Suspending Disbelief

A bookish friend of mine (a person who is only a friend in the sense that we communicate online and commiserate over books) recently read a book that I love and well... let's just say she didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

And while I try hard not to take it to heart, it does have me wondering why she didn't like the book.  Specifically, why wasn't she able to get lost in it, like I was.

The thing is, in her review, she talks about a lot of details the book has: the magical characters use wands when they don't seem to need to, the prophesied main character seems to be insanely good at everything (she plays a perfect game of cricket when she just picked up the paddle), etc.

And these are all valid notes.  In fact, when I read her notes and thought about it, I realized that I had completely overlooked all of these in my own reading.  I was so immersed in the story that I didn't care about the little plot problems along the way.  I had suspended disbelief somehow and gotten lost in the story.

But, see, I care about plot problems, too.  The book Across The Universe by Beth Revis, had all sorts of issues that drove me CRAZY when I read that book (causing me to revoke its 'scifi' label), but my bookish friend read it and loved it.  None of its issues were a problem for her.

So what is it about a story that connects with our imagination, our heart, our deeper self, and has us clamoring for more, even when the story itself isn't perfect?  And why did I read the entire Twilight series, when there are several eye-rolling aspects of it that made me want to punch the wall?

The answer?  I really have no freaking clue!  I wish I knew, because that would be a freaking gold mine.  Not the sell as many books as Twilight thing, but the 'what makes people love a book despite all odds' thing.

Something I will be thinking on for a while, I can assure you.

I have not been writing over Christmas break.  I have been planning and stewing and germinating, but not writing.  Hopefully it will pay off when I go back to work next week.  Also, the Cuddlebuggery ladies are back from their hiatus, so I'll have like 6 more hours a week to write.  This is good.

One final thing, a present for the new year...

I now have copies of Aeris to give away, too!  I've still got a few copies of Compis audiobook left, if you want to get on board with a copy of both for free!!!  The audible books cost $15 bucks a piece, I think, so this is a pretty good deal.  And already I'm hearing rave reviews about my voice actor, so that's good, too.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Oh, Christmas. Why are you always so busy?

Christmas and the summer are the two busiest times of my life.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this.  Anyway, that, along with some surgery and birthday stuff, is the reason for my couple weeks absence.  But again, I have good news!  Call it an early Christmas present, if you will.

ACX just sent me another couple dozen coupons for Audible books.  So if you have an Audible account and you like full length novels, I have Compis available for FREE for whoever is interested.  Like "The Angel and Her Gun" these are only available for a limited time.  So while they last, shoot me an email at katecauthor (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send you a coupon code.  The audiobook is normally about $18, so this is a great deal!

I'm really excited to have Em Eldridge as my narrator and I hope you all enjoy her, too.  She is an amazing talent!

Other than that, I'm still plugging away.  I've got some final editing stuff to finish up this week and then I'm back on board with Terris.  I've been writing some exciting stuff on that front.  Oh, the yummy goodness with Luka's storyline is what's got me going lately.  I think you may be surprised at some of the events in his timeline in this book.  A definite change from Aeris.

Anyway, Happy Reading!

The Switch-Up

I used the almost title of one of my books for today's post because I have that itchy skin feeling again.  Do you ever get that, readers?  Like if you don't do something new or different or fundamentally life changing you will have the sudden urge to scratch a layer of skin off until a whole new you emerges underneath?

I am going through some life changes.  Perhaps they might seem minor to others.  My son just started his first year of school.  My youngest turned two and officially left babyhood behind.  I'm making some changes in routine and job and well, LIFE I guess.  It's exhilarating and terrifying, which is pretty much life in general around here.

But mostly, I've just been thinking about how life changes your plans all by itself.  When I remember Aeris, for instance, and all the work I did on Zyander's story that I had to then go back and RE-FREAKING-WRITE and I almost have a heart attack when I think about it.  Then there is my still-in-progress audiobook.  *sigh*  That has actually ended up for the better, too, but when my first contract fell through, I was pretty bummed about it.  Thankfully, I already had another voice actor I was pretty excited about and when that went through, I felt like all was smooth sailing again.

So, yeah, changes come whether you bring them or not.  Learning to roll with each change is my big work in progress.

As far as the writing front goes, yeah, I have three of my stories under contract for audiobooks now and I'm pretty pleased with who I've got for what.  I am three, count them, THREE chapters away from being done altogether with part one.  One chapter for Nikka, one for Zyander, and one for Luka—who made a little change in his storyline that necessitated adding a chapter.  I have really been kicking butt in the past week.

I have learned not to take that for granted, however, so on that front, I've decided to join up with ROW80 again.  This summer I was way too busy to continue with it, but I love supporting the other authors and being a part of all the mental creativity.  Maybe it will help me to get Terris finished once and for all.

I hope all the changes in your lives of late have been good ones!  Happy Reading!

WOTY

Holy Moley, has it really been over a month since my last post??  The good news is that I have my laptop back.  And I've been writing, too.  Except that things took a nosedive over the holidays.  Not in general or anything, just in the writing dept.  Nothing like having the entire family (eight kids, assorted in-laws and grandkids) all together this year to throw plans out of whack.

But that's okay.  I'm here now, and in honor of my first post of the year (as well as my first ROW post of the new round.  That's right, people.  I'm still here to hang with my favorite writers!) I'll be doing a Word of the Year post- which I freely admit to stealing from Kait Nolan last year.

Last year my word of the year was DETERMINATION.  It was a word that got me through Aeris and a couple of teeny side projects.  It got me through multiple child sicknesses, a nasty bout of teething (my youngest got 6 teeth at once!) and 10 days of pushing through so hard to finish.  It was a word I needed last year, and I'm happy with that choice.

This year, my WOTY will be Scrumptious Pretty Fighting!(A shout out to my Kdramas) FEARLESS.
This year, I'm going to try new things.  I'm going to push my creativity to the limit.  I'm going to experiment with pricing and genre and write whatever the hell I feel like writing.  I'm tired of playing it safe and feeling like I have to write a certain way "to make people love me".

Where did this come from?  Well, it's no secret I love my readers.  Just ask the super fans that all received free copies of Aeris.  And since most of them loved the second book, I've been trying to make the third book even better (which is a good personal goal).  The problem is, I've let myself get so caught up in what the fans want that I forgot to look for what I want.  I have two examples.

Luka's storyline has some elements this time around that won't please everyone.  Most of it is stuff that will KICK ASS, because he is such an awesome character, but he's also going to make some big mistakes this time around, too.  He's not perfect.  I've had such a struggle writing that, though, because every time I go to make the big choices, I wonder if it will anger the readers.  Not a good thing to second guess every plot point when you're a writer.

The second is Zyander.  Once again, to my UTTER FRUSTRATION, I think I'm going to have to ditch his story line and start over.  The problem is that unlike Nikka, who is very action oriented, Zyan is a thinker and tends to mull over every little fact before he makes a decision.  This does not make for a fast paced storyline.  The rewriting has needed to happen for a while, but the idea that I might disappoint fans by taking longer to write this book has kept me from doing what I need to do.

So, my WOTY will be FEARLESS and I will do what needs to be done this year, consequences be damned.  That sounds more dramatic than it actually is. hahaha

So, goals for this ROW: Go back to my outline.  Meaning, rewrite some elements of Zyan's story line and make the appropriate changes to the manuscript.  Two, be better about updating my blog.  And Three, continue my side project writing of two days a week.

Oh, for those who asked, if you actually want the other name I write under, send me an email at katecauthor@gmail.com and I'll send it to you.  I've gotten a couple of requests, so I thought I'd share that.  It's NOT YA fantasy, though.

Good luck to all my fellow ROWers in the New Year and Happy Reading!

I'm Just Here for the Pep Talks!

I got my NaNoWriMo email.  *cue ominous music*  How I long to join nano this year.  Such a great motivator and a fabulous way to rack up a bunch of words (50,000 to be exact)!
Alas, I know that if I join up, I won't make it to the goal.  Not enough sleep.
Still, I'm considering signing up anyway, simply because some of the best pep talks I've ever read have been from the authors who participate in nano.  One by Meg Cabot, I swear to you, changed my writing career FOREVER.
I'm going to think on it some more.  I have 22 days, according to the letter, before it starts, so I have time to make up my mind.

I actually got some writing done in the past week.  Yay!  Not much on Terris, but some is better than none.  Terris: 23,968.  Tues./Thurs. side project: 5,583.  I think I've gotten about 5,000 words total in for the week, I think.  For a person who has written in the hundreds of words in the past couple of weeks, it is a major victory.  Next week I'm off to my parents' house while my oldest son goes off to visit his grandma.  The last time this happened I was able to finish off Aeris.  My goal this time around will be 20,000 words.  In two weeks, that should be quite a goal, but I need to make up some ground given my utter failure to write in the past month and a half.

Right now, I'm hopeful and determined.  I'm wishing progress on all my fellow ROW participants!  Fighting!(It's a Kdrama thing, hahahaha)

Happy Reading!

A Drop of Bitter

Hello, all you who dwell in the land of the internets. I come bearing gifts today. My outline for Terris is finished and so is my outline for the next Angelic Agents short story/novella/book. Not sure what that one's going to be yet. Terris will of course feature each of the main characters in The Five Tribes series: Nikka, Zyander, and Luka. And each of those characters has a full chapter outline now. I had some trouble with Zyander at the last and I'm still undecided about his final chapter, because there are a couple of different ways it can go at this point. But his storyline will intertwine with the others in some interesting ways. It seems obvious, now that I've plotted it out, but sometimes I just can't see the forest for the trees.

Everyone is always talking about plotters and pantsers in the world of writing. Can I just say how much I DETEST the word pantsing? As in "I'm pantsing the next book." You're WHAT? Pulling its pants down to make a fool of it in front of the other books? What did that poor sad book ever do to you, you meany?!

I personally like to think of myself as a person who carefully plans out each chapter of the next book, but in reality, my heart is a rebel. Look at what happened with Luka's story in Aeris. I will tell you a secret, readers. He was meant to transform by the end of that second book. IT DID NOT HAPPEN THAT WAY AT ALL!

I don't know what happens to me when I start writing a story. I had all three characters completely planned before I started writing, but they just do what they want with no regard for my plans. Characters died, ran away, got captured, fell in love... and I had no say in it. Whose book is this, anyway?

So I guess I can't call myself a plotter, even though my heart is in the right place. Or, my mind, anyway. There is that rebellious, indie writer part of me that simply can't be tied down.

Goals for August: Well, now that I've finished the outline for Terris, I've joined up with Camp Nanowrimo and I'll be trying to write the first 50,000 words by the end of the month. Of course, I still have the Angel book (untitled at this point) and I'll work on that one day a week, either Tuesday or Thursday. It'll probably be Thursday this week, because Camp starts on Tuesday.

As for Aeris, I've had some bad news. My proof reader got sick (of all the luck!) last week, so we've had to push the deadline back by a few days. In anticipation of this, however, I'll be doing some of the formatting work ahead of time: the pronunciation guide will get updated, I'll add in Kait's excerpt of Red with an intro. I'll write my acknowledgments. I'll start putting up the skeletons for the book on Kobo, B&N, Smashwords, and Amazon. I'm also going to send out a small e-gift to the fans that have been emailing me since Compis came out, simply because Aeris wouldn't exist without their cheerleading. It's been a LONG year.

And that is all I've got today. A drop of bitter in the pot, but a hope of sweetness to come.

Happy Reading!