, frown, their eyes light up? How do they physically interact, do they touch or avoid contact? You do not need to write lengthy descriptions, a simple descriptive sentence or two can reveal a lot. A good exercise is to take note of how you or others interact physically during events or conversations.

Happy writing! I hope you are now NOT feeling confused.

Happy Holidays!

Our Tree

It’s that time of year again. My boys (6 & 8) are so wound up on excitement (and probably cookies and chocolate too!) I have been struggling to keep my sanity.

We decorated the house (kinda) and did the tree (it turned out not too badly!) and made gingerbread houses (which have been nibbled on already!) The presents are wrapped and under the tree, or in bags ready to travel when we take off xmas morning to drive 2 1/2 hrs to start visiting all of the relatives. It should be interesting this year, my poor old van died so we will be taking the new car. The little car. Tiny. (Compared to the van) and I have NO idea if 2 kids, 1 dog, presents, bags of clothes and snowsuits will all fit. At least it’s good on gas. :/

I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season! (now don’t gripe at me for saying that- it covers all religions- and if you aren’t religious or celebrate xmas at all you ARE probably off from work = holidays. Said phrase also covers New Years )

I hope everyone is filled with smiles and happiness, whether you are sharing these days with family or friends (in real life or online!) If you are out partying PLEASE be safe! Stay over or get a ride if you’ve been drinking. If you don’t I will swat you.

I would like to thank all of my blog visitors who have stopped by this year, over 3 200 hits since I started in mid-July! Super big thanks to all of my facebook and twitter friends (and family) for their support; for my blog, my writing and my recently released short story. Your encouragement and help has meant so much to me! This has certainly been a wonderful year for me, and hope 2011 is just as awesome!

Lots of hugs and sunshine and rainbows and smiles,

Jen

Spotlight on Expectations by Liz Borino

Expectations Spotlight

Expectations by Liz Borino

Published by Lazy Day December 1, 2010

Description:

EXPECTATIONS depicts the struggle between what we desire for ourselves and our familial obligations. The struggle is personified by Chris and Matt Taylor, identical twins, who are trying to win their overbearing father’s approval and acquire their trust funds. Love, money, and desire collide as Matt and Chris decide what’s really important to them.

Blurb:

What if you had to make the choice between love and money? We’re talking $50 million dollars here, no paltry amount. What if you had to work at a job you hated to earn the respect, and once again, money of your family? This is what Chris and Matt Taylor must deal with. It’s a story in which the ties of family are tested and redefined and the characters are pushed to their limit to acquire the life, love, and monetary fulfillment they desire.

Excerpt:

Aiden and Chris walked in silence back to the loft, or rather, they walked in as much silence as was ever offered in New York City. Aiden enjoyed not talking and just taking in the sights and the sounds of the bustling street. They passed a man and a woman kissing on the street and Chris broke the silence. “So, no girlfriend, right?”

“Nope, no girlfriend.” Aiden confirmed without looking at Chris, wishing they could go back to the silence, but realizing that wouldn’t happen.

“Ever?”

“Sure, just not right now.” Aiden glanced over at him. “No one for you either, right?” He asked deciding to play along.

“I’m not big on commitment, especially after Ally.” Chris dated Ally for most of undergrad, but they broke up when she moved to Chicago.

“You’re planning letting one woman ruin you for life?”

“No, I’m just not giving my heart up that easily anymore. Not that you’re one to talk or anything.” Chris said as he stopped and faced his friend.

Aiden looked into Washington Square Park for a long moment. Night was falling late, which was to be expected in May. It was close to 8:00 and there was still some light streaming through. “You know how you’re not big on commitment? Well, I’m not big on complications. Girlfriends, they tend to bring a lot of that.” They ask too many questions, Aiden said silently. He could only hope that Chris would pick up on this desire for privacy. Chris and Matt were always pretty good at not pushing subjects, but Aiden got the impression Chris wanted to dig deeper. Chris took out his camera and pointed it into the trees. At first, Aiden couldn’t imagine what he was trying to capture. Until Chris showed him the leaves ignited with color and dancing across the screen. “You find beauty everywhere, don’t you?”

“I try, but let’s be real here, leaves aren’t nearly as beautiful as human connection.”

Aiden looked at his friend and inwardly groaned. “What are you getting at?”

“I feel like you’re hiding something.”

“I am.” He confirmed. “You don’t need to know everything.”

Though common sense told him to drop it, Chris pressed on. “What are you so afraid of?”

“We all have our secrets. I’m not afraid of anything.” Aiden said as he walked away.

“What’s the point of secrets?” Chris asked catching up as Aiden sped up toward their loft.

“The point of secrets is to not give people a fucking reason to reject you. Not everyone’s life is tied up nicely with a trust fund to fall back on.” Aiden exploded as he ran into the loft and up to his room, slamming his door. As hot tears rolled down his face, he chided himself for losing control. No excuse for that. Aiden laid alone with his thoughts, barely tuned out by the music playing through his headphones.

Chris lay on his bed across the hall from Aiden wondering what he had to hide. Everyone had their secrets. He had secrets of his own. As for Aiden, he had a beauty a photograph could not contain. The realization shook his own reality. He knew receiving his trust fund was dependent on marrying and having a son. His feelings for Aiden would not help him accomplish that.

*

Matt was a mere 10 city blocks away at Black, a new night club, but he could’ve been across the country for the lack of parallel between his activities and his roommates’. While they were at home engaging in self exploration regarding their feelings, he was trying his damndest not to feel anything at all. He gazed around the crowded scene. Blondes, brunettes, red heads…he liked red heads. Really, after three or four drinks he liked them all. The stronger the drinks, the less picky he became.

Maybe, he would be a little pickier if he weren’t alone, but he was alone tonight because Chris wanted to lay low. Matt thought downing a beer, feeling as bitter as it tasted. No, I’m not angry at him. I just can’t ‘lay low’ without my head going into overdrive and that’s dangerous. So, he drank faster. Drinking was an acceptable solution to the horror of the office. Quitting was not. A trust fund of fifty million dollars, if he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Worth it, right?

He looked over at the blonde to his right, obvious dye job. Must not have gotten enough attention as a brunette. He, not so discreetly, looked her over again, calculating how much it would cost him to get an invite back to her place. Everyone was here for the same game. I’m not any different than the next guy. Matt reasoned with himself as he checked his wallet. Condoms? Check. Cash? Also check. Maybe his night wouldn’t be so lonely after all.

Semi-blonde girl smiled and sat next to him. “Hi, I’m Mandy.”

“Matt.” He responded, returning her smile. “Drink?” Not being sober, he decided to limit his words.

“At my apartment, we have better selection and prices. Why don’t we just cut to the chase and go there?”

Matt looked up and blinked in surprise.

“What? We’re all here for the same reason and I’m sure you have an important day job, if not a wife and kids.” He watched her get up and tug on his sleeve “You coming, or not?”

Matt wasn’t sure he enjoyed her taking the lead, but he found himself following her all the same. She was getting prettier the longer he looked at her, or his gin and tonic was setting in.

“So, Matt, tell me, what is your day job?”

At the question, Matt bent down and started throwing up into what he hoped was a bush and not some homeless guy’s box. Mandy didn’t stick around. He didn’t blame her.

 

Like what you see? Buy Expectations Here:

Amazon

All Romance Books

Omnilit

Barnes and Noble

 

About the Author:

Liz Borino is the debut author of Expectations, set to release from Lazy Day Publishing 12/1. Throughout her education, including a Bachelor’s Degree from Hofstra University, she’s kept her stories to herself, but this only child is all grown up and wants to share them with the world. Her roots are in Bethlehem, Pa, but she loves to experience new cultures. As fun as that is Liz likes nothing better than curling up at home with a good book or her work in progress.

 

Author Adi Alsaid- guest post on Self Publishing

Author Adi Alsaid is with us today to share his personal experiences with self publishing. Thanks so much for stopping by!

I don’t know why my need to write is so strong in the shower. But there it was again, mid-lather, a single sentence of a thought, instantly recognizable to me as the title to a blog post that needed to be written: Would I Self-Publish Again?

The answer to the question isn’t nearly as important as the reasons behind it, so I’ll relieve all the unnecessary tension and say right away that the answer is no. This is definitely not a commentary on the self-publishing industry itself, just a conclusion I reached based on my experiences and unique set of circumstances.

My goal for Somewhere Over the Sun was to go the traditional route and try to get signed by an agent and eventually sell to one of the big six in New York. Self-publishing was a back-up plan that I was thankful to have and though I understood the chances were that as a debut author I would most likely go that route, it was not my ideal situation. There was essentially one major factor that would determine how long I would query agents before I decided to go with self-publishing: an expiring visa.

By the time the book was done and I was ready to query agents, I had about six or seven months before I had to leave the country or find grounds for a new visa. My focus during June and July was to query as many agents as possible and hope to pique someone’s interest before my foreign butt got kicked out of the country. It’s no excuse, but the time pressure may have led me to focus too much on how many queries I could send out and not on sending out the best query possible. I usually tweaked it, as everyone recommends, making it personalized for each particular agent and I re-wrote once or twice after each wave of non-replies or rejections. By late July, two agents had requested the manuscript and passed and I no longer had the luxury of waiting around for the typical 2-6 week response time. I had less than five months left in the country and a contract with a self-publishing press was my best bet to procure a visa and stick around to be able to promote the novel. By August, I signed with the self-publishing press that I felt would be the best fit.

I chose that specific company (nameless because I don’t want this to be seen as a personal attack) because I kept all the rights to my novel, was allowed creative input and control in all stages of the process, they offered a pretty economically-priced package that included everything I felt would be necessary to the success of my book (wide distribution was biggest factor here), their books’ average Amazon ranking was better than other companies’, they’re projected completion time was fairly shorter than other companies’ and pretty importantly, they seemed to care about me and my novel.

With a release date pegged for mid-November, I began putting in all the leg work that authors are expected to prior to their book’s release, regardless of whether they’re self-published or not. I started my website and began building a following on Twitter and Facebook while I waited for the months to pass. During that time I’ve built up a growing fan base and received plenty of positive feedback from readers regarding my writing.

Since then, among the problems I’ve run into are the following: a complete inability to work in exact dates. They always offered ranges (2-3 weeks, 4-5 days) and the next step in the process always seemed to land at the tail end or even a little bit after. It’s a reasonable explanation that they have a lot of projects to work with, but a self-imposed deadline to hold themselves accountable to would have been appreciated.

I constantly needed to nag in order to receive timely updates. My contact at the publisher was changed twice with no warning or explanation, so I was confused about who to contact with my concerns. When my book was finally ready to print and the information was sent to Barnes and Noble and Amazon, they attached the wrong cover image, delaying the time it took for me to get the copies I planned to send out to book reviewers and other contacts crucial to my book’s success. Within two days of my book being available via online retailers, it was pulled from Barnes and Noble and Amazon showed it as being out of stock as both distributors updated to the correct cover image.

I know that this isn’t everyone’s experience with self-publishing. And I also understand that this is my only experience in publishing in general, so I have nothing to compare it to. My experience may be typical to both traditional and self-publishing or it may be a nightmare to both. Perhaps it’s my fault for not doing enough research with that specific company’s past clients prior to signing on with them. Perhaps my expectations of how a publisher, regardless of whether it is traditional or a self-pubbing press, is supposed to treat its authors are too high. Perhaps I just chose the wrong company, or factors out of the publisher’s control are to blame.

My unsatisfactory experience— although unique to me and not to be taken as an exposition of the industry in general— coupled with growing confidence in the quality of my writing and the interest it can draw from literary agents and traditional publishers, as well as the lack of a government-imposed time constraint, all lead me to say with a fair amount of confidence that I will not be self-publishing again.

Adi Alsaid graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in Marketing, but spent the majority of his time there reading and writing fiction. Somewhere Over the Sun is his debut novel and is now available for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com. The story follows Alan, a spirited young writer with a wandering imagination who has discovered that the stories he writes are suddenly coming to life. At the suggestion of his loving father, Alan embarks on a quixotic journey to visit friends and use his newfound gift to write them all happier lives.

You can find Adi at his personal site, on Twitter or Facebook

Interview with author Jesi Lea Ryan

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing the talented author Jesi Lea Ryan. Please give a warm welcome and enjoying learning about this amazing author.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, but moved to Madison, Wisconsin after college. Although I was a Literature and Creative Writing major in college, I ended up working in the insurance industry for over a decade. In 2009, I decided that insurance was not the career that I wanted for myself and I returned to writing. My husband has been incredibly supportive of me. I couldn’t have done it without him!

What do you do when you are not writing? Do you have a day job as well?

I stopped working in 2009, so I could concentrate on writing, but recently, I started a really part-time insurance gig. Mostly so I can keep my skills up in case I have to fall back on it someday. I’m also in grad school working on my Masters of Business Administration, so that takes up a fair amount of my time. When not writing, working or doing homework, I can usually be found with my nose in a book. 

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

When I was eight years old, I published my first book. It was called Grump: The Skump Who Ate Liver. Yeah, it was quite the masterpiece! I don’t even think my own mother has a copy of it any more. Anyway, I guess you could point to that experience as being the start of my love of writing.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

Honestly, it chose me. I had no idea that my book was going to be a romance when I began writing it. I was inspired by this wonderful romantic setting and it just begged for a love story. I didn’t even read romance before I wrote one. How weird is that? The nice thing is that this experience has opened up a whole new genre of great books for me.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever experience writer’s block? Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I am very unorganized compared to most writers. I don’t follow a set writing schedule. I don’t outline. I don’t follow any ritual or method. I just follow my muse when it strikes me. Oh, I set small goals for myself, such as a word count goal that I want done by a certain date, but I’m pretty lenient on myself. I think this way of writing works for me, because I never torture myself with writers block. When I’m stuck, I just get up and go do something else. After awhile, the solution will come to me and I’ll start to write again.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I’ve always been a big reader, but probably the most influential book for me during my younger teen years was Gone With The Wind. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I read it close to twenty times before I turned sixteen. Okay, I guess that is sort of romancy, but I loved it for the history.

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Marketing an e-book is tricky. There is really nothing to sign and no tangible books to sell to people. If someone wants to read it, you have to trust that they will take the initiative to go online and seek it out. Since e-books are so new, I think many writers are still learning how to market them. I would have to say that the single most important tool I use is Twitter. The support that I received from other writers, publishers and readers both during the writing process and later in the marketing process have been phenomenal! Aside from Twitter, I am active on several other social media sites, I maintain a blog, and I’ve been touring other people’s blogs.

Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?

No, although I have this short story that I really think is good, but it just isn’t marketable. It deals with a dark subject matter that just isn’t right for most magazines, so I’m not sure where to go with it. The feedback I’ve gotten from the places I’ve submitted to has been wonderful, but none of them feel it’s right for their publication. I’m thinking about self-publishing it and offering it for free.

Can you tell us about your book?

Four Thousand Miles is about an American woman, Natalie, who loses both her career and her marriage in a single morning. In a state of emotional shock, all she can think about is running away from her problems. Twenty-four hours later, she finds herself all alone in London, England with nowhere to go and no one she can turn to. She is nearly mugged by a couple of teenagers in a Tube station, when they are scared off by a man passing by. When he sees what a mess Natalie is emotionally, he ends up feeling sorry for her and giving her a place to stay.

The man, Gavin Ashby, is a reclusive songwriter who lives on his family’s farm in rural Kent. He eventually invites Natalie to stay in Kent with him, his sister and his niece until she can figure out what she wants to do with her life.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

The story and characters were all imagination, but all of the places in the book are places that I’ve been too. Flenley Farm, Gavin’s family’s place in Kent, is based off of a place called Elvey Farm. Elvey is a 500 year old farm which has been converted into a wonderful bed & breakfast with an upscale restaurant. It was honestly the most romantic place I’ve even been, and it was what inspired me to write this story.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Yes! If you’d like to purchase Four Thousand Miles, it is available at http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b115105/?si=0 or http://www.thedarkcastlelords.com/4000_Miles.htm. I love to hear feedback, so feel free to contact me through my blog at http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter at @Jesilea.

Thanks, Jen, for having me!

Release of Jump & Contest!

And the Contest Winner is:

Comment #10 D.M. Cunningham said,

I would tell the pathetic fool to go ahead and stab me as I appeared behind him. That’s right, he has a death grip on my doppelganger. Surprised? He had no idea the force of darkness he was messing with. Plunging to the depths below is exactly what we are going to do with him. The children are hungry and their inky tongues lash upward because they need to feed. Don’t worry my sweets, we will be bringing home dinner. This murderous nincompoop never had a chance.

Release Day!!!

My debut short story, Jump, is released today! Hooray! Thanks to everyone for your support so far!

I’m so excited to see Jump has already risen to #3 on OmniLit’s Top 10 Best Seller List (as of Dec 15)

First some promoting.. and scroll down to win a free download!

If you were told to jump off of a bridge would you?

Perhaps it would depend on who was doing the asking. Our heroine has spunk and a sense of humor, however suffers from an extreme case of inappropriate clothing. When things take a turn from dangerous to worse what will she do when fantasy becomes reality? Warning: May include hot leather clad men, singing and demons.

You can BUY NOW at Omnilit!

Omnilit features downloads in many eBook forms including PDF and HMTL

Nook users can BUY NOW at Barnes & Noble!

Kindle users can BUY NOW at Amazon!

Check out Jump’s Reviews on Goodreads!

Contest! contest closed

You’re on a bridge, a knife to your back. He wants you to jump into the seething darkness below.

If you do, you will die. If you don’t, he will kill you. What would you do?

Leave a comment with your answer, and also your twitter id or email so I can contact the winner.

~If more than 15 people submit an answer another winner will be chosen at random! The Catch: Random winner must be following my blog- so click that subscribe button and note in your comment if you’re following!

Please feel free to share about this contest! Tweet, email, facebook as much as you like!

RULES:

-Open to everyone!

-One submission per person please!

The best answer will be chosen Dec 16th! Winner will receive a free download from OmniLit of Jump (or if you have already purchased Jump, another 0.99 OmniLit download of your choice.)

-Winner will be posted here, and also tweeted.

-Don’t forget to include contact info! If winner cannot be contacted by Dec 17th a new winner will be chosen.

Have fun and happy reading!!

Interview with author Julie Campbell

Please give a super big welcome to author Julie Campbell who is stopping by today! Be sure to check out her website for some amazing stories!

Julie writes fantasy novels. When she’s not out riding her horse, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer with a cat on her lap and her dog at her side.

 

Thank you so much for having me here Jennifer.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m an avid reader, and have been since the 3^rd grade when I realized reading was fun. I also started writing stories when I was in elementary school. My first literary masterpiece was a picture book about a bookworm.

What do you do when you are not writing?

There is such a time? LOL. I ride my Arabian mare and play with my cats and my Border Collie puppy. I also read a lot. Those are my main pastimes but I mix it up now and again.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started writing in elementary school. I was the master of the Nancy Drew style mysteries. In high school I started a sci fi loosely based on the Star Wars universe that never really went anywhere. It was the first novel length story I had ever attempted though. In college I started my first actual novel, Restless Nights, which took me six years to finish and I actually finished the original rough draft of Arabian Dreams before I completed Restless Nights. NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org) was the turning point for me. I first participated in 2005 and that’s the first time I ever finished a novel. It was just a rough draft, but I got to write the end and that was pretty special. Since then I’ve finished seven novels.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever experience writer’s block? Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I get my ideas from life, and dreams. I have an over active imagination. I think you have to have one to be a fantasy writer. Every day situations turn into crazy ideas in my head. For example my boyfriend, who I call the Irish Sailor, was soaking a small miniature in some pine cleaner. This strips the paint off so they can be repainted. I glanced into the room where it was sitting and instead of seeing a mini in a jar of pine cleaner, I saw an alien pod in a test tube… It took me a second to figure out what I was really looking at and it did freak me out for that second. Yes, my brain is a scary place and it really does work that way. I also have very vivid dreams. These have fueled entire novels, one of which is out on submission.

Writer’s block… hmm, that’s a tough one. I experience times when I can’t write, but it’s not so much block as stress. Either I lose my confidence in my ability to write – and then my support group kicks me in the pants and I start writing again, or something stressful in real life makes it hard for me to write. I don’t write well when I’m stressed. I know a lot of people write better when they have stress, but not me. I’ve never really been in a position where I can’t write at all (baring stress), I just sometimes have to work on a different project for a while to clear my mind so I can get back to my main project.

I’m a pantzer, but I like having a general idea of where I’m going before I start writing. I usually figure out the gist of the novel then make a summary. Then I outline as I go so I can refer back to my outline and figure out when certain events happen in my novel. This helps me keep track in case I have to reference events or make sure I have a fact clear. I have tried to use a real outline before. I did not enjoy that novel at all until I ran out of outline (it was too short) and the rest of the novel flowed amazingly well… with no outline.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I wouldn’t be where I am today without Kelley Armstrong’s online writing group and the wonderful people there who have helped me learn to be a better writer. She constantly posts things to help aspiring writers and many of the OWG members have gotten published themselves. I also wouldn’t have discovered NaNoWriMo if I hadn’t been active on the forum. That’s where I heard about it.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Hahahaha, yes… I could go on about them for hours, but I’ll boil it down to this. I still don’t have an agent  and not for lack of trying. I feel very lucky to have Quake as my publisher and it was almost a fluke that I queried them about Arabian Dreams.

I’ve sent out 100’s of queries to agents about my various novels. It is very hard to find an agent right now, even with a good query. Eventually I decided just to try directly to some publishers and that’s how I got lucky enough to find Quake.

I’m not giving up on finding an agent, but at least right now I am not focusing on it.

Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

My book is called Arabian Dreams and it is about a girl who travels to other worlds on horseback. Anna is a relatively normal 16 year old. She spends every summer riding horses with her grandma in Colorado. Then her grandma is killed in a car accident and Anna is the only one in the family who knows anything about horses. Her parents agree to let her spend the summer on her grandma’s farm and sell the horses instead of taking them all to a sale. That’s when she finds out that Sabaska, one of the horses, is a lot more than she seems. Sabaska is actually a super intelligent being called a Traveler that can go between worlds and take her rider with her. She’s in the middle of a dangerous mission and drags Anna along for the ride. Arabian Dreams will be published by Quake in ebook. I don’t have an exact date yet though. This will be my first published novel.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

This book is absolutely based off of real life events… I travel to other worlds all the time on my horse. Uh, well… no really, I do  Just not literally. I do a lot of trail riding with my Arabian mare, who’s name, incidentally, is also Sabaska. This is a really good time for my mind to relax and wander and play the what if game. I also based my main equine character directly off of my horse. They have a lot of similarities. I did not, however, base my main human character off of myself. There are similarities, and I put a little bit of myself in all of my characters, though not necessarily on purpose.

What project are you working on now? Will you have a new book coming out soon?

Second part first. Arabian Dreams will be published soon by Quake. I have another novel out on submission but it hasn’t been accepted yet, though the company did request a full manuscript.

I’m currently working on two novels and my series of Doc stories. Doc is a vampire hunting Border Collie that I’ve been writing short, free, fiction about. I try to have a new one up every couple of weeks. One novel I’m working on is a sequel to the novel I currently have on submission. Those characters won’t leave me alone. I’m also working on a new steampunk concept I recently came up with based on a world the Irish Sailor is developing. My next project after those two will be the second Arabian Dreams novel. I write fairly quickly and expect to be working on the second Arabian Dreams novel by this summer.

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

The only way to get better at writing is to keep on doing it. Keep sending out queries, keep writing new things. Persistence pays off in this business. You CAN do it.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

I have fans? *Does a happy dance* YAY!!!!! Hi Fans! I love you! (I’m counting readers as fans in this instance. I love you too). Thanks so much for dropping by and reading my interview. I can’t wait to be able to share Arabian Dreams with you in its entirety. Until then if you want to read about Doc’s misadventures, or some excerpts from my novels you can check out my website and blog at www.writerjacampbell.com. I love comments, feel free to leave me some. Be sure to check my blog around the 14^th or so… I hear that a very talented writer named Jennifer Wylie will be sharing some wit and wisdom there.

Thank you so much for having me hear today Jennifer! And thank you all for stopping by.

Writers on Writing by Kristin Callender

I’m very happy to introduce you all to the most wonderful author Kristin Callender!

Do feel free to post a comment or say hi! Happy reading (and writing!)

Don’t forget to check out Kristin’s website HERE

You can also read some sample chapters of her work HERE

Also follow her on Twitter!

I have learned a lot as a new writer, which is funny for me to type since I have been a writer all my life in one aspect or another, just not one with the goal of publishing. When I  had my first novel published by a small press I was bitten by the publishing bug. I wanted to see my work in print and still want to make some what of a living from this love of words I’ve always had. This, I am learning, is not an easy goal to attain. The publishing world is packed with writers who want the same things as me and more, and even when you do get something published there’s no guarantee that you’ll eke an actual living out of the sales or appearances. So, what’s a writer to do when faces with all of this reality? Find ways to stay focused, keep motivated, and never stop trying.

For me, one way was to bring my focus back to the writing. Marketing and promoting a book is like being on a year long roller coaster. You’re holding your breath as you climb, and feel it in your stomach as you plummet, and all the while you are eagerly awaiting the next climb and mentally trying to prepare for the plummet. It’s exhilarating and exhausting and pretty much stomps the life out of your writing process, if you let it. Don’t get me wrong being published is great, but it’s not passion. It’s more of a lust. It’s a rush, it’s a great feeling, and then it’s over and you’re left there thinking, was that it? or, asking could I have done that better or different? Writing needs passion; real feeling to keep it going through those long, can’t make these freakin’ words work, kind of days.

This is why I started my Writer Wednesday blog series. I wanted to get off the roller coaster and stop obsessing about publishing and just write. What better inspiration is there than listening to other writers talk about writing? Since starting this series in March of 2010 I have featured many writers, from aspiring to very successfully published. They have shared their writing life in different ways, all of which I have found inspiring and helpful to reigniting my own passion for writing.

For the month of December I have fine tuned my blog series to focus on writers of holiday themed works. I am featuring authors of Christmas novellas, Hanukkah books for children, Holiday fiction that has inspired Cookie Clubs and others that have been turned into popular movies, Winter Solstice articles, and books celebrating Kwanzaa.

Out of all of the diversity I find some things to be true for all of the writer’s I’ve featured. We all have a passion to write and share words, beliefs, our own versions of what is right or wrong in the world.  We all face the successes and failures of writing, sometimes in the same day, and we all continue to find ways move on and get that next word down.

Thank you Jen for having me as a guest on your blog and thanks to all who stopped by to read today. Hope you and yours have a happy and healthy holiday season, no matter how you choose to celebrate.

Kristin  *<(

Interview with the Silver Tongued Prince- Sean Hayden

Today I have the joy of bringing you my great friend and fellow Echelon author, Sean Hayden. Please enjoy your read while you delve into the mischievous, devilish mind of my humorous friend. Ok, enough awesome adjectives. Though truly he is wonderfully talented author you must take note of. His first book Origins is coming out soon!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? You do of course, need to tell us about The Duck.

Where to begin? I was born a poor…wait, wrong movie. It was a fall morning in the suburbs of Chicago when I first came into the world. My mother was a proofreader for the local newspaper, and my Dad was Fire Chief of the suburb we lived in. Deciding he didn’t like snow anymore, he moved us to Florida when I was ten. There I attended Catholic school until I graduated.

I’ve always loved reading and telling stories, but somehow ended up married with two children and ended up working in the cable tv industry. Not the fun end either. I splice fiberoptics by day, and write and edit novels at night. At least for now. Until my novels sell a billion copies and I end up purchasing my own tropical island with internet.

As for the duck, I have two children. Easter time came around and I found myself staring at a tub full of baby ducks in the local hardware store. Hmmmm, what a great Easter present for my children, I thought. I think the gods got a good chortle out of that one. Now the duck (one was eaten by turtles in our lake, don’t ask, very sad) hates everyone but me. My attack peeper.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started about 2 years ago, wrote about 40,000 words, and then let it sit for about six months. After much butt kicking and coercion from those in my life, I wrote the second half in about a month. Then the fun began, finding an agent and publisher. I gave up on the agent but found a magnificent publisher who, get this, CARES ABOUT THEIR AUTHORS! I know right? Weird.

Anyway, the first book of mine, Origins, is due out in February and I have contracts for the sequel Deceptions, and another steampunk vampire short I wrote called Lady Dorn.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever experience writer’s block? Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Funny you ask about ideas. I had the pleasure of being hosted on J.R.Turner’s blog and did a post about inspiration. http://jr-turner.blogspot.com/ I take inspiration from all around me and play a game called “What If?”

Outline? What’s that? I write as I go. I don’t even make grocery lists.

Don’t tell anyone, but no. Writer’s block has never been a problem either. I just have a huge over-active imagination. It keeps me occupied when nobody’s around.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Do you have a few days? Writing a book is easy. Finding a publisher is like trying to teach Katy Perry how to sing. My book sat for a year before finding a publisher. I even almost fell for a few “Pay to have your book published” scams. It’s scary out there. I’m one of the lucky ones.

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Marketing. Sorry, didn’t mean to use foul language.

Marketing is a beast that can only be slain through perseverance and a hefty personality. It’s impossible to market yourself if you’re boring. Trust me, I’ve seen people try. What works best for me is the Twitter. I have made so many friends, made so many contacts, and learned so much about not only publishing, writing, and marketing from other authors.

All the social networks are invaluable marketing tools. Facebook, scribd, etc. They’re all out there, and it’s free. Blogs too are a necessity.

Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

Nope. It’s a surprise.

Just kidding. Vampires have always fascinated me. The thing that always bothered me is that there are SO many legends about them, their abilities, and their weaknesses. Origins explains all that.

The main character’s name is Ashlyn Rowan Thorn. She was born a vampire, and that fact alone made her believe she was something different, because everybody knows vampires aren’t born, they’re made.

While everybody knows in the world of Origins about vampires and werewolves and elves, nobody knows how they came to be, or why there are different species of vampire. The truth is every species is the product of either a demon and a human, or an angel and a human.

Ashlyn is the newest species of vampire, but doesn’t know her father is a powerful demon lord who has been ordered to destroy her to maintain the delicate balance that has been achieved. Another difference Ashlyn faces is the fact that she cannot live off the blood of humans, only other magical beings such as vampires and werewolves. She is a predator of predators. That ability gets her in trouble with the vampires where she lives, gets her enlisted with the supernatural division of the FBI, and puts her on a manhunt for the very vampire who wants her dead.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Sometimes, the people around me tell me I must be the offspring of a demon, but that’s about it. The rest is my imagination.

What project are you working on now? Will you have a new book coming out soon? Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

I finished the second novel of the Demonkin series, and there is sure to be more to follow. Deceptions is that second book and should be available around May of 2011.

Right now, I’ve shifted gears and am working on a YA novel called Soul Seeker. It’s about a character named Connor Sullivan, who gets his fondest wish for the hefty price of his soul. It is another tale of the struggle between angels and demons, who’s right and who’s wrong. In a vain attempt to save his soul, Connor wishes to be one of The Fallen. He gets his wish, but soon finds being one of the most hated creatures in the universe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

Never give up. As long as there’s a story to tell, there will be people who will want to hear it. The other thing is always listen to the advice of others, compare it to the advice given by others, and LISTEN TO YOUR EDITOR!

In an epic battle between good and evil who do you think would win? And which side would you join?

Evil. Way more fun.

Just kidding. I’m one of those people who will do whatever they can to help others. At the same time, I love causing trouble and being the biggest smartass you’ve ever met in your life. It helps me achieve balance. If an epic battle between good and evil ever broke out, I guess you could say, I’d wait and see who’s winning and then help the other side, just to keep it interesting.

Want to learn more?

Visit Sean’s website, his Demonkin site and most definitely check out his blog!

You can also follow his antics on Twitter and on Facebook.

The Con of Show vs. Tell by Jenny Turner

Many thanks to Jenny Turner for stopping by my blog today! Jenny is not only a wonderful friend and an amazing author she is also the head of Quake, the YA division of Echelon Press. Please enjoy her excellent post and don’t forget we’d love to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment! Happy Writing!

 

There is one word that simplifies the whole show vs. tell debate circulating in writing groups across the webiverse. This one impish little five letter word is the key to understanding the difference between showing and telling.

Imply

To imply is to show something without stating the obvious. There are all sorts of methods one can use to imply. I liken these to the most basic type of cons: the short con and the long con. In the short con, you’re simply exploiting the moment. In the long con, you’re building toward a much bigger end game.

The short con:

These are great for setting atmosphere, character development, and connecting with the reader. In the two examples below, I show how the same action can convey very different meanings and characters:

She turned the knob, her palm slipping with sweat. The sun beat down, hot and dry as the porch creaked beneath her boots. The dust of an approaching car painted the back of her tongue with grit. He was coming.

She twisted the knob so hard, she nearly yanked it off. The sun whitewashed the weathered boards beneath her boots. The familiar red truck came in a dust cloud that blew sand into her mega grin, but she didn’t care. He was coming.

Notice how in one she seems concerned and in the other she’s happy. Neither emotion would be shown if I simply wrote: She opened the door and went out on the porch to wait for him. The trick was to imply the action and use emotion to inform my word choices.

The long con:

This is where a lot of authors struggle. Foreshadowing is not something that comes naturally to most people. There’s a lot of decisions to be made, and then sustained, to have the desired effect—just as in a long con. In a long con, a person will insinuate themselves into their mark’s life and play them, usually for a big pay off in the end.

When showing in the long con, you’ll need to really know your character. Let’s take a very well known film, The Color Purple starring Whoopi Goldberg as Celie. She has the great misfortune to be married to Albert (played by Danny Glover) who beats her and treats her terribly. For most of the movie, Celie is submissive and missing her younger sister Nettie, until she uncovers Albert’s devastating secret nearly 30 years after the beginning of the movie.

The pay off is huge, however, as Celie is called to shave Albert with a straight razor on the porch. The emotion of that moment is amazing and Spielberg, the director, played the audience like a piano. We are enthralled by the question: Will she cut his throat, or won’t she?

Understanding how to imply in a long con is very important. The key is knowing what is at stake for the character, and then threatening those stakes.

A final note about Telling:

Sometimes, especially in transitions, telling is very important. The trick to telling well is to use the character’s language and thoughts. Take this example of telling from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. To get the reader caught up on what happened in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer he has this transition written from Finn’s perspective:

“You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly — Tom’s Aunt Polly, she is — and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.”

Notice how he uses the boy’s voice to lend the telling a sense of story. Often this is easier done in first person, even if you’re writing in third. I suggest authors take a segment they’re struggling with and let the character share it in first person. Many times this will help the writer reconnect with their character and get just that right sense of flavor to make the story move forward.

If you’d like to try a fun exercise, give this a whirl. Above I implied a woman opened a door and walked out onto a porch. Using “imply” change the following to “showing” what is being told:

The plane landed and he rushed to the front of the crowd, flowers in hand.

Thanks so much for letting me share with you today. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. Or if you’d like to post your version of “showing” in the comments, I’d love to read them.

Jen, thanks bunches for having me here!

Warmly,

Jenny;)

Award-winning author J.R. Turner lives in Central Wisconsin with her husband and three children. She began writing in high school, and after a decade working as a commercial artist, started her first novel in 1999. Aside from crafts, camping and cooking, she loves holidays. A favorite is Halloween, a combination of spooky supernatural fun and chocolate. Visit http://jennifer-turner.com for more information.