In Which I Discuss the Merits of Chocolate...

Before we get to the chocolates, the lovely Andrea at The Enchanted Writer interviewed me about how I use writing in my day job (Which I do. A lot!). Hop on over and check it out.

Also, I found this post through Janet Reid's blog. It's a MUST READ. Yes, it's long. Read it anyway. Memorize the final paragraph.

Okay - on to the yummy stuff.

Last week, David Powers King gave me a "Super Sweet Blogging Award," which means I get to answer a bunch of fun questions for you folks. Here we go:

1: Cookies or Cake? Is both an acceptable answer? I think I’d lean toward cookies, though my family has a hilarious story that involves me swiping frosting from my aunt and uncle's wedding cake. I was a kid, I swear!

2: Chocolate or Vanilla? By itself? Chocolate all the way. Sometimes I like vanilla better if I’m combining it with lots of toppings, though.

3: What is your favorite sweet treat? It’s a toss-up between my mom’s mint brownies and my grandma’s apple bars. Yum!

4: When do you crave sweet things most? With anything salty.

5: If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? Actually, my nickname when I was little was Coco, so I guess I’ve always been sweet!

And, if you haven't gotten your free copy of Running in the Dark yet, don't forget to get the promo code here.

A Halloween Story Treat for You!

I’ve got a fun gift and announcement today. I finally packaged a couple of my short stories together in an e-book, and it’s FREE to all of you, my lovely blog readers, through the middle of next week (Nov. 7 to be exact).

Just use this Smashwords coupon code: RJ36F

The timing is great, because both of these stories have Halloween-esque overtones. Especially the title story, Running in the Dark, which is a thriller. It’s also the story I rather infamously created while taking out my trash, and it’s written in second person. Eeerriie.

The bonus story in the collection is called Being Batman. It’s not a thriller or written in second person, but is quite dear to my heart. And it also has a tie to Halloween – I’ll bet you can find it as you’re reading.

It's a bit of a departure from my typical fantasy stuff, but I'm so excited to share it with you. Hope you enjoy!

Here’s a little more to entice you:

Running in the Dark
Don’t Slow Down…

He snatched you. Took you in plain sight during your evening jog. But you’re not going down without a fight. When the stakes are high, when the darkness closes in, when the footsteps behind get closer and closer, there’s only one thing left to do…keep running

Being Batman

He stood still as night in the black hoodie he used as armor. Don’t let them see you’re scared, he thought. Batman never shows he’s scared.

Meet Ash…
Most boys dream of being superheroes so they can fly, flaunt their superstrength against bullies, or turn invisible around girls.

Ash isn’t most boys.

He dreams of Batman for sheer survival. By age nine, he’s seen his parents die in a car accident, watched four foster homes come and go, and decided it’s safer to stay hidden behind masks. When trouble with a modern-day Batmobile lands him in yet another foster home, Ash begins to wonder if even superheroes are strong enough to renew his belief in love, family and heroes.

…Find out in Being Batman.

Amazon
Smashwords



In other news, check out these cool happenings in the blogosphere:
• L.G. at Bards and Prophets is hosting a fun series about "Badass Women"
• Write Club playoffs are on!

NaNoPloMo?

It's that time of year again, when writers shutter their blogs, lock their doors, resist Internet distractions and buckle down for National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo.

I've never been much of a NaNo girl, mostly because my schedule makes it pretty impossible to keep up. This year, I did want to try something different though. Something I'm calling NaNoPloMo. Or, National Novel Plotting Month.

See, I'm just wrapping up my current WIP, and I've got ideas for at least two others that I want to tackle next year. I want to spend November nailing all the details and putting the pieces together at least a little more completely, so I can get right down to writing the new stuff in 2013.

Those are my month's goals. What are yours?

November Posting Plan
Also, you'll notice a bit of a change in posting come November. I know a lot of people take a pause from blogging for NaNo, but I also know that not everyone is doing NaNo and those folks will still be cruising the blogosphere.

Here's the plan: A couple times a week, I'll be posting "Inspiration/Resource" posts. They'll be short and hopefully helpful. Each one will highlight:

1) A writing resource I love, and
2) A source of inspiration, like a book quote or song.

That way, even if you're checking in quick from NaNo you might discover a few new tools.

Good luck!

Go Low Again!

Go from high...........................to low.

Hey guys, first off - sorry if I've been scarce in your comments trails lately. Between work, class and life in general, I've only been able to check blogs about once a week. But, trust me, even if I'm late to the party, I still love reading everyone's stuff!

Okay, on to the fun!

A while back, we did a "cut the word count" challenge on the blog, and now we’re back for more!

Here’s the challenge: Take the original Dresden Files paragraph below and cut it down to 100 words, then 75, and finally 50.

Can you do it? See if I could below the break…

Original word count: 129
I studied the man a little more closely. He was big. He was really big, at least as tall as me and twice as broad. He was dressed only in a pair of cutoff blue jeans, and those looked like they were ill fit. He was in a condition best described as “overwhelmingly masculine,” hairy chested and muscled like a professional wrestler. There was gray in his hair and beard, and there were lines on his face, putting his age at well into maturity. It was his eyes that showed me the most about him. They burned green, wild and haunted, fastened on the distant sky now, but heavy with the weight of too much terrible knowledge. It couldn’t have been easy to live with a curse like his.
Fool Moon, Jim Butcher

* * * * * *

100 words (100)
I studied the man more closely. He was big. Really big. At least as tall as me and twice as broad, dressed only in a pair of ill fit cutoff blue jeans. His condition was best described as “overwhelmingly masculine,” hairy chested and muscled. There was gray in his hair and beard, and lines on his face, putting his age well into maturity. His eyes showed me the most. They burned green, wild and haunted, fastened on the distant sky, but heavy with the weight of terrible knowledge. It couldn’t have been easy to live with a curse like his.

75 words (73)
I studied the man. He was big, hairy chested and muscled. At least as tall as me and twice as broad, dressed only in a pair of ill fit blue jeans. Gray streaked his hair and beard. Lines on his face put his age well into maturity. His eyes showed me the most, burning green, wild and haunted, but heavy with terrible knowledge. Couldn’t be easy to live with a curse like his.

50 words (50)
I studied the man. Big, hairy and muscled. Tall as me and twice as broad, dressed in ill fit blue jeans. Gray streaked his hair and beard, putting him well into maturity. Green eyes burned wild and haunted, heavy with terrible knowledge. Couldn’t be easy to live with his curse.

Coloring the Page: Orange

The “Descriptive Kaleidoscope” of color synonyms rolls on with today’s entry on ORANGE. For those just tuning in, these synonyms were compiled by a gentleman who is blind but had his sight until he was 11.

Check out the earlier entries here.

The list for orange is short, because some of the variations are already covered in the posts for “Red” and “Yellow.” But what better color than this to kick off Autumn?

Apricot: Moderate, light or strong orange to orange yellow
Burnt Orange: Dark brownish reddish orange
Ocher: Moderate orange yellow
Saffron: Strong to moderate orange yellow
Tangerine: Strong reddish orange to vivid orange

The End

Endings are one of the trickiest scenes for writers to do well. There’s usually so much to wrap up, and we want to stay true to our story without making our readers feel gypped. Plus, reader expectations are usually sky high, so it’s hard not to disappoint.

I’ve heard people say the end doesn’t really matter to publishers because, by then, the book has already sold, but endings can make or break the book from a reader’s perspective. For me, Mockingjay was a *thud* ending to The Hunger Games series, and I wasn’t all that thrilled with the epilogue in Harry Potter either.

A lot of blog threads focus on what to do and what not to do, but the challenge is there’s such a wide variety of endings — happy, sad, serious, funny, etc. I thought we’d take a slightly different approach. With examples!

Below are two of my favorite endings, based on
1) my satisfaction after reading that last page,
2) how well it fit with the rest of the book,
3) timelessness – will I look back years from now and still remember it as a great ending?

I’ve included comments about what works for me and why:

Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

Mother of us all, he was glad that now, of all times conceivable, he, F'lar, rider of bronze Mnementh, was a dragonman of Pern.

It's such a triumphant moment. The danger hasn't passed, the trouble hasn't all been solved, but you know without a doubt the characters are in this fight for the long haul and refuse to be defeated. It makes me want to pump my fist in the air and say "bring it on!"

And it definitely makes me want to pick up the next book right away.
 

The Far Pavilions, M.M. Kaye
They rode out together from the shadows of the trees, leaving the Bala Hissar and the glowing torch of the burning residency behind them, and spurred away across the flat lands toward the mountains...

...and it may even be that they found their Kingdom.

I love this ending! These two characters have been through hell for almost 1200 pages. If you think you've seen characters put through terrible situations...believe me, Ash and Juli went through worse. From the very beginning of the book, there's been a theme of the mountains as a symbol of hope. Ash's step-mother told him a fable about a secret kingdom in the mountains when he was very young and they were on the run.

I love two things in particular about this ending:

1) The cinematic exit. In one sentence we get imagery of rider silhouettes through the trees, against the backdrop of a burning villa, and then the stark beauty of the north Indian landscape. I would so LOVE to see this on the big screen.

2) The hope. Even more than the imagery, I love that the author gives these two characters a chance at rest and a peaceful life together. It's not a promise. That would have been too strong for this book. A chance at happiness is more fitting. And that's why I love the author's choice.


What are some of your favorite endings?

Plotting for Plan G

I’ve been on a Leverage kick lately (Great show if you haven't seen it), and last week I watched an episode where the team’s mastermind, Nate, was talking about the importance of having a “Plan G.”

Nate: You never count on the perfect plan. The perfect plan, it has too many moving parts, and it's... you’ve got to expect the perfect plan to fail.

Alec: Then what do you count on?

Nate: I count on the simplest and ugliest plan. Not Plan "A," no, but, like, Plan "G," for example. I start with Plan "G.” The quick, simple, ugly plan that I know is gonna work if everything goes bad. I just pretty it up a bit, just add this and that.

Brilliant advice, you guys! So, here’s my new theory on plotting: I’m going to call my true plot, what I as the author know actually happens, “Plan G.” Then, my job is to throw readers off of Plan G by weaving in the pretty, distracting details of Plans A-F.

By the way, I don’t mean that our Plan G’s should be simple or ugly – that would make for boring reading. Or overly complex, which would bog things down and infuriate readers. But I do love the idea of layer upon layer of plot twists to disguise the book’s true direction.

I think it’s an awesome way to build suspense for readers. They’ll see clues for Plan A (and maybe for Plan B if they’re really adept)…but they’ll gloss over the hints for Plan G because they’re not looking for it. Yet, we the authors will know that’s what we plotted for all along.

It’s the same principle of using red herrings and false leads, but with a little more panache in the plot layers.

What do you think?

P.S. If you want to read a fantastic example of what I’d call a Plan G plot in action, check out Sarah Rees Brennan’s Demon’s Lexicon. I’ve blogged about it before, and I don’t want to spoil any secrets. Suffice it to say…you’ll never see the true plot coming until the final reveal. Then, you’ll kick yourself at all the hints you missed along the way.

Living by the Pen

       Mrs. Austen: Affection is desirable. Money is absolutely indispensable.

       Jane: I could live by my...

      Mrs. Austen: Your what?

      Jane: I could live by my...        

     Mrs. Austen: Pen?

 

I really enjoy the movie Becoming Jane, but there’s one part that makes me so very, very sad (and also makes me want to slap people).

In a nutshell, it’s this: At varying points, both Jane and Tom had the power to choose happiness, choose love, if only they had the faith and courage to live by her pen.

The hopeless romantic in me dies a little each time, knowing from history and hindsight, that if they’d taken that leap, they might have made it. By some estimates, the money Jane received from Sense & Sensibility was three times her typical annual allowance, and the same was true for Pride & Prejudice.

But my point in this post isn’t to re-examine history or Jane Austen’s love life. It’s to encourage each of us, if we’re faced with a similar decision to seize it! That’s not to say go out tomorrow and quit your day job, but don’t give up on the dream either.

I think there’s a way to “live by the pen” without worrying about the actual dollars we do or don’t bring in.

It all comes down to having the will and the fight in us to keep writing, even when times get hard.

Talk to Me, Goose

Have you ever worked yourself into a corner in your writing? We all do it. We write one of those great climax moments where everything is coming to a head, it’s working, it’s fitting, the tension is high and the stakes are out of this world. We know readers are going to perch on the edge of their seat, salivating with every page turn.

…except we’ve created SUCH a good climax we don’t actually know how to get our character out of it.

It doesn’t have to be the end either. I’ve had it happen at smaller plot points elsewhere in the book, too. But for whatever reason we get momentarily stuck. We realize we’re not exactly sure WHAT our characters will do next.

We can’t yet see the brilliant solution that (no doubt) will come to us in a flash of inspiration and make everything okay again. We start to doubt our skills as writers. What if we can’t make the plot work? What if we can’t get our characters out? What if it all falls apart?
At times like these, I think of Top Gun.

Yes, that’s right. Tom Cruise in all his serenading fly boy glory. Remember the last dogfight, when he’s scared to re-engage? Everyone’s screaming at him to do something! And he whispers, “Talk to me, Goose.”

Sometimes I feel like doing the same with my characters. Talk to me. I know you’ll figure this out. I just have to close my eyes, listen and let you show me the way. What’s your next move? C’mon, talk to me.

It feels strange to pause and wait for a fictional character to provide the clarity and guidance for our next scene…but sometimes that’s exactly what we need.

Have you ever had a “Talk to me, Goose” conversation with your characters?

And just for fun...

My New Favorite Book...

...or, why I love Brent Weeks.

A cold knocked me down big time last week, but I'm back now, and boy have I got a great review for you!

Seriously, have you read The Way of Shadows yet? It is AMAZING!

It tells the story of Azoth, a young street rat who sees his chance to get out by apprenticing himself to reknowned assassin (aka wetboy) Durzo Blint. Through his training, Azoth becomes Kylar Stern, a low-ranking aristocrat with new friends in high places...and the skills to kill. One problem - wetboy's don't have friends.

Why I loved it:

The Action
It's gritty, it's action-packed (be prepared to read the last 200 pages in one sitting!) and it has twists that even I couldn't see coming. Not many books can keep me guessing, but this one did. You know those moments when you're reading a chapter and you realize you're physically sitting up straighter because the story has just punched you in the gut? Well, you get a lot of those in this book.

The Characters
I am a character girl, no question, and The Way of Shadows has one of the most fascinating characters mixes I've ever read. I fell in love with Azoth from the very first sentence. These are real, flawed, hurting, wonderful people. There is a depth here that stole my breath several times. From Kylar and Durzo, all the way down to the secondary characters. There are only a handful of authors who can make me forever remember a secondary character who gets only one scene. Brent Weeks does it! He also comes up with one of the most awesomely horrible bad guys ever. I loved hating this guy!

The Voice
One of the things I admired most as an aspiring author was the way Weeks writes from the periphery. Even at their best, Kylar and Durzo are, for the most part, in the shadows of the kingdom. They're not in a position to make big bold moves. We never really see things from the POV of those in power, but we know them and love or hate them based on Kylar and Durzo's reactions. Weeks also writes so that the reader eventually pieces together all the details...but the characters never do. It created such a cool dynamic! It's my new goal to figure out how he did it.

This was by far the best book I've read this year, and it's near the top of my all time list, too. I bought the next two books in the Night Angel trilogy the second I finished the first one. I cannot say enough good things about it.

Brent Weeks is a master, and this is one of those rides that leaves you breathless and thinking "Holy crap, I wish I could write like that!"