Friday Favorites, Fantasy Art & A Funny...

Hey all! It's Friday! This is one of those weeks that I wish I could go hang out at the bar for Happy Hour, but Homer, Alaska doesn't have just an hour of happiness...

Oh well. On to my favorites!

Favorite Books/Authors:

I absolutely love and adore the 'Cat Who...' books by Lillian Jackson Braun. 'The Cat Who Tailed a Thief', 'The Cat Who Smelled a Rat', "The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern'. Yeah, those books. Quilleran is one of my most favorite characters. He's calm, he's cool and he's a journalist living in a small town on his trust fund. He's friendly to everyone and he has two kitties who help him solve murders. Koko and Yumyum are the best feline dynamic duo. And it helps that Koko is a bibliocat. I have one of those. She knows what my Kindle is, she rubs on it when I pick it up to read but ignores it any other time. She loves to nose around my bookshelf as well. I think, if I were to ever have a murder mystery on my hands, Gir would be my furry little sidekick.



Favorite Movies:

I was sitting here thinking about movies the other day. I have a whole long list of movies I like. The one I have on the list for this week is one I recently watched again with my kids. 'Grown Ups'. Yep, another Adam Sandler movie. One that made us all laugh our butts off while watching it. Dunno what it is, it just tickles our funny bones.




Favorite Music:

The Bangles is what I am going to list this time around. Not that I am a huge fan of this all girl rock band from the 80's but they had some good tunes. Seemed like the three girl bands of the 80's that were dukin' it out were The Bangles, The Go Go's and Bananarama. I wasn't  much of a fan of the Go Go's and the Banana girls seemed to only have a couple of hits. Then again, I really didn't keep up with that kind of music. I was a heavy metal girl who had to hide my love of other music in order to keep from getting my ass kicked. Tell that crowd I listened to Classical music in high school? H E L L no.

Fantasy Art:

This is a very sweet picture. I love fairies!

And now for the Funny!

Have a great weekend!

Guest Post: Stuart Jaffe...

Thanks, Mel, for inviting me onto your blog. It's a pleasure.

Now, one of the old warhorses of advice given to new writers is Write What You Know. Even if you're not a writer, you've probably heard this one. For me, a lover of science fiction from an early age, I had one question: How? How do I write about aliens and time travel and dragons and magic when I don't know -- when I can't truly know -- about those things?

Nobody had a good answer for me.

Thankfully, I figured it out for myself, and today, I offer my solution to you. It's this: you already do know about these things.

Take my series The Malja Chronicles which begins with The Way of the Black Beast. In this post-apocalyptic, parallel world magic is derived from manipulating energy around the user much like an electric eel manipulates the tiny bits of voltage surrounding it in the water. Magicians are born with this ability, and as they learn to utilize it for a specific spell, a tattoo grows on their body. They use these tattoos to focus their minds in order to conjure. However, another group of people, The Bluesmen, have learned to use the sympathetic vibrations caused by their blues music to manipulate the energy in the air nearby and achieve a similar goal -- although they require more manpower and have less powerful results. The final aspect of this magic system is that using it takes a toll on the magicians mind. The more magic (especially the more powerful magic) one uses, the higher the risk of going insane.

.

So, what did I actually know in order to create this magic system? Well, I had learned (really re-learned) about electric eels at the Baltimore Aquarium several years back and thought that would be a cool bit of knowledge to hold onto for some day. Regarding tattoos -- I have a few, so I know about them firsthand. When it came to the Bluesmen, I had learned about sympathetic vibrations long ago in a high school music theory class, and as you might imagine, I love blues music. In fact, I've been playing blues guitar for about twenty-five years. I really love the stuff.

In other words, I took all these little bits of things I had knowledge of or a love for and smashed them together. It's part of the fun when creating things like magic. After all, no matter what the writing teachers say, the truth is that there are no real rules to any of this. In fact, it took me a long time to learn this, but as far as I can tell, the only true rule in writing is quite simple: If it works, it works.

Too often, writers get scared by the complexity of a magic system. Relax. It doesn't have to be that complicated. It can, if you like, be rather simplistic. Look at the magic in Greek mythology or Arthurian legends. There's barely any consistency to be had. Magic does what the author needs it for and that's all. Things like logic and reason show no part in the execution of magic in these tales. The key: they made it work.

We've all read stories where the magic doesn't work, where the use of it seems like cheating or makes us start to question things. But good writing can make magic work in the most unlikely situations. J. K. Rowling made a pretty good career out of making it all up as she went along. It's evident in the Harry Potter books that her magic system was fleshed out with greater abilities and depth as the series progressed. But we eat it up anyway.

Conversely, Brandon Sanderson appears to have had the complex and intriguing magic system found in the Mistborn novels completely worked out from book one. It's a fascinating system and he delves into all sorts of unique ways to use magic within the constraints he gave. And it works, too.

Those are the big secrets. Utilize what you know and what you're passionate about to make your magic come alive. Then, use your skills as a writer to make the reader believe it. If you want to create a magic system that requires the caster to dance ballet and sing show tunes which then bestows unlimited power, I say to go for it. If you can make it work, the readers will love it. The proof is right there in my own book. The only complaint I've ever received regarding the magic in Malja's story is that readers want even more of it.

That's when you know it's really working.

----

Stuart Jaffe is the author of Southern Bound, The Malja Chronicles, After The Crash, as well as the short story collection, 10 Bits of My Brain. Numerous other short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of The Eclectic Review -- a podcast about science, art, and well, everything. For those who keep count, the latest animal listing is as follows: five cats, one albino corn snake, one Brazilian black tarantula, three aquatic turtles, assorted fish, two lop-eared rabbits, five chickens, and a horse. Thankfully, the chickens and the horse do not live inside the house.

The Way of the Black Beast can be found here: http://amzn.to/blackbeast

Stuart's website: http://www.stuartjaffe.com

Writing Wednesdays: Building Magic...

So here is the first in my world building posts. I'm going to start with magic. Not for any reason in particular, it's just a place to start.

Magic in my world is not unique by any means of the imagination. But it is different, simply because how I view magic. My opinions on magic in fantasy differ, I'm sure, from other fantasy writers out there.

There is a lot of debate in the fantasy world that I'm sure most of you are unaware of, if fantasy is not your genre. The debate? Should magic have rules? Lots of fantasy buffs think it should. Where is the fun in fantasy if you've got a magic user that can just conjure up whatever he or she wants with the snap of their fingers?

And what of the magical 'cost'? By cost, I mean what does it cost the magic user to conjure? Does it take away from his energy? His life in either seconds, hours or years? Maybe it takes from his soul.

I'm currently reading a book where magic affects the users mind. Every time they use magic, they go a little more insane. ("The Way of the Black Beast" by Stuart Jaffe) (Note: Guest post on Thursday August 9th by Stuart, drop by!)

But what about those pesky rules? I'm of the mind that magic should not have rules, per se, but limitations are an absolute must! Again with the whole snapping of fingers and poof! you have stuff. Magic should cost the user something, right?

In Melanie Rawn's series of books, The Dragon Prince trilogy and The Dragon Star trilogy, she has magic users called Sunrunners. The basis of these Sunrunners is this: They can use sunlight to communicate with other Sunrunners over long distances. Can they conjure up items or anything? Nope. They just speak to each other. So what are the consequences of something like this? They can't use starlight. It is forbidden, but if the Sunrunner is powerful enough, they can accomplish it. They also don't travel well on water. You put a Sunrunner on a raft over a river and they're incapacitated for hours. Imagine what sailing would do to them? The other drawback to being a Sunrunner? There is a drug that they can use to increase their power to reach longer distances. It is super addictive and they're easily controlled when addicted. Sometimes, though, a Sunrunner will get lost in the light and can't find their way back to their body. If this happens, they basically end up an empty shell and die.

In David Eddings' series of The Belgariad and The Mallorean, Belgarath the sorcerer and his daughter, Polgara the sorceress, are a couple of pretty powerful magic users. They use the 'Will and the Word' method. You picture what you want in your mind then you will it into being with a spoken word. One of the drawbacks is that when you use magic, it makes a sound other magic users can hear. Sends out a beacon, and if you are hiding, that's not good! There are very few magic users in Eddings' world. A handful, in fact and they are not easily swayed. They try to stay out of things unless Prophecy dictates otherwise. So they can use magic all they want and their lifespan is limitless. They can be killed, but you better be able to get close, first.

My magic users have limits as well. I call them Mahjii. They're born into magic. They know by the age of fourteen if they have magical energies within. They have one year to seek out training and if they ignore it, they pay the price. My Mahjii must seek out training or their magical energies will consume them. They literally burn with fever and end up in ashes. Sometimes, they're only powerful enough to maintain that energy within. It prolongs their death and they're pretty sick their entire life, but they're alive. That's their only restriction, really. And rules? Well, they're meant to be broken, aren't they? They try to stay out of political issues. They have chosen to withdraw from the world after their city is destroyed, so people in my world think they're dead and gone. Myths and legends. But they still exist!

Mahjii in my world use the energy that surrounds them. They draw off the energy of the earth at their feet, the air, water, anything. They don't exactly conjure up just anything. They have specific things they create and lots of tools to enhance their abilities. My Elves that use magic are the same way, but their magical energies won't kill them if they can't control it. My water Elves live near running water to power their magic. Lakes don't do it, rivers are workable but oceans are optimal. They can use the energies to shape-shift and conjure to a point. The way my magic users see it is if they need it and can't find it anywhere or make it, they create it using their power.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Tune in next time when I discuss kingdoms. Tomorrow I will have a guest post by Stuart Jaffe, author of 'The Way of the Black Beast' regarding magic in his world. So drop on by and say hello to Stuart!

12 Reasons To Sleep In...

1. There is nothing good on television...

2. There is housework to be done...

3. If you wake up later, there won't be so much traffic...

4. The line at Starbuck's will be shorter...

5. The baby slept in...

6. It's raining outside...

7. It's Monday...

8. The cats are curled around your legs and you can't move anyway...

9. It's your spouse/significant other's day off...

10. Your alarm didn't go off...

11. The dog snored all night, keeping you awake...

12. You were up all night working on your next great book...

What are your reasons for sleeping in? I wasn't very creative, but you can be!

How I Write Fantasy...

I'm going to be writing up some posts in the next several weeks in regards to my views of writing fantasy and more importantly how I write fantasy. Things I have worked on, things that took me a long freakin' time to create. Now, this may or may not help you if you are a fantasy writer, time will only tell. Most fantasy writers take so long in writing their work because of all the world building they have to do. Others just wing it.

So what, first of all, does world building include? Well, that depends on how far you want to get into it. Here is what my world building included:

* Magic

*Kingdoms

*Laws

*Creatures

*Characters

*Money

*Gods and Goddesses

These are just the main things. In each of those categories, there are numerous sub-categories. I had to make lots of decisions regarding the list above.

In making decisions on my world, in general, I had to start out with some pretty mundane stuff regarding the sun, moon, stars and so on.

Might sound silly to you, but in writing fantasy, you're here to think outside of the box. I literally came up with several choices on those basic things and rolled the dice. Not kidding! I used to play Dungeons and Dragons, so I pulled out all my dice. Six sided, four sided, twenty sided and I rolled, baby!

My world has two suns. If you think this might be a hot climate, it isn't really. The second sun is really, really tiny when you look at it up in the sky of my world.

I have one moon in my night sky and of course, my stars make up their own constellations which had to be written down in folklore and the like. I even have a story about the moon. I'm still working on the constellations and the stories associated with them.

So, over the next several weeks, I'll be posting things about my world and choosing from those categories above. Bear with me, as I worked on this world for well over ten years and it still isn't done or is it perfect. I'm constantly adding to it and changing things, but most of what I have is set in stone and is here to stay. So I hope you enjoy what I have to share!

Watching The Olympics?...

I used to love watching the Olympics. I've killed my television, so I can't watch them there. I can watch it online, though, apparently.

How many books are out there, do you think, that have to do with the Olympics? I'm not talking history, I'm simply talking about fiction books where there is an Olympic hopeful or athlete that has gone to the Olympics?

Well, I can suggest one. And it's by a very fun person here on the blogosphere! L. Diane Wolfe!

She has a blog page here.

And here is a bit about her book, 'Circle of Friends Book One: Lori' ~

Driven by Olympic dreams! 

To the outside world, Lori Anders has it all. The only child of affluent parents, she is a gifted swimmer with Olympic dreams. Armed with a winning attitude and genuine spirit, Lori appears destined for success. Yet despite her certainty in the pool, something inhibits Lori from achieving her full potential. Her focus on swimming has left little time for relationships. Lacking in confidence, Lori's light has few opportunities to shine. When an altercation with the school bullies brings her to the attention of the star quarterback, Lori finds herself in a unique position. Jason's affections renew her hope and force the shy swimmer out of her comfort zone. But, will it be enough to achieve her lifelong dream? Described as "encouragement personified", Wolfe's five-book Southern-based series portrays love and friendship overcoming all obstacles.

So what do you think? Something you may be interested in or know someone who would like to read this book? Follow the links to give it a try! Available in paperback and Kindle edition. Also available for the Nook.

Friday Favorites, Fantasy Art & A Funny...

It is Friday again! Woot!

And!

It is August! Can you believe it? Wow. Summer is moving right along and so shall I!

Favorite Books/Authors:


When I was a kid, I read the entire series of 'Little House on the Prairie' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder over and over and over. I loved those books. I learned a lot. I think I posted here recently something about these books. Probably that they were the only books I read a million times. Okay, maybe a hundred. But no less than that, I'm sure! I think these books are the ones that got me so hooked on history. Even if you couldn't tell by my high school grades. Heh.





Favorite Movies:

Just Go With It has become a favorite of mine. I love Adam Sandler and I found Jennifer Aniston to be quite funny. I used to love watching Friends. I have all the DVDs from all seasons except one. I loved her in 'Horrible Bosses', she was bad ass, lol! But this movie was very cute. And now I own it as well.

Favorite Music:


Well, today I will go with Weezer. I love this group. I haven't put a lot of their stuff on my iPod, but I certainly intend to get more. Just something about 'em. They have a good  beat and I can dance to it...








Fantasy Art:
Link to this page .

What with all the copyright infringement stuff going on, I have to be careful what I add here. So on the off chance I don't hear back from the artist by the time this post is up, there will be no artwork until I get permission.

Aaaand the funny!

Have a great weekend! What are your plans?

Guest Post: Kiera Kroft...

Thank you so much Mel for letting me talk about the most exciting thing in my life...my books.

A quick little bio about me :)

Keira Kroft carries a vet assistance degree. Her love for animals is as great as her love of people. She gives a percentage of her personal book sale profits to the animal welfare league. Residing in a quiet suburb in the outskirts Chicago with her husband and daughter she spends any spare time she has working with her cats Scamper and Sawyer, to achieve total world domination, one shared Twinkie at a time. Her passions include Reading, Writing, Football, Comic Books and nature.

Keira’s Books  

Coming Very, Very Soon.

Have it all, do it all, and be it all! Do it now. Pick up this book and change your life forever. From someone who has been from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Coming Soon

Synopsis for Death’s Reject.

Driven with fear for her husband’s life, Constance seeks the aid of federal protection for Mafia Don, Carlo Conti. When she realizes that the FBI has used her, setting a trap to turn her against her husband, it’s already too late.

Carlo Conti is faced with no other choices than to murder the love of his life or disappear. He packs up his family and flees to the beautiful country of New Zealand. After realizing that the “family” that he left behind in Chicago is being wiped out in brutal mob war, he has another tough choice to make…

If he stays, he may lose it all. But if he goes back, he will lose the only love he has ever known…his wife.

Coming ~ Late summer

Inamorata is the first Novel in the “One Bloody Night Series”.

They are supposed to be low key and get their nightly fix from a bag. But what if they could spend a cozy evening eating an old fashioned meal and then when they were done they would simply set the place on fire and walk away—no one would be the wiser?

That’s the plan when a group of rogue Vampires has poisoned the entire security staff at a Christmas Eve party at a mall in Chicago and proceed to take over for the evening and feast upon their own kind of tradition, four house keepers, a maintenance man, a girl who lives in the mall, a lonely late night worker and a couple who have escaped to the department store where she works so their spouses wouldn’t be privy to their affair and some other delightfully unexpected guests.

Everything goes exactly as they expected until the group leader Lucius Sturdevant, and second oldest Vampire to date, realizes that the woman that lives in the Comic book store that is trying to figure out how to kill him is the reincarnation of Laura, the love of his life, that died in his arms of old age, because he didn’t have the heart to turn her.

On Sale Now

Did somebody call a fireman? What about a rugged, yet gentle and very good looking fireman…anybody call one of those? His name is Jake Gilroy and he is about to change Corey Nolan’s life.

Synopsis

Determined to be out from under her mother’s ruling and away from a no-good soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, Corey Nolan exercises her independence. With a place to call her own and a job that doesn’t pay well but makes her happy, her life is full and her young daughter is content. There is no room for distractions, until she meets a local firefighter—who stirs an immediate forbidden attraction. In need of control, she tries to ignore Jake Gilroy, but circumstances bring her closer to him when someone is hell-bent on destroying her.

Dutiful playboy Jake is known as the smoking hot fireman. The first time he sets eyes on Corey, he knows he wants her. But when threats and strange occurrences start to happen, he finds the need to protect her and give more than he’s ever given any other woman.

Being together becomes more than they bargained for when their desire for each other becomes a matter of life and death….

Excerpt

She is a toddler, right? Like four or five years old? Her jaw dropped. A chill overwhelmed Corey, and she knew it didn’t have to do with the night air from the open bar door. “How do you know that? Have you been watching me?”

On Sale Now http://www.amazon.com/Glow-in-the-Dark-ebook/

Synopsis

Auntie Em has made a deal with the devil. She gave up her niece, Dorothy’s soul in exchange for a plentiful harvest. Em was smart and worked a clause into the contract. Satan could only have Dorothy’s soul in death, but she must also agree to meet the dark lord himself and shake his hand. Everything is going splendid until…

Dorothy unaware of her untimely demise or any satanic contract embarks on a journey through the Land of Oz, seeking the great Wizard in hopes that he will return her safely home. As she unwittingly marches through hell, she begins to notice that nothing and no one is what it seems and there is no turning back…

There is indeed a bad moon rising over Oz.

Excerpt

As Dorothy walked away, unbeknownst to her, the flowers turned to ash, and the munchkins had turned into little demons with ugly, red faces. The road behind her was now paved with broken bones and crushed human skulls. The sun had turned to black.

Buy it Now! http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Moon-Rising-Over-ebook/

Also Available

This thrilling assortment of carefully hand selected horror can only found together in this fine collection. Each story can be purchased separately at other outlets. This features Bad Moon Rising Over Oz and three other spine tingling stories.

On sale now http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Reads-Collection-Volume-ebook

Hugs,

Keira Kroft

www.keirakroft.blogspot.com

Insecure Writer's Support Group...

Is it that time again, already? Really?? Wow. August, huh?


Well, time flies no matter if you are having fun or bored out of your mind.

Here we go then!

It is the first Wednesday of the month and it is that time! Yes, you know it, Alex J. Cavanaugh's IWSG or Insecure Writer's Support Group.

My how this group has grown. Lots of insecure writers out there, I suppose.

I don't know if I will be helpful or whiny this time around. But I am going to discuss my new found love of Outlining.

Yes, this once upon a time Pantser has dipped her toe into the pools of the Outlining world. And it wasn't half bad.

Revisions on my second book are moving along quite nicely. But I found I have soooo much information to keep track of that I was getting confused near the beginning of the book.

Things like: 'Did I already mention this?' to 'Ohfortheloveofallthatisholy I can't believe I FORGOT to put that in!!!!'

Yeah. You get the idea. Absolutely. I'd be driving along on my paper route and either inspiration would hit or I'd be driving past a customer's house because I was thinking about if I mentioned certain key elements or not. That made the route last longer, having to turn around and all that.

Sheesh.

So I did a quick outline and have all sorts of things scribbled over it as far as notes go. What I want to see in each chapter. Well, that didn't get put in the right chapter, we'll move it here... Things like that.

I can't believe how much easier it is to write from this! I mean, until I got sick last week, I was chuggin' right along. I'm a third of the way through the revisions. You can keep an eye on them with my little word count gadget up there for 'Veritas'.

So which do you prefer? Pantsing or Outlining? Have you ever tried either one if you are dedicated to the other? Share your experiences! Have a great rest of the week, my support buddies!