Trope-Tastic Tuesdays: Author Avatar

(Parts of this were originally posted on June 6, 2013)

Trope: Author Avatar

Description: Not limited solely to books, the Author Avatar is a version of the creator of a work inserted into the work itself. This can work in a number of different ways. Sometimes the Author Avatar is the narrator, giving opinions on what's going on in the story. Other times, he/she just makes a cameo appearance as a minor character. Every now and then, you get a character who is obviously the creator's favorite and can do no wrong, leading to the dreaded Mary Sue (which, yes, can happen in canon works).

Examples: Charlie Brown/Charles Schulz; Dante in the Divine Comedy; Liz Lemon/Tina Fey in 30 Rock; a whole lot of Stephen King, Woody Allen, and Tim Burton characters

Pros: It's important to have a distinctive voice when writing, so why not use your own? Aspiring writers are frequently told "write what you know", so it makes sense to write it from your own point of view, regardless of whether you're blatant about it or try to camouflage it. I only chose a few examples for this post, but there are plenty of others out there. A lot of writing conveys the author's opinions and biases anyway, so you might as well really try sell it via your main character, right?

Cons: Make your Author Avatar unrealistic and flawless, and your audience is going to rebel. They'll probably rebel loudly, especially if they disagree with "the character's" opinions. Somewhere along the way, you're going to have to write a character that isn't a version of yourself. Don't let the Author Avatar become a crutch!

Would/Did I Use It?: Years later, my answer hasn't changed much. While some main characters I write are more similar to real-life me than others, I haven't intentionally put myself into a book, nor do I plan to. For fun, though, if I had to pick the character who comes the closest, I'd go with Veronica, the main character of Seductive Suspect. We all like to think we'd be a hero in an adventurous story, but when the shit starts hitting the fan in the book, Veronica locks herself in the bathroom and cries, which is probably what I'd wind up doing. Combined with her love for coffee, crossword puzzles, and snark, she's the closest thing I have to an Author Avatar.

Trope-tastic Tuesdays: (Defrosting) Ice Queen

(Parts of this were originally posted on January 17, 2013)

Trope: Ice Queen (and its sub-trope, the Defrosting Ice Queen)

Description: The Ice Queen is aloof and, well, frigid. She may not want to get emotionally close to anyone, or it may just be men she disdains. There are a few different ways her icy qualities can manifest themselves, ranging from slinging nasty remarks at anyone who crosses her to simply coming across as emotionless and "cold". In romance, the hero strives to "defrost" her and win her over so they can embark on a relationship.

(While not required, Ice Queens often have blonde hair and blue eyes.)

Examples: Elsa from Frozen, Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew, Hot Lips from M*A*S*H, Miranda from the Mass Effect series

Pros: The Ice Queen is no wet blanket, and she doesn't sit back and take any bullshit. She won't swoon over the hero as soon as he walks in the door; he's going to have to WORK for her affection. Comedic value is bumped up a notch if she's the type to make snappy comebacks and sends the hero away with his tail between his legs. Even if we think she's a bit snotty, we frequently can't help but root for her and want her to find true love.

Cons: If not handled with care, this trope can veer sharply into "she needed a MAN to put her in her place" territory, or imply she was a lesser human being until that man came along to defrost her. Or tame her, in Shakespeare's case. Another possibility is that there's some deep, dark, secretive reason for why the Ice Queen is so icy; it can be valid, or overly melodramatic (or both, I suppose). Then again, maybe not. Maybe she's just not a people person. However, if she comes across as too cold-hearted, it can be difficult for the audience to like and relate to her.

Would/Did I Use It?: I figured I might as well kick off the reboot of this feature with the (defrosting) Ice Queen, because I have such a prime example in my list of publications now. If the title of Fire Beyond the Frost doesn't clue you in, the main character, Catalina, definitely fits this trope. She's even got the pale blonde hair, though her eyes are green. I admit some of her attributes are coincidental, but yeah. Ice Queen for sure. Her "frostiness" doesn't come from any sort of evil or malice, though; she's just a serious person with some insecurities she tries to conceal.

In thinking it over, the titular character of Hunting Astrid probably also qualifies. Astrid (strawberry blonde hair, eye color not specified) has been hurt in the past and has her guard up, and the whole plot of the book is based on the hoops she makes Tabitha jump through in order to win her heart. To a lesser extent, Jasmine (brown hair, but blue eyes, for those of you keeping track at home) from Out of Orbit and Veronica (brown hair, eye color not specified) from Seductive Suspect also come across as rather aloof at first, and their love interests need to chip away at their icy barriers.

Dominance

Yup, you can keep your minds in the gutter, because this post is about exactly what you think it's about: which characters dominate your sex scenes? As I was chugging along on A Flame Among the Stars, I started thinking about how in most romances, one half of the couple is usually more forward or dominant than the other. Sometimes it's evenly balanced, sometimes it pings back and forth...and sometimes what happens outside the bedroom is different from what happens inside.

 

For a fun experiment, not only will I be exploring this in terms of gender, but also the point-of-view, as I have a hypothesis.

A Flame Among the Stars: This is a lesbian romance, so both halves of the couple are female. Meg, the POV character, is definitely the more dominant one for most of the book, though Celendra gains confidence and starts taking charge at points. What got me thinking about this whole subject is that it had been a while since I wrote from the POV of the more dominant character, but more on that later.

Hunting Astrid: Another lesbian romance. The book is from Astrid's POV, but Tabitha takes the lead for most of their intimate encounters. Again, though, Astrid has her own moments of being in control by the end.

Blazing Justice: This one's interesting because we have one POV character (Celeste) with three different endings. Without giving two much away, in two out of the three endings, the men are clearly more dominant, but it's more evenly matched in the third.

Fire Beyond the Frost: More lesbians. Catalina (POV) has no problem being in command of an operating room or jumping into action in case of medical emergency, but she's always been far more reserved in her personal relationships. This actually doesn't change much throughout the book, but Sari's there to guide her along nonetheless.

Closing Montage: Hmm. After some consideration, I'll say that Abigail (POV) and Edwin are pretty evenly matched, but I might give a slight edge to Edwin. It's close, though.

Seductive Suspect: Adam calls the shots as soon as he gets Veronica (POV) into his bedroom, hands down. This was one of those instances where I had that scene all planned out in my head for a while, but since I write in order, it took me a while to get there. Even so, I didn't lose any of my enthusiasm for it, and Adam's running this sexy show.

Out of Orbit: This was fun because both Jasmine (POV) and Aras are absolute powerhouses in their roles/careers before they meet, so what happens when they finally get together? The answer - Aras is the one in charge, but Jasmine doesn't mind in the slightest.

Flight of the Dragon Queen: Here's another one where it might be too close to call between Caleb (POV) and Alizeira. If I absolutely had to choose one or the other, I guess I'd say Alizeira is the more dominant of the two, but really, it's by the tiniest of margins.

Elysium: This one might buck the trend in multiple ways - not only does the POV alternate between April and Drew, but they each get their own sex scene where they're the POV character and each one is the more dominant one when we're inside their head. Again, it's a small difference, but that's my analysis.

Second Skin: The POV alternates between Anna and Brendan here, too; however, once they're behind closed doors, it's from Anna's POV, but Brendan is more dominant.

So, what have we learned? For the hetero romances, I thought the men would be more dominant, but while it skews a little in that direction, it's not always the case. What appears to be the bigger predictor? The POV character.

 

I'm too lazy to go through and tally it up, but it does seem like the POV character is less likely to be taking charge in the sex scenes. In a way, it kind of makes sense - it might be easier to envision yourself in a character's place when something is being done to them, rather than having them being the one doing the...doing. I won't get too far into fantasies and preferences and whatnot here, but if you're reading romance for an escape, letting someone else come in and handle everything can sound appealing. With the POV character, we see, hear, and feel everything they're experiencing; it's not that we, the readers, always want to take on a passive role in our own lives, but I can see how it's logical for the POV character we're reading about to be on the receiving end of all those fun sensations. You could argue the opposite, of course, and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. In the future, I'll be paying attention to this when reading romances and trying to determine who's more likely to play what role with regard to POV.

(I'm not going to start unpacking menage romances...yet?)

Structure/Pacing in Romance (specifically THOSE scenes)

I'm still happily chugging along on Elemental Forces. I passed the 20K word mark and have plenty of story left to tell. While I don't have a firm word count estimate just yet, this is shaping up to be the longest book I've written in quite some time.

Believe it or not, I don't have a written outline here. At this point, everything's plotted out pretty well in my head, so maybe I'll never get around to making one. But as I've been thinking over the structure and pacing in this project, I realized that I have two distinct categories for my books, and most romances probably fall into one or the other. And those categories are differentiated by...wait for it...*drumroll*...the sex scenes.

(The rest of this post will probably not be sexy. Sorry to disappoint.)

Category 1: One Sex Scene

All the novellas go here, which makes sense. (Hey, sex scenes take a lot of words!) I guess in these books, the primary plot/conflict/focus/whatever you want to call it is the good ol' "will they or won't they?" and everything gets wrapped up in a pretty little bow at the end when the characters finally bang. Excuse me, get their "happily ever after." Sure, other plot stuff happens, but it's all leading up to the big moment. To be fair, in some of my novellas, the one sex scene doesn't come right at the end, as the characters still have to work out their relationship issues before riding off into the sunset, but the concept stands.

Nothing is absolute, though, so there are some slight exceptions. Elysium, while novella-length, *technically* has two sex scenes, but they're back-to-back, so lumping them together is fair. Likewise with Seductive Suspect, which hovers on the border of "long novella" and "short novel" - the two sex scenes are adjacent to each other, and then the resolution of the mystery part of the plot comes afterward.

Category 2: Multiple Sex Scenes

It's not a surprise that the longer books go here, and then that got me thinking about various plots and their purposes. "Happily ever after" is still always the primary goal of romance, but the length of the route to get there varies. I admit this is where I sometimes struggle with the pacing. When the main characters get together relatively early on, the plot has to keep moving. It's easy to say "time for a sex scene, yay!" but the scenes also have to mean something and not feel gratuitous. I also realize this is highly subjective, as a look at any book with conflicting reviews will indicate. This also probably gets into the topic of romance vs. erotic romance vs. erotica, which I'm not going to touch here.

When writing Disintegration (which I'll likely re-release sometime in 2021), I was extra super careful while plotting out the progression of the sex scenes in the book, of which there are many. Almost, if not all of them are relevant to the plot, each building on the one that came before it. On the other hand, in Fire Beyond the Frost, there might be one or two in there that aren't necessarily relevant to the overall plot, but hey, they're fun, so why not. Then, while I was reviewing The Edge of the Sphere for its eventual re-release (no date set yet), there was even a sex scene I'd completely forgotten about. OOPS.

So, those are my two categories I've discovered. Is one better than the other? No, of course not. Does one take more careful plotting than the other? Eh, possibly. Most writers have cut huge chunks of work out of their final product, and I'm no exception. As noted above, there's no right answer for when to include these scenes, or how many to put in, and so on. If it works, it works, and I try not to ask too many questions when it *does* work!

Life Imitating Art

This past Saturday was my birthday. I'm now 34 years old, so pretty firmly into adulthood by now. It sounds stupid, but sometimes I forget that being a responsible independent adult has its perks. Like, I'll think, "Oh, I wish I could (do whatever thing)" and then remember hey, wait a minute, I can! A cool event is happening in the city? LET'S GO! A funky end table that my mother wouldn't approve of? IT'S IN MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW! Granted, having kids has prevented total spontaneity (and, um, dangerous home decor), but still. Way better than being a teenager.

So, my birthday. And doing things. When I wrote Seductive Suspect, which is about a murder mystery weekend gone wrong, I was pretty much making stuff up as I went along. I'd never actually done something like that, but I'd heard enough about such events that I figured I could cobble together something realistic. Or at least believable.

I wrote the book. Went through submission, editing, release, promo, blah blah blah. And continued to think, "boy, it sure would be fun to go to a murder mystery weekend."

It finally hit me. WHY NOT? I'm an adult!* I started doing my research, and long story short, Mr. Landen and I spent the weekend in the Victorian mansion that served as the inspiration for the Haunted Mansion in Disney World and participated in the murder mystery events. It was super fun, we had a blast, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in that sort of thing!

In comparing it to the setup for Seductive Suspect, there were similarities and differences. We were all assigned characters and were supposed to act them out at the scheduled times. (Though I don't think the drunk guy from New Jersey ever fully grasped that....) We got information sheets before each round with what's going to be revealed, what should stay secret, etc. None of us was the murder victim, and although one character was the murderer, he/she isn't told that. We all stayed on site, some meals were provided, and there was a full bar. (YES!)

As for the differences between my real-life experience and what my imagination concocted -  when I first saw that this was in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania, I was imagining a secluded, creepy mansion. Nope. It's actually kind of a tourist-y little town, and the mansion is within walking distance to the main strip of shops and restaurants, plus some outdoor activities. I thought we'd have to be in character the whole time, but we actually had a good chunk of the day on Saturday to ourselves. (Mr. Landen and I browsed the shops, ate lunch, and went for a little hike in the woods.) All the clues came out during our discussions and roleplaying; no searching the mansion with a magnifying glass or anything physical like that, minus a little bit in the "murder" scene.

I got one of the biggest, most significant roles, so happy birthday to me. (Not the murderer, though!) The guy who runs the murder mystery part usually doesn't get the chance to spend a whole lot of time with the guests before having to assign parts, but he said that he's been doing it long enough that he gets a good read on people and usually does well. I would say for our group, he did a really good job and most of us fit our characters well. (Except for maybe drunk Jersey guy.) There were lots of laughs, fun in-character interactions, and we got to know each other a little bit outside of the mystery parts, especially during the special dinner on Saturday night. Mr. Landen had read some reviews online before we went, so he was forewarned that things get a little raunchy in the mystery story, but no one in our group seemed particularly offended. All in good fun!

Year 34 is off to a good start, and again, I highly recommend this place. If you go, tell Inspector Bob we say hello!

(*Yes, that link goes exactly where you think it does. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUND!!!)

Going Back to the Same Well

As my old series Trope-tastic Thursdays indicated, tropes are not a bad thing. We all use them, whether we're aware of them or not. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say there are some tropes I like better than others, and some themes or character types keep popping up.

I'm on Chapter 3 of the new project, Sonata for Springtime. (I had to take a little break due to Influenza B, but I'm better now!) The characters were pretty fleshed out in my head before I even started writing, but now that I'm actually writing, they're becoming more and more defined, of course. In writing my protagonist, Jonathan, I'm finding a lot of similarities between him and other main characters I've written in the past.

This character type that I'm apparently so fond of is not particularly happy or unhappy. He's just plugging away, letting life happen. No major struggles, but no great passion for anything, either. He's just kind of...there. But then BOOM! Romance happens. Or at least the chance for romance arises, because we still need some conflict to drive the story forward.

Let's take a look at my backlog and see how many times I've done this. Stephen from The Edge of the Sphere definitely qualifies, as he's probably one of the most passive characters I've ever written (in the first half of the book, anyway). Caleb from Flight of the Dragon Queen (the 1Night Stand series) probably also qualifies, though at least he was slightly more proactive in contacting Madame Eve for a date. In Out of Orbit, Aras was content with his life until Jasmine almost literally crash landed in front of him. And then we have a rare female example with Veronica in Seductive Suspect, who gets shoved into the story's plot by her sister.

I don't know why I keep coming back here. I've done plenty of other heroes and heroines, including some who have suffered great trauma but are cured by True Love Forever. (Or, as my college friends used to call it, the "fuck the pain away" plot. :D ) Maybe it's because even though I love sci-fi and fantasy and all these wildly imaginative worlds, I also like regular people doing regular things. We can't all be dark and brooding, after all.

So while I could probably use a little more variety in my writing, it's not like all these characters are exact clones of each other, either. It's working for the story I want to write, so I'm not going to create some tragic past or heroic adventure for Jonathan just to mix things up. He'll have plenty to worry about anyway as the book progresses, don't you worry.

Racing and Pacing

I've finally arrived at the final chapter of my novella-in-progress (okay, there's going to be a little epilogue, too), and as always, I'm sprinting toward the finish line. I don't know what it is about endings that gets me to write faster. Maybe it's because since I write in order, I've been thinking about the ending for so long, it's planned out spectacularly well in my head. Maybe I just want the accomplishment of getting the damn thing done.

Either way, as I ponder this, I sometimes worry that this phenomenon affects my pacing. I ran into this issue a bit with Seductive Suspect - so much happened at the end of the book, I had to go back and balance out the beginning a bit. (And then that all got chopped up in editing anyway, but I digress.) Same thing here - word count-wise, these last two chapters are taking up, like, a third of the book. I'm going to have to go back and expand on those earlier chapters, I think, but for now, I just want to get to the end before I start working on the smaller details.

Then again, as I ponder this even more, I wonder if this issue crops up often due to the structure of romance stories. It depends on the structure of the story, of course, but there is a certain...format? template? that focuses on the journey of the characters getting together, and then explicitly stating what happens when they finally accomplish that. Or, as I sometimes joke around about, there's the climax, and then there's the climax. ;)

I've done it both ways, either saving the big bedroom scene for the end, or peppering them in throughout. For me, it seems like shorter stories are more likely to have just one explicit scene in them. Obviously, those scenes require words, but since it's expected in my genre, does that *really* count toward the overall balance of a work?

I think I've been navel-gazing for too long, instead of just writing the damn story and figuring out the more minor things later on. Also, I should turn off the word count display to avoid more crazymaking, but that's a different story for a different day.

Seductive Suspect Virtual Tour!

The Seductive Suspect virtual tour kicks off tomorrow, with interviews, guest posts, and fun new material at every stop - how exciting! The full schedule is below. I encourage you to check out all these great sites, show some love to the hosts, and enter to win the giveaway!

October 23: Erotica For All
October 23: Fabulous and Brunette
October 24: The Reading Addict
October 25: Up 'Til Dawn Book Blog
October 26: Long and Short Reviews 
October 27: Lock That Door!
October 30: Books, Dreams,Life
October 31: The Avid Reader
November 1: Deal Sharing Aunt
November 2: Wendi Zwaduk ~ Romance To Make Your Heart Race
November 3: Romance Novel Giveaways

This Month Needs More Than 31 Days

As the post title implies, I've been running around like crazy for the past couple weeks, and things aren't scheduled to settle down AT ALL until the first week of November or so. (And then something new will come up, I'm sure.) But! One of the things taking up some time has been prepping for the Seductive Suspect tour, which kicks off on October 23rd! I hope to have the full schedule finalized soon, and of course I'll post it here. In the meantime, gaze adoringly at this banner and pretend I said something meaningful about books and writing and stuff.

 

Cover Reveal - Seductive Suspect

We had a couple hiccups along the way, but the cover for Seductive Suspect is finally ready for the world to see! If this doesn't scream "sexy mystery", I don't know what does. I mean, really.

Though we haven't solidified an official release date yet, the book goes up for pre-order at the end of this week, so stay tuned!

So Much For Relaxing During the Summer

First off, I just got the mock-up for the Seductive Suspect cover, and as always, it's fantastic. It's not completely finished, so I can't share it yet, but I can't wait until it's ready!

That exciting email with the cover stuff might just motivate me to write soon. So far this summer has been CRAZY, and I haven't had time to start a new book. The short version is we have a major construction/renovation project going on at the Landen house, and as such, we've been bouncing between both sets of parents' houses and the Cape house (because if you can't go home, you might as well be someplace with a private beach at the end of the street). I've been hesitant to even start something because I know how little time I'll have, especially with squeezing in some day job work around everything else, but my writing fingers are starting to get a little antsy. I will have some time this weekend, so we'll see what happens then!

Watch this space for the official cover reveal!

Off to a Good Start...Or a Terrible Start...Okay, Some Kind of Start

I'm never one to pass up jumping on a good bandwagon. Writing/blogging buddies Krystal and Michelle recently made great posts about going back to their old writing projects and critiquing their opening lines. They were a ton of fun to read, and I also never shy away from self-deprecating humor, so I figured I'd have a go at it!

The vast majority of my early writings were Phantasy Star fanfic. Actually, those were the only stories I ever finished. I'll start as far back as I can find, and I'll also toss in some more recent ones, because why not? Some aren't too bad, some are, and there's one in particular that, due to a proofreading fail, is dumpster fire-levels of awful. Onwards!

***

My first fanfic ever. I think I was around 12 or 13 years old:

I see trees, I see sand, I see ice. And I see hell.

Okay, not too bad. Like lots of games and sci-fi in general, Phantasy Star made use of the Single-Biome Planet, hence the first line. I suppose my career as a writer didn't get off to a terrible start.

***

Another fanfic. I'm pretty sure I was 16:

The sun shone brightly over the sands of the desert. Because of the planet's irregular orbit around the sun, there was no actual night - daylight was a constant on in this barren world. The majority the population was in bed sleeping, having adjusted to the consistent sunlight long ago. But deep in the mountains, far from the sunlight, someone was awake.

First off, that's not how science works, Thea. Next year you'll take astronomy in high school and learn more about planets and orbits and such. (And then many years later, you'll enlist the help of a friend to teach you even more about orbits to set up the concept of a book.) Also, I'm so glad it's specified that the sun shone brightly, as opposed to all those dimly-shining suns.

***

Here it is, the laughably bad one I promised. Also fanfic. I think I was 17 or 18?

The light of the two moons cast a dim light over the small village. While the outside temperature was not unbearably hot, the villagers kept all their windows open to take advantage of the sporadic cool breeze.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGHHsdghoijasengeiwsdf. How did I not catch the two instances of "light" in the VERY FIRST LINE OF THE STORY?!?!?! And the kicker is, this was actually one of my best fanfics. It's held up over time. It's poignant and heartbreaking. It took a new spin on a topic that had been written about before. BUT OH MY GOD, THAT FIRST LINE.

In the immortal words of Blanche Devereaux, "God, I wish I was dead." Even 15ish years later.

***

At some point, a long writing break happened while I was off doing other life stuff. Let's see how I re-entered the writing world with one more fanfic example:

Alys shielded her eyes from the sun. In the distance, she could make out the silhouettes of the tents at the edge of the native Motavian village of Molcum. “Finally,” she muttered to herself as she approached the outskirts of the small village.

Maybe not the most attention-grabbiest thing ever, but it works. That was late 2010, and I'd say my style hasn't changed drastically since then (based off this example, anyway).

***

Now let's see what I actually got published. Here's the opening of Searching the Skies, my first published book (written in 2011):

Geneva Greyson removed one of her twin daggers from the throat of her enemy and watched him fall to the ground, wondering yet again what could have possibly possessed her people to land on this planet centuries ago. Ophari was a cold, desolate world with little to offer in the ways of food, minerals, or technology, as the Opharians were not nearly as advanced as the humans who had stumbled upon them. Had it been up to her, she would have passed over the near-barren rock without a second look. Her ancestors, however, had thought differently; they had sought to colonize it and add the small planet to their ever-growing empire.

Not too shabby. Definitely screams "this is sci-fi!" from the get go. Funnily enough, very little information in this opening paragraph is actually relevant to the rest of the book.

***

Elysium remains one of my favorites; let's see how it holds up under the magnifying glass (written in 2014):

Janie stood in my living room, one hand holding a bag of food from the local Chinese take-out place and the other planted firmly on her hip. She fixed me with a stern glare. “You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked."

Well, we learned a lot about Janie in a few lines. Too bad she's not a main character.

***

I might be getting too full of myself. Let's look at Flight of the Dragon Queen (written in 2014-2015):

“Hey, Caleb. How’s it going?”
I glanced toward the entrance of the cubicle. Ricky, my closest acquaintance at the office, leaned against the edge of the flimsy wall. “Hey,” I greeted him in return. “I’m all right, can’t complain."

SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE. It's a good thing this book has dragons and magic and shit, because something has to make up for this opening. If I recall correctly, even the editor had some qualms about the whole prologue, but sometimes you just need to quickly establish the parameters of the story and then get to the good stuff.

***

Might as well end on a high note with Out of Orbit (written mostly in 2015):

“Captain Hale, are you okay?”
Jasmine winced as she scrambled to her feet, trying to ignore the pain radiating from where her back had slammed into the floor. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” A quick glance around the spaceship’s deck indicated she hadn’t been the only one knocked off balance by the blast. Concern flitted through her mind, but tending to injuries wasn’t her responsibility or priority. “Keep firing!”

This is one of the few times I was really happy with an entire introduction/first chapter. When discussing this post with another writing friend, I also realized that OoO is probably the only time when I really felt I wrote a good opening, ending to the main story, AND ending to the epilogue. Yay.

***

I just sent in another round of edits for Seductive Suspect. The whole opening chapter is quite long and a lot happens, but the first couple lines/paragraphs probably fall somewhere in the middle between awesome and Blanche Devereaux both in quality and level of excitement. I can live with that!

Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition....

Hey, a post that's actually about writing! Or something close to it, anyway. Though I haven't actually written anything lately, I did just finish the first round of edits on Seductive Suspect.

When doing my own proofing/editing before submitting a manuscript, I have my list of words I check for to make sure I haven't overused them. I've discussed "that" here before, and even though I've gotten better, it still sneaks in every now and then. The list grows because lately it seems that with every book I write, a new word gets overused. Granted, every editor has his or her own words that bug them with overuse, and what stands out to one may not stand out to another. Most of the time, though, I find myself agreeing with the words they pick out and check for them in the future.

The overused word for Flight of the Dragon Queen was "just". Like "that", it's often unnecessary, almost like superfluous adverbs. For Out of Orbit, it was "look". That got a little trickier, because to me, repetitive use of words like "stare" and "gaze" stand out more. I did try to mix it up more in that book, and "look" is now on the list.

So what's THE word for Seductive Suspect? "Make/made/making". As always, it can be hard to notice something until someone else comes along and highlights it. Like, literally highlights it. And then I see how many times it came up in a short span and say UGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH how did I not catch that earlier?

Like I said earlier, it's possible that "make/made/making" is just this editor's pet word. Since I already have enough on my plate, I'm not going to go back to previous works and see how often it popped up. However, it came up SO much in Seductive Suspect, it's probably going on the list. And I'm sure it'll be joined by something else next time around.

"That" count (aside from the times I used it to illustrate a point and put it in quotes): 7
"Just" count (same stipulation): 2
"Overuse" count (ironically): 4
Level of caring for this blog post: 0
;)

Nothing to See Here!

No, really, not much to see here. I finished Mass Effect: Andromeda, and it was very good; while I will replay it soon, I haven't felt the burning need to start over again yet. I've also been reading for a change, and paying attention to my neglected knitting. Edits haven't started yet for Seductive Suspect, so I'm trying to spread the love between my other hobbies in my limited free time.

I feel like I should start a new writing project soon, though. I have one idea pretty much completely fully outlined, and two more that need a little more baking. I'm debating whether to start the former and work on it whenever I feel like it (and try to get back into good writing habits), or wait until I'm feeling really fired up and attack it head on. There's no good answer, of course. And let's face it, with two rambunctious toddlers running around, a day job that's in an upswing on the busy spectrum, and some lingering issues with my chronic illness, sometimes I am just TIRED. But one way or another, writing always manages to worm its way back onto my list of priorities. I'll get there, I promise!

(Oh, and I suppose I could write a better follow-up post about ME:A, but all in good time!)

Seductive Suspect - Coming Soon!

One little revision later, and the paperwork's all done for Seductive Suspect! Watch this space in the future for more details like the cover, the release date, and other fun things. For now, have a blurb, which might change since I'm still terrible at writing them*:

When Veronica Campbell agrees to take her sister’s place at a murder mystery weekend getaway, she has no idea what’s in store for her. The events at the mountaintop lodge get off to a good start, especially when she meets Adam, the handsome man staying in the room next door. By the end of the first night, however, the role-playing games take a dark turn when one of the participants is killed for real.

Violent storms and sabotaged cars trap the guests at the lodge with no escape. In addition to the danger lurking around every corner, Veronica must deal with her growing attraction to Adam. Despite trying to keep her distance from him, she struggles to resist his flirtatious charms.

One by one, the number of guests dwindles as the murderer continues to strike. The longer they survive, the more Veronica worries she’s falling for Adam. Can she trust his intentions, or has she wound up in the arms of a cold-blooded killer?

*I'll be totally honest here, this blurb was originally scribbled on a piece of scrap paper while I let the kids watch The Price is Right. I did edit it, at least, when I went to type it up. :P

Everything is In Order

While I didn't hit my original deadline of finishing up Seductive Suspect by the end of February, I did get it done before the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda next week. We'll put that in the win column! So that's all taken care of, and I have another ten days to loaf around (and maybe replay some Dragon Age: Inquisition on my shiny new laptop that I bought for ME:A).

I've mentioned it before, but I'm the type of writer who needs to write in order. That method has its pros and cons, and I'm certainly not going to argue with the people who write their scenes as they come because hey, whatever gets the words on the page. For me, though, when I go in order, I wind up thinking about the final, climactic scenes SO much, by the time I get there, writing is just plain fun. The words fly out of my fingers, and it's a far more enjoyable process than "okay, how am I going to connect Point A to Point B here?" I don't mind waiting for the reward as opposed to getting the fun stuff done first and then having to tie it all together. (But again! Whatever works!)

(Incidentally, the knitting project I'm working on now is similar - the body of the cardigan is done in one color in plain stockinette on tiny little needles, and I'm not going to lie. It's been a bit of a slog. But once I get to the colored yoke, HOLY CRAP IT'S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!)

(My knitting friends may think I'm a bit nuts, too.)

Getting back to writing! Interestingly enough, despite all the nights I lay awake hashing out every single detail about those last thrilling chapters, I did wind up tweaking a few details once I got there. Nothing major, just some bits I thought made the plot flow a little better. I suppose it just emphasizes that no process is perfect. Either way, I'm happy with the end result, so stay tuned for more updates!

These Things Happen

I don't remember if I've ever mentioned it here before, but I suffer from chronic illness. Well, "suffer" probably isn't the best word - I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago (eep!), and there's definitely been a ton of ups and downs. Lately I've been in one of those valleys, which resulted in a five-day hospital stay. It had been about six years since that happened last, so I really can't complain too much.

This post isn't meant to be a whiny rant, or a pity party. These things happen, and while the situation may suck right now, it's bound to get better sooner or later. It should go without saying that a lot of things fell by the wayside when I wasn't feeling well, and writing was one of them. At this point, I'm probably not going to meet my self-imposed deadline for this book. Meh.

But. BUT! As anyone who's ever been in one will tell you, hospitals are boring. I wasn't on my deathbed or anything, just in need of some IV drugs (and maybe a little more rest than I get at home with two toddlers running amok). I actually read some books, and then I had the bright idea to tell Mr. Landen to bring me a brand new shiny notebook and some pens. Brilliant, I say.

I managed to successfully extricate myself from marathons of Say Yes to the Dress and Law & Order: SVU and get some writing done. And, of course, I was right at the scene where the romance really kicks off, but awkward or not, I forged ahead. So yeah, there I was, curled up in a hospital bed with an IV in my hand, writing all sorts of dirty words in my notebook.

As I said, these things happen. That's got to earn me some street cred in the smut-writing world, right?

Forging Ahead Into the New Year

Happy New Year! Okay, I'm a couple weeks behind. I'll be honest - while I do love the holiday season and it's one of my favorite times of the year, part of me is really glad to be settling back into our usual routine. I was a creature of habit even before having kids, and now I have two little people who benefit from having structure. So even though it was great being around friends and family, celebrating and doing other fun stuff, I'm not terribly disappointed that it's all over.

With that return to normalcy comes a new burst of writing energy! I've noticed this for a couple years now. Something about the new year gives me the push I need and I get a lot done in the early months. I wish I could bottle up whatever it is and whip it out in, say, August, but I'll take what I can get. Who knows, maybe the darker, colder months just lend themselves to better writing when there's little else to do.

I'm moving right along on Seductive Suspect. The chapters are getting longer; I plan to finish one this week, and then I only have two more, plus an epilogue. I'm on track for my estimated word count, and I have very firm plans for the final chapters/epilogue. When I started this book, I had a pretty comprehensive outline for a change, but there were still some blanks that needed filling in, and I struggled there a few times. For where I am right now and one point near the climax, there's a couple minor little details I need to work out, but I think/hope it'll be smooth sailing until the end.

I'm all about realistic deadlines. Knowing real life can get in the way, I *think* I can be done with this and ready to submit by the end of February. I have a few weeks of wiggle room, but I NEED to be done by mid-March. Why, you ask? Some major life event? An exotic vacation? Vanishing in a glamorous poof of mystery?

Nope. Mass Effect: Andromeda comes out then. I pre-ordered it a while ago, and since I'll only be able to play in the evenings once I have it, I anticipate it's going to take me a loooooooooong time to get through it. As they say in the games before the final quests, I'd better wrap up any unfinished business before then, since I'll be disappearing off the face of the earth for a while. ;)

Evil Or Not?

I had the idea for this blog post bouncing around for a while, and then Tuesday happened. I'm not going to spend time on politics here for various reasons, but let's just say that I have been very tired this week, and a lot of my computer time was spent zoning out to mindless stuff. Despite my best efforts, I just wasn't in the mood to get a lot of writing done, but I'm hoping to fix that. And as I think about it, this post I planned may have some relevance to current events (but again, I'm not going to delve too deeply into them here).

So I've been plugging away, slowly but surely, on Seductive Suspect and its varied cast of characters. One of them, Dylan, is...well, he's kind of an asshole. He alternates between arguing with the others and keeping to himself, makes inappropriate comments, and is just mostly unpleasant to be around in general. If we're being honest here, I based him on what we in the gaming world refer to as the "dudebro gamer". In some ways, writing him (and others' reactions to him) is fun; in others, it's been a challenge. While he's not a "nice" person, does that necessarily make him bad, or evil?

In that sense, villains are easy. The ultimate villain (as he doesn't appear that way initially) of the Disintegration universe, Dr. Zedek, was fun to write, as he had few redeeming qualities and was supposed to be the bad guy. By the end of his arc, I loved to hate him, and I hoped readers felt the same way. But what of the characters who don't fill the role of the antagonist? How bad is too bad?

Now I have a silly confession to make. When I play Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I make the decisions I think are best during my first run, and then when I replay, try to make different ones. Even when I'm playing a different sort of character, sometimes I really struggle with what I personally feel to be the less moral choice.* Part of me wants to see all the possible outcomes, but there's another part of me that just can't do certain things. Heck, sometimes I even feel bad picking certain dialogue options that don't have much of an effect on anything else. And then there are decisions/plot points that I think are completely terrible and I could NEVER bring myself to make a certain choice...and then I poke around the fandom and find people who think it's the right thing to do and can't imagine playing otherwise.** Gray morality, yo. Or, different people think differently.

So back to Dylan in this current book. Is he a horrible, irredeemable person? No, probably not, in that he's not plotting world destruction or anything like that. I still wouldn't want to hang out with him for too long, though. It's taking effort to find the balance of how far to go with him, developing his character without making him too over the top. Because realistically, some people are just jerks.

*In Mass Effect, even when playing a Paragon, I always let the Council die and shoot Udina myself. Those assholes had it coming.
 **In Dragon Age 2, I am horrified by the idea of giving Isabela to the Arishok at the end of Act 2. But there are a ton of people out there who feel the same way about her as I do about the Council and Udina. Fascinating.

As Seen on TV (or Movies, I Suppose)

Whoopsies, a month went by without a post. I fell into another black hole of work at the day job, and only managed to climb back out about a week or so ago. Also, due to part of that, I managed to wind up on the local news. Again. At least this time I had a feeling it would happen and remembered to slap on some lip gloss before leaving the house. Anyhoo, that's all done with (for now), and I finally have time to write! Yay!

In the past, I've written about dream/fantasy casts, or if real-life people have influenced my description of characters, and so on. It's that time again, for Seductive Suspect. This is not a comprehensive list by any means, since the character list in this book is on the long side, but let's have some fun!

Veronica - I keep coming back to Sophia Bush to play our plucky heroine, but disclaimer: I haven't seen her act in very much. Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to name something I've seen her in besides the Law & Order: SVU crossovers with her Chicago show. That said, she's a pretty darn close match in terms of physical description, and any interviews and such I've read of hers suggest it wouldn't be a stretch to capture Veronica's personality, either.

Adam - Ooooh, I've been struggling a little with my male lead. Ashton Kutcher keeps popping up, but I'm not 100% convinced. I think he might be a hair too much on the, uh, goofy side? But then again, he's taken on more serious projects recently, and I think he also has the necessary charm. Josh Hartnett is a close runner-up here.

Victor - Here's where my influence is a bit obvious, if not obscure. Back in the day, there was an episode of Frasier where Frasier decided to hire a butler, who was played by Victor Garber. For whatever reason, that was in my head when creating my own butler character. That, plus the Alias connection for Reasons, makes this one easy. Next!

Laura - This time my subconscious thoughts took a little longer to resurface. Initially I'd been thinking of a young Christina Hendricks for the "sexy librarian" character. Not that Ms. Hendricks is ancient now, but you know. I was well into writing the book before I realized I'd probably been thinking of Laura Prepon the whole time. Oops. Hey, that five years makes a difference!

Isabel - Isabel is one of the more complex characters in the book, and as such, it's been a challenge thinking of someone who could accurately portray her many facets. For now, I think I'm going with Anna Kendrick, who usually plays cheerier characters, but she might have some fun with Isabel's darker side. Also, the physical description is spot on here, though unintentionally so, I swear.

Paul - For our good-natured guy who likes to have a good time, I'm going with Chris Pratt here. Preferably when he's on the blonder side. Paul has his more serious moments, too, but I don't think anything that would be outside the realm of ability.

Brittany - For fun, I'm picking Kate Upton, though her list of acting credentials is on the short side. For my fellow Clue fans, Brittany is basically a dumber version of Yvette. Yup.

I still have one more major-ish character and a few more minor ones to solidify in my head, but I need to get back to writing!