Schrodinger's Egg

Sculpted by M. Pena and sold by
 Windstone Galleries

Like most authors I know, I like to surround myself with odds and ends that inspire me when I write. And as I sat down to write this morning, I accidentally locked eyes with one of my favorite little pieces of inspiration. I purchased this ever-hatching egg from a vendor at the Alabama Phoenix Fest last year and it instantly earned a prized placement among the items already on my desk, ranging from dragonflies and signed Neil Gaiman novels to pirate ships and krakens.

When I found him, this little fella sat on a display shelf surrounded by gorgeous sculptures of dragons, cats, unicorns, and other mystical animals that were totally life-like. M. Pena, the artist, is a master of sculpture. But this simple egg, its inhabitant peeking out at me perpetually, called me more than any of the others.

Sure, the others were astounding gallery pieces and I probably could have written an entire book about one of those characters cast forever in stone. But this little guy.... he could be absolutely anything at anytime. He's the veritable Schrodinger's egg; until he hatches, he is a gargoyle, he is a dragon, he is a world-turtle, he is anything I can imagine him to be forever. Until he hatches, the possibilities are endless.

And that, my friends, is exactly what I love so much about sitting down to write the stories as they begin hatching in my mind. I always sit down with a clear picture of what I intend to transpire in this scene or that scene, yet it never fails that as my mind dictates one thing, my fingers begin typing another entirely. Some writers I know are Master and Commander of their stories; they can plot their course from beginning to end and seldom waver from the outline. I've never been one of those, even in writing short stories. I start with an idea, a mysterious egg, and begin writing just to see what hatches. It's the excitement in the discovery of what happens in the end that drags me back to my laptop whenever I can.

Though it seems that lately I haven't been back in this seat for that purpose often enough at all. This morning as I met his judgy orange eyes on beginning my day of writing, I'm pretty sure he said: "It's about time."

My pet egg, according to the website, is a gargoyle. But I won't believe it until he hatches. In the meantime, I think I'll call him Erwin.

Excerpt from A God of Gods

It seems like every time I share a snippet of my current work on A God of Gods: Dreams of Chaos #3, it's a scene with Ali and Andi Bentley. But I just can't help it - I love these girls and, darn it, they just made me cry.

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“Really, Mona? This is what had you so upset?” Ali said, stifling a yawn as she let the lace curtains fall back over the window. Her little sister Andi was stargazing in the walled garden just beyond. “Nothing bad can happen to her in Mom’s garden.”

Mona pursed her prim mouth even tighter, turning what little color that still remained in her lips to white. “She’s been out there for hours! I’ve told her repeatedly to come in before she catches her death out there and she’s ignored me completely. It’s not proper for a young lady to be out at night alone like this.”

“She isn’t alone,” Ali said, turning back to the window with a soft sigh. Andi looked pale and fragile in the moonlight, nothing like the rambunctious twelve year-old that had just tried to scale the massive baro tree that towered over the opposite end of the mayor’s mansion earlier that day. “I told Andi after Mom died that part of her would always be here in the garden she loved so much. Now she comes here anytime she really misses her. This has been hard on her, you know. She would have died yesterday if Eric hadn’t saved her, and even without that kind of terror, today was bound to be emotional for her.”

“Today? Oh, dear, your mother’s birthday. It must have slipped my mind,” Mona said, wringing her hands under her lace cuffs. Ali knew there had been no love lost between Mona and her mother so she was touched to see such a deep regret in her eyes, even if it was swallowed by her unyielding devotion to duty a moment later. “I am sorry for the both of you,” she continued, “but she can’t stay out there all night. If she won’t come in I’ll have to get your father.”

Ali tried to smile politely, but her patience with the uptight governess was wearing thin. Mona actually had a heart of gold, but sometimes it got lost beneath her tightly corseted sense of propriety. “It’s a lovely night, Mona. Besides, my father has a city to run. Go on to bed and I’ll take care of Andi. I promise I’ll get her to bed soon,” she added when Mona opened her mouth as if to protest again.

When Mona was out of sight Ali snatched the quilt off the settee by the door and slipped into the garden to where Andi sat perfectly still, her knees tucked up to her chest and her dimpled face turned up toward the sky. Fallen leaves crunched under her feet, but if Andi heard her approach she didn’t show it. Not even when Ali draped the blanket around her shoulders.

“Hey Spunkster. Playing statue again? Hey,” she said, wrapping her arm around Andi when she didn’t even respond to the nickname she normally hated. Ali sighed and fell into silence beside her. She’d spent the day putting on a strong face for her father because she was certain he’d been putting on a strong face just for her. With her father locked behind doors in a late-night meeting and her little sister lost in her own memories, she was finally able to let the mask slip away for the first time all day. It wasn’t long at all before her cheeks were wet with tears. It felt so good to let them fall.

“I miss her, too, kiddo,” Ali said eventually.

“What if they’re not that far away?” Andi said, her gaze still locked on the sky.

“What?” Ali asked. “Who are you talking about?”

“The stars. Master Earl said that the stars are all just dreams that didn’t get to be real like us. But does that mean they’re dead? Why would Chaos dream about dead things?”

Ali inhaled sharply and made a mental note to have a conversation with her sister’s school master. 

“Well, sweetie, I don’t think they were really ever alive – ”

“But if those dreams are dead,” Andi plowed on, “does that mean Mom could be up there, too? And if we can see them, that has to mean they aren’t that far away. I could see her again,” she said, her eyes, full of hope, finally falling on Ali.

Aha, Ali thought. I should have seen that coming. She felt like she was suddenly in way over her head. What could she possibly say that wouldn’t break Andi’s heart even more? “Do you remember what Sister Patricia told us after Mom died?”

Andi nodded glumly. “That all dreams return to the Dreamer eventually, and that one day we’ll be reunited with Mom in the final dream of Chaos. But the Book of Haela says that Chaos never sleeps. How can he be the Dreamer if he never sleeps?”

“Well, he’s just – he’s not like us. He wouldn’t need to sleep, or eat, or anything like we do. Remember the Book also says that everything you see is part of Chaos. You, me, this garden, even all of those stars up there.”

“Even all of those stars,” Andi echoed, looking back up to the sky again. “Then I just have to figure out which one of them is Mom.”

Ali’s heart wrenched at the determination in Andi’s voice, bringing a fresh crop of tears to her own eyes. “I hope you do, kiddo. I really hope you do.”

Writerly Tools: From Post-its to Final Draft

I love getting to talk to new authors and trying to help them answer the same questions I had when I first started writing novels. One of the big ones I get asked most often is about what software tools they should be using for writing. Unfortunately, that question is every bit as subjective as asking how to write the novel itself.

My brilliant and wonderful engineer husband would call me ‘artsy-fartsy’ for what I’m about to say, but it’s nonetheless true. Creating a novel is a personal journey and no one process will be exactly like another. Some writers need guided help developing characters before they even start writing, while others develop on the fly with the bare-bones plot in the back of their mind. Sometimes the problem is keeping the sub-plots in focus so the novel doesn’t end with unfinished business. If there is a problematic area in writing, you can bet there’s software out there to help remedy it.

But which to choose? Like every other process in writing, the answer to this requires loads of research into each program’s capabilities, but be careful weeding through the advertisements and the sometimes paid-for endorsements. There are endless recommendations of different writing software by authors all over the web. You can’t even go to a writer’s forum without having software ads flashing brightly across the banners these days. In terms of pricing, there is free software with limited functionality such as Storybook or you can spend as much as $250 on something like Final Draft. But here’s the thing...

A tool is only as good as the person using it.

I don’t mean anything about writing skills when I say that. I’m simply talking about dedication to the tool. Just like buying exercise equipment doesn't get you in shape if you don’t use it, most writing software requires you to be fully committed to really be effective. That means doing every bit of your plotting, writing, brainstorming, EVERYTHING in them. Most of them have libraries where you can enter every imaginable detail about your characters, world, sub-plots, etc. But if you don’t use them to the fullest you’ve wasted your time and money. At worst, the wrong software (even though the description sounded so great when you chose it) can even sabotage your work if it forces you to adopt habits that are in conflict with your writing style.

That was the exact experience I had with writing software. I decided before I started God of Gods: Dreams of Chaos #3 that I needed to get myself better organized and convinced myself that using software was somehow more professional (yes, I’ve been that naïve). The software I tried had the element libraries that I thought would be great to help me keep up with my 60+ characters and it used a tracking system in which every scene was written individually and the characters, locations, and dates were all recorded for the reports it would generate to show you the story flow visually. Sounds amazing, right? I did great with populating the element libraries, but when I had to start treating the scenes as individual elements I discovered it completely wrecked my sense of flow. I was no longer able to feel the motion between scenes and that led to a draft with no momentum and a feeling of disconnect between each scene. I’ve actually started the novel over twice now and I’m still struggling with getting the flow right.

Unfortunately, there's no Sorting
Hat for writers!

Since then, I’ve talked to other writers who thrived when writing scene-by-scene and a few others who came to a grinding halt with it like I did. That’s part of what makes this choosing process so very subjective. I’m all for software if it helps, but I think the idea that you have to use software to write a great book is as dangerous as telling a writer they have to use an outline when they write.

If you’re having trouble managing your WIP, try software, notebooks, Post-it notes, note cards, whiteboards, or tattoos even. Try anything. Actually, try everything. Creativity is all about being open to new ideas and resources and sometimes they can come in unexpected forms.

So I’m going to say it again, artsy-fartsy or not, but creating a novel is your personal journey and no one else’s process will be exactly like the one that ultimately works for you.

Once you’ve found that magical process, get out there and make something amazing!

Writing Lesson #1: Publishing is NOT the Endgame

It's been over a year and a half now since I signed my first publishing contract and 9 months since my very first book - my baby - was first introduced to the world. Since these dreams of mine finally came true I've been running full speed with writing, marketing, planning and obsessing over every tiny detail during every free moment I had. (Notice blogging didn't make that list? Bad Ashley.) Now with my 2nd book coming out in 2.5 months and planning a super-secret standalone book release for the spring (oops! Not so secret now ;-)), I'm spinning faster than ever.

Sometimes it grows on its own...

Finally something hit me the other day while I was fretting over a long writing To-Do list: A big part of the reason that list is so long is because I have learned SO MUCH since I started down this road. When I first decided to make writing a career my To-Do list looked about like this:

1. Write a book.
2. Write a query letter. 
3. Get published.
4. Make money and be fabulous.

Those were the early rose-colored glasses days. It took longer than I'd like to admit to pull my head out of my ass and start figuring out what launching a writing career would actually take. In fact, I wrote THREE books before I got out of the Step 1 loop. And that's when I discovered that there are actually about 573 things to do before you can get from Step 2 to Step 3 and another 1,897,203 things to do before you can see Step 4 even with help from Hubble.  It's a common myth that getting published is the end of a writer's work. Wrong! Getting published is just the beginning.

Now my To-Do lists look more like this:

1. Finish 4th revision of WIP
2. Set up MC's plight for sequel 
3. Choose Artwork for Con Ad (Get bleed sizes!)
4. Edit video from book reading for website/Get stills for Media Kit
5. Update Quicken with receipts from Book signing
6. Follow-up with book store for dates for next signing
7. Finish guest app for Con
8. Schedule and write guest blog post
9. Pick music for book trailer
10. Oh yeah... WRITE

And that's just a sample To-Do list for a week. It turns out there is so much more to writing than just writing. This was the first lesson that I had to accept about the writing business. It can seriously make me feel a little crazy at times when I really let myself think about the tasks and the work ahead, especially when I think about doing it in conjunction with a full time day job (gotta pay for my writing fix somehow, don't I?). But here's the secret that keeps me going:
It's worth every nail-biting, head-banging, hair-pulling second to see my books in print. 

I don't know a single author who wouldn't say the same thing. There's no room for getting discouraged because at the end of the day you're still doing what you love. How many people can say that? Next week I'll share some of the happier lessons I've learned while writing, but for now I'm just going to go cross this one more thing off my To-Do list...

Good advice. Hot men.

Guest Post - Confessions of a 'Serious' Writer

I know I've been remiss in posting my own blogs for the past several months and I promise I'm hanging my head in shame right now. But I'm reeeeaaaallly hoping that the awesome guest post I'm about to give you will, if not earn your instant forgiveness, at least let me buy your love back through bribery.

Vanessa Eccles is one of the many talented authors that I've had the good fortune to become acquainted with over the past year. In that time I've learned that not only is she tirelessly dedicated to the craft, but that she puts that same level of investment into everything she does. She has recently launched an online literary journal showcasing southern writers and has also been documenting the transformation of a house into a loving home on the Ode to the Simple Life Blog. Did I mention that until her recent graduation she was ALSO a full-time student? Her strength, dedication, and energy are definitely an inspiration!

Vanessa Eccles

Her Official Bio:
Vanessa K. Eccles is the founder and executive editor of Belle Reve Literary Journal. She has an English degree from Troy University, and her work has been published by Deep South Magazine,  Suite T (a blog by Southern Writer’s Magazine), and Wisdom Crieth Without. She is the author of Psalms of Me and Collecting Light and is currently working on a YA novel. She blogs at The Writer's Block.

And now, on to Vanessa...

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I've been seriously pursuing a career in writing for about four years now, and with every passing year, I've noticed more eccentricities about myself than the year before. My mind soars into a state of contemplation every time a unique phrase or picturesque landscape emerges, which keeps me constantly thinking about the oddities and utter perfections found in the world around us. Tolkien’s theory on people was “not all who wander are lost.” He’s right – they’re just writers. Writers are natural wanderers. We wander about the world looking for inspiration. And let’s just face it, we can be downright weird. I am no exception to the rule, so I’m going to reluctantly confess some of the things that I've learned about myself since I've become a “serious” writer.

1. I hear voices.

Oh, yes. You read me correctly. Luigi Pirandello described it right in his play Six Characters in Search of an Author. Sometimes characters come to me living and breathing with their own problems and their own stories. Unfortunately, some of these characters are naggy, annoying gnats that will not buzz off until their stories are told. The upside is that this makes me write more so that I can escape from the guilt.

2. I am a dreamer.

I’m not sure it’s possible to pursue a writing career without being somewhat of a dreamer. It’s a tough business, and often the rewards are slim. So for many of us, our real hope with writing is bringing the story to life for readers and having them resonate with something we’ve shared. I dream to someday smell my words and hold them in my hand in a physical print form.

Belle Reve Literary Journal

3. I am a hoarder.

I admit it. Ever since pursuing my dream, I’ve acquired more books than I can house. My ever-growing library can be found stacked on my piano, boxed in the garage, a few in the car, some at my parent’s house, and at least one on every flat surface in my home. It’s madness. But to be a good writer, one has to read. Reading is the study of the craft, but it’s also a crippling disease that has taken over countless hours of my life and has made me, as Phil Robertson would say, “happy, happy, happy.”

4. I’m a spoiler.

My poor husband has just now entered the world of reading, and I’m utterly ecstatic about it! We listen to audiobooks together and discuss them, but I cannot help but tell him where I think the writer is going with the storyline or what I think is going to happen next. Sadly, I’m often right. The same thing happens with movies. I have become one of those horribly annoying people that tell everyone what is going to happen at a movie. Go ahead, throw your digital popcorn at me. I deserve it. I know I need to keep my mouth shut, but it’s an inescapable compulsion. I’m not sure if I’ve become the psychic of entertainment because I write or because I read so much. Either way, I need to stop for the love of my husband and everyone else around me. Wish me luck on that. ;)

5. I’m a loner.

After reading the first four confessions, I’m sure you’re thinking, “She’s a loner because she’s nuts.” And I’m happily inclined to agree with you. I've become more of an introvert over the past few years than I ever thought possible. I enjoy silent time and inward reflection. I love escaping into novels, be it mine or someone else’s. What’s interesting is that writers can be alone and not be alone at the same time. We enjoy our imaginary time filled with our imaginary characters. We’re like kids with imaginary friends – only our friends are better developed and well-rounded. (Well, they’re supposed to be.) And truth be told, writers write when they are alone. So doesn't that make us all loners?
If you’re considering becoming a “serious” writer, I hope I haven’t scared you off. We’re an eccentric group, but we have to be. In order to share something different with the world, we have to be able to see the world in a different way.

In all seriousness, what I’ve really learned about pursuing my writing career is that it’s okay to be myself. That’s what makes me and my writing unique. Nothing is more inspiring than the freedom of being wonderfully weird.

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Thanks so much to Vanessa for her awesome post!! This is such a wonderful description of every writer I know. I can only imagine my friends reading #5 and shaking their heads about all of the times they've accused me of trying out for the Hermit Olympics. Maybe this will help explain things for them :-)

The Price of 'What If'

I recently had a chance to catch up with an old friend that I haven’t seen in years. We met ages ago in class at the University of Kentucky (which neither of us finished) in Lexington, KY (where neither of us stayed). But while we were still starry-eyed coeds we had so many plans, from opening an aviary together to having double weddings and making sure our children went to school together and grew up to be best friends. 20 is a great age for making plans. 30 is a great age to be grateful if those plans didn't pan out.

Now we’re both 32, never married and without children, and both of us have managed to find success in our own ways despite not finishing college. And though we both have parrots, neither of us ever went on to open that aviary (Flights of Fancy, we wanted to call it). Our chat was too short for having been apart for so long, but after we laughed about the silly ideas we had of what our lives would be like before the realities of stress, taxes, and cellulite, she asked me a very important question.

Em: “Do you ever wonder ‘what if…’?”
Me: “I write fantasy. It’s my job to wonder What If… Everything.”

I was being glib at the time, but I really should have given more thought to her question and given her the kind of answer it deserved. The truth is, ‘What If?’ is the price I paid for everything that I am today and everything that I have ever written.

Every decision we make, no matter how large or small, closes the doors to infinite possibilities labeled ‘What If,’ and behind those hide all of the other lives we might have led. It’s easy to imagine what those doors might look like; in my case, I picture them standing in a long Wonka-style hall dwindling away to a tiny speck at the end. Incidentally, the carpet is purple. I’m tempted to visit my earliest What Ifs for fun, like the one that would have led me to a life of hardened crime if I’d chosen to play the Baroness instead of Lady Jaye or Scarlett when we played GI Joes as kids. Or maybe the What If from those days in college when I decided to sidetrack my dream of writing by giving up on my English major and declaring Business instead out of a sensible fear of starvation. It’s so tempting to open those doors again… but the price you pay to make that choice is the same you paid for this one. Open another door and the one behind you shuts forever.

Granted, that was a fairly gross generalization (the kind I’d normally hate to read, let alone write) and if I dwelt on that analogy for too long I’d end up frozen in a decision-paralysis and even the Hershey bar vs. Snickers choice at the vending machine would send me into a drooling fit. But sometimes taking an idea to an extreme is useful because it helps prevent you from taking the more moderate consequences for granted. And here’s the kicker:

It’s every bit as true in writing as it is in life. 

Were you wondering how much longer before I turned this into a post about writing? I held off longer than I thought possible. But think about it… As writers we write life the way we see it (or would like to see it) and we have no less difficult decisions ahead of us than the characters we create. There have been so many times in the past that I've wrestled with some plot problem or another and finally moved on, convincing myself that it was minor enough that I could work it out later. Well, guess what? It turns out that there are no minor plot problems.

Those problems represent decisions that need to be made because every element in your story line is dependent on the rest. And if it isn't, then in all likelihood you have extraneous fodder sneaking into your story that needs to be gutted to make your novel tighter. Making the right decisions early on is crucial to completing your vision and making sure your ‘What Ifs’ don’t haunt your characters on their journey to the end you want them to have; the doors that you might inadvertently close with a hasty/easy choice might not even be evident until you’re ¾ of the way through your book! Unlike in real life, we do have that wonderful thing known as The Second Draft where we can reopen the doors we needed and perfect the journey. But could anything be more magical than getting all the way through your First Draft and discovering that because you were careful in your decisions and true to your vision, you don’t have to rewrite almost everything?

And be sure that this is a ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ kind of moment for me. Having completed only four full novels, it might be four or forty more before I can master that trick in my outlining. I may be aware now of the importance of these issues that I usually ignored, but I’m also about to delve into a heavy rewrite for my 2nd draft of Tilt because I had never given any credence to it before. So to quote the sagest advice we ever receive as kids, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” - Some real American heroes.

The Trouble With Smiting Envy

"And Lo, with my cart I shall smite thy ankles..."

I think all writers embed traits in their characters that they identify with on many levels whether or not we’re even aware that we’re doing it. Sure, we can make our characters noble, strong, and full of integrity and other do-gooder stuff. It’s always fun to write a hero because just about all of us spent hours in childhood running around with blanket-capes, make-shift swords, or feather duster magic wands rescuing neighbor kids or the family dog from some unthinkable dragon or other beast. As a kid, you dream about being the hero everyone loves. But then we grow up and start secretly dreaming about being the villain because at some point we discover that the bad guys really do have all the fun.  Think about it… how often during the day do you pause to daydream about saying what you REALLY want to say to that customer, or getting even with the jerk on the road, or saying something inappropriate to the 8-year old in the line behind you at Walmart that keeps banging your ankles with the cart while his mom plays on her iPhone?

If any of those last three scenarios ring true to you, then Congratulations: You’re well on your way to villainy! Maybe not on a world domination level, but you’re certainly not alone in your secret evil-doer desires. In fact, just last night Steven made me aware of one of my own villainous day dreams I've been living out through my writing, completely unaware (or in denial), of course. 

We were trying to leave Publix during rush hour and it turned into a game of Dodge the Idiot about to back into you, Dodge the Idiot about to walk into your car, and ended with sitting stuck behind the person who took a good 5 minutes to decide which way to turn. That trip gave me a fresh reason to curse someone on an average of every five seconds. And curse them I did! That was when Steven made the connection for me: “It’s a good thing you don’t have a smiting problem,” he said.

But oh, how I wish I did!

The smiting problem referenced is a constant growing pain of the young demi-goddess Trotter in my fantasy series. Her smiting finger has a mind of its own; anytime something frightens her or just particularly irritates her, her out-of-control powers decide to smite the offender for her. Usually it’s by accident. But Steven made me realize that I’ve been writing my own secret revenge dreams not into my villains, but into my hero! I’ve had a ton of fun writing about the smiting debacles, but with her it’s an unconscious reaction rather than a conscious intent to burst some annoying person into flames.

Maybe it’s because I managed to sneak my own villainous urges into my hero that I didn't recognize it for what it was – apparently my guilty subconscious pulled that one off right under my nose – but now that I've made that connection to Trotter, I feel like I’m more open to explore this dark side that I've already planted in her from my own evil roots. Even heroes blow up at people when they’re stressed (notice I said blow up AT people, not blow people up), so it might even help me make her a more tangible character as I work my way through this series. Nobody can believe in a perfect hero anymore, after all.

I think my next writing exercises are all going to involve putting her in some dark scenarios and letting her just do what comes naturally. Besides… I have to make a Walmart trip again soon and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of pent-up villainous urges to deal with J

Author Interview and Cover Reveal - S.P. Cervantes

Once again today I have the privilege of sharing another fantastic author from Center One's stable of talent. S.P. Cervantes is the author of the upcoming novel Always and Forever, the first installment of the highly promising Shadow Hill series. I've had the pleasure of getting to know S.P. over the past few weeks and she is a passionate writer full of wonderful ideas. Her debut novel is a YA fantasy, but don't let that fool you. In addition to wizards, covens, and terrifying monsters, Always and Forever entices the reader with a budding, yet tense romance between Ava and Dalton, two of the novel's very well-drawn characters. What else could a reader ask for? From her book jacket...

Click here to pre-order your copy!

Twin sisters Ava and Hannah were ripped from their peaceful seeming lives into a whirlwind of attacks and war only to learn the real truth about their existence.
Nothing was as it seemed anymore and may never be again. They had already lost their father in childhood now they have to cope with their mother's kidnapping as they watch those sworn to protect them risk their lives.

A: How long have you been writing?
S: I have been writing since I was in grade school. My older brother was really into the choose your own adventure stories, and I would try and make up my own. As I got older I wrote mostly short stories, but was never confident enough to share them. 

A: How would you describe the main theme of Always and Forever?
S: The main theme for Always and Forever is about a girl becoming a woman trying to understand herself and the power she has while facing challenges and danger that have her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself and the world she lives in.

A: Most authors have a love hate relationship with writing. What did you love/hate about writing this novel?
S: I love writing the Secrets of Shadow Hill series. I began Always and Forever while pregnant and on bedrest with my twins as a way to keep my mind sharp and positive. Writing has always been a stress releiver for me. The fantasy genre lets me be creative and focus on something other than my busy life.
The most difficult part of writing is finding the time and letting go of my insecurities. I am a mother of 3 and a teacher, which keeps me very busy. Luckily my husband is very supportive of my writing and gives me time when I am "in my groove" and have to get my ideas down. I don't know if any of my books would have ever gotten done without his support and help with my kids. My twin sister was pivitol in encouraging me to get over my insecurities and putting my book out there to be published. I knew if anyone would tell me my book was horrible, she would. She is an avid reader and I respect her opinion greatly. I always tell my students that you will never reach the stars if you don't try, and am glad that I finally decided to take my own advice.

A: I love that the story is written from each of your main characters’ POV. Was it difficult to switch modes between their voices?
S: The struggles for me in writing the story from my two main characters' point of view was not being repetitive. I felt by writing from both points of view, I could better tell the internal struggles the two characters were having while facing danger. I loved writing the story from this type of format.

A: What can we look forward to next from the Shadow Hill series?
I am very excited for the next stories from my series as more secrets of Shadow Hill are revealed. The second book has a lot of action and is very suspensful. There are a lot of twists and turns as my main characters face struggles and danger while trying to protect their coven and the world. I literally could not stop writing it and hope my readers will feel the same way when reading it. I am very proud of this series and am excited to share them!

Great answers, S.P.! For all of you wanting to learn more secrets about Shadow Hill, click here to read sample chapters of Always and Forever.

The Sit-Down-Shut-Up Method

Sit down and shut up.  No, no, I didn’t mean you. I meant me. This is my process, you see.

At least, it was.

I tend to be very easily distracted by just about anything; noises from outside, noises from inside, cats needing cuddles, sparkly motes of dust floating by the window (oh, look at that one!)... This has led to many challenges in finding a writing process that works for me. There have been a few iterations in the past involving everything from blaring Atari Teenage Riot or recorded heartbeats to timed brainstorming and word association games. Not surprisingly, most of these didn’t work. Let’s take a look at a few of my past attempts...

1.       The old Drown-Out-The-World method. It’s safe to call this one my default method with a few variations. This is what I always return to when nothing else I’ve tried has helped my sad level of focus. I’ve used white noise, thunderstorm sounds, loud repetitive rage music, trance music, non-vocal jazz, loud fans + music, and even some of the kooky alpha- wave beats from YouTube. The result? I just end up humming along and not writing. 

2.       The mind-focusing game method. This was one I picked up out of some forum that I thought might have merit. The idea is to start focusing on a problem or a strategy (anything from Free Cell to Risk) and let your brain naturally start weeding out distractions for you before your writing session begins. I’m sure it probably does work for some writers out there, but for me it just led to hours wasted because apparently strategy games are my digital crack.

3.       The cardio method. This one is pretty much exactly what it sounds like and it probably came from the same forum as the above failed method.  Basically I was supposed to do 20-30 minutes of any form of cardio and it was supposed to have a dual effect: Eliminate physical stress allowing me to mentally relax, and flush some unknown toxins (possibly the beer) from my blood stream to let me think more clearly and without distraction.  The problem? If I could make myself do cardio I’d still be in last year’s pants.

4.       The reward method. This was the short-lived method in which I tried rewarding myself with chocolate for a high word count. Although it resulted in a lot of words written, it also meant erasing entire crappy chapters that were hastily written in a desire for chocolately satisfaction. Incidentally, it also coincided with the worst acne break-out since my teens and probably a big part of the reason I still can’t get into last year’s pants.

5.       The punishment method. Even more short-lived, this one was probably the silliest and most desperate I’ve tried. Anytime I found myself getting off-track and distracted whilst writing, I had to hold my breath until I finished a sentence. All I really got out of this was a bunch of very short sentences and a few dizzy spells.

Sad, isn’t it? However, all of the failed attempts at finding my own personal writing process did help lead me to one major discovery: Dealing with the external distraction isn’t my problem. In fact, since I sat down to write this blog I’ve darted off on about 10 other tasks that somehow popped into my mind and are not even tangentially related to this blog. I’ve been checking Facebook, re-checking Facebook, researching a hand-held vacuum cleaner, checking my bank account to see if my utility payment posted, Googling for a picture of a hobo spider, etc. I just plain can’t control myself.

I always thought that “Sit down and shut up” was the first step to writing, but it turns out that this might be my first obstacle to writing. Sitting down and shutting up is apparently handing the reins over to my brain and giving it carte blanche to start spinning its wheels wherever it wanted to go. Sometimes it trips over a good story element on the way, but usually it’s more like trying to walk 5 dogs on 5 leashes who all want to go a different direction. 

So it was with this in mind that I tried the exact opposite approach when I got to a road block in my writing this time. I stood up, walked around, and talked to myself about the book for about twenty minutes. Loudly (thankfully Steven wasn’t home so his doubts about my sanity still haven’t been confirmed). In this twenty minutes of talking to walls, cats, and houseplants I managed to advance three plot lines, flesh out a character that was giving me trouble, and devise a solution to a complicated plot problem that needed a big finish. By the time I sat back down to write I was ready to do backflips in excitement and I got another 1,500 words out in no time at all.

No more quiet time for me. Apparently there is nothing like the sound of your own voice to drown out your thoughts. Now I’ll talk to myself in the car, when I’m doing the dishes, in the shower, pretty much any time I’m alone. The only thing left that can't seem to drown out is the happy little chirping I keep hearing while I work out solution after solution aloud: “I found my process, yippee! I found my process, yippee! I found my process, yippee!”

Now that you've seen a few of my oddest attempts at methods, what are the strangest you've tried?