The Buddy System for writing

Last week I talked about how if I wanted to get something done, I just had to do it. I had to push aside all excuses, and I can really come up with some doozies. I’m also a genius artist at putting things off.  So my technique was basically to shut up and just do it. Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound scientific at all but it is honest and when I actually do it, it really works.

I recently learned of a scientific technique to achieving your daily goals. It’s called the WOOP method and it even has an app that you can download to help you put the method into action. It is an acronym that lays out the steps. W for wish, the goal that you want to achieve. O for Outcome, what you will get from finishing your goal.  O for Obstacle, for that thing within yourself that is standing in your way. And P for Plan, what you’re going to do to overcome your obstacle. (If you want to learn more about WOOP, please visit https://characterlab.org/goal-setting )

If you follow these four steps for each goal that you have, you will achieve success. It’s elegant in its simplicity and honest just like my “technique”. It lays bare the fact that the reason you aren’t already achieving your goals is because you are standing in your own way. When I used the app, it basically took the last two steps and turned them into a statement. It asked me what stood in my way and I said “I hate my writing”.  Then it asked what I was going to do to overcome that and I said “I was do it anyway”. So the statement it created was “When I hate my writing, I’m going to do it anyway.” Or something like that. Wow, that sounds…familiar. I think I’m going to make that my mantra.

Whenever you go down any trail in life like the one pictured above where I walked with my husband and son earlier today, you should always travel with a buddy.  The buddy-system has been around forever and is used for many aspects in life. I think it’s perfect for achieving your writing goals. I gave it a try this week on twitter. For three days I began my day with a tweet that invited any writer who saw my tweet to tell me what their writing goals were for the day. I promised that if they told me theirs, I would tell them mine and together we would encourage reaching those goals. The first day, I had no takers. The second, two people told me their goals, so I shared mine. At the end of the day, I was able to check back with one of them and they had reached their goal.  And so had I. It was a great feeling. The next day, I had charming girl confess that she had writer’s block and only wanted to write 500 more words. I gave her a writing prompt that I thought would help her break through and it worked! I was so happy to have helped her reach her goal, I completely forgot to reach mine. At least some writing was done, even if it wasn’t mine.

I’m going to keep this up. If you want to buddy up with me, just reply to my tweet any day that I send it out. (You can find me @vg.acorngirl )

This week’s cat is Lucky. She wears sweetness like a mask and will lash out at you if you even so much as breath near her wrong. She had come to us from my husband’s brother who had to give her up because of the birth of his daughter. He had found her as a kitten, hitchhiking under the hood of his car, (hence the name). After all these years, she is still very feral and most of the other cats in our herd give her a wide berth. She still likes to snuggle as long as you keep petting her and remain perfectly still.

Dedication : what to do if don’t have it

I had big plans for this week. I’m not exactly positive what they were but I remember feeling that they were big. Part of the reason I don’t write as much as I could is because I use my husband as my excuse not to. Let me just say right up front that I know this is unfair. I will tell myself that it’s better to spend time with him than plug myself into a computer.

Let me explain first I’m not talking about quality time. Although he works very hard to fit in bouts of quality time, hikes, drives to the country, etc. I’m also counting the times when we’re just sitting around watching reruns on Netflix. Unlike me, he manages to work during these times. His computer is right there in the family room. Mine is upstairs in the loft. I could be working and still be within earshot.  See the shot from above? That’s my desk. Two steps to the left and I could look down the stairs and see him at his desk. I’m separated from him by about ten feet. I would just rather be lazy.

So my big plans that I had for this week stem from the fact that my husband would be away for almost five days. He’s at a convention in Indianapolis. Without him here, I couldn’t use him as an excuse. His presence wouldn’t be my crutch and I would work like never before. That was the plan, anyway. It’s not exactly how it played out. Let’s just say that I learned a lot about myself this week.

I started off by asking other people what they do to make sure that they stay focused on the work. I went on twitter. A few techniques were proposed. Most of them utilized phone apps.  One of these is called “Forest”.  By setting the timer for ten minutes of time that you are supposed to be “focused” on your task, you plant a symbolic tree. It’s cute and I have used it for at least two days this week but I can’t guarantee that I’ll return to it. Another person also recommended “Habitica”.  A couple of months ago I was a big user of this app. It turns your real life into a role-playing game. The tasks that you want to accomplish become things that you can earn experience points and gain levels.  This is a wonderful concept but I’m afraid that after a few weeks, I just lost interest. Both of these apps (which I found on Google Play) utilize imaginary punishments and rewards. The stakes are not real no matter how hard I pretend.

If the rewards from succeeding at my goals aren’t enough to make me do the work, why would imaginary trees and experience points convince me? So is this all just a mental block?

I had coffee with a friend yesterday and told her that I had planned to go to the gym later. She told me that she was proud of my dedication. I thanked her but it made me think. I don’t consider myself dedicated. I HATE working out but I do it. I even think about quitting while I’m doing it. But I don’t. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I have a set of certain exercises that I do and then I just do them until I’m done.

What if I apply that to my writing?

My husband makes a to-do list every day and it really works for him. One day this week I made a to-do list of what I wanted to do with my writing just for that day. It was hard. I wanted to skip out on the list but I didn’t. Like with my workout, I just did the work. I accomplished my goals for that day.

So yeah, there you go. That’s the secret. How do you make yourself do the work when you don’t want to? You just do the work, even though you don’t want to. So that’s the plan for this week. Make myself work.  Maybe not every day. I don’t work out every day. I’ll let you know next week.

So, that brings me to my cat of the week.  This is Jack. He is one of my original three. I had only wanted to have three cats but fate had other plans. (The other two of the original three are Odin and Seamus. Seamus passed away back in May.) I’m not sure exactly of Jack’s age but I know he’s over ten and is still very healthy and active. I think we named him after Jack Sparrow. It’s been a while and I can’t remember for sure. He can be a jerk sometimes but he is my daughter’s favorite, hands down. She calls him her son.

Failure : a temporary option

This is hard. I don’t mean writing. Everybody knows that writing is hard. I think that I’ve seen at least three memes illustrating that on Twitter this week. What’s really hard is sticking to arbitrary self-imposed deadlines. I have accomplished some things that I meant to. I typed up a bunch that I’ve written in “Frogsong”. I joined a beta-test group for a new online story publishing format. I’ll tell you more about that as I learn more. I may have found a beta reading partner too.  I think that “Frogsong” will be perfect for both.

But it’s not enough. It’s not my original plan. While I did post more on Twitter and Facebook, I keep chided myself that I could have done so much more. I have considered it an accomplishment that I posted something on Twitter once a day. I want to develop a “presence” or whatever, but that’s not going to do that.  I need to do more. Sometimes I participate in a writing game like #MuseMon or #1lineWed. Sometimes I comment on my progress on editing “Vibrancy” which has me the most down in the dumps right now.

I had found a VERY talented editor and she convinced me that the story had real potential but I have to make the changes. So I dove right in.  That was the one big thing I had put on my goals. Make the changes and submit the story to a journal or magazine for publication. Within the first steps into editing I began to drown myself in self-defeating questions. How long ago did I write this? Why did I think this was any good at all? If I make all of these cuts, will there be anything left?

I keep telling myself that other writers have these doubts, other people who try to create things but while I make myself do the work, I feel like I’m so out of my depth. Seeing my work through someone else’s eyes can be really painful. I thought about posting some of the sentences that my lovely editor had marked for deletion but looking at them from her perspective I am just ashamed. I wanted to show you how pretentious my writing had been but to reveal that to you now that I know the truth makes me feel so exposed. I might as well strip naked and run down the middle of my very public street.

So I thought about quitting. Being a writer is not all that I am. I’m a wife and mother. I drive to work every weekday as a professional librarian, where I catalog a multitude of books that somehow found their way to publication, despite their level of writing. It’s easy to go to work and earn my paycheck and bury myself in the odd minutia of cataloguing rules and formulas. I’m actually proud of my ability to navigate the complexities of that world and I get paid to do it. Maybe I should just pack up my writing journals and my self-imposed goals and let go. Just be what I already am.  It would be so easy.

Honestly, I only entertain that thought for just fleeting moments. The point of living is to not be stagnant, keep moving forward, keep improving.  “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” So what if I didn’t fulfil my goal for this experiment. Failure should be treated as a temporary condition. Sure, I’m disappointed in myself but I’m not out of the running yet. (Brace yourself for a platitude…)

I can only truly fail when I stop trying.

So, I’ll be back next week with new goals and hopefully a couple of updates.  For now, let’s celebrate my cat of the week. The picture above is of Oreo. She came from the same irresponsible people that left us Friday. We found her gasping for breath in our backyard and took her to the vet. She had a lung infection causing her lungs to fill with fluid. The vet at the time told us that we should put her down because the chances of fixing her were too slim. Her owners at the time said that they couldn’t even afford to pay to have her put to sleep. My wonderful husband decided that this vet was an idiot and took Oreo to a different vet who cured her condition without a hitch. We took over ownership of Oreo and she has lived with us for the past five years.

She is a sweet cat that is shaped like a miniature black bear, with bugged out eyes like the actor Steve Buscemi. She is actually Friday’s aunt. She had nursed him with her kittens when his mother tragically died. About five seconds after this picture was taken, the two of them were beating the crap out of each other.

Selfie deficient–should I seek professional help?

Have you ever seen anyone who was so beautiful that you could just stare at them for hours? I’m not talking about celebrities. I mean people that you can see in real life. For me, one of those people is my daughter. She is unbelievable beautiful. I understand how DNA works. I saw that classic episode of Cosmos with Carl Sagan when I was a kid and it really made an impression. I know that part of what makes her beautiful had to come from me. (The rest from my wonderful husband, of course, but I believe she got a lot more valuable gifts from him.) People have even told me that she looks like me, but, and I know I’m soundly overly self-critical here, it has to be only the good parts.

I have always had deathly pale skin. When I was a kid, I was bullied relentlessly for it. Shocking, right? Tormented for the shade of my skin and Irish genes. The popular girls would always make a bee-line for me when they came back from spring break on some sunny beach, all so that they could compare their tans to my white skin. (Skin cancer was really not much of a concern back then.) To this day I still can’t wear shorts because I’m embarrassed of my pale skin. I thank God that my daughter loves her pale skin, striking red hair and she can wear shorts just fine.

One thing she can do that I can’t do, even if my life depended on it, is take a selfie. She recently got her hair cut short and I asked to see it. She sent me three selfies that could have been ads in a fashion magazine. The lighting was perfect and she was perfectly placed in each of the shots and as always she looked so beautiful. Is taking a selfie a self-taught skill or a talent that people are just born with?

I’ve seen other people who are not my children who can take selfies. I see them on Twitter and Facebook. They’re usually writers who are trying to promote themselves (because that’s usually who I follow and I guess that’s what I am). These are decent looking human beings, sometimes beautiful, sometimes just incredibly human but very capable of taking good selfies. Each time I have tried, I think I look like a paranoid, freaked out human candle that is in the early stages of melting.

While my pale skin has kept the wrinkles to a minimum, gravity has not been kind. I recognize that I’m hyper-critical of everything to do with myself but I do have moments when I can look in the mirror and be more than a little okay with what I see. I can have good hair days and sometimes I wear the right colors to make me look as good as it gets. Sometimes the lighting in my bathroom is just perfect. Why can’t I translate this to a picture that I take of myself?  My face is never where it should be. My eyes are never looking in the right place and I just look weird.

I’ll keep trying and if I get one that doesn’t repulse me, I’ll share it with the world. Until then, I will represent myself with pictures of my husband’s art or pictures of my cats. Today’s picture is of Friday. He is probably the most photogenic of my herd. We ended up with him when our previous neighbors moved away and didn’t take their cats with them. I never knew what they called him. I called him “Friday” because I was reading the Thursday Next series of books and I thought the name suited him. He is extremely affectionate to people but plays a little too rough with the other cats, so we usually put him in his own room at night.

He is such a ham for a close-up.

As for reaching my writing goals, I still have a week to go. I have begun to make changes to “Vibrancy” and have found a couple of journals/magazines to submit to when I have it ready. I have typed up some of my longhand writing for a speculative fiction novella called “Frogsong” and I’ve written some dialogue for a scene in my YA fantasy novel temporarily titled “Boxes”. (I’m sure a better title will come along.) I have also been working on promoting myself more on Twitter. You can find me @vg_acorngirl .

I wouldn’t be here without believing you are here for me also.  I thank everyone who has liked my blog so far and shown me your support. Next week, we’ll see if I met my goals.

J.D. Bretton, one amazing paranormal romance author…

This week, we get to see the inner workings of paranormal romance writer and poet J.D. Bretton. You can see why I find her so fascinating if you check out her website at http://jdbrettonwriter.weebly.com/

Question–I see that your current book, Three of Swords, (in fact the whole trilogy) is based on the tarot. Which came first, your desire to write or your attraction to the tarot? Tell me how you came to both of them and how you decided to combine them?

J.D.– For as long as I can remember I have always loved reading, words, and writing, so that definitely came first. Poetry is actually my first love when it comes to writing. Three of Swords is my first book in the paranormal romance genre.

Along with Book 2 of The Tarot Trilogy, I’m also currently working on a collection of love poems called The Drunken Bell. Here’s a link: https://tablo.io/jd-bretton/the-drunken-bell-love-poems

 

I also recently tried my hand at flash fiction and have a piece (a twelve word story) coming out at Haunted Waters Press in the fall.

 

When I completed the very first draft of Three of Swords, tarot was not even a part of it! The book had an entirely different name-Flutter. When I started researching the name, I saw that a whole slew of books already had that name, so I knew I needed to come up with something different. I also felt that there was something missing from the story. One day while struggling with revising, I picked up my tarot cards, shuffled my deck, pulled out a card, and it was the Three of Swords. I immediately felt the connection to the main character and knew it was the perfect title. I was able to weave the elements of tarot seamlessly into the story, and had the next two book titles right away. It was meant to be! For me, tarot is a tool to help you tune in and listen to your own intuition which I think we all possess, but often ignore when our minds are cluttered with the noise of everyday life.

 

Question– I also found that tarot is an excellent tool for meditation and finding mental focus. I can see how it was used for inspiration for your Tarot Trilogy but have you used it for your other writing? Do you find other inspiration for your poetry? Does your writing come to you as images, sounds or words?

J.D.– The Tarot Trilogy is the only piece of work so far that has been directly influenced by the tarot. I am most inspired by words, followed closely by images. I am completely addicted to writing prompts on Twitter because of my fascination with language. I love to see how everyone can use the same words and interpret them in a completely different way. Inspiration can strike at any time triggered by something I see, overhear, or read. To be a writer, I think you have to be a keen observer, and a professional eavesdropper! Sound impacts my writing in another way as I almost always write with my headphones on and music playing. Listening to music helps set the tone for my writing, and tunes out other distractions. I usually listen to the same music if I’m working on something in particular; it’s like a soundtrack to my writing. For example, for Three of Swords I had Mumford and Sons, Ryan Adams and Halsey on shuffle with a little Miguel thrown in for the steamy scenes.

Question– I’ve also made “soundtracks” to listen to when I write. Does the music differ much between writing projects or can you only use those sounds for that one project? As far as writing prompts go, how often do you use them? Do you share what you write from a writing prompt and is it from your current WIP or something new just for the prompt?

1. D.– I find that each writing project needs a different “soundtrack” because each project will have a different feeling and tone. The music I choose reflects the mood of the story.

Depending on how much time I have, I probably write new poems as a result of a poetry prompts once a week and share those on Twitter, my website, and Tablo. I must give a shout out to @MadQueenStorm, @WrittenRiver, and @fieryverse for posting some fabulous prompts!

 

I also periodically share from my current WIP on Twitter with #1linewed, #musmon, and #2bitTues.

 

Question– Besides the tarot influence, is there anything that makes your Tarot Trilogy unique, something to set it apart from other books of its type and make readers flock to it?

J.D.– I think that my book has a unique storyline that develops over the course of the three books. It has been called a true twist on the paranormal which I think is an apt description. It crosses several genres with elements of erotica and paranormal; but above all, at its core, it is really a classic love story which I think everyone can identify with. I also think being a poet, my writing style is a bit different as I am used to distilling ideas down to their essence. My preference to write with an economy of words probably contributed to it being novelette length.

Be sure to check out J.D.’s novel Three of Swords.  It’s only 99 cents on amazpn.com until November 1^st.

Meet Hot Romance Author Cherie Summers

This week on my blog I’m talking with the romance author Cherie Summers, whose “Love on Fire” series takes us through a romance spanning decades.

 

Question: I saw on your website, (you  can see it too  www.cheriesummers.com.) that you began to make up stories in your head when you were a kid.  Did you ever share your stories?

 

Cherie–The stories I made up were for the most part locked away in my mind. It may have begun because of my rocky childhood.  Maybe I daydreamed to get away from what the real world was dishing out.

 

I could read for hours and I also loved television and movies. The stories I created in my mind involved me being on some television show or in a movie. I was the girl, playing Starsky’s girlfriend or Luke Skywalker’s REAL sister and I acted out the screenplays in my mind. I remember clearly in 4^th grade being asked to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said a singer (I cannot sing). When the teacher read this out loud, everyone  laughed out loud. I was mortified and it destroyed something in me that thought I could grow up and actually be Starksy’s girlfriend or Luke Skywalker’s REAL sister.  So, I never shared my stories or imaginings with anyone for a long time.

 

In junior and senior high, my “fan fiction” stories began to turn from actors to musicians But no obsession has matched the one for Billy Idol.  I discovered him when I got MTV for the first time, and have been hooked since.  My first novel, A Melody for Adrian came to me in a dream and I wrote it all down.  I was eighteen at the time and most of the characters were inspired by people I went to high school with and other 80’s music icons.

 

It amazes me now that “fan fiction” is a thing.  I imagine Billy Idol playing Adrian “Bolt” Hall in a movie of my novel.

 

Question : I love that your story hints at a fanfiction. If Billy Idol is a dead ringer for Adrian, what other real people do you picture when you think of your characters? Do you adopt their voice and mannerisms as well?

Cherie–In some ways my characters do mimic their more famous muse, but then again, not really, such as….

Keith “Kat” Williams – inspired by John Taylor of Duran Duran.

Anthony “Ringo” Barber – Jon Farriss of INXS.

Douglas “Dagger”Meyers – inspired by Brian Setzer and has the looks.

John “Buzzy” Thomas – inspired by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.

I imagine the female lead as a Jessica Simpson type, very down to earth but sexy and curvy.

 

So I’d say I mostly copy their looks, not mannerisms.  Although Adrian Hall has the sneer, pout, fist pump, swagger, that Billy Idol does as well as the spiked hair and blue eyes.  (When I met Billy, I wasn’t given a lot of time, but let him know he inspired me to write and my first novel was being published).

Me now, this really happened. Photographic proof at top!

Question : Since so many of your characters find their origins in the faces of musicians, does music itself play a part in how you create your world? Are there any songs or pieces of music that you find to be creatively influential?

 

Cherie–Definitely.  For my “Love on Fire” Series, I’m always playing Generation X, the punk rock band Billy Idol fronted back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, as I write.  The songs just capture the youthful exuberance that I see in my characters.  And since it is about a punk rock band, all the more reason it makes sense.  I also listen to Billy’s solo songs as well.

Question: tell us about your “Love on Fire” series. What makes it different from other novels in its genre? What about the plot and its characters make it unique?

Cherie–The “Love on Fire” series will span a few decades.  It begins in 1981 as Melody and Adrian meet as seniors in high school.  In book 3, the year is 1996.  I plan to continue to follow the couple and any offspring they and their friends have for as long as possible.

When I wrote the first book, I looked at it as Melody’s story of falling in love with this badass punk rocker who was completely opposite of her. But as the story grew and changed with rewrites, it really became Adrian’s journey. He has the most emotional baggage from his childhood and all that is confronted over the course of the series.  Melody stays the same wonderful person but she learns to help Adrian through emotionally charged times when his anger gets the better of him. As I finish up with book 3, I’m quite impressed with how he has changed and grown as a man.

For me, even though this is erotic romance and is filled with explicit scenes, the sex only enhances the story, it is not THE story. You do have two people very deeply in love AND lust with one another, but you also have people working toward their dreams and working through their drama. I put these characters through emotional hell and so not only will they bring the heat, but they’ll make you laugh and cry as well.

Question : What have you planned for writing after “Love on Fire”? What are your long term plans? Anything beyond romance?

I want to stay in the romance genre. I have a few partially finished things I started in the past I could move on with.  Romance was always something I loved reading growing up and as an adult.  I think it’s what I’m best suited to write.  It’s funny that my favorite author is Johnathan Kellerman and I love criminal psychology, but I don’t see myself going in that direction at all. While the subject fascinates me it’s not something I plan on writing. But, then again you never know.

(Me again) You can find Cherie’s books on Amazon.com and on her website, www.cheriesummers.com. Her second novel  A Melody for Adrian, was released recently yesterday on publisher’s site  (eXtasy Books) and is available for pre-order on amazon.

Next week, I’ll be talking with another great author.  Just come back and see.

Replacements….

 

When I had planned what to put in my blog this week, I thought about talking about my long term love affair with anime. Unfortunately, life has a way of throwing a monkey wrench into small plans. Sometimes more than one.  My first monkey wrench happened at my day job. I work as a cataloguer at a public library. Two of my faithful staff are retiring and I have to begin the process of hiring their replacements.

Replacements. Sometimes, that word is not the best but it has been a recurring theme in my life lately. That brings me to my second monkey wrench and the general subject of my blog this week. The publisher, RRPI,  that I had signed with to publish my novel, Executioner’s Road has decided to close.  My book, a short story that was to appear in their anthology, as well as three in progress projects, all reverted back to me. Apparently, I have more that needs to be replaced.

As I looked at my current situation, I wasn’t as thrown as I could have been. Instead of crying, I just sort of sighed and made plans to participate in the next twitter pitch party to find a replacement publisher. I kept thinking of that stupid platitude “when one door closes, another opens”. Except I kept thinking it was a window that opened. Whatever. I’m going to be fine. The only thing that I lost to this venture was time.

What I didn’t understand was that I had fared better than others. When RRPI closed down, they closed everything. Their website is closed, their contests cancelled and the books that they represented on amazon had their links shut down. Kayla Krantz, author of Dead by Morning, whom I interviewed here not that long ago, lost her book’s ranking as well as some very good reviews. She had to resort to putting her old (and I assume self-published) listing, just to keep selling. Look everyone, another replacement.

Hearing about how this event had effected a gifted author, I had to do what I could and it was relatively simple.  I installed kindle on my phone and bought her book. It was only $2 and what’s $2 when you’re helping a friend. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t care for ebooks and it takes a lot to get me hooked but to my surprise, I got hooked and quickly. Knowing what I know from interviewing Kayla, I’m anxious to see what’s going to happen and see how this story takes shape. I’m reading her book and enjoying it and when I finish, I will leave her a review. That is all any author asks. That’s all we want and honestly, I think that’s all we need. I mean, that’s why I write fanfiction, for people to read my work and tell me about it.

Of course, selling millions of copies of our work and becoming rich and famous would be a major destination in our lives but right now, it’s about the journey. Right?

Let’s be honest, small publishers don’t have healthy life expectancies. It’s easy to blame them for building up our hopes, but you can’t say that they duped us without recognizing that they duped themselves. They had hopes too and I believe that they lost a whole more than I did in this process.  I’m going to bounce back and so will Kayla Krantz, Julie Burns, Kade Cook, Terra Beilman and Jason Pere.  RRPI is gone.  They aren’t bouncing back from this one.

Below are links so that you can support these wonderful creators.

Kayla Krantz : https://www.amazon.com//dp/B00XZCYSYE/  to buy her book

https://www.facebook.com/kaylakrantzwriter  to follow her on twitter

And remember, her book is nominated #SIBA, the Summer #IndieBookAwards  If you want to vote for it click here   http://goo.gl/tIBe9M

Julie Burns https://www.amazon.com/Purse-Julie-Burns/dp/057817703X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VZR48JBZJQBZ3F7FHGDJ

Kade Cook https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Covenant-Shadows-Kade-Cook/dp/1945392932/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QS1XN37HMG0Z9JKTH2X8

Terra Beilman https://www.wattpad.com/user/TerraBeilman

Jason Pere https://www.amazon.com/Calling-Reaper-First-Book-Purgatory/dp/0692632980/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QS1XN37HMG0Z9JKTH2X8

Next week, I’ll finally get to talk about anime and then I’m going back to interviewing some wonderful authors.

Meet Author Kayla Krantz

Today, I’m taking a moment away from my babbling about comics to introduce new suspense and horror novelist, Kayla Krantz. Her book, Dead by Morning, the first in her Rituals of Night series, is already available for purchase. I don’t know about you guys, but I think she’s pretty cool.

Q–Describe the moment when you first wanted to be a writer. How old were you? What pushed you in this direction?

Kayla–I never chose to be a writer; I think it chose me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always written something down. I wrote my first short story when I was four years old, and I’d write pieces all throughout elementary school that my principal always wanted to read. As I got older, my stories just got more elaborate. I think it was around middle school that I realized just how much joy it brought me.

Q—I’ve seen you mention that you are a fan of horror and the darker side of storytelling.  While that might show in your writing now, has it always? Or was this a genre that you grew into? I can’t imagine that 4 year old Kayla was writing a scary story but with kids these days, you never know.

Kayla–As far as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in horror and creepy things. My stories weren’t as gory as they are now, of course, but I liked the paranormal element at the very least. When I first started writing, I wrote about eerie things such as haunted houses and mummies.

Q–Alot of people like being scared. Have you always enjoyed trying to frighten your readers? Have you ever created anything that you were able to scare yourself?

Kayla–I always thought it was an interesting concept to explore the idea of fear, and the fact that everyone’s range of fear is different. Even during our lifetime, our fears may change or progress. I think the thing that’s scared me the most with my writing is how evil my antagonist, Chance, really turned out. When I originally drafted him, he was evil of course, but nowhere near as malicious as he is now.

Q–Speaking of Chance, how did you come up with him? Which came first, the creation of Chance, or the plot of your story?

Kayla–Chance definitely came first. The whole story focuses around him. It’s hard to say what exactly inspired him, but I think it was a mix of things. After doing research for serial killers for some projects I worked on for school, I wanted to try my hand at creating a character that could embody all the traits I had read about; someone who was cunning, dangerous, and of course unstable. A lot of his traits he seemed to create himself. The addition of the dagger, for example, seemed to sprout along with the story.

Q–Now that you’ve told us about Chance, tell us more about Dead by Morning. What do you think will set this story apart from others in its genre? Something drew you to write it so that same thing should draw us to read it.

Kayla–I think my series is unique because it’s such a blend of so many different genres. I would call it contemporary except it doesn’t quite meet the criteria for it. Dead by Morning is new adult, psychological, horror, and thriller novel with hints of paranormal though some could argue that the unrequited love/obsession element could also give it themes of romance.

My story shows the mindset not only of a killer but of a victim of stalking to give the story a unique realistic perspective in midst of all the crazy.

Q–With Dead by Morning being the first in a series, can you give us an idea what will be in the rest of the series? How many books and what will be different about each? Besides this series, what other works have you got up your sleeve?

Kayla–The rest of the series will basically involve the relationship between Luna and Chance, eventually moving on to other characters that’ll be introduced later on in the series. I’m planning to have about nine books in total, in which I’m currently working on the fifth. Each book will have their own sort of overlapping theme and tone such as love, insanity, friendship, and freedom. On the side, I’m working on a trilogy about witches known as The Witch’s Ambitions. A few weeks ago, I completed the first book, The Council.

Recently, Dead by Morning was nominated in the horror category for the Summer Indie Book Awards ‪#‎SIBA‬. If you can, give her your vote.

https://www.facebook.com/kaylakrantzwriter/?pnref=lhc

Meet Dana Provo

For today’s blog, I’m going to try something new. My wonderful writing friend Dana Provo is debuting her first novel Bleeding Hearts with Clean Reads Publishing. To promote Dana and her great book, I wanted to share a little about what makes her tick.

Q–When did you first want to be a writer?

Dana– Honestly, I only started writing about 4 years ago. I had always wanted to write a story growing up, but I never thought I was smart enough or talented enough. Then after I started writing around the age of 23, I knew I loved it. It wasn’t until after I finished my first book, Under The Willow Tree, (not yet published) that I wanted to publish something. After I started writing Bleeding Hearts, I knew I found the genre I wanted to write in and knew this book would be a hit. So, that’s when I wanted to be a writer.

Q–Tell me a little bit about Under the Willow Tree and how you moved from that to Bleeding Hearts. What is this genre that you’ve called home, and what makes it home to you?

Dana– Under The Willow Tree is a young adult, fantasy. Willow, a 17 year old empath, is banished to the Islands of Cadeaux because she is ‘Special’. She molds her new life around helping other Specials adapt to island life. With the World Challenge on the horizon, she and her best friend, Basil prepare to compete.  Only 100 will enter and four will remain. The Olendeae World Challenge is a race around the world that tests six attributes of the inhabitants of the Islands Of Cadeaux. This book is complete, but I am in the process of rewriting it.
I have always read YA growing up so I thought that was the way to go as far as starting to write, but I really wanted to write a romance with two different story lines. So, when I moved into my current apartment, I immediately came up with the idea for Bleeding Hearts.

I am such a romantic. I love reading romance, and writing it. All of my stories will have a romantic element because I truly think that’s what I’m meant to write and share with my readers.

Q–When you say you “came up with the idea” for Bleeding Hearts, how did that happen and tell me what is unique about it that will help it stand out.

Dana–I moved into my current apartment in April of 2015 and we have a state trooper in the building and I thought to myself, “if I were to ever get in trouble, I can go to him for help” then I met his fiancé and we are good friends. So my main character, Cami Lucks is based off of my friend and somewhat myself. I wanted to create a dark romance between a young woman who falls in love with the man who tries to kill her. I talked it over with my sister about writing a unique story line with two different plots; the present story after the attack and the past story of how she met her attacker.

Q–Are you telling the story in a nonlinear way, where you show the end and then go back and show how she ended up there? Why so dark? Will this be a pattern for future work?

Dana–Yes, the first chapter of Bleeding Hearts is considered the present and each following chapter Cami has a flashback of how she got there. They are both chronological, present runs from March to June and the flashbacks run from January to March. It’s very cool to read and experience both times in Cami’s life. At least I think so.

Q– Does your friend know that you are basing the character off of her?

Dana–I have mentioned Cami to my friend Stef and how I came to create her and she thinks it’s pretty cool.

Q– Why so dark? Will this be a pattern for future work?

Dana–Not every romance has a happy ending. There are people in the world that are not very nice and treat their girlfriends terribly. I wanted to show what that relationship looks like. Cami accepts a ride from a stranger. It was the biggest mistake she’s ever made in her life. What she does can happen in reality. So next time someone offers you a ride, make sure you know who they are.

In the sequel, Silent Hearts, there will be three POVs and two of those characters will have some sort of flashback story that will be written. I won’t tell you which characters I’m writing though.

Q–So you’ve mentioned a sequel, Silent Hearts, do you have any plans for anything else coming down the bend? Like, what’s your five year plan?

Dana–My five year plan has lots in store. There are actually two more books in the Bleeding Hearts series. Book two is now called Bleeding Alone and the last book will be called Bleeding Silence. I hope to have those out within the next two years. I also have another series I’m working on. The first book is called WHISPER and it’s a young adult SciFi which will be published by RRPI. I’m hoping that will be out by the end of 2018 but we will see.

Oh and there’s a few other projects I want to work on that are spin offs from Bleeding Hearts, but right now, they are just plans. I haven’t worked on them yet.

Me now—I’m so glad the Dana let me interview her and I hope that you will give her book a view and visit her release party and give her a like https://www.facebook.com/events/1233414473358329/