Eureka! Break Through!

So.  I have known, since I finished Dead Awakenings that I would be having a sequel.  However what I didn't have was a single solitary idea as to where I wanted it to go.  There are so many possibilities.  One character in particular had a Huge decision to make and I just didn't know which way I wanted them to go.  For months now I have been trying in vain to find some sort of storyline that would answer all the questions, and still allow one of the main characters to have at least resolution, if not a happy ending.

When I was speaking with a mentor about the fact that several different production companies wanted to see a script, he mentioned that I needed to at least have an outline for the second book, or it could cause me some problems down the line if I didn't.  So my search for a storyline when into overdrive.

After then speaking with a writing friend of mine she helped me figure out what questions had to be worked out and EUREKA!  I finally had an idea as to where to go with the sequel.

I can now say officially that the sequel to Dead Awakenings, Dead Reckoning (working title) is underway.

Thanx to all my fans for your support!

The Next Big Thing! Blog Hop

Hey everyone!  I was asked by author Jessica Thompson http://www.jannnovels.blogspot.com/  if I wanted to be in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop that was started on Good Reads.com.  So I thought it would be fun to do and to link to a few other great writer blogs out there.  I think it also gets me an opportunity to put a things on my blog about me and what I am up to right now, since I am so busy I haven't been able to post much.

What is the (working title) of your book? 
Dead Awakenings.

Where did the idea come from for the book? 
I had someone mention to me that they had never heard of a Zombie Romance before and I thought it was a totally disgusting idea.  But the idea wouldn't stay out of my head, till I came up with an idea.

What genre does your book fall under? 
Paranormal Romance, from what I am told.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 
Oooooh, that has been asked of me before and it is a toughy.  I have a look in my head, but not necessarily an actual actor.  For my heroine Evaine, Jessica Biel  would be awesome.  My daughter worked on a movie she directed a few years ago and she is an extremely nice person.  For Luca I love Michael Sheen and Karl Urban.  And for Tristan I see Steven R. McQueen.  He is such a cutie!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 
When a college student enters a drug trial to pay the bills and awakens in a derelict hospital strapped to a bed, the last things she expects to be told is that she is a zombie.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Originally I was going to self publish, but I have gotten so much positive feedback from my beta readers, that I am now going to try and get an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
About a month, maybe less.  I wrote and wrote and wrote day in and day out until it was finished.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I have been told it is like Twilight meets the Walking Dead.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My husband has always believed in me and my writing so he inspired me to write it.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
This is a zombie romance.  Not sure what else to say besides that.  There isn't anything out there like it.  It is fun and sexy and I love it!
Hope that everyone has had fun with this post.  I think I am going to do it again in a couple of weeks with my book The Society and then again with a few others.

I am linking this to a few other great authors that I think you might enjoy as well!  Take care!

Laurisa White http://www.laurisawhitereyes.com/
Chana Keefer http://thepassionfields.com/

Should Men Read Paranormal Romance?

When I started reading Paranormal romance, I kept it to myself.  No way did I want people to think I was one of "those women" who read the steamy romance novels and fantasized about forbidden intimate encounters with strangers! 

But then I started to read books like Jennifer Ashley's Pride Mates, and Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series.  And what I found was intense relationships between a monogamous couple and I was intrigued.  I found them to be intimate on a new level.  Not just in the bedroom, but also in the progression of their relationship with each other. 

So, naturally, I started writing Paranormal Romance.  As I did, I found that mine too centered around a monogamous couple, or at least a couple fighting to be together.  However, I also found that I am an action gal at heart.  I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer who kicks butt daily.  I love Selene in Underworld and Blade from the Blade Trilogy.  All butt kickers and action!  So my Paranormal Romances are coupled with lots of action.  Why?  Because quite honestly I cannot stand a slow book.  I like the books I read to have a purpose outside of the Romance.  Outside of our own relationships, there is always other stuff going on.  So I want there to be those outside influences in my books.  Ones that threaten to tear my couples apart, but through their love they are able to endure and become stronger for it.  Yes, I have taken that from my own relationship with my husband of 14 years.  We have gone through a lot of crap together in 14 years, but we are stronger for it as a couple.

Because of this I think my books will appeal not just to women but to men as well.  And yes I do believe men should read Paranormal Romance books.  Strange as it sounds.  So does Paul Goat Allen.

Yesterday he wrote an awesome article on Barnes and Noble.com about why men should read Paranormal Romance.  He talks specifically about Jennifer Ashley's books.  And I absolutely agree with him.  Here are three reasons he gives as to why men should read Paranormal Romance:

1. Believe in true, everlasting love. In this series, Shifters experience a mate bond with their lovers, a “magical binding between true mates” that is all encompassing – body and soul – and lasts until death.

2. Aspire to be the perfect catch. In Mate Claimed, Eric is described as “strong, powerful, gentle, and protective. The perfect catch.” These Shifter characters are obviously extraordinary physical specimens but the physical aspect is only part of it. They’re understanding, caring, supportive, and sensitive to their lover’s every need.

3. Find passion in your life. Ashley’s male Shifter leads are, above all else, passionate. Passionate about their lives, their families, their causes, and their lovers. At one point early on in Mate Claimed, Eric tells Iona: “When we make love, it will be like the world exploded.” Enough said.

Maybe I’m completely wrong about this but I firmly believe that men who regularly read paranormal romance will ultimately find themselves better off for it.

To see the full article go here:
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Explorations-The-BN-SciFi-and/The-Joy-of-Supernatural-Sex-Three-Reasons-Why-Men-Should-Read/ba-p/1397046

My hope is that millions of men will begin to read Paranormal Romance! 

Indie Book Covers

As you may have seen, from a few posts ago, we have been trying our hand at book covers for Dead Awakenings. I knew what I wanted, but it wasn't turning out quite the way I wanted, though I do graphic design myself. So my husband tried his hand at it. And even a friend of mine tried his hand at it. Turns out, it isn't as easy as I had hoped.

Though I like all the covers we have tried; and there is a new one I just finished that I haven't even shown anyone yet. I am not "Wowed" by any of them to the point of saying "YES! That's the one!"
So the book covers are still a work in progress.

I read that you should have a specific scene in your book that inspires the cover artist. That when you write you should keep your cover artist in mind and try and write something just for them. However, I have not really seen a Romance book that takes a scene from the book and puts it on the cover. Or many of the books I read, for that matter.

Look at Hunger Games, Twilight, House of Night, Black Dagger Brotherhood, Sookie Stackhouse, Night Circus, or any number of other books on my shelf, and I don't see a "scene" on the front of their books. They are dark, have the main characters on them, or some element from the book that is a great representation, but not a scene per say. So, I am not going for the scene feeling on the cover.

What I want it the face of my heroine from the book, yet I have not found the right one yet. I have an idea for one, but I am not sure how to achieve it.

I saw this article on the amazon boards and I thought it might be helpful to those trying to make their own cover. To me, it is great. It talks about tips and tricks to fine tune a cover once you have a basic idea as to what you want.

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,127338.0.html#.UF31fV57MNM.facebook

This was really a helpful tutorial, even for someone like me that does Photoshop almost daily!
Thanx

How to Romance your Readers - Sex Scenes

Okay, Let me start off by saying I don't have sex scenes in my books.  I have tension building intimate scenes, but not full graphic sex scenes.  However, I found an article at:
http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?2275-Perfect-Sex—Or-How-to-Romance-Your-Reader-by-Nina-Pierce

Perfect Sex - Or how to romance your reader, By Nina Pierce.  I thought the article was great.  Even if you aren't planning on writing a full sex scene, the notes on it are wonderful to help you remember what to do and what not to do in even just an intimate scene.

Use anatomy, not vague nonsensical pseudonyms for things that pull people out of the story.  Remember to use all of the senses.  And especially remember to use feelings.  All those elements will help pull people into the romance and believe it.  Also, there has to be vulnerability and walls broken down when scenes are played out between the main love interests.

Those items in the article, I found especially helpful!  I plan to keep this article on file so that I can refer to it often when reviewing my intimate moments between characters.  To make sure my romance is on the right track.

Thanx Nina Pierce for a great article!

Mock Covers for Dead Awakenings

As my book gets ready to go to Beta Readers this week, I have had a lot of suppose fly my way!  First my Beta Readers have been amazingly patient with me and so supportive of the work that is coming their way!

Next, my Awesome Husband and Champion has put up an Indiegogo campaign for me to try and raise the last bit of money we need to get some great editing done, and a professional cover made.
Here is the link:
http://www.indiegogo.com/DeadAwakenings?a=1117130

Next, my great friend and fellow writer Darin Calhoun, whose blog is located here:
http://darincalhoun.blogspot.com/

Made these great mock up book covers for me!  He is so awesome!

 

My husband made this awesome one for me:

 

All of them have inspired me to finish up the book and get it out there.  I have two face book pages.  One for all of my writings and one for just this book and Indiegogo campaign.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dead-Awakenings/110181609134351

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/VampiresWerewolvesZombies-Writer-Rebekah-R-Ganiere/434504616594285

And here is my Twitter

https://twitter.com/VampWereZombie

Publishing a Novel is More than Just Writing

My husband and I have been talking a lot lately about where to get the money to finish up my book and get some great cover art.  As someone who judges a book by it's cover nine times out of ten, and being married to someone with Dyslexia who always looks at the cover first, we decided that we have to put our best foot forward by making sure the outside is as great as the inside.

My husband has been working on finding someone to do the artwork, while I have been working on finding an editor.  I have been leery about even letting my work go out to my Beta Readers without it going to an editor first.  However, I finally concluded that after seven revisions on Dead Awakenings, I am going to let it go to my Beta Readers first, then to the editor.

While looking on my Twitter account tonight I stumbled across a blog post that talked about this very thing.  I thought it put the idea of writing and publishing into great perspective.

The post called: You're not ready to invest, you're not ready to publish.  By April Hamilton.  April had some great points.  I am going to mention a few here:

Anyone who wants to launch a new business like a restaurant, widget manufacturer, accounting practice or pool service expects to invest a certain amount of start-up capital, both in terms of actual cash and sweat equity. Neither is dispensable. Yet plenty of would-be indie authors seem to think it's unfair for me, and even the book-buying public, to expect them to invest anything more than the sweat equity part of the equation. They expect the public to be able to look past a cut-rate cover, ignore the typos, bad grammar and the many other substantive flaws that can be eliminated by a good editor, and see the excellent story within.

Hopeful Olympians pay for quality equipment, coaching and travel. Hopeful artists pay for quality supplies, professional framing and gallery space. Hopeful filmmakers pay for quality cameras and professional editing, or at least time in a professional editing bay to do it themselves. The fact that it's much easier for a rich hopeful to afford the necessities of his craft or sport than it is for a poor one doesn't make those things any less NECESSARY for the poor hopeful.

I loved how April put those two paragraphs.  My husband owns a Production company and he had invested in an amazing camera and lights.  Next he is going to invest in sound equipment.  As a mother of children in the entertainment industry I know first hand how important it is to have the right equipment on set.  A poor camera equals poor quality on film.  Nothing can change that.  The best screenplay in the world can be ruined if the filming and editing are done poorly.

I know that as my husband needs the best equipment to work with, so that his films are the best quality.  So too do I need to have the best product I can make.  And that doesn't end when I have finished the story.  I need to be willing to put in the time, effort and money to make sure that my cover is great and my editing is impeccable.  

To read the entire blog post, please go to April's blog: 

http://aprillhamilton.blogspot.ca/2012/04/if-youre-not-ready-to-invest-youre-not.html

Cut it, or Create it the Dilemma!

My book Dead Awakenings has begun to generate a small amount of buzz with a few people in the entertainment industry.  Now before we all get too excited, it was just a few.  And they want to see a script.  Uh...yeah... Oh!  And did I mention they want to see it in the next thirty days?

So here I am sitting with my book, trying desperately to get it ready for Christmas publication, and now I have to switch gears completely and write a script.  But not just A script.  I have to write a feature film version as well as a TV series version, with a 5 year synopsis and at least the first 3 episodes written as well.  You know, nothing too major.

Anyway, so as I was sitting pondering these giant castles that I have to build.  I realized that when you adapt a novel in to a movie, you basically have to play the surgeon.  Nipping and tucking and cutting and stitching everything smaller an smaller to fit inside a beautiful 90-120 minute movie.

And when you write a TV series, you are a creator.  There is so much more time.  So you can take those smaller characters and write them their own stories.  Make them bigger, play with their lives more.  You can show more from the bad guys points of view.  Give them back story and real lives.  All those things that you leave out in a novel, you can now put in, in a TV series. 

So I find myself being sad, that I will have to be a surgeon, but excited at the prospect of being a creator!  And so now, I am off to work on outlining these two castles to try and bring them to life in the next 30 days! 

Pray for me!

It has Begun!

When I first heard the idea from a friend, four years ago, about a book premise that publishers said they were looking for, I was intrigued.  For days it sat in my mind, like a small flickering ember.  I tried and tried to blow on it and make it grow.  But it didn't work.  Finally I settled on just not letting it die out.

But after a couple of weeks, the embers still glowed and I got an idea.  I got a bit of kindling and sat it on top.  Those idea kindlings caught fire!  And the embers glowed brighter and brighter.  Before I knew it I had more ideas, and I placed the sticks ideas on the fire.  When those caught fire in my brain, I was hooked.

Log upon log I stacked on top of my now brightly burning idea, until I had a complete framework of ideas, strung together and burning brightly in my mind.  That framework became my book Dead Awakenings.

And now, four years later, I have taken that framework, structured it, pounded it, nailed it all together into a house surrounding my initial fire.

Yesterday I received my first Beta reader edit on my book.  It was scary, and amazing at the same time.  I received the review and quickly when through the grammatical problems, noting where I had missed a word, misspelled a word (cringe) or had other problems, and thought, Great!  I made it through!

Then came the plot analysis and character analysis session, and it seems that there are a few leaks in my roof, but my foundation is solid and the walls are still intact! 

So onward and upward I go!  Now to patch up the leaks and furnish my house a bit better, making it as grand and glorious as possible before I set it in the hands of my next group of Beta Readers!

A special Thanx To author Darin Calhoun, who has been my first set of eyes on my novel!
www.DarinCalhoun.blogspot.com

7 Ways to Use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel Them In

In my world scientists come in only one variety.  Mad.  As I think of a scientist, I think of a man with crazy red hair and a white lab coat, pouring bubbling mixtures from beaker to beaker waiting for color changes and eventual explosions.  Yup!  That's me. (insert evil cackle)

However, This was a very cool and helpful scientific article about how to hook readers, that I thought was well done in a logical way.  Which is interesting for me, because I am more of an emotional person as opposed to a logical person.

But you can't argue with science, right?  Well, this time I can't!  Here are the main points of the article written by :
Lisa Cron is an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Visit her blog.

Here are the seven main points.  If you would like to read the whole article, which I suggest you do if you are a writer, the link is at the bottom of the page.

1. Surprise Us
2. Make Us Feel It
3. Let Us In On The Protagonist’s Goal
4. Only Tell Us What We Need to Know
5. Give Us Specifics
6. Give Us Conflict
7. It Must Make Sense to Us

I loved this article.  It is short and concise and really hits home with what a novel or a screenplay should strive to do, to get an audience to fall in love with it.
Here's the link:

http://writetodone.com/2012/08/06/usebrain-science-to-hook-readers-and-reel-them-in/

Cutting less painful

As I sit listening to the wails of my three year old, who is most despondent from having been told he must clean his room or suffer the execution of his toys into the eternal bid of waste, I think about the cuts I just made to my novel Breeders.  I am struck by the fact that I just cut a seventeen page prologue down to just nine and feel none of the sadness that my wailing son feels.  Therefore I am sure, that it must be a good decision.

I have come a long way over the years.  At first, as a teen writer, I was loathe to cut even a word from my work.  Know that everything that flowed from my brain was pure platinum.  Now, an older and much more season writer I am aware that sometimes, I can add too much.  Therefore leading to a cut.

I like to read fast paced novels without the lag.  Novels that grip you from page one and keep you turning through the night until bleary eyed and mostly incoherent I close the book with bliss on my face, sated by the feeding of books.  Yes, I am a book Vampire at heart.

So when I write a story, and do not find that I myself want to keep turning the pages to see what happens, I know I need to cut.  There are a great many books I have read that I believe could have been better had they simply cut a page or hundred from it.  However, it is not mine to judge.  I can only go forth and cut apart the little slownesses of my own novels to hopefully create works that people want to keep reading.

Thanx!

Out with the old...

I finished my fifth draft of Dead Awakenings last night and it was bitter sweet.  Bitter, because I finished, sweet because... I FINISHED!!! 

So now what?  Now I am going to send it to my first beta reader and get his opinion as to what I need to do to change it before I do my last in depth toothbrush on the grindstone editing, and then I will send it out to my other beta readers :)

If you would like to be a beta reader for me just comment here, or on my facebook page or Twitter and I will put you on the list.

So what is next on the docket for me?  Well, I have already begun the next rewrite of my Vampire Romance book Breeders.  I will put up a synopsis in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

I am off to eat a cookie and then get ready for my Writers Group tonight :)

Vampires & Werewolves & Zombies!

So, why did I choose that title?  Because that is what I like to read and what I like to write about.  I have currently got three finished novels that are in various drafts of being edited.  A zombie book and two completely different vampire books.  I also have two books that I am halfway finished with one inspired by Lewis Carrol and the other a fantasy book on angels and demons. 

Aside from my adult fiction I have also written five children's picture books that I am currently looking for an illustrator for so I can publish those as well.  My five children's books were inspired by my four beautiful children.

 Soon I will be putting the first chapters of my three finished books on my blog here, so stay tuned.