Fan Fiction and Me...or How I Started Writing (Again) Pt.3

Again, this won't make a whole lot of sense unless you've read Part 1 and Part 2.

Check those out if you haven't, then come on back here!

I was talking about the benefits of writing fanfic, like the fact that it's like writing with training wheels (writing a novel or even a short story on your own is scary enough!), working with other authors for editing purposes, and that you get instant feedback through reviews.

Some of you may be wondering about the legality of it.  The very nature of fanfic is taking someone else's work (work that's often not in the public domain already) and playing in it, making parts of it your own.  Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, so the following is as I understand it.  Fanfic is legal, as long as you're not making any money off of it.  It's not for profit.

"But some people pull their fics from the online posting sites and publish it!" you may be saying. "Fifty Shades of Grey was one of those--it was a Twilight fanfic before it was a bestseller, and the author has made shitloads of money!"

Yep. But good news... I asked a friend, who actually IS a lawyer and works with issues like this, what her thoughts were.  Here's what she said: 

The question asked is whether publishing a story that was originally written as fanfic is copyright infringement. It is certainly actionable to publish infringing material for commercial purposes. However, if a fanfic story was infringing, and those elements are modified or removed prior to publication, there is no viable claim. The fact is, curing infringement happens every day. There is no support whatsoever in either the word or spirit of the law for the concept of “once infringing, always infringing.” I believe such an approach would be highly disfavored because it serves no useful purpose and would result in new and improved products and expressions of creativity being discarded simply because at one time they contained an infringing element. The purpose of copyright is to “Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” and such a concept is wholly inconsistent with that purpose.

Likewise, the idea that simply because I was inspired by the work of another, I can never fix the infringing element, is without merit. We are almost always inspired by something when we write. In the words of Justice Story, “In truth, in literature…there are…few, if any, things, which in an abstract sense, are strictly new and original throughout. Every book in literature… borrows, and must necessarily borrow, and use much which was well known and used before.”

In a nutshell, according to what my friend said above, there's nothing wrong with pulling your fic to publish it, so long as it's far enough removed from the original source material.  If E.L. James (author of Fifty Shades) had written it closer to the plot of Twilight, or if there were vampires, then there might be issues. But as it stood, all her characters were human, and, if I recall, there was no hardcore BDSM in any of the Twilight books.  If James had left her characters called "Bella" and "Edward", there might be problems, but don't you think Stephenie Meyer's lawyers probably looked at this from every angle already?

But this issue polarizes readers and writers in fandoms almost more than any other.

I've read many--many--fics that have been pulled from sites by their authors and subsequently turned into published works for profit.  Some have been self-published by the authors, and some have been published by big New York publishers.  I see them on the bookshelves in stores, and I smile, happy for the authors' success.  Most you would read these books and never in a million years guess that they were ever a Twilight fanfic (or from another fandom); even in their fic form, a lot of the similarities ended simply with the characters' names and physical descriptions.  The rest--places, family relations, etc., resemblance to Stephenie Meyer's characters/story--are easily edit-able and changed, removing any Twi-fic-ness about them.

What's amazing is that since I started writing fic in 2009, the stigma has been lifted to a huge degree.

See this poster here?

Sorry about the size; I wanted you to be able to read the names, which were tiny in the original.  These are the attendees of an author event at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas at the end of October this year.  And out of all these authors, I can count five...yes, five...that I recognize as Twilight fan fiction authors.  There are possibly more on the poster, but I don't know their names or pen names.  These are all best-selling authors; some of their published work is former fanfic, some is completely original from their imaginations.  Am I going to let you know who they are?  No.  If you don't know already, then that's fine...maybe they don't want to be outed.

I'm a member of the Maryland Romance Writers RWA chapter, and they have a stage each year at the Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland.  If you click here, you can see that this year there was even a panel titled "From Fanfic to Fiction".  The description is: "Join published authors who first cut their teeth writing fan fiction to discuss the transition."  I wished I could have been in the audience for this one, because I have a feeling they reviewed a lot of what I've mentioned over these past few posts, answering audience questions.

And in a huge turn of events, fan fiction is even being deliberately sought after by publishers.  This article from the Washington Post mentions a few Twilight fanfics that have been successful in the publishing world, and also discusses a One Direction fic that was acquired by publishing giant Simon & Schuster and recently published.  It's worth a read.

You might be wondering how much fanfic did I write?  I had probably 10+ short stories out there, along with 2 novel-length pieces.  Do I still write fic?  Between my editing and writing, I honestly don't have time at the moment, but I can't say I never would again.  I've pulled most of my fic from the web, but there are a few still out there.  I can't say that they're good--it's mostly stuff that I did very early on, but that's the idea, right? To practice and get better.

Do I read it?  Occasionally, but not Twilight so much anymore.  Other fandoms I've read fic in include Sherlock, Harry Potter, and Marvel comics.  All are great in their own ways, and I'm always blown away by the writers' creativity.  I swear, some of the Harry Potter fic I've read could have been written by J.K. Rowling, it fits so nicely into her magical world.  And the talent of some of these writers rivals some of the best published authors I've read as well...and who's to say they're not one in the same?  I'm aware that there are plenty of best-selling and/or published authors who write fanfic in their spare time as a fun writing exercise when they're not writing for themselves.

I've met some of my best friends and fellow writers through writing fanfic, and I had nothing but good experiences with it.

So, that's how I got started writing again and discovered this was what I wanted to do.

I'd love to know what you guys think about fanfic...hit me up in the comments.

xoxo Sarah

Fan Fiction and Me...or How I Started Writing (Again) Pt.2

This won't make any sense unless you've read Part 1 yet, so go back and read it if you missed it.

I'll wait.

Back?  Okay, onward!

So, when I left off I was saying how my first desire was to fix the Twilight books...write them the way I thought they should be.  But maybe I didn't have to do all this work...maybe there was something out there like this already?

I didn't really know where to start.  I had no idea people even did wrote stuff like that, but some Googling sure fixed that for me.

Site upon site popped up, and I started reading on several of them, fascinated and relieved that I wasn't the only one who wanted to take the work in a different direction.  A lot of the stories were decidedly more adult in nature (to be expected, given how much importance is placed on sexytimes (or avoiding them--Edward) in the books, and the fact that Stephenie Meyer faded to black in Breaking Dawn, not even giving the fans a little bit or somethin' somethin').  There were even stories where the characters were all human (abbreviated AH) instead of vampires, allowing the fic writer to take the characters in completely different directions while still retaining the character traits.  I'll talk more about this later and in Part 3.

I mostly read on the sites for a while before the writing bug really started kicking in.  I started small, writing a short story that was accepted on one of the sites, then, when I'd gained some confidence, actually wrote a novel-length piece.  People might wonder why I'd bother spending so much time and energy doing this--why write fanfic when I could have been developing my own worlds and skills?

You see, I was doing just that.  To me--and what I often tell people who look down on fanfic writers as silly people who are wasting their time when they could be writing real stuff--is that I believe writing fanfic is like writing with training wheels.  For someone new at writing period, or someone like me who hadn't done it in so long and was a bit rusty at it, it makes the process easier.  Half of the work is already done for you...the characters have backstories, descriptions, personality traits.  The fic author just has to make them do stuff--make a story around them.  It's like playing in someone's sandbox with the toys already there.  And later on, this gives us the tools and frees us to create characters and stories of our own.  The practice I got writing fanfic was, I believe, in some ways just as good as taking a creative writing class, and much more hands-on.

Another giant plus about fanfic writing is the instant feedback.  The sites you can post on all allow reviews, so readers will review your work (usually as posted...most of the time you can post chapter by chapter), and trust me, they won't pull any punches.  Sure, you'll get your share of "OMG write more! Loved it!" which is always nice, but you'll also get those who will give you a detailed critique of your chapter and/or story.  And there'll be some who hated your work, hated your characterization, hated...whatever...about the way you took the story.  Not much difference between fanfic readers/reviewers than "real" ones on Amazon and Goodreads, huh?

I loved working with other writers as well.  I was lucky enough to find a few that I used as "beta readers", or basically light content and grammar/spelling/punctuation editors.  We'd trade services where we'd read each other's chapters before posting them, giving the author feedback on what they've written.  As time went on, I could see my work improving, which was very satisfying.

Again, this is getting away from me, so stay tuned shortly for Part 3!

Thoughts?  Leave 'em in the comments below!

xoxo Sarah

Fan Fiction and Me...or How I Started Writing (Again) Pt.1

Whenever I meet new people, either in a personal or professional capacity, during the standard get-to-know-you stuff, inevitably the question is asked, "So, what do you do?" And when they find out that I'm an editor and writer, the conversation turns even more inevitably to how I got started writing in the first place.  After all, it's not exactly a career choice for everyone.

And up until now, I've been, well, sort of vague about the whole thing, except with a few people, and that was after knowing them for a while first.  Mostly to make sure they wouldn't laugh in my face.

I'd tell them that I'd loved writing as a kid, and gotten back into it while my husband was traveling a lot; that I'd come home from work and have a lot of time on my hands, so I started writing short stories.  And that was about it.

And it's true.  Mostly.  Sort of, in the same way as your skeleton can be considered your "body".

You see, the truth is, I got back into my writing groove writing Twilight fan fiction.  Let me define that for you: Fan fiction is, as Wikipedia says, the term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator.

If you're laughing, I kind of don't blame you, and I'll give you a minute to get it out of your system.  Fan fiction has this weird--mostly undeserved--stigma around it: that it's written by bored, horny housewives or squealy teenage girls to fulfill...what, I don't really know, probably something that needs fulfilling.  If you haven't participated in a fandom (group of people with a common interest in something, including the minute details--Trekkies are a good example of a fandom) before, most people assume it's all about writing sexytimes with someone else's characters, and while there is plenty of that, it's about a whole lot more.

Let me explain, but also let me back up a little bit.

I've always loved to read and write, and I've been crafting stories, good and bad, since I was in elementary school and probably before that.  I'm sure being an only child has something to do with it; by default we're on our own a lot, and we tend to have active imaginations.  Story-creating is what we do.  Despite this, I never majored in English or creative writing or anything that most people would automatically associate with something to springboard into a writing career, but writing and creating weren't foreign concepts to me.  I feel this needs to be established.  So there you go.

Anyway, yes, my husband was away traveling a lot, and yes, I had a lot of time on my hands and got bored.  So I guess I'm not dispelling the "bored housewife" stereotype, but whatever.  This was back in 2008, and the first Twilight movie was just coming out.  Though I'd never heard of the books or movie before, the buzz around it was quickly picking up steam, and I'm weird about reading books before I see a movie based on them (mostly so I can judge them harshly), so I figured why the hell not and picked up the first book.  And I was kind of hooked--the story wasn't bad, and it was enough to keep me entertained, which is what I was looking for, so I bought the other two and finished them as well before the fourth book came out a month or so later.  Mostly I wanted to see when Edward Cullen would get his head out of his sparkly emo ass and bite Bella, because they were clearly meant to be together forever...

Ahem...back to my story.

"Bite me." "No." "Why?" "I'm too angsty."

But when I read that last book, I immediately wanted to throw it across the room.  I almost did, actually, but I don't condone human-on-book violence.  I completely disagreed with some story choices the author Stephenie Meyer made in the third book (Eclipse), which somehow also led to the clusterfuck that was Breaking Dawn.  It's the book (and plot twist) that shall not be named. Sorry, but if you disagree with me, we can get into a fight about it in the comments section below.  I've met a lot of people who enjoyed all of the books, and a lot who agree with me, and while I respect their opinions, my blog, my rules, my skewed opinion.

And while Stephenie Meyer did an admirable job world-building, and her characters (weirdly enough the side-ones like Esme, Charlie, and Rosalie along with the rest of the Cullens) are interesting, her two leads needed a lot of work.  And then there were the plot points I didn't like.  These were all things floating around in my head after I read the books, leaving me with weird feelings I hadn't had about someone else's story before.

I had the overwhelming urge to FIX IT.  Make it--the story--the way I thought it should be.

This post is getting a bit on the long side, so I'll break it off here, but stay tuned shortly for Part 2.

Leave a comment below if you've ever been part of a fandom...which one? Did you read fic? Write it?

xoxo Sarah

WIP Blog Tour...Tagged by Nicki Elson!

I was tagged by the lovely Nicki Elson for the WIP Blog Tour.  And since it's been a bit since I last posted anything about my writing, I figured this was as a good time as any to let you guys know a bit about Fate's Awakening, my WIP.  Also, in case you don't know, WIP stands for "work in progress".  Yes, I still count FA as a WIP, because it's not published, and, in fact, is being critiqued mercilessly by Shelley Greene at this time.

Anyway...

The rules of the to:

1)  Link back to the person who tagged you.  That would be Nicki Elson, so check out her blog here.

Okay, so far so good.

2)  Write a little about and give the first sentences of the first 3 chapters of a WIP.

Here's the blurb I've tentatively settled on for Fate's Awakening.

Jack Harris's reluctance to find The One has put his life in danger with the Fates. They send a young goddess to convince Jack that he needs to search his heart or he's going to lose his only chance at happiness. After the goddess gives him less than a month to get his act together, Jack realizes that his soul mate is his long-time roommate and best friend, Andrew Kelly. Problem is, Andy's in a relationship with a woman, and Jack can't quite figure out where they stand. Will the goddess's divine intervention be enough to help Jack? Or will the Fates have to cut the tangled thread of his life when the deadline comes?

Intrigued? I hope so.

And here are the first sentences from the first 3 chapters of Fate's Awakening...four, actually, because I did a prologue. So you guys get a bonus sentence! Woo hoo!

Prologue:  "The Three have requested your immediate presence."


Chapter 1:  "Your place or mine?"


Chapter 2:  Insistent banging roused me from a deep sleep.


Chapter 3:  Just after eight-thirty, my cab pulled up in front of the bar.


And finally, rule 3:  Tag 4 more writers to see what they're up to!

Shelley Greene

Jennifer DeLucy

Debra Anastasia

and

Rumer Haven


I can't wait to see what they're up to!

xoxo Sarah

Guest Post by Loni Lynne!

My friend and fellow author, Loni Lynne, is celebrating the release of Immortal Heat on October 6th. It's the first in The Guardians of Dacia series. She's stopping by to tell us a bit about her book!

The Guardians of Dacia Series

Romania has been called the mystical land of paranormal beings and creatures of the night. Before the Romans conquered their land, Dacia was a mystical land of magic and folk-lore until one man and his army destroyed the closely woven fabric set by the gods between man and beast. Now, cursed by their gods over two thousand years ago, one immortal clan struggles to maintain their private world while still learning to live and protect their human brethren while their enemy seeks power to destroy the new world.
 But as the clans face extinction, a new generation of Dacian blood emerges to unite the clans once more. The world as they know it may never be the same. 

Immortal Heat

Dacian Historian… 
Determined to study ancient Dacian folk lore abroad, Marilyn Reddlin’s plans are cut short when she is abducted by a dark haired stranger who insists she’s in danger. The only danger she’s in is losing herself to her abductor’s inexplicable seductive energy. Draylon Conier teaches her there is more to Romania than myth and fairy tales while sweeping her into a wild adventure of paranormal mystery and intrigue. 

Dacian History… 
Thousands of years trying to pay back a debt, Draylon Conier is finally able to do so. Sent to capture a young, American student who is in danger while in Romania, he just has to send her back home. Easy enough for him. Unfortunately, Marilyn Reddlin is determined to thwart his every attempt—even telepathy. But there is more to her than meets the eye and the closer he gets to her, the more danger she is in, not only from the ancient immortal Dacian clans he’s trying to protect her from, but also his own sexual need. 

History just got a lot harder. 
They must find out what connection Marilyn has to Dacian history before Draylon destroys her when she succumbs to Immortal Heat. 

Even better, here's an excerpt from Immortal Heat: 

The server rolled out a dessert tray, and Marilyn automatically possessed room for the piece of decadent Belgian-chocolate cake whispering her name. She couldn’t pass up the temptation. Besides, it was only a sliver of cake. She needed something to absorb all the wine. The rich chocolate would complement the merlot and appease her craving.

 The first bite hit her taste buds with the smooth, sinful flavor of Belgian chocolate- ganache. Marilyn sighed blissfully and closed her eyes, allowing the sweetness to pleasure her senses as she dragged the fork through her lips to capture every last molecule of taste.

Upon opening her eyes she saw a man sitting at her table, staring at her. She inhaled a crumb of chocolate cake, setting her to cough. Marilyn tried to breathe as her eyes watered behind her spectacles. The man handed her the water goblet and their fingers touched. Trembling at the jolt of electricity shooting through her hand, Marilyn took a sip to clear her throat.

She picked up the subtle scent of the amber and musk she’d noticed in the airport. Was it him? Was he spying on her?

He didn’t blink. His electric blue gaze bore into her soul. Small tremors of the fear her mother had addressed for years came running back, but she sat immobilized, staring back at him.

Dressed all in black, his raven hair blended in with the black leather of his jacket and turtleneck shirt. Those blue eyes caught fire from the reflection of candle light between them. Little bubbles of sensual awareness boiled within her bloodstream, and her mouth went dry as if the cake she’d been eating left behind a sawdust residue. She tried to laugh away the nervousness, but what came out was more of a croak. “I think you have the wrong seat,” she said in broken Romanian.

“You have to leave,” he said.

He spoke in perfect, modern English with a hint of accent. She wasn’t sure what kind. You have to leave, her mind echoed. She shook her head at the distracting sound of his voice. Like the Belgian chocolate ganache, the thick tenor drizzled delicious intent that could make a woman fantasize about what that voice would sound like whispering rich, sweet words into her ear. She needed to stop drinking red wine. It made her think silly things.

What would her mother do in a situation like this? With the stiffened spine she’d learned from Diane Reddlin, she met his gaze—difficult as it was to look into his eyes without melting. “This is my table. You are the one who needs to leave.” She took another bite of her cake as if he weren’t there. Whether the cake was more acceptable to bite into than he was would be a matter of decorum, but she bet he would taste yummy.

Hands joined in a single fist planted on the table, he leaned forward until his face was mere inches from hers. He studied her every move as she ate. The intensity should have unnerved her, and yet a wine induced boldness hit her, coupled with a determination to put him in his place, whoever he was. His good looks and dark, sensual appeal could only mean trouble.

The flickering candlelight created shadows along his jaw line, making him appear even more mysterious. His elegant European nose flared, the muscles in his jaw flexed. The mixed scent of the aroma she’d been alerted to at the airport and leather from his jacket again hit her senses. As much as she tried to fight her feminine instincts, her inner woman wasn’t cooperating. Her nipples hardened, and a quiver started in her core. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“You are in danger, Marilyn Reddlin. Leave now. . . before it’s too late.”

Those eyes penetrated straight through to her soul. She hoped to God he didn’t know what her body was saying. Then his words and the fact he’d just addressed her by her name hit her like a bucket of icy water. She shook off the strange enchantment.

“Who are you?  How do you know my name?”

“That’s my business. Now, leave Romania…tonight.”

Marilyn sat stunned, fighting the commanding lilt of his voice. There was an odd, suggestive pull. She fought it but he’d already left. She hadn’t seen him get up. But when she looked, he’d walked out of the restaurant into the hotel lobby towards the entrance.

 A few moments later she grabbed his hand, halting him. His eyes flared up at her, and then down to where her hand had attached itself to his wrist. She stopped and realized she didn’t remember how she’d gotten from the table to being outside, trying to stop his departure. But here she was. They stared at each other for a moment, both astounded at the circumstances.

He jerked his hand from her touch and popped the collar on his jacket, glaring at her before walking away.

You will leave.

Did she just hear his voice in her mind or had he said that aloud? His back was to her, so she wasn’t sure. She shook her head to get the sound of his voice out of her senses. This was too bizarre.

Like hell I’ll leave, asshole, she thought while staring after him. Who did he think he was? Had her mother put him up to this?

Stopping dead in his tracks, he slowly turned around. Marilyn stood her ground, her hands fisted on her hips in defiance. Did she hear him curse? That was impossible, his lips hadn’t moved, and they were now a parking lot away from each other. 

A logistics truck pulled up through the circular entrance of the hotel, blocking her view, before driving away. When the view was clear, her mystery man had disappeared into the night, leaving only the echo of his warning behind in her head. She walked back to the dining room puzzled over the man’s audacity.

She’d be damned before she turned tail and ran back home to Mama.

Here's a bit about Loni and her writing: 

Born in north-central Michigan, Loni Lynne still loves the quiet woods, lakes and rivers in Otsego County and the Victorian era bay side houses of Little Traverse Bay. But after decades of moving around the country as a child and twenty-five years of marriage to her personal hero, she calls western Maryland her home.

 

Serving in the United States Navy didn’t prepare her for the hardest job ever, being a stay at home mom, to her two wonderful daughters. After years of volunteering as a scout leader, PTA officer, and various other volunteer positions, all while still writing snippets of story ideas, her husband decided it was time for her to put her heart to finishing a story. He gave her a laptop, portable hard drive and his blessings to have a finished manuscript, ready to be sent out to the masses in one year. He created a writing monster.

Immortal Heat was her first idea six years ago and has gone through many revisions since then. In the meantime another story took hold, Wanted: One Ghost and it became her first published book in 2013. Now with the help of her friends, family and friends of the romance writing community, she’s pursuing her love of telling stories written from her heart.

Amazon Page for Immortal Heat, Book 1 of The Guardians of Dacia series: http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Heat-Guardians-Dacia-Book-ebook/dp/B00NHDED50/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410880327&sr=8-1&keywords=Immortal+Heat

Facebook Page for The Guardians of Dacia series: https://www.facebook.com/TheGuardiansofDacia

Loni Lynne’s website: http://www.lonilynne.com

Loni Lynne’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lonilynne

Loni Lynne’s Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/LoniLynne1

Loni Lynne’s Goodread Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7115619.Loni_Lynne

Thanks for stopping by, Loni!  And if you lovely readers enjoyed the excerpt, be sure to pick up Immortal Heat, out October 6th! 

xoxo Sarah

Interview Time with Shelley N. Greene!

All right, you lovely people!  We have a special guest today--my critique partner, Shelley Greene, has published her first book, a kick-ass romantic suspense novel called The Fire Walkers! Yay! I can hear you guys being all excited. She's here because I tortured her with a little interview, so I hope you enjoy. 

Take it away, Shelley!  

Hi, Sarah!

Thank you so much for hosting me today! My debut novel THE FIRE WALKERS released July 1^st and I’m thrilled to talk to readers about it.

Blurb from THE FIRE WALKERS, Shelley N. Greene:

Kelly Monroe is an idealistic good girl thrown into a bad situation.  A graduate student chasing her dreams of a PhD, one party invitation lands in her a jail cell with only vague memories of the night before, images of a tragic bonfire haunting her. Sentenced to perform community service at a horse rescue, Kelly’s life goes from bad to worse, all under the watch of an attractive, blue-eyed detective. Driven to stick out the hard times, Kelly develops a bond with Keegan, an abandoned racehorse horse with a past.

Ex-NARC turned arson detective, Aidan Wright is tracking the drug dealers who killed his partner. Kelly’s memories of the bonfire prove to be the missing piece to Aidan’s investigation of several drug-related teen deaths, perpetrated by the band of drug dealers who scarred him years ago. When Kelly becomes the unsuspecting victim of the drug group’s trafficking, Aidan is forced to stay close to her to catch them.

As Aidan uncovers the truth, Kelly develops feelings for the fearless, blue-eyed cop, and the battered arson detective falls hard for the outgoing girl with the contagious laugh.

I'm lucky enough to have known you for a while, but tell everyone about yourself:

I’m coffee loving, late-to-the-party, night writer who trips horrendously through things before learning how to do them the right way. I was raised a dog person (cocker spaniels), and later transitioned into a rescued horse person (visited, not owned), as well as a diva cat who is lovably needy and independent at the same time. When not living the dream of neurotic author, I’m an avid nature walker, intermediate photographer, and scrapbooker.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts about being a writer?

My favorite part of being an author is the open arena in which we work. When telling a story or creating a character, you get to go everywhere and anywhere; you get to be anyone you wish to be. The research you do takes you to new places and teaches you new things. It’s the one job that allows you to stand in the shoes of any profession, travel to any setting, or simply make up your own world.

The least favorite part is the stress that comes with the job. Like any profession, writing takes time, experience, and skill, all of which are the result of practice and failure. I've noticed that, “You know you’ve crossed over into being an author when someone says to you, ‘I’ve been working on a novel’, and you’re first response is ‘How do I gently explain to this person the life they’re embarking on?’” It's a tough life!

Prose, narrative voice, adverbs, dialogue tags, present tense, back story, grammar…grammar. Did I mention grammar?

Once the thing is written its copy edits, galleys, marketing, and book reviews. It’s like a long race with a million hurdles, and every person stumbles in their own, select places. But when you keep running, even when exhausted and ready to give up, that’s when you know that you’re an author.

Authors are awesome about helping each other out, so what’s one piece of advice you’d give to other writers?

Be kind to yourself.

When you create a written work in a solitary environment it’s all yours, no one else can see it. Once the work is published and out in the world, you have no control over it or how it will be received. That’s an unnerving part of the process that makes a writer feel very exposed and out there. Your first book will be different from your second, and different from the one after that. You grow with every word, sentence, scene, and story. Worry about what’s inside of you, and leave the rest of the world outside the door.

Take care of the creator (you) and KEEP WRITING.

Do you prefer silence or to have music on when you’re writing? What kind?

I’m the type who needs complete silence when I’m writing, so I don’t play music because I find it distracting. I do however love to listen to music away from the keyboard, as it helps give me get an emotional and mental grasp on the images and scenes. A playlist develops as I write each book, and there is a list for THE FIRE WALKERS.

With TFW it was about feeling lost, cultivating courage and finding your fire.

The following songs take me back to TFW’s pivotal moments:

          FIND YOURSELF – Brad Paisley

          STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU – Kelly Clarkson

          THE SUN WILL RISE – Kelly Clarkson

          IT’S WHO YOU ARE – A. J. Michalka

          BRAVE – Sara Bareilles

The second book in the Walker series is being drafted as we speak (um, type), and the tunes that put me in the characters point of view are just starting to come to me.

So far two songs have become earworms for Book 2:

ANYWHERE BUT HERE – SafetySuit

UPTOWN GIRL – Billy Joel

Awesome playlist!  And how’d you get the idea for THE FIRE WALKERS and the rest of the Walker series?

The idea for THE FIRE WALKERS came to me suddenly and wouldn’t let go. Several years ago I began volunteering at a horse rescue in western Maryland, and the horses there inspired me in so many ways. They each had personalities and histories.

          Drawn in by their stories, I began to daydream, and around that time an old news article I’d read in the 90’s also kept coming back to me. When I get curious I do research, and everything I was learning began to tie together seamlessly. The idea of a horse rescue setting along with a strong external conflict began to percolate. I connected instantly with my heroine, Kelly, but (mentioned in a CN blog post) Aidan, my hero in THE FIRE WALKERS, was a bit of difficult character to grasp at first. A strong, fiery guy, I feared that my depiction of him on the page wouldn’t do him justice. In the end, Aidan turned out to be a wonderful hero. Blue eyes, dark hair. Swoon worthy as he single handedly carries heroines, as well as nosy, omnipresent narrators out of burning barns.

          The overall Walker series is based on a premise of Astrology, each element containing signs (characters) which play into its theme, and as the plot for TFW unfolded in my head I knew that the fire theme would result in an action packed story. From the beginning TFW was set to be a romantic suspense, while the rest of the Walker series is based on the element of each book, and will each lean toward contemporary.

So....how’s book 2 coming along? Inquiring minds what to know!

Book two is coming along great! It’s about half done, and I’m very pleased with it so far. In THE FIRE WALKERS, you meet Ben, the hero of book two. His element is earth, and it makes Ben a very industrious and stable guy. As the second book in the series and the second element in the astrological sequence, I was worried about the mental changing of gears, so to speak. The fire element is physical and instinctive, while earth is stationary and settled. Like lava that has cooled to become igneous rock, I had to transition my perspective from active to inert. My earth characters are practical and meticulous, which is opposite my impulsive and unpredictable brood in TFW. Another flip-flop has been that I’m channeling Ben clearly, far easier than I did Aidan, but book two’s heroine has required some extra consideration… 

More details on that coming soon. :D

What are you working on now?

I’m taking a short break from book two to focus on TFW promotion, distribution, and to breathe a little. But next week it’s back to the drafting desk!

Tell us what genre(s) you write in, why, and what your experiences are like writing THE FIRE WALKERS. If you write in multiple genres, how is the experience different from one another?

I write both Contemporary and Romantic Suspense.

Contemporary focuses on deeply personal conflict. It’s the everyday feelings and problems that a character encounters in their relationships. Contemporary is definitely a different “gear” to write in because the author gets to address real life situations. It’s also a lot fun because readers can relate in a profound way, where the emotion relayed in the story matches feelings and circumstances they’ve faced, too.

Romantic Suspense is contemporary with a kick. A story set in modern day and sprinkled with believable external conflict. RS is a love story with a hint of danger and intrigue that excites the mind and still gives the reader the Happily Ever After.

I love the fact that THE FIRE WALKERS is a romantic suspense. It lives up to its theme because fire is physical; action, impulse and adventure. When writing romantic suspense the author gets to talk about real world problems but with the added perk of throwing in the danger and bad guys.

There’s one chapter in TFW written from the girl villain’s point of view, and that scene actually took a lot of time and research.  To ensure that I portrayed her right involved reading up about the psychology of a felon. There’s a narcissism, lack of remorse, and dominance to her personality that shows in the history of how she’d come to join the Dove group. It was a squicky mindset to write from, but it revealed what the bad guys were after, which amped up the suspense.  

What was your favorite scene to write in THE FIRE WALKERS? 

There are four scenes in the book that are special to me. In another blog interview, I talked about a moment that involved my horse character, Keegan. Today I’ll tell you about another favorite, a scene that occurs in Chapter 18. In the scene Aidan and Kelly have endured their first fight, while Keegan is recovering from a health ordeal. Once again all three of the Walkers are together in one place, and their chemistry is lively and fun.

In the plot this is the second point of peace before the other shoe drops. The Walkers have survived the initial challenges, and the future appears sunny until the winds of the final storm blow in. The scene begins with Kelly as she walks into the barn to find Aidan visiting with Keegan. Kelly and Aidan's body language and banter make it clear that they’re comfortable with one another in an intimate way, and the dialogue feels like a flicker of flame, quick and energetic. The Aidan we meet in the beginning is withdrawn, his fire dimmed, while Kelly starts out reserved, watching others live the life that she wants. By this point in the story Aidan and Kelly have grown more spontaneous and animated like their fire element. In the barn they joke in a playful and physical way, chasing one another.

They run and laugh.

 The joy is a brief respite from the final conflict that is about to hit, but watching their evolution from inhibited to free shows that Aidan and Kelly have found their fire.

I can’t help but smile every time I read that scene. J 

I love living vicariously through my characters.

What scene gave you the most trouble in THE FIRE WALKERS?

          Chapter 8 had to be the scene that gave me the most grief in a good way. It’s the first fight between Aidan and Kelly, and I actually wrote the scene three times. It was important to me to get the right feel of the moment for several reasons. First off, I like believable conflict. Disagreement for the sake of fighting is not realistic, plus these two characters LIKE and are starting to LOVE one another. Their falling out needs to not be an act of tearing one another down, but rather them being at cross purposes. And that is especially dynamic when the couple are fiery in nature. They care passionately about their goals, and their frustration doesn’t simply build up, it flares.

          Before this chapter the last time Aidan and Kelly had been together they’d felt a spark of attraction and were getting close. In the next chapter we see Kelly’s goal yanked away from her because of Aidan’s actions.

          So at this point the reader has seen Kelly’s side, and can understand why she’s angry. The scene is crucial because it’s a crossroads for all the characters. Kelly’s dream crashing down, Aidan’s obsession with catching the drug dealers, and most importantly, the definition of a Fire Walker. The truth is raw in that moment and the "camera", so to speak, had to be angled in such a way to catch all the effect. And there was an intensity to the way Aidan is blind-sided. Aidan's mind was set on what he wanted, Kelly’s rebuff opens his eyes to the repercussions of his behavior, as well as pans out to show the overall battlefield of the situation.

           After I’d settled on the version you see in the book, I felt that "good" level of writer exhaustion, the kind that validates the work. I reached for a desired result, and kept plugging away at it until it worked. And the scene brought it all together perfectly.

Where can we find you on the interwebs? 

Author Links:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Where can we find your books? 

Links for THE FIRE WALKERS:

Amazon: Kindle 

Amazon: Print Edition

Barnes & Noble: Nook 

Apple: iBook and iPad

Kobo

It was a pleasure visiting with you today, Sarah! 

Thank you so much for having me! 

You're very welcome, Shelley!  Thanks for stopping by. Now get back to writing! :-)

xoxo Sarah