Getting your swoon on...

I have to admit, I've got zero excuses for being a day late on my post. And I mean zero. I just got distracted by my website overhaul, opening my Tumblr, trying to figure out what the heck to do with Instagram (still confused, so if you have any tips, now's the time), and generally bumming around the internet watching comedy sketches.

However, I'm here now, and I'm going to talk about getting your swoon on. Or, more specifically, learning how to. I'll be 100% honest, swooning is not my gig. It's been something I've had trouble with for a long time, but it's something I'm learning one slow bit at a time. So, to that end, I thought I'd give you the top three tips I've learned so far. Hopefully, you'll get some use out of them, like I did when I got them.

1) Figure out what your main character values in a person. If you're going to have them fall head over heels, then it helps for the reader to see one or two of these qualities in the potential love interest. Those qualities can be hidden at first in some books, and revealed as the plot progresses, but there should be some indications sown in throughout the novel.

2) Make your love interest worth it. We all connect to different people for different reasons. However, if I said I was looking for dark hair, dark eyes, and someone loyal...well, that could be a lot of different, generic someones. So while that might be my first stepping stone, I'm looking for more. You know what attracted me to my husband-to-be when we met? On our first date, he very honestly said, "I'm divorced, have 3 kids, and they come first." I fell there and then (not that I told him that until a long time later!). Why? Funny thing is, I never wanted kids. Still don't. But family is the most important thing to me. And for someone to be that frank and honest with someone who might just turn and walk away? That is what caught me. The fact that he's also kind and loyal add to this. But it's the other things, too...the way he agrees for us to foster dogs, even though he finds the smell and hair hard to abide. The way he supports me working from home. The way he goes out of his way to do the little things that matter to me...turning up with a mini-cake just because he knows I feel crappy. These are the things you learn about a person over time. So make your MC learn these things about your love interest over time, and your reader will buy into them, hook, line, and sinker.

3) Make your characters interesting! In fiction, characters need to be dynamic, imperfect, entertaining, devilish, loyal, larger than life, down to earth... Now, you don't need to make them have all these qualities. But what you do need to do is make sure that you give them something to stand out from the pack.

So, I hope this helps. And if you're interested in more of my blog posts, you can check out my blog, too.

GUESTOPIA: YA Author Amber Elby

Today, we’re lucky enough to get a fascinating look into the writing world of a new and exciting YA author! You will love this!

AMBER ELBY

Amber Elby was born in Grand Ledge, Michigan but spent much of her childhood in the United Kingdom. She began writing when she was three years old and created miniature books by asking her family how to spell every, single, word. Several years later, she saw her first Shakespearean comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, in London. Many years later, she studied Creative Writing at Michigan State University’s Honors College before earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in Screenwriting at the University of Texas at Austin. She currently resides in Texas with her husband and two daughters and spends her time teaching, traveling, and getting lost in imaginary worlds.  

Is this your first published book? 

Yes, but I’ve had short films produced and also published a handful of poems. 

What’s it called?

Cauldron’s Bubble

Which genre?

I call it Shakespearean fan-fiction fantasy for young adults. It takes place within the fiction of Shakespeare’s plays but is written in a fast-paced, modern style that appeals to most YA fans. It also contains magic and time travel and such, hence the fantasy aspect.

Which age group?

Cauldron’s Bubble is intended for young people who are about to begin studying Shakespeare’s plays in school, but most of their parents read and enjoy it, too. My youngest fan that I know is eight years old, and my oldest fan is past eighty. 

Is it a series or standalone?

It is the first in a series called the Netherfeld Trilogy. The second book, Double, Double Toil, will be released later this year (date TBA), and the final book, Trouble Fires Burn, will come out in 2019. 

Are you an agented author?

Not yet, but I emailed my first query letter a week or so ago. I received distribution help from my publisher and only realized that I needed an agent when I started looking into international sales. 

Which publisher snapped up your book?

Verdopolis Press of Austin, Texas. 

How involved have you been in the whole publishing process of your book?

I was, thankfully, incredibly involved with the publication. I worked closely with my cover artist, Brandi Harrison of TypeJar Studio, to create the front and back covers. I even got to choose the font for the book. I wanted an artistic say in this project because I learned from screenwriting how it feels to have someone else take control of your writing, which is why I knew from the beginning that I wanted to go with a smaller press who would let me retain creative control. 

Do you have another job?

Yes, I teach rhetorical writing and British literature at a local community college. I write under a pen name, so my students generally don’t know that I am a published author. 

Did you receive many, if any, rejections prior?

The stars were actually aligned for Cauldron’s Bubble, so I worked with Verdopolis Press from relatively early in the process with the clear intent to publish with them. I actually didn’t submit the manuscript elsewhere. 

What created/what were you doing or watching when the first idea for this book sneaked up on you?

I used to teach ninth grade English at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. This was many years ago, back when the Percy Jackson series first exploded into popular culture. My students had to read The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Macbeth for the class, and they could all relate to The Odyssey because they had read Percy Jackson for pleasure. They had read Grendel the previous year in school, so they were prepared for Beowulf, but they had no prior experience to help them understand Shakespeare. I realized that there needed to be a bridge text that could help students relate to plays like Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest, so that is how Cauldron’s Bubble was first conceived. Actually prior to this, starting when I was in middle or high school, I always wondered what Macbeth’s witches did offstage, how Hamlet escaped from the pirates on his way to England, and what happened on Prospero’s island before the play actually begins, so many of the novel’s elements have been in my mind since I was a teenager.  

How long did you plot/plan until you started writing it?

I thought about Cauldron’s Bubble for about ten years before I started writing what would become the first draft. During that time, I reread and taught many of Shakespeare’s plays, and I wrote extensive notes containing my ideas that I emailed to myself (so I could easily find them later), but I had major life events like births and deaths and building my home that prevented me from focusing on writing. I knew my title at the very beginning of the process, but I didn’t develop the protagonists, Alda and Dreng, until about two years before publication. Once I wrote the first chapter, my notes allowed me to complete the novel relatively quickly. I have some regret for not starting sooner, but I’m not sure I could have written it without everything that happened in the years between inspiration and writing.

Once you started, did the story flow naturally or did you have to step in and wrestle it into submission?

I practice world-building when I write, so I almost feel like I observe the events of the novel rather than create them because I am so imbedded in the fiction. I call this “going down the rabbit hole.” I knew where I was going when I wrote, or at least I thought I did, but the characters seemed to go on their own adventures, so my ideas had the potential to change seemingly without my control.

How many drafts did you write before you let someone read it? Who was that someone?

By the end, I wrote about seventy drafts, but I know that other writers would not count each of these revisions as a draft because they were not all complete page-one rewrites, even though I did make significant changes to at least part of the novel each time. I’m not sure when I let my husband first read it, but I believe I was about halfway through the process before I let him read only the first chapter. I hesitated to share it because it is part of a new fantasy world, and I knew that anyone who read an early, incomplete version would have too many questions and just be confused. I also kept my writing secret from most of my friends and all of my extended family because I was afraid that something would go wrong with publication, so I didn’t tell my mother about it until I handed her a printed copy. 

Did you employ an editor/proofreader or did you have a critique partner/beta readers before you started querying?

I had many readers outside of my publisher. I am lucky to have educated and talented friends who have degrees and backgrounds in creative writing and English, so I called in some favours and got people to read my early full drafts with no pay. I thanked all of them in my acknowledgements, but that doesn’t seem adequate for the time that they gave me, so thanks again, everyone, for all of your help. 

Roughly how many drafts did it take before you sent the manuscript off into the real world?

As I said, I wrote about seventy drafts. I revised as I went, too, so the first draft probably had nearly that many revisions before it was complete. Again, these were not page-one rewrites. Each rewrite fixed a specific problem within the draft or added a new subplot or expanded several scenes or rewrote the dialogue. I know that other writers would probably count this as fewer drafts, but I have over seventy different versions saved on my computer. 

How many drafts until it was published?

Revision was all one long process, and I don’t really know where pre-publisher revisions ended and publisher revisions began. I have many scribbled-on manuscripts on my shelf, and I don’t even know how many times each one was reviewed or in which order they were revised. I think that “many” is a good answer for this question.

Has the book changed dramatically since the first draft?

Yes, of course. The first chapter was significantly longer in the first draft, and it was incredibly wordy. I also wrote part of the first draft as I was reading Frankenstein, and I had to throw out those chapters and completely rewrite them because I became overly verbose and archaic (see, I used big words again just thinking about it). I don’t want to say I’m embarrassed by my first draft, but, well…

Are there any parts you’d like to change even now?

I’m actually scared to read the printed copy because I know I will find things to change! I don’t understand how people actually “finish” writing. I know that if left to my own devices, I would release about ten different editions with minor changes to things that no one else even noticed.

What part of writing do you find the easiest?

I was about to jokingly say typing, but then I accidentally hit the equal sign in the middle: typ=ing. If “easiest” means “the part that you feel the most confident about,” then I suppose that the dialogue comes the most naturally because I studied it for so long when I wrote screenplays. Tomorrow I might say that characterization is easiest, or plotting, or conflict, so it probably just depends on the scene and my mood.

What part do you find hardest?

Physical exhaustion. Really, writing is taxing on me. I lose time when I write, so I think things like, “It’s almost noon. I should stop and eat lunch.” Then it’s suddenly 2:00, and I’m faint with hunger. I also have severe and vivid nightmares when I am in the depths of writing; sometimes these help with ideas, but they are often about things that are “off-stage” in my work, so I usually cannot include them directly. 

Do you push through writing barriers or walk away?

I push through. If I need a little break, I either take a shower, nap briefly, or pet my cat. I have a writing cat who sits next to me when I work (he’s at my feet right now), and I highly suggest the adoption of a similar companion for anyone who needs writing support. 

How many projects do you have on the go at the same time?

I can work on many different projects, but I have trouble writing more than one work of prose-fiction at a time. At the moment, I’m working on a scholarly/research project, writing a travel blog under a different pen name, and working on the sequel to Cauldron’s Bubble. I’ve also been outlining several other novels, but they are essentially on a shelf until I finish the Netherfeld Trilogy. 

Do you think you’re born with the talent to write or do you think it can be learned?

I teach college students how to write, so I know it can be learned. It might be easier for some people to learn, but I always tell my students that everyone is capable of earning an A. Everyone can write well, too, but some have to study longer and work harder than others.  You also have to be humble when you write and take criticism because that is the only way to improve.

How many future novels do you have planned?

I have at least four novels that are seriously under construction, but I plan to write until I die, so I’ll say “many.”

Do you write other things, such as short stories, articles, blogs, etc?

Yes, I write a travel blog under a different pen name (I keep my identities separate for professional purposes), and I have also written many screenplays and have a MFA in screenwriting. When I was an undergraduate, I wrote poetry and studied under a successful Beat poet, but she told me to go into fiction writing because I had “too many characters in my head.” 

What’s the highlight of being published so far?

My fourth grade daughter did a book report and project about Cauldron’s Bubble. She was not allowed to ask me questions because she had to interpret the book herself, but she did a great job visualizing the story and created a poster collage of the different settings. I keep it in my office. 

Give me one writing tip that works for you.

I always try to give an unusual answer for this question: one of my screenwriting professors told us to create a soundtrack to play when we write that includes “theme songs” for the characters. I was reluctant to do this at first, but now I think that it does help. 

And one that doesn't.

I knew a lot of aspiring writers in college who felt like they had to drink or do drugs to write well; a classmate even told me that it was impossible for anyone to write sober. I want every young person reading this to know that such an outlook is not true. The most successful writers I know are clean and sober (of course there are famous, mostly dead, writers who were otherwise). I have never done any illegal drug, and I don’t drink when I write. Trust your imagination, and it will guide you without any stimulus. 

Can you give us a clue or secret about the next book?

My protagonists enter the world of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but my fairies are much more terrifying than they are usually portrayed on stage. Ophelia is also introduced as a character in the next book, so she actually gets her own voice instead of being subjugated by male characters. 

What question have you always wanted to be asked but never have? What would the answer be?

“If you could write for any other series, which one would you choose?”

My response a year ago would have been the long-cancelled television series Veronica Mars because of my background in screenwriting, but my nine-year-old daughter recently became obsessed with a middle-grade book series called Tales from the Haunted Mansion from Disney Press. I would love to contribute to that series, especially because it has the potential for 999 books, one for each ghost in the Haunted Mansion attraction, so I could remain in that imaginary world for a long time. 

Told you. How cool is Amber? Thank you so much for joining us today, Amber, and we wish you all the success with this and every book that follows.

If you would like to catch up with Amber, learn more about her writing, or purchase a copy of Cauldron’s Bubble, then these links might help!

Website

Twitter

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Australia

Goodreads

Reasons to be thankful this time of year

As the theme of November is thanksgiving, I thought I'd share a few reasons to rejoice the winter season as a writer:

Black Friday: This Friday (24^th) it’s Black Friday! This festive treat only made its journey across the pond to the UK (where I am) a few years ago, and it was pretty wild. But the shops have toned the hype down now for safer, funner and much more merry Black Friday sales. Let’s be thankful we can stock up on all our writing essentials, whether that’s a brand new MAC (a girl can dream) or a beautiful soft leather writing notebook, ready and waiting to hear all your brilliant ideas.

PitMad on 9^th December: Brenda Drake’s famous #PitMad Twitter Pitch Party will be hosted on 9^th December. Kick off your December in style by pitching your finished manuscript on the hashtag #PitMad #YA, and hopefully get it favourited by agents to earn yourself a request!

There’s a magical atmosphere: OK, so by January the short days and early nights are a reason to grumble, but these long winter nights pre-new year are perfect for snuggling in front of a crackling log fire with your pen and notebook. Outside, the air’s crisp and sharp, perfect for walks to clear your mind. At this time of year, the bars are busy, the shops are full, and everyone seems on the precipice of something exciting. Relax and soak up the festive air, admire the twinkling festive lights and get some inspiration for your new WIP.

It’s party-season! Even if you prefer staying at home to a night hitting the town, the party season can be great inspiration for writing… the shop displays tend to get more opulent at this time of year, and everyone out for their festive work parties will be glammed up, meaning it’s the perfect time to draw inspiration for that party scene or elaborate renaissance masquerade ball you’ve been dreaming about!

German Market arrives: Every writer knows a cup of coffee and a cookie are writing essentials, but once the German Market hits town those transform into a mug of mulled wine or hot chocolate and a fondant-covered fruit skewer! Make sure your fervent writing doesn’t get interrupted by a grumbling belly, by stocking up on all the goodies that market has to offer. (OK, OK, I admit, this is just an excuse to go to the German Market, but we all need a break sometimes, right?)

Sunrise: With those early nights, come late mornings, and what’s better than watching the golden sunrise over a frosty view? Even late-risers can enjoy a December sunrise, so set your alarm and get your notebook ready (freshly bought in the Black Friday sales, of course).

The Qualities of a Hero

PSA: MY BOOK, BETRAYAL OF THE BAND, RELEASES THIS MONTH! Just had to get that out of the way before talking about this month’s theme: Heroes

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. A geeky teenager (Spider-Man), a wealthy playboy (Iron Man), a highly trained orphan (Black Widow). (Can you tell I’m an Avengers fan?) But even the most ordinary person can be a hero (or heroine). So what makes a hero heroic? The ability and willingness to save the world? If that were necessary, we’d all be writing superhero or save-the-world stories, and we’re probably not. At least, I’m not. Everyone in Betrayal of the Band is an ordinary—though musically talented—high schooler. But that doesn’t make them any less heroic.

So how do you take an average, everyday protag—or even an unlikeable protag—and turn them into a hero (or heroine)? I’ve composed a short list of a few of the qualities, but I’d love to hear some others!

1. Sacrifice. In most stories, the hero (or heroine) is making a sacrifice. This doesn’t need to be a huge, life-or-death sacrifice like Harry Potter makes at the end of The Deathly Hallows. This sacrifice can be an ordinary, every day giving up, such as turning down a college scholarship to stay home and assist a disabled parent or coaching a younger sibling in soccer instead of hanging out with friends on the weekends. In Into the Fire, by Kim Vandal, the hero (or heroine), Kate, sacrifices dating and most of a social life to appease her mother’s fears. While these aren’t life-or-death sacrifices, for the hero the sacrifice is a death of a dream or a desire and also the willingness to put someone else ahead of those dreams or desires.
2. Love. Often a hero (or heroine) is motivated by a strong love. This doesn’t need to be romantic love. Think Katniss in The Hunger Games. She volunteered out of love for her sister, and she never saw herself as a hero for doing so. Even Iron Man, who mostly only loves himself, is spurred on when Pepper is threatened. This is probably related to sacrifice—because who’s going to make a sacrifice for someone they don’t care about?—but caring for someone more than for themselves is a quality of a hero.
3. Fight. A hero (or heroine) is willing to fight for what’s important. Again, this doesn’t have to be a huge, “oh no, the evil villain is going to destroy the whole world unless little old me stands up to him.” This is the boy willing to stand up to bullies in defense of an almost stranger. Or the girl refusing to let the loss of an athletic scholarship destroy her college dreams. In The War that Saved My Life, Ada is the least likely hero. She has a club foot and can’t even walk when the story begins. She’s been so abused, both physically and verbally, that she truly believes she’s worthless and useless. Yet she never quits. She continues to care for her brother and pushes herself to learn things like riding a horse, because the hero (or heroine) always keeps fighting.

These are only three qualities that define a hero. What would you add to the list? How can you use these elements to make your protag even more heroic?

Sarah Tipton is a writer of Christian Young Adult fiction. Her debut novel, Betrayal of the Band, releases in August 2017.

GUESTOPIA: Multi-published author Karen King

Karen King

It's Guestopia time for July and our first guest this month comes in the form a prolific and talented author. Please meet Karen King.

Karen King is the author of over 120 children's books and has had two YAs published, Perfect Summer and Sapphire Blue. Perfect Summer was runner up in the Red Telephone Books YA novel competition in 2011 and has just been republished by Accent Press.

Karen is also the author of two romance novels, and has been contracted for three chick lit novels by Accent Press. The first, I do?... or do I? was published in 2016 and the second, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, has just been released. In addition, Karen has written several short stories for women’s magazine and worked for many years on children’s magazines such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Winnie the Pooh as well as the iconic Jackie magazine.

When she isn’t writing, Karen likes travelling, watching the ‘soaps’ and reading. Give her a good book and a box of chocolates and she thinks she’s in Heaven.

And here's the interview...

Is this your first published book?

No, I’ve had about 120 children’s books published, two YA, two romance novels, two chicklits and there’s another chicklit in the process of publication.

What’s it called?

Perfect Summer

Which genre?

Dystopian

Which age group?

12+ there’s some gritty scenes!

Is it a series or standalone?

It’s a standalone

Are you an agented author?

No – although I have had agents in the past and may again in the future.

What created/what were you doing or watching when the first idea for this book sneaked up on you?

I’ve been concerned for a long time about the pressure society puts on people to have perfect looks then I read a magazine article about girls as young as four or five worrying that they were too fat or too ugly. I thought that was really sad. I started wondering what would happen if people got so obsessed with physical perfection that it became a ‘crime’ to be different in any way. Another concern of mine is how disabled people are treated, so both these concerns sowed the seeds of this story.

How long did you plot/plan until you started writing it?

I always plan a bit first. I write character profiles to make sure I really know my characters well and don’t change their eye or hair colour halfway through the story. Then I work out a plot outline so I know roughly where the story is going, and then I start writing it up.

Once you started, did the story flow naturally or did you have to step in and wrestle it into submission?

I started writing the story in third person at first but I felt that it wasn’t flowing right so I changed to the first person and I was away.

Has the book changed dramatically since the first draft?

Not dramatically, the basis of the story is the same. It’s more refined I guess. I rarely change the plot when I’ve revising, but I do change some phrases that I think aren’t flowing right, or make scenes more dramatic/concise.

What part of writing do you find the easiest?

Getting the initial idea. I have notebooks full of ideas.

What part do you find hardest?

Finding the time to write up the ideas. Then getting the story out of your head and onto the screen/page!

Do you push through writing barriers or walk away?

It depends. If I’m on a deadline I’ll write through them. If I’m not I’ll turn to something else for a while then I go back with a fresh mind and can usually find that the story flows okay again.

How many projects do you have on the go at the same time?

Three or four. I like a variety, and it helps stave off writer’s block if you have another project to turn to.

Do you think you’re born with the talent to write or do you think it can be learned?

That’s a difficult one. I’m a writing tutor and basically believe that writing is a skill, so like all skills it can be learned or improved – especially article and feature writing. Story writing, however, is different. You need that spark of imagination, that kernel of tale-spinning inside you, the ability to make a story out of thin air. If someone has that they can be helped to improve how they write their story down but that basic storytelling kernel of imagination can’t be taught.

How many future novels do you have planned?

I’m working on three at the moment, and also a couple of short stories.

Do you write other things, such as short stories, articles, blogs, etc?

Yes, I write short stories and blog posts. I also run a blog called The Writer’s Surgery, where I post articles and tips to help new writers.

What’s the highlight of being published so far?

Signing a three book contract for chicklits with Accent Press, two of the books, I do?...or do I? and The Cornish Hotel by the Sea are now out. The third will be out next year.

Give me one writing tip that work for you.

Just write. Get your first draft down then go back and revise it afterwards.

And one that doesn't.

Write drunk, edit sober – a famous tip by Ernest Hemingway

What question have you always wanted to be asked but never have? What would the answer be?

Can we make your book into a film? The answer would be yes!

Excellent! I imagine most authors want to be asked this, and I expect their answers would be the same too! Thank you so much for joining YAtopia today, Karen. We wish you all the best with your chick lit and YA novels.

Here's a little about Karen's latest YA, with some links to help...

Set in a society obsessed with perfection, 15-year-old Morgan is best friends with the seemingly perfect Summer. But when Morgan’s brother, Josh, who has Down’s syndrome, is kidnapped, they uncover a sinister plot and find themselves in terrible danger.

Can they find Josh before it’s too late? And is Summer’s life as perfect as it seems?

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mMXTzI 

Trailer: https://youtu.be/yL0gA_q0dag

And if you would like to find out more about Karen and her work, these links might help as well!

Website: http://www.karenking.net/

Twitter: @karen_king

Facebook: Karen King Young Adult Books

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/?hl=en