Category Archives: Uncategorized

August 14, 2011 · 3:55 pm

Facing the Challenges

I started writing this blog to document and share my experiences with writing/publishing.  So, I thought I’d take a minute or two to hash out some of the challenges I’m dealing with at this stage…

One of the most difficult and challenging parts of writing fiction is coming up with the names for my characters. I want the names to be appropriate to the character. The name has to fit. If  I have the wrong name, it doesn’t work well. Sometimes it is very difficult. Sometimes it comes easy. It is also a lot of fun. It is part of creating that character. What is that person like? What are their idiosyncracies? What makes that person who that person is? There are times when that is really hard, especially when that person is an alien or is alien like. It is also difficult when you try to name someone within a historic context. If this character comes from ancient Ireland, they can’t be named Fred, right?!

The other big challenge hitting me right now is getting stuck on little things. I keep getting stopped flat by small things that might not even matter, but I get so hung up on them, that I can’t move forward.  This is what I was stuck on this week:

*A different word for canteen.
*Where did I put my notes on a different story entirely than the one I’m trying to work on.
*I needed to buy a new cushion for my chair in my office where I write

Seems like small things, but I’ve wasted a long of time on these things! Gave up on the thesaurus problem, finally found my notes, and bought a seat cushion (on sale at Kohls!) So, now I’m ready to write… what am I working on today?

I need to do some yoga and focus!!

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August 9, 2011 · 1:04 am

What are they talking about?

OMG My BFF Jill, I read the best WIPline yesterday… had me ROTFLMAO…

I love Twitter – but sometimes I don’t know what they’re talking about.  I had to figure out what the heck a hash tag is… #wth. And how to retweet. And how to mention someone… @someone.

It has been challenging, but also fun. It is very fast paced. There is some new thing to read like every 2 seconds! The more followers you get, and the more people you follow, the faster it is.  I also found out that the more people you follow, the more people will follow you back! Ha! #funfollowing

If you leave it on while trying to work on other things (like #blogging or actually doing some serious, #amwriting or #amediting) it can be very distracting… Oh gotta go check out 3 new tweets…

#justsayin

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August 8, 2011 · 3:33 am

I’m so stuck…

I’ve been writing a lot this weekend, and it has really been going well… until today.  I keep getting stuck. Saturday, I flew on the keyboard and wrote 15 pages, today…5.

This will sound crazy, but I think my problem is that I’m trying to get my character to do things that she doesn’t want to do.  I wanted her to rebel and fight against her arranged marriage, and she decided she liked the guy… sheesh… you think you know someone.  I wanted her to go directly from point A to point B, and she wanted to hang around and find something else to do around the house.  I don’t think she liked what was coming at point B.  I want her to run away, and she wants to sit around waiting for her betrothed to come rescue her. So, now, I’m just going to have to kill someone! Probably the husband to be. She’s too attached to him, and she has other things to do.

See my problem!?!  I hate when characters get a mind of their own! 

I know that may seem like I just don’t have my story planned out enough, but really I have it planned well. Sometimes when I write, though, strange things happen. I think I actually like the chapter better this way. It feels like she is being more true to her character and reacting to what I throw at her, instead of causing the trouble.  (Don’t worry, she causes a lot more trouble later on.)  But, in the end I think it becomes more interesting than I originally planned, and still ends up where it needs to. 

That’s just a little peek inside my head for what I’ve been writing this weekend. I guess it is more interesting than what I had for breakfast, right!?>

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August 4, 2011 · 1:43 am

Support Indies

Lately, I have been reading work from independent authors almost exclusively. For my non-industry readers, that means authors that publish their own books.

I know that at one time the world thought that self publishing was strictly for people without talent or skill that just wanted to publish their own work. I’m here to tell you that notion is dead and buried.

The authors I have been reading are publishing really fabulous novels.  You can check out some of them on my website:

http://sjordanasble.com/Books__Reviews___Links.html

(*you can also purchase my independently published book of short stories, Stories to Fight Demons By, at that site as well!)

These wonderful authors have done a great job in changing my mind about self publishing.  They write like pros, and their stories are gripping and entertaining. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to read their work and support their efforts, and I hope some of my other friends will also be inspired to do the same. 

You may also want to note that almost all of these novels are priced well below the market price that you would pay for any of the big name artists.  I’ve bought some for 99 cents, some for under $3 and some were even free… but don’t let the low price fool you… the quality has been worth the $8 or $9 (or more) you would pay for the big name authors. 

If you want to know more about Indie authors and why they are doing well right now, here’s a link I swiped from a Twitter-friend:

http://thewritingbomb.blogspot.com/2011/08/5-reasons-why-indie-authors-are-winning.html?spref=tw

So, next time you are looking for a good read, check back to my website, because I’m going to keep adding to the list as I read.  Then you too can support an Indie author!

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July 26, 2011 · 1:37 am

Want to know about vampires?

I’m working on my new novel, Desolate Incubus.  It is about some bad ass vampires that find themselves on a strange path. They have to figure out what is going on while trying to decide if they are the good guys, the bad guys, or something else completely.

When working on a novel, sometimes I write a lot of “back story” stuff that doesn’t really make it into the story (or at least not in the form I originally write it in).  It is part of the process of creating the characters and universe (or world) in which we put the characters in.  I must have a clear picture of it in my mind before I can tell the story.  So, the following is a bit about how vampires are “made” within the realm of Desolate Incubus. The premise is definitely a part of the story, but this paragraph is not one you will see in directly in the story, at least not in this form. So, this is really a sneak peek, behind the scenes if you will… enjoy.

+++

It is really simple, yet complex and difficult. You have to drain the potential vampire of as much blood as you can without killing them, and then replace it with vampire blood.  The vampire blood slowly takes over all internal systems and changes the human into vampire. But, it is a difficult process because if you take too much of the blood, they die. You have to be careful not to kill them, and in the heat of a bloodlust, vampires tend to lose control. Vampires are not “dead” or the waking dead or walking dead like all the stories and myths indicate, they are very much alive, just different from humans. If you kill the human while trying to change them, they are just dead. You can’t bring them back from the dead. You don’t get a second chance. After draining the human, you need to give them enough vampire blood to actually take over their system. It is as much art as science. A lot of vampires that try this end up dying because they let the new vampire feed until they themselves are too weak to stop the feeding. The new vampire hits the blood lust stage as the vampire blood takes over, and then the new vampire ends up killing the maker.  Yes, a vampire will die if it is completely drained; little known fact.

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July 22, 2011 · 1:13 am

Deep and Dangerous

I read someone else’s blog today and it was very deep, like the depths of the universe deep.  I realized after I read it that my blogs are anything but deep, which is strange because I’ve been accused of being a very deep and introspective person. Well, I guess that’s just not what my blog is about though. My blog is about my writing.

So, why, you may ask, am I writing about getting all personal and deep?  Well, the thing that moved me with the other writer’s blog was that what she wrote about was personal, relative to others, and yanked my emotion chords. In other words, it was darn good writing.

It wasn’t a story; it was just a narrative about that person and how she related to the world and how she had changes in her life and how growing up changed her. But it was essentially the elements of life that any good writer (or wanna be writer like me) wants to put into their stories.

So, how do I grasp these emotions and cram them into my tales? Easier said than done, but I think the key is in keeping it real.  Even though my fiction is fantastical, it needs the human element. Can we relate to this thing that is going on? Can anyone stop and think… I felt that way once?  If the answer is “yeah, man,” then maybe my story will be good. Maybe it will make the reader laugh or cry… and in that instant I my job will done!

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July 21, 2011 · 1:10 am

Wine and moan… no crackers with that please

I do NOT have writer’s block.

Really, I don’t. I have tons of things to write, maybe too much to write. That’s the problem! I have writer’s ADHD.  I’m all over the place and I cannot focus… so I’m not getting anything done.

I have no problem with getting motivation for story ideas… my problem is how do I stop thinking about the stories, and start actually writing them?!

When I was in Kindergarten (until sixth grade actually) I got low marks for “uses time wisely.”  Well guess what mom, it was because I was making up stories and not writing them down!  I feel like nothing has changed… (I laugh, but it is true.)

So, maybe if I can get something written this week, it will start motivating me. I should focus on one thing… just write one thing… Oh yea…. I did. I wrote this blog. Hm… maybe there’s hope for me yet!

 

 

 

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July 18, 2011 · 12:27 am

Look What’s New

Hi all… I posted the prologue for my new novel, Desolute Incubus, on my website…

http://sjordanasble.com/Page_2.html

Please check it out and comment… is this something you want to keep reading? Want to know what happens to Matthew?

The novel is about Vampires. The prologue is probably the only PG rated portion of the book, but the intent is to introduce the hero.

If you purchased my ebook of short stories, you may have seen an introduction to this novel.

It is coming along… hope you will like the prologue. Please let me know what you think…

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July 8, 2011 · 2:57 am

Look what’s coming

How does one idea go from short story to novel overnight? I had one little idea of inspiration and now I have a novel outlined. Actually, I have 2 novels outlined, and a third and fourth book in this series in the idea stage. So, my one little idea I had yesterday is now a four book series.

Here is the first quarter of the first book’s outline:

Four Worlds: Ellevern Heir

Falk meets Tag in bar
Falk’s dad, Cristoval, comes home
Falk stow-a-ways in Tag’s ship
Tag sells Falk to Mr. Darby (complete with magic-stopping bracelet)
Tag meets Harris in the slave camp
Harris takes off the bracelet and they try to escape
Falk and Harris roam Earth
Falk and Harris are busted by Mr. Darby
Falk is taken aboard a ship to be sold to the Carthides  – bracelet is back on and activated
Falk meets Chester (Chester is a girl)
Chester short circuits bracelet
Falk and Chester work together to disable the ship and send an SOS
Another ship intercepts Mr. Darby’s ship
Falk and Chestertry to communicate with the intercepting ship & get busted by Mr. Darby
The ships part and Mr. Darby’s ship is repaired
They set out again for the Carthides
Falk  and Chester again to disable ship and are chased
Falk and Chester run into Harris who hid in the cargo hold
The three work together to get away in an escape pod
Falk tries to put out another SOS

I don’t normally share an idea when it is just in an outline stage, but I thought it might be a fun and interesting way to get the blog moving again. It also gives readers a peek inside my head and a peek into my process of writing.

I have a lot of notes written out in a notebook that constitutes the back story. I’ll probably make a few more notes, and then using the outline and notes, I’ll start fleshing out the first draft.

So, let me know if you thought this was interesting, neat, or boring.

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June 4, 2011 · 3:02 am

It is coming… it is coming…

Really…. I’m doing the final edits for “Second Place” right now. This is the short about the hover craft racer. The rough draft is finally finished and it is in the final edit stages. So, that means I will be ready to publish very soon. This will be free to everyone on my website, so I hope everyone is excited. I know I am.

Peace, love, and hover-crafts!!! It’s coming!!!

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