It's All Love Hate with Writing

Okay... I've gone from love to hate to love to hate with this stinkin' manuscript. Now I'm bending around the curve back to love. It's not total infatuation yet, people, but definitely back up to lukewarm now.

I'd like to say it's not the characters, that it's just me. But no... I really feel like it's the characters. They were the ones who came to me in my sleep (my sleep, let me emphasize) and told me their story. Got me all excited about writing their journey.

With this excitement I spent all this time outlining their story. I thought I knew them. I thought I knew where they were going. I thought I... well, I could go on and on with all the crap I thought I knew.

The truth is, they tricked me. They always trick me.

The characters are always like, "Oh yeah, AR. Really this is my journey. It's not difficult, not complex. Just a straight story."

And I'm always like, "Really? That's great!"

Then weeks later the truth hits and the characters snicker evilly in my head, "Sucker!"

With this, I grumble, "Yeah. I know."

But by this time I'm all in. The story is driving my brain. Multiple people (fictional people, not other AR personalities... I'm not crazy, really) are yelling at me to "get it right". I fight to understand the true meanings and themes. I struggle to know the villain beyond just a corny vague monologue.

I quest to know their world.

I get so frustrated I want to scream... and then I veg out on the couch with a Star Trek marathon. The characters, nervous at the prospect of being tossed into the permanent "draft" folder, give me a piece of the puzzle.

Admittedly, at this tiny act of peace offering I ignore and continue with my vegging... maybe moving over to Star Wars (4, 5, 6, then 1, 2, 3, thank you very much). Hey, don't blame me. These fictional folks know I have a stubborn streak. I mean, they live in my head and have first hand visual of this characteristic and all.

Now my characters are panicking and release another piece and another until my juices are up again and I'm typing away.

This could be it, but no. This cycle lasts a good 4-6 months until a draft is complete.

And then the whole revision and editing hell - er - phase begins.

Out of This World Blog Tour: Diane Dooley Visits

Please welcome guest blogger, Diane Dooley!

I love the sight of a man falling in love. That slightly panicked and disbelieving look in his eyes is beautiful to me. It’s even better when they don’t see it coming. They walk into a restaurant, they find their seat on the plane, they meet their new customer and BAM – that ole devil called love smacks them right between the eyes.

It’s not always like that, of course. Sometimes love grows slowly over time. Sometimes it happens quickly over the course of a sweetly intense affair. But sometimes? BAM! You can chalk it up to sexual attraction, instant chemistry, a meeting of the minds, but still – BAM happens. I speak from experience.

I think that’s why I wrote Blue Galaxy entirely from the point of view of the male character, Javan Rhodes. The poor guy falls hard, instantly, irrevocably, and then spends an awful lot of time trying to talk himself out of feeling the way he does. He knows this can’t be love; he knows there’s no such thing as love at first sight. Nevertheless, the dude is totally bammed. Totally.

It’s a touchy subject, I’ve found. Early readers of the manuscript were almost equally split in their passionate belief or disbelief in love at first sight. I found this fascinating and would love to hear more opinions on this. So, what do you think? Do you believe in love at first sight?

Please mention in your comment if you’d like to be entered in a drawing for a free copy of Blue Galaxy and don’t forget to leave contact info if you do.

Bio: Diane Dooley was born in the Channel Islands and grew up in Scotland. After many years of moving and travelling she finally settled down in Upstate New York, where the summers are short and the winters just might just kill you. She lives with her best friend/husband, who can’t fix a damn thing, and two obstreperous boy children in a falling-down farmhouse in the sticks. She is very happy.

You can find her on her blog, on Facebook , on Goodreads and on her group blog, Contact Infinite Futures. She is a regular contributor at The Galaxy Express as her alter-ego, Agent Z. and also writes dark and twisted short stories.

Blue Galaxy is available from: Carina Press, Amazon Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Audible.com and other online retailers.

Make sure to stop by Melisse Aires' blog tomorrow, where Gary Starta visits

http://melisseaires.blogspot.com

Second Annual Out of This World Blog Tour

"They're coming! They're coming!" Oh, wait...I'm part of them, so, I guess it's, "We're coming! We're coming!"

Doesn't sound as good does it? Any-who.

The Second Annual Out of This World Blog Tour is kicking off on September 16th. Everybody's visiting everybody else and we'd love for you to join us bloggy swingers in our blog-o-party. We have a great group of authors who will talk about SF stuff and show off their upcoming and/or recently released books. Below is the line-up. I'll keep you posted if anything changes.

September 17

Diane Dooley at Amber Norris’ blog

http://sci-fiadventures.blogspot.com/

September 18

Gary Starta at Melisse Aires’ blog

http://melisseaires.blogspot.com

September 19

Frances Pauli at Diane Dooley’s blog

http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/

September 20

Amber Norris at Greta van der Rol’sblog

http://gretavanderrol.com/

September 21

Lilly Cain at Anne Kane’s blog

http://www.annekane.wordpress.com/

September 22

Greta van der Rol at Frances Pauli’s blog

http://francespauli.blogspot.com/

September 23

Lisa Lane at Gary Starta’s blog

http://praisegods.blogspot.com/

September 24

Melisse Aires at Lilly Cain’s blog

http://www.annekane.wordpress.com/

September 25

Anne Kane at Lisa Lane’s blog

http://newsensuality.blogspot.com

You Remember...Remember?

Most of us writerly folks started at young ages. For me, I've loved writing since I learned how to write. But writing is more than just laying the words, isn't it?

You crazy buddies know what I'm talking about. Before I could write the stories, my mind played them in my head, over and over again. I would tell the stories to my family, any who would listen to crazy daydreaming AR, that is.

Oh man! Those stories in my head. Filled to the brim and boiling over. By second grade I'd learned to write well enough to transfer those stories onto paper and have them make some semblance of sense...well, as much as a seven year old could anyways. I wrote with reckless abandon. There were no barriers, no rules. Nothing but what popped into my mind.

In sixth grade, I'd already decided I would grow up to be the next Stephen King or Isaac Asimov when I had a great lesson from my art teacher. Yeah, not sure either why it was my art teacher and not my English teacher... go figure. Any-who, we were working on a project where we sketched one of those collage things. (You know, the ones where you threw a bunch of stuff together and drew it?) The five minute warning beeped and everyone started wrapping up. My teacher came by and saw my binder filled with story thoughts.

I thought I would get in trouble for writing my story ideas during art class, but instead she picked it up and read through some. I was very nervous, not many outside my friends had read any of my work at this point.

"This is interesting, but what purpose does this have?"

I thought she'd dismissed my work and I was crestfallen. How could it be that she didn't see the coolness of the ideas? The awesomeness of it? With my face burning a dark red, I'm sure, I mumbled something along the line of "they're just ideas that came" or some such thing. (My side of this story is not so important, and it was a LONG time ago, so don't shoot me.)

"The idea came, so the purpose must be there somewhere." She handed it back to me and smiled. "All forms of art need to give meaning to the recipient."

A humongous light-bulb went off and I stared at my notebook with new eyes. "Okay. Thank you."

"No problem... and don't write during my art class."

I don't remember my art teachers name. In fact, she's more a blurry face at this point, but I remember the statement... and that the art room was in the basement of my middle school and could only be accessed by weird stairwells that were a bit creepy if you were ascending or descending them by yourself.

I digress (which is often for you new blogger buddies).

Writing, for most, is a life long journey. It starts with the imagination with that spark of creativity. Moves to paper (or, really computer these days) in a basic rudimentary form. If the writer is lucky, at some point it transcends just the story and brings depth and meaning to both the writer and the reader.

Writing -- even the most commercial -- needs to give a message. It doesn't need to be overwhelming or profound. Just present and accessible to the reader.

The Winners Are.....

Oh, I'm so excited...it's like being frickin' Vanna White! *looks around for the letter board*

Okay, okay, so last week (the 10th to be exact), I posted a contest to celebrate the 2 month anniversary of Duty and Devotion. The responses were awesome and I had so much fun reading the dozen or so entries. But alas, only a few can win. This was my first time using the random.org site to select the winners.

All right...here we go...the winners are...(drum roll please)

Pauline B. Jones

Liana Brooks

Colette Duke

Email me at ambernorris2000@yahoo.com to let me know what e-format you would like Duty ad Devotion in and of course CONGRATULATIONS!

2 Months? Wow!

I can't believe it!

On Monday Duty and Devotion will have been out two months. "Happy R-day Nettie and Rinny!" (R-day instead of B-day, for release day.)

Duty and Devotion has received many compliments, a couple ratings, and a super great review. To celebrate, I'm going to hold a contest and will give away a couple copies of Duty and Devotion... in whatever format you wish.

What do you have to do?

Well, just contact me and let me know your favorite SF scene of all time, ever. (Ever, ever.) You can contact me either by leaving a comment here or emailing me at ambernorris2000@yahoo.com. I will select the winners on the official R-Day of course, which is Monday, August 15th.

Editing Abyss

AR grabs the ledge and pulls. The rain pelts down, drenching and chilling her, but she perseveres. Some of the dirt layering -- now turned to mud by the torrential weather -- slips. She grips harder, her ice cold fingers digging to the rocky underlying. She risks a look down into the abyss of editing hell...

Oh, hey... didn't see you there.

Yes, I am still alive and well. I didn't fall into the abyss, though it was close. The whole month of July was pretty much dedicated to manuscript editing. My final publisher edits for the first book in the Telomere Trilogy, Revelations of Tomorrow, and final edits of the holiday free read short story, Lasting Bonds, were due to the editor.

Remind me never to do a free read again. A couple reasons, but first, let me say that I love the final book and am excited to close some open loops for Nettie and Rinny. HOWEVER, I realized something about myself during the adventure of writing the Telomere Trilogy, which I overlooked when I signed up to do a free read for Desert Breeze Publishing.

I am not a monogamous author.

I can't keep characters going over several books. And truthfully, the characters aren't monogamous either. The characters slip into my mind, we flirt, and we all get excited and explore the journey. Once that journey is complete, I'm done and they're done. They drift off into the world I created for them and I never hear from them again. For me, the flirting process has started with a new story and characters. I'm too distracted with the new adventure.

So, any-who, August 1st came around and I sent Lasting Bonds to my editor and let out a huge sigh of relief. Then, within five minutes (could've been sooner, I wasn't watching the clock) the characters from my new novel started beckoning me. I went straight into it and spewed out over 8,000 words. Yes, 8K in 3 days... needless to say, my creativity was pent up.

My new heroine is amazing. I'm so impressed by her resilience and saddened by her past. I hope I can do her justice... plus she's got some really cool genetic make-up that is almost superhuman. I'm still working out my hero and I'm not sure if I like him much, but I think that's the point. He's got some serious jerk issues and shoulder chips, and he's going to change/evolve through the storyline into someone worthy of my heroine's love. The problems with the hero I think will benefit my heroine, and help her realize her own hang up and issues she needs to let go of if she's to find her own peace and happiness.