My wonderful vacation and my horrible week back

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I haven’t done a personal update in a while, because not much has happened in my life and I’d hate to be thought of as boring. Can I have boring back? The last couple of weeks certainly haven’t been boring. I’d like boring back.

Last week was wonderful. I went to visit my sister in South Carolina. We spent a couple of days at the pool and I actually managed not to get burnt. We found shark’s teeth and went out to eat at these amazing restaurants. We took my sister and her roommate out to eat and bonded making fun of sis. (I don’t mean we were being mean to her. My family jokes around, all in good fun. Everyone was cracking up.)

I got to see a movie in the theater for the first time in a while. We were down to the planet of the apes or Lucy and picked Lucy. It was good for the first half, but then it got really weird. It was still fun though.

It was 99 degrees the day before we left. It’s so humid down there. The humidity made my hair grow so much it got checked by airport security. You know you’re having a big hair day when…

Unfortunately this week has been busy in a terrible way. My father wound up in the. His health’s never been good, but it’s worse now. Heart failure and kidney failure, they’re putting him on dialysis.

With all this going on I’ve just wanted something brainless to read while we’re waiting, so I picked up the other Skulduggery Pleasant books. I’m writing up another set of mini reviews for that and I read Sabriel on vacation, but I don’t know when I’ll get it posted. It might be a few days before I get my reviews up and I wanted to explain why. Thanks for listening.

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Chapter Titles ~ Teasers, but not spoilers.

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This week’s topic is brought to you by Doctor Who, proving that you can find inspiration anywhere you look.

(In the future River Song will write a book, but the Doctor and company can’t read ahead, because if you know something is going to happen in the future, you insure that it will.)

Amy Pond: “But if River’s going to write that book she’d make it useful, yeah?”

River Song: “Well I’ll certainly try. But we can’t read ahead, it’s too dangerous.”

Amy Pond: “I know, but there must be something we can look at.”

The Doctor: “What, a page of handy hints? Previews, spoiler-free.”

Amy Pond: “Chapter titles.”

So many books right now only number the chapters, but I find that rather boring, so I’ve been naming mine. Right now, the titles are only to help me navigate my novel, but I’m trying to make them more into teasers for the chapter. (The way TV show writers do for episode titles.)

I don’t want to spoil anything with my chapter titles, because that’s often the first thing I read when I pick up a book. It’s not easy coming up with sixty clever phrases, (fun though) and if I do my job right, just reading the chapters will make people want to read my book. (At least that’s what I’m hoping.)

Chapter titles are also a good opportunity to show the voice of a novel. Is the book humorous? This is a good place to show that off.

My first chapter is called Born of two worlds. (One down, fifty-nine more to name.)

Do you name your chapters or just use numbers? Which do you prefer while reading?

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What makes me download a book and what makes me turn away?

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With so many titles out there, I have to be selective about what I download. (and resist the temptation of so many free books) These are the criteria that I use when browsing on Amazon.

Cover & Genre- I have to admit that when I’m in a bookstore the first thing to catch my attention is the shiny cover. When it comes to a Kindle book, (especially if it’s free) I look at the genre first. However, a bad cover is still a turn off. If it looks too homemade, (like a copy and paste Microsoft paint job) I worry about the quality of the book. The cover also has to match the genre. If the book is classified as paranormal, but the cover looks like a romance (usually a muscled shirtless man) I assume the main theme of the book is actually romance.

Description- The description is the most important. It not only tells what the book’s about, but tells how the author writes. When the book has a good hook or an interesting sounding plot I’ll download it even if there aren’t any reviews. (or if it is about a good monster, I can’t resist such books. We all have our guilty pleasures.) If the book is free, I’ll keep reading as long as the description makes sense and is well written. (Sadly some aren’t.) If it is filled with strange names or I can’t follow it, I figure I won’t be able to follow the book either and I move on. I also don’t like it when the author has to tell me how good the book is instead of telling me about the book, (or when authors say how beautiful and smart the characters are) but that’s just me.

Reviews- I usually read a positive review and a three star review before I download a book. I’ve found the three star reviewers are more honest about its flaws and lets me know if what they didn’t like is something that I won’t like either. An immediate turn off is comments mentioning poor editing or writing. I know how hard editing is and I don’t know how picky these reviewers are, but with all the books out there I don’t have time to download something that wasn’t edited.

I’ll be posting reviews here (and on Amazon and Goodreads) for all of the new books I read. While downloading all these free books I’ve realized how important reviews are to new authors. (but first I have to stop downloading them and pick one to read.)

What do you look for before you download a book?

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New Years Resolutions

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New Years Resolutions are silly things really, because they rarely ever survive until spring. I think it is better to do your best every day, do what you can, and that’s good enough.

If I made a resolution or goal for the year it would be to get Woven Magic as good as I can make it. Hopefully I’ll be able to start submitting it to agents too, but at this point finishing it seems monumentous. (Google says it’s a word, so I’m using it.)

What is your goal for the year?

Sorry this post is short, Molly is sick. Happy New Year.

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Writer’s block. What I do when my Muse is ignoring me.

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Writers have lots of creative excuses for when inspiration fails, but no matter what you call it, it’s annoying, and if you’re like me where your mood is tied to your writing it’s depressing too.

So what do I do when my creativity faucet is clogged?

I have to remember that I am writing for fun, because I enjoy it. Even if it’s a job, it’s the one I’ve chosen. It shouldn’t be “You should be writing” but “You could be writing” because really, I’d rather write than do anything else. But, as much as I enjoy writing, there are times where I stare at the page and think, okay… now what?

Everyone has a different suggestion, because everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you. The trick is to find what inspires you, what gets your creative juices flowing.

I sit down and try to write. When I don’t know where the story is going I skip ahead and write another part, and if that shuts down I skip again. This creates some rather interesting bits and pieces of a story, but by the end, they usually all fit together.

If I can’t get anything down on the page, I pick up a book, because reading puts my head in a better place. Many people seem to favor music, but I’m not really a music person. Sometimes a certain song strikes a cord with me and gives me ideas, so just because something usually doesn’t work doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try. Recently I’ve found inspiration from looking at fantasy artwork online.

One of my biggest problems is focusing on just one idea, and not being sidetracked by all the other stories bouncing around in my head. For years I bounced around and wound up not finishing anything.

There are things that do the opposite, put me in a bad writing place. Playing randomly on the computer or watching certain dumb TV shows is bad for my writing juju and nothing kills my creativity faster than video games.

When I need to know know what needs to happen next in my story, taking a shower or vacuuming usually helps, or any monotonous tasks where my mind gets bored and starts creating stories. Going to bed always solves my problem, especially if my computer is off. I lay in bed and the ideas start to flow. I’m not one to put writing off, if ideas are flowing, I write. Forget sleep, food, and all the other important parts of life, the writing is working.

There is nothing better than a good writing day.

What do you do when you are having trouble writing? What kinds of things have given you a headache?

My first person point of view in my current novel has given me problems, especially when the main character isn’t the center of the action. I hate it when I get stuck, because I’ve gotten my characters into such a mess that I can’t see a way out. Crating the problems is fun, solving them can sometimes be tricky, because I like intelligent bad guys and I don’t want to make things too easy for them. It’s all the more rewarding when it suddenly clicks, the pieces come together, and I’ve conquered my character’s dilemma, even though I’m the one who put them into it.

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Killing… Off Characters

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Everyone has a strong opinion about killing off characters, and I’m no exception. I think that if done right, killing of a character can increase the stakes and add to the realism of a story.

In a war or a struggle if no one ever dies I think that the risk is lost. If I know everyone is always going to be okay, than it isn’t nearly as exciting. I like when they die on stage, so to speak, when it is mentioned afterwards it doesn’t have the same impact.

A death has to fit the tone of the rest of the book. It can come as a surprise, but it should still fit the mood of the story. When someone dies it should be important to the plot and change things, so there’s a reason behind the death. The main character has to be affected, so that the death affects the readers. If the reader doesn’t care what happens to the characters than I’m doing my job.

Some people think that for it to be happily ever after no one can die, but I disagree, look at how many characters die in Disney movies.

Death can’t be undone, or shouldn’t be, unless it is a book about the undead, so be certain before deciding to kill a character. They have to die for a reason, which is true to the character and the rest of the story. Don’t kill for the sake of having a character die for shock value or to prove a point, like war is bad.

Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Game of Thrones, lots of big name authors are killing off characters, but that doesn’t mean that we should follow suit. Every author is different and should do what they think is best for their story. That’s the great part about being the writer. We get to decide who lives and who dies.

What is you think about authors killing off their characters? Have you killed anyone? (In your writing, of course)

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Chapter Two

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Chapter two is now available online. The password is the same as the first chapter: jyk Thanks for putting up with my paranoia. I’m just worried that if I submit my novel for publishing and it is widely available online it will hurt my chances.

http://mollymortensen.wordpress.com/chapter-2/

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to post a comment or criticism.

Synopsis:

Ten years ago the shift occurred. For one day, the Earth merged with another world, and strange sword-wielding people were everywhere. Afterwards, everything went back to normal, except two million humans wound up on the other world. In this new world, technology fails, but magic is real.

Alyt is a human girl who has never been out of her tiny village. When she magically defends her home from barbarians, her friends, and neighbors kick her out. She thinks that learning to control her magic will solve all of her problems, but it is only the start of them.

Madj Jyk is a Kuth, a native of the world of magic. He has taken on the unwanted job of being a regional Madj. When city-states have problems involving magic, they call Jyk. Regional Madj usually don’t have apprentices due to the dangerous nature of their work, but Jyk has agreed to allow Alyt to become apprentice. Alyt tries to prove herself and in the process, reveals she has special skills even Jyk has never seen before.

Alyt will travel the world, visiting castles, jungles, and even a magical island. It is always an adventure, but nothing ever goes smoothly. The barbarians who attacked her village keep attacking the humans, because they believe the land is theirs. Jyk cannot help, because the Madj council prevents him from interfering unless magic is involved. Alyt has to master her magic, survive her adventures with Jyk, and save the humans from the barbarians.

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Sample chapter

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I posted an updated version of the first chapter of my novel, Woven Magic. It’s password protected, so it doesn’t wind up in search engine caches. The password is: jyk

http://mollymortensen.wordpress.com/sample-chapter/

Thank you for reading. I appreciate any comments and criticisms. The second chapter will be posted tomorrow, since this one is so short.

Synopsis:

Ten years ago the shift occurred. For one day, the Earth merged with another world, and strange sword-wielding people were everywhere. Afterwards, everything went back to normal, except two million humans wound up on the other world. In this new world, technology fails, but magic is real.

Alyt is a human girl who has never been out of her tiny village. When she magically defends her home from barbarians, her friends, and neighbors kick her out. She thinks that learning to control her magic will solve all of her problems, but it is only the start of them.

Madj Jyk is a Kuth, a native of the world of magic. He has taken on the unwanted job of being a regional Madj. When city-states have problems involving magic, they call Jyk. Regional Madj usually don’t have apprentices due to the dangerous nature of their work, but Jyk has agreed to allow Alyt to become apprentice. Alyt tries to prove herself and in the process, reveals she has special skills even Jyk has never seen before.

Alyt will travel the world, visiting castles, jungles, and even a magical island. It is always an adventure, but nothing ever goes smoothly. The barbarians who attacked her village keep attacking the humans, because they believe the land is theirs. Jyk cannot help, because the Madj council prevents him from interfering unless magic is involved. Alyt has to master her magic, survive her adventures with Jyk, and save the humans from the barbarians.

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