Getting to know new characters

Some days I know what to write. The words flow and it's easy to get out 2k in an hour. And then there are days like today where I just stare at the blank page. I know what it is... I'm starting a new project which means new characters. And I'm lost. I'm circling around and around, searching for those words I need but I just can't grasp a single one I like.

Part of it is research. I love it, but it's hard at times to know what to focus on when there's so much out there. For instance, I need to write about Greece. I don't know where to start. I have an idea but no real inklings. I know where the story will somewhat go, but until then, I need to get to know my new characters.

I'm thinking about interviewing Adrianna. Why? Just to pull something out of her. I've done it in the past, albeit, they were already characters with substance and had lived in my head for years. This character, she's new. So sparkling that it hurts just to think about her possibilities.

I know one thing for sure. She's mute. I need help because I don't think even I understand what I'm getting myself into.

So how do you deal with a new character? Do you sit down and chat with them? Interview? Do you do 20 page character sheets? Or do you let the character just come naturally as they will? How do you get to know them?

What I've learned this week...

...is that when you're at a past life workshop and everyone in the room is out of it... and the moderator begins to bring you out, and she touches your knee, to open your eyes because otherwise people will think you are in a living coma.

Ok so let me explain. I went to a past life workshop. I'm always interested in things like that (I won't get into my beliefs, this isn't the place to do so), so four of us decided we wanted to go and see what it was like. The woman was incredibly interesting. Not just everything she's done, but just who she is now. I would go back for more workshops.

So we went to this past life one and dimming the lights, putting on some white noise, she told us to close our eyes. It was like meditation, except you're picturing yourself going down a staircase and in fog... and going toward the moon or sun. Anyway, you're supposed to see a past life or have some vague idea. I'm not sure what I saw or what I believe. My mind's all over the place. I'm not sure how long we did it for. Just in the dark, eyes closed... picturing things. But anyway, it went on for a good bit of time.

And then she began to bring us back. Well, me being me (I'd make a GREAT cult follower because of it), kept my eyes closed. Why? She didn't say TO OPEN OUR EYES. All the way through, it was so instructive. Every step was drawn out for us. So I was waiting for that moment. I heard her snapping her fingers in front of others... felt her touch my knee. Still I kept my eyes closed. I mean come on, I figured that touch was just a sign to be coming back... and I didn't want to open my eyes and be the only one to. So I kept them closed. She kept on going on about coming out, moving figners, moving shoulders (And I could have sworn I did!). Apparently she was getting worried at this point and everyone was staring my way... and they were all looking for movement that I didn't give but thought I did. And then she pressed two fingers on my knees... followed by to my shoulders. When she said open your eyes... THEN I opened them. To see everyone watching me.

Embarassed? Yes that would be me. SO in other news... if you're evern in the same situation, open your eyes.

Nano realizations

Today I got to 50k. I've always enjoyed doing Nanowrimo and the adrenaline to punch out the words. I'll admit it's probably not all good. I'll be rewriting and changing things. But it's still 50k more than I started out with 20 days ago. I realized things along the way.

a. I am capable of shutting off that internal editor. The past week, I've been cranking out at least 4k a day. How? I shut it off. Using write or die, I completely shut that inner voice off and simply wrote. That's all. Crap? Some of it is. But there's potential and that's all I really wanted. The potential to be able to turn it into something worthy of reading.

b. write-ins are great for brainstorming. although it may not be quite as effective for getting in the words, major ideas pop up.

c. writing in order is like plotting and means instant blockage. Writing out of order is how I get things done.

This is why I love Nano. Yes, I may not have a full book (mine are usually longer than 50k), yes my scenes are all over the map, but I still end up with so many ideas and knowing more where it's headed than when I first started. I knew the major points, but Nano helped me to get there. And for me, that's a major win. :D

New release!

A Love Neverending
By Rowan Larke

Death took Jason from Clarissa, and she blames herself. Night after night, she throws herself into the arms of other men—men who abuse and pleasure her, but never take her far enough. She is waiting for the one who will take her over the edge and into death, so she can be reunited with Jason.

Death didn’t take Jason far enough. Every night, Jason watches. His immortal self is trapped inside the club Clarissa owns, and he longs to be with her once more.

Death is a dark angel. A handsome man. The promise of violence in his eyes draws Clarissa to him. Will a single night in bed with Death be all it takes to destroy Jason and Clarissa’s love neverending, or will it be just the beginning?



Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme and content, violence, voyeurism.

(Authors note: This book also contains hot angels who sometimes do bad and/or dirty things.)

Buy it now at Loose-Id

Plot bunnies and new shinies

Nano count 33k

Ever get an idea that comes to you and you just get so excited that you're a bundle of energy/nerves all day? Yesterday was one of those days for me. An idea for a trilogy came along... whispering in my ear. What was I doing when I got this snippet? Watching the History channel. It was doomsday Sunday or something, talking about the Apocalypse and all the signs.

And although my idea has nothing to do with this, it still inspired a what if... and oooh that could be good. Only problem? It's time sensitive. As in... it needs to be done like pronto Toto. So after nano, I'll jump right in. I'll still work on my other projects, they can't avoid me that easily. I'll need to put down Fatal Temptations for a bit anyway to let it simmer.

I know many authors reccommend doing this, putting it down for at least a month. So I'll do that and work on this new idea.

But it does make me wonder some days how I get these thoughts. I mean, for the longest while it seemed as though the random thought would get through but nothing would stick. Lately my muse has been in overtime, doubling its efforts to pump out something that would resemble something interesting. Not that I'm complaining. At all. Indeed...

Those plot bunnies can come around whenever they want if they give me ideas like these...

A confession...

One thing about life is that you have to expect the unexpected. You have to expect that things aren't going to happen as you want them to and that you'll run up against roadblocks. I have faced one of these hurdles and instead of leaping with the agility of a gymnast, I've landed on my face.

You see, my wordcount for Nanowrimo has dropped. You may have remembered my deluded determination to write 100k. I've conceded that I may have been a bit foolish thinking I could. It's good to be determined but life happens.

50k, will be written but not 100k. I'm already at 27k, so a bit past half done but 100k will not be in the cards. I haven't given up, but I'm no where near where I need to be. High hopes clashed with reality and I was spun around. Delusions happen and I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. I wanted to push myself past my limits but at this point in time, I've realized that it just doesn't always work that way.

New release!- War Flesh by Kim Knox

Fina Brodie is warflesh. Enhanced by her government to bring ultimate pleasure, her negotiation skills secure anything her superiors want. The choice of pleasure she offers has always been hers. Until now. She’s not meeting Kian, Lord of the Tir, to negotiate for their mysterious spice-water. She’s payment.

And she’s not alone in bringing pleasure to the mysterious Tir leader. The man Kian has chosen to join them in the very sexual, very public spring festival has long headed her “never ever” list. Add the spice-water, which is rocket fuel to her already highly evolved libido, and it makes her reactions to Jonathon Raegh all the more dangerous.

But the Tir have a hidden agenda, and as the aphrodisiac qualities of the spice-water ignite long-suppressed lusts, all is revealed to Kian, Fina and Jon in the heat and passion of the arena.

Reader Advisory: Let there be no confusion. The spring festival is a sexual feast between two incredibly sexy men and one very lucky woman. Get the ice water ready!

Excerpt and buy link

What do I know?

I'm always in a constant war with myself. I think with a scientific mind... I need to see the science of something. I mean I do have a joint degree in biology, but I digress. I'm a science-anthro article whore. I am always curious about the world we live in... maybe not the politics of it, but the hows and the whys. Problem with this... is that it is way too easy for ideas to come to me.

Problem #2, science is always changing. Therefore, my ideas are always changing. Evolving. I need to stick with an idea and ignore the fact that life and our knowledge is always changing. But that isn't always simple.

This also reflects in my writing because I'll admit that I often am so focused on what is currently thought that I forget to just tell the story and not worry on those little details that probably only a handful of readers would know. You know?

Fatal Visions for instance, is a story of my heart but bless its little plot, it's evolved so many times that in the beginning it was about a virus that gave telepathy... a virus found from Neandertal bones (because it was my theory in highschool that that was how they communicated). I thought that Neandertals were alive in what some would claim are Big Foots or Zetis... Abominable Snowmen, Skunk Apes, etc. And that reflected in my work. Do I still believe this? I don't know but my story has evolved past it into something entirely different and unrecognizable to that first seed of a thought.

My point to this is that things are always changing, no matter what. There will always be something out there. Ideas don't have to change because science has per say... or at least it shouldn't be the focus of it. A story shouldn't have to lose what it was once because of changing marketing trends or something like science. Just keep plugging at it. And that's something that I need to remind myself.

A few articles of interest that I've read today:

Meet the Ancestors
Who Killed the Honeybees? We Did
The Man Who Discovered What Killed the Dinosaurs