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Once again returning to share her wisdom on writing is Meradeth Houston! Meradeth is the author of the fantastic paranormal Sary Society Series, the latest of which is Surrender the Sky (see my 5-star Goodreads review here). Make sure to check out all the other stops on her Xpresso Book Tours blog tour and enter the giveaway. Welcome, Meradeth!
Writing characters that aren’t human
by Meradeth Houston
Thanks so much for having me back here! It’s always a treat to visit some of my favorite blogs again. I thought I’d talk a little about writing characters that aren’t human today. This is one of those topics that I think about a lot, but don’t generally get the chance to chat about. For those of you who have thoughts on the topic, please chime in too!!
The main characters that I write about in my novels are definitely not human—they’re Sary, which is a breed of supernatural I made up. They’re kind of similar to guardian angels, but I think all of my characters would be the first to tell you that they’re definitely not the angelic sort. They’re the souls of those who die before taking their first breath and are allowed to come back to the earth to help those who are contemplating taking their own life. Basically they’re immortal and have the ability to shift their form to look pretty otherworldly: wings included.
One of the most important things that I think about while writing these characters is to keep in mind their true age. Most of them are several centuries old, which means they’ve seen a lot. Not just historical tidbits (which I find fun to research and layer in), but personal things. They’ve watched everyone around them grow older and die—something that they can’t do. These kinds of things leave their mark, and I try to be aware and respectful of that in my characters. Even if they look to be in their teens or twenties, they’re not going to think like a human, and they’re not going to react like them all the time. This is challenging, but also can be a lot of fun to write.
While the Sary have been “on the ground” throughout their lives, allowing them to adapt as society and culture inevitably change around them, it isn’t necessarily easy. One of the other things I try to think about while writing is those things that the Sary might find comfortable from the past—things that they have a hard time giving up. This might be preferring candles and lamps even with electric lights, or just living in the older part of a city because it seems more like home. Technological changes can seem fast for even me, but for the Sary it’s been tricky to keep up. I like to think about the lag that can occur, and depending on the character, how comfortable they’re going to be with different parts of modern life.
Writing a supernatural being that can fly is also one of those things that I also find really a lot of fun. I know that may sound strange, but I’ve always wished I could fly (I think this may stem from growing up in California and hating traffic—who wouldn’t want to avoid that??), so writing from the Sary’s perspective is a whole lot of fun in this regard. I pester my pilot brother for aerial photos, and pay a lot of attention to the way the sky looks while in an airplane, hoping to do the concept of flight justice. Hopefully that comes across, because it certainly is fun!
There’s a lot more that goes into writing a character that’s not human, but I’ll stick with this for today! What else do you think goes into making a believable non-human character?
Gabby lives by two unbreakable rules: don’t expose her kind, the Sary, and don’t fall in love—too bad some rules are made to be broken.
When Gabby’s most difficult charge accidentally shoots her in front of a class full of students, the event exposes her carefully hidden identity. She shifts from looking like a normal teen to her secret Sary form, revealing her wings and the existence of her kind—immortals who try to keep people from committing suicide. Her incident attracts the attention of the next leader of the Sary, Jassen, who offers her an impossible bargain: she can keep her wings if she makes amends with those who know the truth. Things get more complicated when a rebel Sary, intent on exposing them to the world, starts interfering with Gabby’s work. And there’s no denying her attraction to Jassen, who is torn between his duties and his heart. With threats at every turn and her immortality on the line, Gabby has to find a way to save the Sary or surrender the sky forever.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20943650-surrender-the-sky?ac=1
Purchase:
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surrender-the-sky-meradeth-houston/1118931601?ean=2940045770484
About the Author:
Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her:
>She’s a Northern California girl. This generally means she talks too fast and use “like” a lot.
>When she’s not writing, she’s sequencing dead people’s DNA. For fun!
>She’s been writing since she was 11 years old. It’s her hobby, her passion, and she’s so happy to get to share her work!
>If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because she’s terrified of heights.
Author links:
http://www.meradethhouston.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MeradethHouston
https://twitter.com/MeradethHouston
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5321667.Meradeth_Houston
I’ve been crazy busy these last two weeks with work being done on the house and getting ready for baby boy #2 (a month and one day until my due date!). The bad news is that I haven’t had much time for blogging; the good news is I’ll probably have an attic office update with pics for you all next week. In my absence, I have an awesome giveaway from Kelly Hashway in anticipation of her upcoming YA paranormal The Monster Within. Welcome, Kelly!
Sound good? Enter by filling out the rafflecopter below.
Meradeth Houston, author of the paranormal books Colors Like Memories (see my Goodreads review here) and The Chemistry of Fate (see my Goodreads review here), stops by to talk about the paperback release of Colors. Welcome, Meradeth!
Hi! *waves* I’m incredibly excited to announce the paperback release for COLORS LIKE MEMORIES. The ebook release has been a blast, and it is especially awesome to actually hold the book in my hands 🙂 Here are three things I think you might find fun about the book:
1. It’s got a pretty sweet cover 🙂 And I’m rather partial to the blurb:
Julia has a secret: she killed the guy she loved. It was an accident—sort of.
Julia is a Sary, the soul of a child who died before taking her first breath. Without this ‘breath of life’ she and others like her must help those on the verge of suicide. It’s a job Julia used to enjoy, until the accident that claimed her boyfriend’s life—an accident she knows was her fault. If living with the guilt weren’t enough, she’s now assigned to help a girl dealing with the loss of her mother, something Julia’s not exactly the best role model for. If she can’t figure out a way to help her, Julia’s going to lose her position in the Sary, something she swore to her boyfriend would never happen.
2. There have been some pretty awesome things said about it (if I do say so myself, but I may be a bit biased). See:
“…I applaud the author for providing a writing that has the power to encourage, inspire, help, heal and simply serve as a platform to stimulate communication for any reader (regardless of age), who is feeling hopeless. If you are looking for an interesting read, this book is well written, interesting and has several positive messages that the reader can take away from the story. I would recommend this book to any reader.” TWC Amazon Review
“Colors Like Memories was an amazing YA paranormal romance. It will make you soar with wings then drop you off and catch you once you get near the ground.” Michelle Kullman Amazon Review
“COLORS LIKE MEMORIES is an achingly beautiful tale of love, loss, and new beginnings. Meradeth Houston writes with a clean, clear prose that packs a punch. She carries her characters through the full spectrum of emotions, and the reader is swept along in the journey.” RunningnWriting Amazon Review
3. You don’t have to wait for book #2! THE CHEMISTRY OF FATE, also set in the Sary world, is already available, and you can grab a copy at Amazon, B&N, or my publisher MuseItUp Publishing. Book #3, SURRENDER THE SKY, will also be released soon 🙂
You can order COLORS LIKE MEMORIES at my publisher’s site: MuseItUp Publishing, or find it on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Ebook copies are also available on all vendor sites!
Those are my three things, and if that’s not enough to interest you, well, I’ve also got a little giveaway running for a book of your choice. Check out the rafflecopter below 🙂
>She’s a Northern California girl, but now lives and teaches anthropology in Montana.
>When she’s not writing, she’s sequencing dead people’s DNA. For fun!
>She’s been writing since she was 11 years old. It’s her hobby, her passion, and she’s so happy to get to share her work!
>If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because she’s terrified of heights.
Find her online:
Thanks to everyone who has taken a minute to vote for Elixir Bound’s cover in the You Gotta Read June cover contest. There’s still time to vote here (cover #10) if you haven’t already. In the meantime, give some more cover love for Cherie Colyer’s upcoming YA paranormal romance Hold Tight, plus a new cover for book #1 in the series Embrace.
Title: Hold Tight (Embrace, #2)
Author: Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Expected release date: August 20, 2013
Book Description:
Sixteen-year-old Madison Riley and her friends discover they aren’t the only supernatural beings in Gloucester, Massachusetts. These new creatures are more dangerous than ever, and this time Madison risks losing more than just her friends. Find it on Goodreads.
Author: Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Released: December 2012
Book Description:
Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve. Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own. Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover. Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound. Find it on Goodreads.
Cherie Colyer writes young adult and middle grade novels. She loves finding new stories that keep her up late reading. While her favorite genre is realistic paranormal/fantasy, if the book is beautifully written with characters that come alive she’s all over it. Find her on Facebook or Twitter @CherieColyer.
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