Tag: writing (Page 13 of 14)

Funny Talk with Author Anna Staniszewski

March 1, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Congrats are in order for guest poster Anna Staniszewski as her middle grade adventure My Epic Fairy Tale Fail releases today! Happy book b-day and welcome to the Observation Desk.

Breaking Down Funny Dialogue

If you think about where we find humor in real life, you’ll notice that a lot of it comes through in conversation. When we recap real-life events to friends, for example, we often highlight not only what people did, but what they said, what we said, and what we would have said (if we weren’t such wimps).

It makes sense that, given how much time we spend talking to, about, and at each other, we’d see a reflection of that in novels. So how does knowing this help with writing funny dialogue?

Let’s break it down based on what I said above.

What people say:

You can help your characters’ personalities shine through by showing us how they react verbally to the situations you put them in. The more outrageous their reactions, the more potential for humor. If you find a character seems to be hanging back in a scene, try to get them to chime in more. The result might surprise you.

What people don’t say:

On the other hand, we can learn quite a bit about characters by what they don’t say. If Grandpa keeps insisting that he’s a happy duck—while he’s wringing a duck’s neck—we know there’s more going on than he’s admitting. And if the characters are saying one thing and doing the exact opposite, that can be downright hilarious.

What people wish they could say:

You know when you’re too polite or too chicken to speak your mind? Well, there’s good news. Characters aren’t in control of their editing mechanisms; you are. You can make your characters say anything you want! Maybe a normal person would be too afraid to speak up in a particular scenario, but your characters shouldn’t be too normal. They should be interesting, and interesting people say and do things the rest of us might not.

So when it comes to funny dialogue, by all means, use real life examples to help you make dialogue feel authentic. But remember that you’re not writing about real life; you’re writing about the appearance of real life, which means that the rules of the real world don’t necessarily apply.

My Epic Fairy Tale Fail and the first book in the series, My Very Unfairy Tale Life, are available in paperback and ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, and other book retailers.

About the Author:

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives outside of Boston, Mass. with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. You can visit her at www.annastan.com.

Confessions of an Author: Rejection

February 8, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Confession #4: Rejection might be the one thing that makes me quit this whole business of publishing.

Rejection. It’s something every author faces time and time again. It’s fear inducing, debilitating, soul sucking.

I think for most authors the writing journey begins in a blissful place. Inspiration strikes. You decide, I’m a writer…or at the very least, I’m going to write something worthy of publication. You write, and write, and write. Probably a lot of bad stuff, but you’re not aware of how bad it is; in your blissful ignorance, you keep going. Maybe even stumble upon some good writing.

You begin sending your work out, probably before it’s really ready for mass consumption. But again, you’re ignorance keeps a buffer around you. Publishers reject you. No worries! They don’t know what they’re doing; they just passed up on the next J.K. Rowling. They’ll regret it one day. Maybe one rejection has some encouraging words. That’s the thing you latch on to. The ego of the innocent feeds off of it.

Then reality hits. You realize, maybe my work’s not that good. I need to actually…ahem…revise! Those people who rejected you might actually know what they’re talking about. Still, you persevere. Okay, rookie mistakes. Buck up and keep improving.

You work, work, work at creating, honing, revising. Your writing benefits from all the hard work. Maybe you join a critique group, get some positive feedback and productive criticism. You begin to thrive as a creative person. You feel like your work is actually ready for mass consumption…and just maybe others will think so too.

With your improved knowledge of writing, you realize it’s a good idea to study up on the business side of publishing as well. You learn how to write an effective query, target your submissions, what your looking for in an editor or agent. You check and double check that you’ve spelled all the names right, that the grammar in your letter is perfect, you have the right sample pages included. You hit send (or if you’re doing it the old-school way, apply the correct postage).

Now comes the waiting. The incessant checking of emails/mailboxes. The nail-biting. Commiserating with writer friends over the process of having stuff out there. Then the rejections start rolling in. You try to focus on a new project. Keep your mind off the hole your email inbox is burning in you brain.

Your stomach is in a constant state of queasiness. You starve yourself, too sick to eat, and then gorge yourself on chocolate and caffeine. More rejections roll in. Time limits pass, and you get rejected by query expiration date, no reply required.

Sure a lot of good stuff happens along the way. Meeting other writers, forming great working relationships and personal ones you keep forever. A few close calls with a dream agent or editor. But there’s still so much rejection.

Even if you land a publishing contract, it might not be what you were always hoping for. You sign with a small press or decide to self-publish or get a low advance. Maybe you did land a great contract, but then the big reviewers don’t like your book or ignored it all together. Maybe your sales fall short of expectations; you don’t reach as many readers as you hoped. Your option book doesn’t get picked up.

Rejection, rejection, rejection. The old death by a million paper cuts (and you don’t even use real paper to write anymore!). And it hurts. Gives you days where you’re not sure if you can keep going, deluding yourself into thinking you can make it as a writer. Keeps you from revising because it’s just going to be crap anyway, no matter how much you work at it.

I guess a lot of writers don’t even make it to this point. They gave up back a handful of paragraphs ago after the first rejections. What keeps you going? Your love of a character, the way you can escape into a world you’ve created, an insatiable need to succeed, the fact that you’re a glutton for punishment.

Whatever it is, you keep going. Right…it’s worth it to keep going? The punch in the stomach with that email that sends you into a downward spiral. “Thanks for thinking of us, but we’re going to have to pass on that manuscript you’ve spend months, years, decades working on. The one that you poured your soul into. The one that has blood marks on it from where your heart leaked all over it. Yup, that one. It’s not good enough for us. Don’t worry, publishing is a subjective business. It’s not personal.”

Yet every single one of those rejections is personal to you. The story you wrote is deeply personal. You maybe even put more work into that than you did into your own life.

So what do you do when you’ve traveled down every single path you could find and came up with dead ends? Well, I guess you start over. Get a spark of inspiration. Feel the tingle of a new story…of hope…in your fingertips. And you do it all over again. Right, you do it all over again. You’re a writer. That’s what you do.

What kinds of rejections have you faced in your writing career? And what keeps you going back for more?

Meet Scott R. Caseley Author of Isosceles

February 4, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Please give a warm welcome to fellow Muse author Scott R. Caseley and his YA mystery Isosceles as he shares a satirical piece of flash fiction about the writing process.

“Twice in A Millennium Inspiration”

Written by Scott R. Caseley

Swedish Translations provided by Tanja Pihlblad

Like millions of other people around the globe, I bought and read Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ trilogy for a book club. While I struggled to get past a lot of the Swedish in the text, I found myself most impressed by his Salander character. Two other club members, Jackie, an American and her fiancée, a Swede named Anders had seen both film versions of “Dragon Tattoo”. While she preferred Noomi Repace in the title role, he was a fan of Rooney Mara. When a heated argument sprung up one night at the library after a book club meeting over which performance was better, I settled it by telling them I would watch both and be the tiebreaker.

“Maybe you’ll get ideas for your next book, too, win-win,” Jackie said with a kind smile. I appreciated it, but her kindness was as constant as my writer’s block both of which had been a part of my life for several years now. I once wrote one novel, a psychological thriller. It received some decent press and sales were not bad for an unknown like me. Since then, my ink well was dry, and the creative part of my brain was on pause.

“We’ll see,” I smirked.

“Go for it, min vän.” Anders said patting me on the back with confidence. He often called me ‘min vän’. I just smiled and agreed though I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t want him to see me as a stereotypical American who could only speak one language. Though, in fact, sadly I am.

After they left, I perused the video section, which had to have at least three thousand titles. There was an attractive brunette, around my age of twenty-five in the comedy section. When she selected a DVD and held it in her hands, I did a quick check and noticed she didn’t have a wedding band. It had been forever since my last date, but I decided against trying to pick her up. It was difficult enough trying to create clever lines for dialogue for a fictitious piece, let alone an icebreaker to impress a woman. With my tail between my legs, I selected both ‘Tattoo’ films and headed to the counter to check them out.

I watched the Swedish version first and enjoyed the pacing and the action, Noomi’s Salander was deadly, dangerous, and of course, her spiked hair was hot too. I took my phone out of my pocket to see there were seventeen new text messages and all from Jackie and Anders to see which Salander was my choice. Rather than answer them, I popped in the Blu Ray for the Fincher adaptation and began to watch. Mara seemed to immerse herself in the character, making her lethal yet vulnerable. Fincher’s deft direction kept me on the edge of my seat though I knew the story well from both the novel and the Swedish version. When the credits rolled, I felt inspired by both films and convinced myself I needed to write a compelling thriller with a strong female protagonist. But, first I needed to get some sleep.

As a writer, you’d think my imagination would lend itself to impressive dreams with dynamic visuals and compelling action, but alas the reality was they were pretty humdrum. Usually just a retelling of an event that happened in my waking life, or so uninteresting, they aren’t worth repeating here. However, on this ‘Tattoo’ marathon night, my dream got off to a dramatic start.

Rain was coming down sounding like nature’s rendition of Beethoven’s “Moonlit Sonata”, in a haunting and peaceful way. I sat on the couch in my living room reading the latest Young Adult novel by Marysue Hobika on my Kindle. A clap of thunder drowned out the beautiful concerto and I was startled when someone burst through my front door. I powered down my ereader and headed into the kitchen where the attractive brunette from the library stood wearing all black and was drenched from head to toe. She lit up a cigarette and began trembling as she held it and inhaled deeply. Her eyes seemed dangerous, so I hesitated to tell her smoking wasn’t allowed in my apartment.

She removed the cigarette from her lips and spoke nervously, “Hej” I sat down at the kitchen table, and observed her, not knowing what to say, as I couldn’t understand what she said. My smartphone was on the table, I picked it up, and discreetly scanned it for a translate app to see if I could type the word she said, though I didn’t know how to spell it. Was it haj, hij, or hej? Because of my Larsson overdose, I did know it was Swedish, so that was at least a start. I did a quick search for translation apps on Google and found one. I downloaded it, and thanks to my Wi-Fi connection, it took a matter of seconds.

“Jag heter Annika—” as she spoke, the most amazing thing happened, English words in white text started to form in front of her chest revealing she said her name was Annika. “Vad är detta, engelska undertexter framför mig? Hur gjorde du det?” (What is this, English subtitles in front of me? How did you do that?) I could have answered her in English and had the app do Swedish subtitles for her, but I was far too awestruck at what was going on to do so. “Jag heter Annika och kommer från Västerås, Sverige, även kallad ‘gurkstaden’.” (My name is Annika, I’m from Västerås, Sweden, often nicknamed the Cucumber City).

“Hi, I’m Andy Schmidt,” as I told her my name, a smile came across her face. Then, I realized, Duh, she must know who I am, she did come to my apartment after all.

“Jag har förstått att du är författare. Jag sitter på en riktigt bra story som sker framför ögonen på mig på mitt jobb. Det kommer helt klart bli en bestseller. Här är detaljerna.” (I understand you are a writer. I have quite a story unfolding where I work that will be a Bestseller for sure. Here are the details.) Intrigued as I was about the prospect of a new story, a Bestseller no less, part of me was dubious about receiving an idea under these circumstances. Whatever the story was, it must’ve been something very hazardous, since she came to my apartment, looking like a scared child. However, the writer in me won over the protective side.

Sensing none of my trepidation, she continued on, “Jag jobbar som studievägledare på ett universitet och jag hörde av misstag skolans Dekan tala med hennes elevassistent vid vaktmästarens förråd. Dekanens man är konstkurator vid det lokala historiska museet där några antika föremål blivit stulna från ett av rummen. Misstankar riktades mot honom, men nu är han också försvunnen. Hon måste tro att hennes assistent är den enda som kan hjälpa henne att hitta både honom och de försvunna föremålen!” (I am a counselor at a university, and I overheard the Dean speaking to her student assistant by the janitor’s closet. The Dean’s husband is curator at the local historical society where some antiquities were stolen from one of the rooms. He was suspected of taking them, but now he has vanished too. She must believe that her assistant is the only one who can help her find him and the missing items.)

“Nå, vad tycker du? Gillar du det?” (What do you think? You like?) I read the subtitles and smiled like a maniac eager to start putting pen to paper. I knew the best thing would be to start taking notes. I reached for a newspaper sprawled out before me, and removed a pen from my pocket. Just as I began to write, she grabbed me by the wrist. Her grip was callused and intimidating. I glanced up, her eyes boring into me with fiery intensity. I sensed whatever she would say next, I wouldn’t need the subtitles to know it wasn’t going to be good, “Det finns mycket mer men det kostar. Fem miljoner, varav tre i förskott.” (There’s a lot more but it’s going to cost you. Five million, three up front.)

“I don’t have that kind of money,” I admitted out loud, thankful she didn’t speak English, because I was afraid of what she would do to me if she knew how destitute I was.

“Fine, I should have known better than to come here. I’ll get Gillian Flynn’s agent’s number and pitch the idea. She could always use another Bestseller,” she spoke with a southern accent. I was too in shock to speak. Before I could say anything in response, I heard my phone ringing in my pocket, the unmistakable sound of “Moonlit Sonata”.

My eyes snapped open; I was on the couch with my phone sitting in the palm of my hand. The screen indicated ‘1 New Voicemail’ from ‘Unknown Caller’. I pressed the Voicemail key and pressed the phone to my ear, “Hi, I hope I’m dialing the right number, I’m trying to reach Andrea Schmidt. This is so awkward. My name is Stephanie, I saw you in the library yesterday renting the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ films and they’re two of my favorite movies. I was wondering if you would like to watch them with me sometime. You might have seen me there, I was in the video section when you were picking them up and I got your number from the librarian.” She then left her number, and I debated about whether to call her back.

I ended up writing five pages based on what Annika told me in the dream, and then I called up the real woman to agree to meet for coffee sometime. If that went well, then maybe watch a movie with her. I didn’t want to rush things, besides I had a novel to write now.

About Isosceles:

When he finds his best friend Trey Goodsby dead and almost completely submerged in a bathtub filled with bloody water, Sean McIntyre is determined to find out if it was an accident or suicide. If it was suicide, why did he do it? And, did his death accidental or intentional have anything to do with Madeline Edwards, the woman who came between them constantly through their thirteen-year friendship? Isosceles, a coming-of-age mystery romance begins with the death of Trey Goodsby, and explores his relationships with family, friends, his romances, and which of the circumstances he found himself in that led to the tragic event, and the repercussions for those he left behind. Purchse at:

Coffee Time Romance & More

Omnilit

About the Author:

Scott R. Caseley was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He gained an interest in writing in elementary school in nearby Hudson. Growing up, he carried a small notebook or pen on family trips making observations and frequently turned them into poems or short stories. While attending Franklin Pierce University, he co-wrote and co-directed a student film. After graduating, he wrote and directed a dramatic feature, co-wrote and directed a documentary and conducted interviews for an online magazine. He’s also passionate about acting, and he’s enjoyed performing on stage, in bit parts on film, and is also a trained voice actor. In addition to his creative pursuits, he is passionate about healthy living. He follows a fitness regimen consisting of several activities such as; weight training, walking, swimming, yoga, and hula hooping. He complements this by cooking several nutritious examples of international and American cuisine. Last, but certainly not least he also enjoys just spending time with family and friends until the early morning hours with plenty of laughter and coffee. You can find Scott on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScottRCaseleyWriter

Twitter: @scottrcaseley

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/ScottRCaseley

Website: scottrcaseleyauthor.com

Annika James author of Wanted and Giveaway

January 21, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Please give a warm welcome to fellow Muse author Annika James. Her paranormal YA Wanted came out last Friday (check out my sparkly review over on Goodreads). To win a copy of Wanted in the ebook format of your choice, simply leave a comment below. Winner will be randomly chosen. UPDATE: The giveaway is over and the winner has been chosen.

First, I have to thank Katie for having me here today!

Wanted is full of vampires and witches. In fact, not one of my characters is fully human. I choose to write paranormal because it is the genre that interests me the most.

Ever since I was younger, I have been interested in reading books about other beings. The first books I can remember reading were L.J. Smith’s The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries books, along with books by Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. I think those early influences helped inspire my characters today.

As I got older, I expanded into Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, J.R. Ward, and so many more authors. I loved the worlds of the previous three authors – how the paranormal was normal. That is what I strove for when creating my characters. I wanted a world where vampires and witches lived side by side with humans and no one thought anything about it. I wrote my characters like I would if were writing something not paranormal, then I simply added in their supernatural abilities.

With Ash, I did research on modern Wicca, and tried to add true elements of witchcraft into her character. She references the goddess several times, she casts circles, and she is affiliated with the elements. I wanted her to be a realistic witch, though with more power.

My vampires are different. They are not dead, that we know, and they do not have many limits – they can be out during the daytime, they only need to feed every couple days, they can eat and drink like humans, they age up to a certain point. I didn’t really have a formula when I began writing Wanted. I wanted my vampires to be mainstream, yet still have that romantic lure to them. Conor and Matt are simply dudes I created who I would like to hang out with. They just happen to drink blood.

When I was writing them, I thought of them as any other character, then added in the paranormal elements as I went. Tre was easier to write because he’s the bad guy. To me, he was the stereotypical bad vampire, so the vampness in him came easy.

For me, writing the paranormal was mostly natural, because it is what I’ve loved for so many years. My characters are a mish-mash of so many inspirations, along with my own ideas. It was so fun to write about Ash, Conor, and Matt, and I’m pretty sure we have not heard the last of them. After all, we all want to know what will happen with the knowledge they gained at the end of Wanted.

The vampire world I created still has secrets yet to be revealed. In Wanted, we really only get to know the young vampires, we don’t yet know how they stop aging, or what happens after they do.

I hope you enjoy reading Wanted as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments, I love hearing from readers!

About Wanted:

Attacked as a young witch and left for dead, Ashlinn is deathly afraid of being bitten again. Having survived until she’s almost eighteen without donating blood to any of her vamp friends, Ashlinn figures she’ll continue to live bite-free. After her crush reveals how powerful she is, however, the Vampire Council declares she be claimed as a familiar, which requires biting. Ashlinn doesn’t want to be owned, even by hot vamp, Conor. Luckily, her best friend, Matt, volunteers for the job. She is given one week to choose her protector, and the list of willing biters keeps growing. Will she go with best friend Matt, hot vamp Conor, or someone else to protect her? Will she be able to get her power under control by then? Will she overcome her phobia of being bitten? And who says she needs to be protected, anyhow?

Wanted is available at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, and other ebook retailers.

About Annika:

Annika James lives in small-town Wisconsin with her husband and two beautiful kiddos. She spends her days working to pay the bills and her nights dreaming of more fun ways to do so. Her passions include writing, reading, music and traveling with her family. She dreams of a world where vampires and powerful witches really exist, because life would be so much more interesting. For more about Annika visit her blog, Facebook page, or Goodreads page.

Lodging a Complaint

January 13, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Complaining is self-indulgent. It’s annoying. And worst of all, it’s boring. But, I’m writing this blog post on a Sunday while The Boy naps. I’ll probably be working tonight editing a manuscript that isn’t mine. When all I really want to be doing right now is snuggling up under a blanket with the book sitting on my coffee table, neglected.

There’s so many reasons why I have no business complaining. Last September I was lucky enough to be able to leave my office job to focus more on taking care of The Boy. Now my job is reading and editing other people’s stories. My schedule and my workload are determined by me. I don’t make as much money as I did in my office job, but money isn’t everything, right?

I have a solid roof over my head. A pretty nice car. A wonderful husband who works full-time, vacuums, does the dishes and laundry, and is a fun and loving father. Last year I had two books published.

Who am I to even utter a single word of complaint? I’m human, that’s who I am. I have bad days. I get tired and whiny. Some days the to-do list exceeds the number of hours in the day and my energy level to get those things done.

So official complaint lodged…I’m moving on. Focusing on the great stuff instead of the stuff that sucks the life out of me. A new year meets a new perspective. That is, until I feel like getting whiny again!