MY WRITING LIFE IN 2013 & LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

MY WRITING LIFE IN 2013 & LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

 

   Now that 2013 is drawing to a close it's time for me to do what I do every year...reflect. Yes I know it's cliché but every year I reflect over what has happened the last year and make new goals for the future. Do I meet those goals? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't.

   2013 was a monumental year for me. After buckling down and finally listening to the voice that had been telling me to write for the longest, my first novel was published. Goddess of Legend is my baby and I am extremely proud of it. I am so grateful to everyone that took the time to read it. It means a lot to me.

   With the happiness that I felt at finally becoming a published author, there also was tons of rejection. I had a hell of a time finding someone who believed in my vision for Goddess of Legend. There were times when I was ready to give up on being published at all. But I kept going and now I'm telling myself to do the same thing.

  I'm currently shopping around my second novel, Siren's Choice, and hoping to find a publisher or land an agent. I have already received some rejections, but I'm determined to keep going. After all, rejection is part of the game when it comes to writing.

   This year I also completed my third novel, The Diary of An Ugly Stepsister, a new take on the Cinderella myth from the viewpoint of one of the stepsisters. I wrote this novel in about six months and I'm really proud of it. Do I think I will have a hard time shopping it around? Probably. After all, I write multicultural fantasy romance. And that is a hard genre to shop around, but we'll see what happens.

    Overall in 2013, I completed 2 novels and have started writing my fourth novel, Goddess By Chance. So with a new year approaching what are my writing goals?

1. Complete the first draft of Goddess By Chance, Book 2 in The Demi-God Daughters Series

2. Complete the first draft of Siren's Embrace, Book 2 in The Mermaids of Astaeria Series

3. See the publication of Siren's Choice, Book 1 in The Mermaids of Astaeria Series

4. Start second draft of The Diary of An Ugly Stepsister, Book 1 in The Fractured Fairytale Series

5. And if I'm really lucky, find an agent.

So what are your goals for 2014? Drop me line and share.



BAD WRITING HABITS

BAD WRITING HABITS

 

 

           Regardless of whether or not you are a writer or not, we all have bad habits when it comes to grammar and writing. I am no different. I have recently started writing my fourth novel, GODDESS BY CHANCE. After writing three novels in first and third person, I think I have a base to pull from when it comes to recognizing some of my own writing bad habits. And today I will be brave enough to share mine with you.

 

 

TENSE USAGE. I am the world's worst at slipping in and out of correct tense. One minute I am writing in present tense. The next I'm writing in past tense. This is a big problem of mine and I have to remind myself constantly to be on the lookout for this as I write. I think I run into this a lot when I'm shifting between telling backstory that has happened and what is presently happening in the story. It's a problem and I know it.

 

 

DESCRIPTIONS. I struggle with writing descriptions, not because I can't, but because I don't like to. I'm the type who wants to get to the story. I don't like wasting time writing long descriptions because I feel like they can in a sense distract from the story. If you spend so much time with the long descriptions, they can cause your reader to lose track of your story and you to lose the flow as you write. There needs to be description in your novel, but you have to make sure that you walk the line between too much and not enough. My problem is I tend to write not enough description. I have a habit of skipping over it to get to the story. But I need to do better, so I am making a conscious habit of trying to take the time to have adequate descriptions throughout my novel. After all, I want my readers to be able to clearly imagine the world I have created.

 

 

WORD CHOICE. I am guilty of the sin of using the same word over and over again. I don't try to do so, but it just happens. I've taken note of this while transcribing my third novel, THE DIARY OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER. I have used the word "look," like a thousand times in the first few chapters. Clearly I need to have a thesaurus to refer to when I'm writing to vary my word choice.

 

 

POINT OF VIEW. Yes, this too is a bad habit that has been brought to my attention. The last time I did it was today. Forgetting that the story was supposed to be in third person, I switched to first person and had written a whole paragraph before I realized what had happened. Needless to say I shook my head at my own foolishness and quickly went back and edited the paragraph. My preference is first person. I like writing the character as if it were me, but third person allows you a wider view of the world so I'm trying to stick with that.

 

 

DIALOGUE TAGS. I've heard many writers say the only dialogue tag you need is "said." I absolutely do not follow this rule. I am the Queen of Inventive Dialogue Tags. I love them. I feel like they jazz up what is being said, but I know they are bad. Pray with me as I try to stop using them so frequently. I already know I cannot go cold turkey just yet.

 

 

So those are my "deadly writing sins," that I watch for during the first draft and try to clean up during edits. Be brave. Share with me a few of your own bad writing habits.

SEPARATE BUT UNEQUAL....DIVERSITY IN THE WRITING WORLD

SEPARATE BUT UNEQUAL....DIVERSITY IN THE WRITING WORLD

 

 

      America has a long and complicated racial history. In 1896 in the case of  Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation,( also known as separation) was equal. Things only finally changed in 1954 in the case of  Brown v. Board of Education when, the Supreme Court ruled separate but equal is inherently unequal. We like to think that since those dark days in American history, things have changed for the better and in some way they have. But in others, they remain the same. Things are the same in the publishing world, at least that is what I've been seeing in my many years as a reader and now in my short time as a published author.

    Today I went to the two bookstores in my city, Books-A-Million and Barnes and Noble. When I walked into BAM, I saw that in the front of the store the new arrivals in fiction were displayed. Right next to those books was the African American category. Now I cannot fault BAM for where they decided to place these books. They were up front in the store for everyone to see. But as I stood and watched people come in and out of the store, the African American section was ignored completely. People went over to the new arrivals, skipped over the AA section and then moved to the fiction section right next to it. My heart sank.

    I found myself angry. As I looked at the books on the shelf in the African American section I thought about how so many of these books would fit in other categories and gain so much more exposure instead of being put adrift in a category, readers walk right past. Simmering with aggravation, I continued my browsing around the store. I came to the romance section and was shocked. I saw a brown face on the cover of a romance book. I picked it up to investigate further. It was a Beverly Jenkins book. In the entire romance section, she was the only African American author that had not had her books put in the African American category. I had no idea what to think. I was happy to see heroes and heroines that looked like me, but it shouldn't be up to just one author to carry that weight. I made my purchases and left, but something nagged at me so I went across town to Barnes and Noble.

    At Barnes and Noble, there was no separation of books by race. As I browsed the shelves, I noticed books by African American authors on the same shelves, in the same section as everyone else's. I was happy. Quite pleased. It seemed B&N had the right idea. Separate is not equal. But at the same time, I noticed there were less books overall at B&N than BAM, limiting your selection.

    So now that I'm home thinking about things I have a lot of questions. Who decides where a book is shelved? Is it the publisher? Is it the bookstore chain? Or is it up to the discretion of each book store?

    Whoever came up with the idea for an African American section may have thought they were doing a good thing. Maybe their intention was to encourage more people of color to read by showing them books with people who looked like them on the cover. And while a few more people of color may be reading more, authors of color are losing out. With the diversity of books in the African American section that could easily fit in other categories such as romance, chic lit, women's fiction, suspense, ect., these authors are missing out on those markets because readers seeking these types of books will never see their books because they are placed in the African American section. It's sad, but true.

  A separate category is not an equal category. In my opinion, I think the African American section needs to be done away with. Period. If you want to have an urban section to put novels written about the ghetto and crime, fine. But the rest of the authors unfairly stuck in the African American category need to have their books placed on the shelves in the appropriate genre they belong to. African American is not a genre. It is a race based category and it needs to go away forever. All writers want to have the chance to have their books exposed to a wide audience and they deserve that chance. So when it comes to having an African American section in the bookstores, thanks but no thanks. The Supreme Court ruled separate is not equal and I wholeheartedly agree.



FEELING PRESSURE

FEELING PRESSURE

 

   Contrary to what many think, nothing about being a writer is easy. Not everyone has it in them to write a complete novel. For those that do, it is a major accomplishment. To have said novel, published is an even bigger accomplishment. But what happens after your novel is out? What happens when you start the process of trying to build a career as an author? I don't know how it is for others but I can share my experience.

   After seeing the successful publication of my debut novel, Goddess of Legend, I became even more motivated to pursue my love of writing. I spent months re-writing my second novel, Siren's Choice, and finally felt ready to submit. After giving my previous publisher first dibs and receiving a rejection I was devastated. And so begins the hard process of finding someone to accept my vision and love it as much as I do.

    Right now, I'm pretty frustrated. I remember the hell I endured trying to find someone to publish my first novel and I'm in no hurry to experience it again. I'm feeling under a lot of pressure. What if it takes forever to find a publisher willing to accept my novel? What if I can't find a publisher willing to take a chance on this novel? What if I have to try and attempt to publish on my own? But worst of all, what if by the time is out, my readers have forgotten about me?

   Let's face it. I'm a new author with 1 novel out. I do not have a built in fan base. I'm still trying to get people interested in me. Time is a luxury I cannot afford. In order to build a fan base, I need to keep myself on the forefront of their minds when they're thinking about buying a new novel. But in this, I'm helpless. I can't make a publisher look at my submissions any quicker and were I to decide to self publish that too would take time. So I'm stuck, waiting and under pressure.

  But the waiting game is not the only source of pressure I've been feeling. I take note of what's popular in the writing world. The genres and things that seem to be selling well. And getting the unexpected rejection for my second novel made me think about it more. I started to think, maybe I should take a stab at something I know will guarantee a publisher picking up my story. Why don't I try a romance with shapeshifters? Why don't I try a ménage? Or what about a male/male novel? My mind has been in turmoil. Do I? Or don't I?

   Let's face it. I don't have an established fan base. I probably could venture out and try something else.  I'm sure I could write a novel with the above mentioned things, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it so why do it? I'm not going to. Despite the pressure I feel I'm going to stick with writing the things that I love. There's no point in me trying to write a book I personally wouldn't want to read. Besides, there are enough writers out there doing those other genres. They don't need to add me to the mix.

   When I decided I wanted to become a serious writer, it was because I wanted to carve my own path in the writing world. I want to write novels that people may not have thought about before. I want to write my way. So no matter how much pressure I may be feeling I have to remain true to myself. After all, if I don't want to read it, who will?



SPOTLIGHT ON STEPHANIE DRAY'S "DAUGHTERS OF THE NILE"

SPOTLIGHT ON STEPHANIE DRAY'S "DAUGHTER OF THE NILE"

 

I recently had the pleasure of reading this novel and I would like to spotlight it today.

From critically acclaimed historical fantasy author, Stephanie Dray comes the long-awaited new tale based on the true story of Cleopatra's daughter.

After years of abuse as the emperor’s captive in Rome, Cleopatra Selene has found a safe harbor. No longer the pitiful orphaned daughter of the despised Egyptian Whore, the twenty year old is now the most powerful queen in the empire, ruling over the kingdom of Mauretania—an exotic land of enchanting possibility where she intends to revive her dynasty. With her husband, King Juba II and the magic of Isis that is her birthright, Selene brings prosperity and peace to a kingdom thirsty for both. But when Augustus Caesar jealously demands that Selene’s children be given over to him to be fostered in Rome, she’s drawn back into the web of imperial plots and intrigues that she vowed to leave behind. Determined and resourceful, Selene must shield her loved ones from the emperor’s wrath, all while vying with ruthless rivals like King Herod. Can she find a way to overcome the threat to her marriage, her kingdom, her family, and her faith? Or will she be the last of her line?

 

Read the Reviews

"A stirring story of a proud, beautiful, intelligent woman whom a 21st century reader can empathize with. Dray's crisp, lush prose brings Selene and her world to life." ~RT Book Reviews

"The boldest, and most brilliant story arc Dray has penned..." ~Modge Podge Reviews

"If you love historical fiction and magical realism, these books are for you." ~A Bookish Affair

 

Read an Excerpt

Below me, six black Egyptian cobras dance on their tails, swaying. I watch their scaled hoods spread wide like the uraeus on the crown of Egypt. Even from this height, I'm paralyzed by the sight of the asps, their forked tongues flickering out between deadly fangs. I don't notice that I'm gripping the balustrade until my knuckles have gone white, all my effort concentrated upon not swooning and falling to my death.

And I would swoon if I were not so filled with rage. Someone has arranged for this. Someone who knows what haunts me. Someone who wants to send me a message and make this occasion a moment of dread. My husband, the king must know it, for he calls down, "That's enough. We've seen enough of the snake charmer!"

There is commotion below, some upset at having displeased us. Then Chryssa hisses, "Who could think it a good idea to honor the daughter of Cleopatra by coaxing asps from baskets of figs?"

The story the world tells of my mother's suicide is that she cheated the emperor of his conquest by plunging her hand into a basket where a venomous serpent lay in wait. A legend only, some say, for the serpent was never found. But I was there. I brought her that basket. She was the one bitten but the poison lingers in my blood to this day. I can still remember the scent of figs in my nostrils, lush and sweet. The dark god Anubis was embroidered into the woven reeds of the basket, the weight of death heavy in my arms. I can still see my mother reach her hand into that basket, surrendering her life so that her children might go on without her. And I have gone on without her.

I have survived too much to be terrorized by the emperor's agents or whoever else is responsible for this.

If it is a message, a warning from my enemies, I have already allowed them too much of a victory by showing any reaction at all. So I adopt as serene a mask as possible. My daughter blinks her big blue eyes, seeing past my facade. "Are you frightened, Mother? They cannot bite us from there. The snakes are very far away."

I get my legs under me, bitterness on my tongue. "Oh, but they're never far enough away."

###

Available now in print and e-book!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo | Powells | IndieBound | Goodreads

WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE THREATENS TO KILL YOUR CREATIVE MUSE

          WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE THREATENS TO KILL YOUR CREATIVE MUSE

 

       Life is full of ups and downs, things expected and things unexpected. Many people find themselves so busy with working, raising a family and keeping house that there is no time for much of anything else. Life can get in the way and prevent you from having any time for yourself.

 

 

     Right now, life is getting in my way. I am currently in the last few weeks of  (what I hope) is my last semester in graduate school. Between a few final class projects and a whole lot of studying in preparation for a final exam, my brain feels as if it is well and truly fried. This semester has been the most busy and stressful of all my semesters in graduate school. I have had to read inordinate amounts of text that would bore pretty much anyone to tears. On top of that with writing assignments every week have taken up much of my free time. Add to the mix, the arduous task of job-hunting every day in preparation for graduation and you have one pretty burned out grad student with little free time.

 

 

      As a result of my myriad of life responsibilities, my creative muse has started to suffer. What do I mean by this? I mean that the voice inside my head that tells me what to write is having a hard time speaking lately. With less and less time, when I do make an attempt to write, I'm finding that I'm starting to struggle. It's getting harder and harder to pick up my story and work on it in irregular spurts. I'm finding that the passion I had when I started the story is diminishing. But most of all, I can find myself fearing that life will always get in the way of my writing.

 

 

    So what do you do when life threatens your creative muse? I've thought about this long and hard as I struggle to build my writing career. Here is what I have come up with

 

1. YOU MUST WRITE EVERYDAY- I've heard this said more than once and it couldn't be more true. While writing may be a talent, it is also a skill. To sharpen your skill, you must practice and that means writing everyday. It doesn't matter how much you write. What matters is that you write something. This will not only keep your skill up to par, but it will keep your enthusiasm for your story going. As you work on your story, day by day, not only do you get closer and closer to completion, but you get affirmation that your muse was not just a fluke. It's there to stay.

 

2. DO THE BARE MINIMUM- What do I mean? My mother is likely to disagree with this one. What I mean is we all have things to do, but that doesn't mean we are required to spend all of our free time doing these tasks. For instance, I do all my laundry on one day of the week, as well as my cleaning. When I make cook I do a lot of crock pot ready meals. That means I don't have to spend valuable time making my meals. Instead I'm free to write as the crockpot does all the work. When it comes to my schooling, I have stopped reading materials that I know will be lectured on in class. It frees up more writing time for me.

 

3. READ, READ, READ- A writer will never be successful unless he or she spends time reading the works of others. Reading will keep your mind stimulated and often provide you with new ideas that you could incorporate in future works. Besides that reading exposes you to different writing styles that can help influence your own particular style.

 

4. KEEP UP WITH OTHER AUTHORS- There is nothing better to motivate you and your muse, than seeing that there are other authors out there trudging along through the mud that is life. Whether it's a NY Times bestselling author or an indie author, seeing someone else talking about their work and the new release they have coming out will motivate you to keep going with your current work and keep your mind open for new ideas that will keep you writing.

 

     Since I've started trying to adhere to these techniques, I'm finding that my muse is slowly starting to come back to me. I find my mind conjuring new twists and turns to add to my current work in progress. My muse has even come up with a new novel idea in the past month. With 32 more potential stories to waiting to be written I have no choice but to find something that works and stick to it. After all, these novels aren't going to write themselves.

 

What kinds of techniques do you use to keep your creative muse alive?





THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR FIRST NOVEL AND YOUR SECOND

The Difference Between Your First Novel and Your Second

 



 

 

I’ve heard other authors say that their second novel was much easier to write than their first novel. When the second novel comes along is usually when an author has figured out what their writing style is, what their daily writing routine is and whether or not they are a pantser or a plotter. My experience writing my second novel was completely opposite. I struggled heavily while writing my second novel and there were many times that I threw it to the side and thought about scrapping the idea altogether.

  
My first novel Goddess of Legend was written between February 2012 and December 2012. My inspiration for my novel was Aimee Carter’s Goddess Test series and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone. Writing GOL was fairly easy for me. I fell in love with both Hades and Cameryn.When I finished writing GOL I was proud of myself because not only had I completed a story that I believed was beautiful, unique and moving, but after years of talking about completing a novel I had finally done it.
 
 For a few days I basked in my accomplishment but I knew that I couldn’t just be idle. The voice inside my head was telling me to write again. I had no choice but to listen. My second novel Siren’s Choice is actually a very old idea. My heroine, Princess AaRiyaa was born as a character in my 10th grade English Honors II class during journal entry time. That was almost 10 years ago. During that time AaRiyaa made the typical journey associated with mermaids. She visited land and fell in love with a human choosing to stay with him on land. I liked my little short story but the only thing that differentiated AaRiyaa from other mermaids was that she was black. My story was too Disney-esque. In fact it was so Disney-esque that AaRiyaa and Ariel were best friends.

 Needless to say Siren’s Choice was soon shelved as I did what most people do, graduate from high school and head off to college. It was probably around the time I graduated with my Bachelor’s in 2009 that I decided to pick up Siren’s Choice again. I wrote ten chapters and absolutely hated it. I liked AaRiyaa, truly I did, but I just wasn’t feeling the story being told thus far. So once again, AaRiyaa and her story went away.

 In late 2011 I decided once and for all that I was going to fix Siren’s Choice. After all I loved mermaids too much not to have AaRiyaa’s story to share with the world. So I painstakingly re-wrote the first 10 chapters of the book and I started to think okay, maybe I can do this. Maybe I can write a believable adult mermaid/human romance with minority characters. Around this time however, the idea for Goddess of Legend was born and once again I put Siren’s Choice away.

 With GOL finally complete I returned to Siren’s Choice with problems I didn’t expect. For starters, it was hard to dive back into the story after being so engrossed with my first novel for so long. Once I finally started going again, I ran into a problem I had never experienced while writing GOL, I didn’t love AaRiyaa and my hero Jason. In fact I didn’t particularly like them. I constantly compared them to my hero and heroine from Goddess of Legend and found them lacking.

But I struggled on writing. With GOL I did virtually no plotting. I just sat down and wrote. With SC I had to plot everything and constantly struggle to find innovative ways to make my novel different from other mermaid novels out there. As time went on I started to like SC less and less. Once Siren's Choice was finished, I stepped away from it. I was too emotionally attached to my book to look at it objectively and decide whether I should trash it or start again. So I did the next best thing. I got myself a beta reader.
  
My Beta reader Monica has been the first person to read either of my novels and she always gives fantastic advice. I told Monica up front that I did not love Siren’s Choice like I did Goddess of Legend. As Monica continued to read chapter after chapter she kept asking me, “What’s wrong with it? I like it.” I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I just kept saying, “Something’s missing. I’m afraid of it being cheesy. I don’t like it.” Monica read on and soon she was completely done. Monica gave me some words of wisdom I won’t forget.

 She said to me, “Erin, this is a completely different story from Goddess of Legend. These are completely different characters. You have to give them a chance.” I thought long and hard about what she’d said to me. Monica was absolutely right. I was still so hung up on the romance I’d created between Hades and Cameryn that I wasn’t giving Jason and AaRiyaa a chance to have a romance of their own. I’d gotten comfortable writing characters with traits so similar to me that writing something new was scaring the bejesus out of me. But Monica’s words also made me realize something else, as a writer you cannot be stagnant. You must evolve. You must be willing to explore things that are outside of your norm.
 
Writing is all about creating worlds and emotions. You have to be willing to be open to creating new things. After taking in Monica's feedback and re-reading my story I started my second draft Siren’s Choice.  Yesterday I finished the second and final draft and although it was not easy writing, Siren’s Choice is not the terrible novel I once thought it was. In fact I'm starting to look forward to have a chance to share it with the world because I believe I have created a pretty unique story.

 Though writing my second story was much harder than writing my first, I have learned quite a few valuable lessons. For starters, it is okay to step out of your comfort zone and try something different. It's okay to not love your novel at first. It takes more than one draft for your story to start to shine. I also learned that no matter what you have to bulldoze your way through. You came up with an idea for a story. Not everyone can do that, so you must see your story to through the end. Don't give up on the vision in your head. But most importantly, remember all that matters at the end of the day is that you take a step towards change and see it through.