A.J. Maguire

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  • Arguments with my Internal Editor

    (A brief peek into this odd-ball brain of mine since the beginning of the current work in progress.)

    Me: Alright! It’s an urban fantasy about a marital counselor to the supernatural. Werewolves, vampires, and all those magical creatures! It’ll be great.

    Internal Editor: You can’t be serious. Urban Fantasy is full of women in tight leather pants running around killing things.

    Me: Well, Nora is a counselor so she won’t wear tight leather pants unless she wants to.

    Internal Editor: You need more romance. Romance sells.

    Me: It’s all about romance! She’s a marital counselor so she’s helping people reconnect.

    Internal Editor: Readers want to see her happy too, not just the people she’s helping.

    Me: I’ve got that covered. Derrick King is the romantic interest for her.

    **Several weeks into the project**

    Me: I should change this to alternate history steampunk.

    Internal Editor: That doesn’t sell.

    Me: I don’t care. I like the premise, I like the 1890’s…

    Internal Editor: They didn’t have marital counseling in the 1890’s.

    Me:….

    Internal Editor: Research if you like. I’m not even sure women could vote back then. The clothes are weird too.

    Me: (after some research) Maybe she’s just an empath and a counselor and the rules for Fairy are vastly different than the mundane?

    Internal Editor: Still doesn’t sell. Even if you manage to make this believable.

    Me: If I cared about what sells better I’d be writing straight romance novels with all the steamy scenes that make standing in the same room as my mother difficult.

    **Makes the change from Urban Fantasy to Steampunk Alternate History**

    The Orange Beast

    Internal Editor: We’re nearly done!

    Me: Maybe I was wrong. I can’t feel this setting. Maybe I forced this steampunk business and broke the whole story.

    Internal Editor: The outline looks fantastic. You can worry about that on the next pass.

    Me: But if I stop and go back, alter it all to be urban fantasy again…

    Internal Editor: Tempting, but you’re so close to the end, you should finish first and then go back.

    Me: And every time I read the blurb it feels like Urban Fantasy.

    Internal Editor: Probably because you wrote the blurb when you still thought it was urban fantasy. Finish the book. Tell the story.

    Me: Steampunk alternate history doesn’t sell. If I want to sell this, I should make it young adult. And I can’t have a marital counselor as the main character in a young adult novel.

    Internal Editor: … Just tell the story you want to tell, the way you want to tell it.

    Me: How would this even be marketed? Did I just waste the last four months of my life on a novel that has nowhere to go?

    Internal Editor: It’s only a waste if you quit.

    Me: I should just tell the story.

    Internal Editor: The way you want to tell it.

    Me: Alright then, 1890’s Boston alternate history steampunk. Adult. Because even when I was a young adult, I absolutely did not understand young adults.

    Internal Editor: Back to work, lady!

    Me: Deep breaths. Just tell the story the way I want to tell it.

  • Book Review – Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

    That’s right, after I finished the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, I set out to read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom Duology. Because I had to meet Kaz Brekker in a literary fashion.

    For those who don’t have Netflix and haven’t had the pleasure of seeing season one of Shadow and Bone, the creators of the show found a means to meld the characters from both the first series and what I will dotingly call the Kaz Brekker duology. So when I watched the show and got my first glimpse of the character Kaz Brekker, I knew I had to read his books.

    Imagine my surprise when the Shadow and Bones trilogy did NOT have this rough anti-hero gracing its pages?

    It’s alright, though. I forgave the author because I fell in love with Nikolai. Seemed an even trade-off at the time.

    I will note that I had an inkling that my husband would enjoy this character as well, so instead of just reading the novels on my own, we opted for the audio version and listened to the first novel together while on vacation. Fun note: I was right, my husband loves Kaz as much as I do, and he may have decided Inej was his favorite female character too. Which is saying something because he doesn’t normally get in tight with the women on the page.

    We both had one criticism for the novels, though. These characters felt much, much older than she was telling us they were on the page. It almost felt like the editors were forcing her to lower their ages so that she could fit the novels in the young adult market. Personally, I feel they would have been fine in the “new adult” section and letting them age up just a couple years.

    That said, I loved these books. Kaz Brekker has become my favorite anti-hero. The actor who plays him in the Netflix series has nailed his personality. I give a hearty round of applause to him for that. He read these books, he understood who he was playing, and he put him to life in such a way that I, as a newfound Bardugo fan, have no complaints.

    Inej is fantastic. She is able to walk the line between feminine grace, kindness, and necessary ruthlessness.

    Likewise, the rest of the cast were engaging and I was cheering for them, and wincing during failures, from start to finish. The city of Ketterdam felt alive and the magic of the Grisha remains interesting to see in action. If you enjoy fantasy, these books will satisfy.

    From a writer’s standpoint, I’ll note that Bardugo nails dialogue in these two books. If you’re an author, I recommend reading these two novels in particular to watch how she is able to work through heist plans via the dialogue on the page, making it all feel fresh, easy to follow, and colored with the characters who are speaking.

    Five of five stars – with a note that it does feel more adult in places, with themes that parents will want to watch out for. There are brothels discussed, but no explicit scenes on the page to be worried about.

  • The Article of Doom


    She’d heard all these things before.
    She knew the chances of landing a traditional publishing deal were astronomical. All the statistics were the same. All the naysaying was the same. And that nagging voice telling her the minimum wage day job was all she would ever know?
    Yes, that too was the same.
    So why was this article different?
    Why did this one make the flickering candle of hope inside her gutter out?
    Certainly she was older now. She had experienced a plethora of rejections, and deep down she knew she was no Hemmingway reincarnated, but she had always accepted it as paying her dues. That some time very soon would be her time to shine.
    After all, there were books out there that made her cringe and she knew she was better.
    She put down her iPhone, desperate to forget the past ten minutes of reading. The irrational side of her considered unfriending the fellow author who had shared so horrible an article, but that would not give her back those last ten
    minutes. It would not light the candle of hope that had carried her through years of writing and re-writing manuscripts.
    And really, she knew it was not her friend’s fault. They were probably feeling the exact same about this dismal accounting of the publishing business.
    Her notes and carefully constructed outline sat on the desk, closed and waiting for her return, but she turned away from them. She ignored the laptop sitting in sleep mode even though the manuscript was in there, its characters begging for more life, more time, for the plot to reveal the entire point of their existence.
    She could not go back to them yet.
    Was there a point in going back to them at all?
    Her dog enjoyed a longer walk than usual, some extra belly rubs. Her cats took turns sitting on top of the closed laptop because that was how they preferred the desk to be. It meant she would stop and give ear rubs as she passed the desk like a good peasant.
    She made an unsavory snack of celery and carrots, because no fiction could melt away the calories she’d eaten at lunch.
    And then her son came home from school.
    “Why does walking down the road give me so many ideas to write?” he exclaimed, all excitement and joy.
    She smiled, heart aching because of statistics she could not dream of sharing with him. His candle still shone so bright!
    “Because you’re a creator,” she told him and kissed his forehead.
    They sat down together and with a sigh, she opened her laptop as together they began to write.

  • Abandoning or Embracing Cliché’s

    I love high stakes stories.

    I love when the heroes have to battle against all odds and sacrifice all of themselves to reach the end goal. And I love when that end goal is “life as we know it” or Armageddon.

    And I love the hero who is plucky and normal but housing some extraordinary power. The “chosen one” or the “you were born to be this” trope. I eat that stuff up when it’s done well.

    Sometimes even when it’s done poorly. We can call them popcorn novels for me – great fun but not a lot of substance to them.

    The problem is, as a writer, I know it’s cliché.

    I know the moment my character reaches a height that she couldn’t possibly have reached on her own, that I’ve crossed into the “chosen one” trope, and while every single fiber of my being is buzzing with delight because I LOVE those stories, I have to yank myself back. Or at least tailor things to try to disguise this trope.

    Trenna in my Sedition series – and in that first book particularly – was a chosen one trope. I tried to disguise it with magic amnesia and the fact that she was the General of an army, but it’s there if you look hard enough.

    Elsie Delgora in my Witch-Born duology was clearly a chosen one trope – especially in the final novel – but I tried to disguise it with birthrights. This was likely not as well disguised as I’d hoped, but I do still love that first novel… probably because I love the cliché.

    And today I’m staring at the final chapters of Darkside of Bright, struggling with the desire to make poor Nora Grayson more than an empath counselor. There are things to like with both versions of the character, and in truth there is a path that I can take where her story becomes a series and more is revealed about her origins with each book, but the writer in me is still conflicted.

    What’s so wrong with letting her just be Nora? Draw on the empath, on her ability to read and understand relationships and their complexities, and I get a story about relationships and how they shape us as people.

    Let her be more, and I can still get that story about relationships while also opening an adventure that drives into the heart of Fairy. BUT, I fall into the trope hard. So hard it will undoubtedly be mentioned by reviewers. Not that I should permit reviewers to dictate what and how I write, but that’s a whole different conversation. Suffice, even my own inner critic would be on top of this one, sneering at the “unoriginal” “just like all the other books on the shelf” plotline.

    At this moment, I am reminded of Stephen King. In his book On Writing, he admits that many people criticized him for writing horror. They asked him why he would waste his talent on that genre, and yet, here he is still writing horror. Because that’s what he loves.

    I’m certainly not in the same league as Stephen King, so please don’t think I’m comparing myself to him. But you know what? Even cliché’s and character tropes are a part of a writer’s toolbox. They only go wrong if you’re not paying attention to crafting your novel.

    So I’m going to take that trope and play with it. We’ll see where it leads. Maybe only people like me will love it, or maybe I’ll nail it. Either way, it’ll be fun to write.

  • Wrapping up Camp Nano 2021

    Why yes, I did technically win Camp Nano this year. But the novel is not quite done.

    I do have a few scenes left to write, so the forward motion continues. However, the breakneck speed to reach 50k is going to taper off.

    There are obvious pros and cons to participating in NaNoWriMo, and as someone who has done this multiple times a year for many years now, I feel comfortable admitting them.

    #1 – Pro – Nano offers a great deal of encouragement to writers. They are an undeniable cheerleader that helps keep you focused and moving forward.

    #2 – Con – Writing for the sake of getting words on the page is not the same as writing to tell a good story. It does require massive editing after the book is done. (At least for me it does.)

    #3 – Pro – Even if you miss the deadline and you don’t make those 50k words, you showed up to the screen/notebook/typewriter and that is ALWAYS a win.

    #4 – Pro/Con – Most books are more than 50k words and therefore most books require writing beyond the given 30 days. However, given that the lovely people at the National Novel Writing Month’s headquarters grant multiple “camps” like this one in addition to the normal November WriMo, you have multiple opportunities to get it done.

    I listed this last one as both a Pro and a Con because it can be extremely difficult to find the drive to finish a novel if you have put it away for a couple months while waiting for the next WriMo. I do recommend finishing the work to completion, then using the next WriMo for a full rewrite/edit if you need to.

    I’m sure there are more I could list, but those are the mains and you can see that the pro’s definitely outweigh the con’s in here. I have enjoyed using Writing Months since the first year I found them (2007 or 2008, I’m not sure) and I will continue to use them as long as I have tales to tell.

    For now, however, I have a book to get back to.

  • Week 4 – Camp Nano 2021

    I shall open with a small confession.

    I have an amazing husband. He not only works full time, but he enjoys spoiling me with expenditures that I would normally not afford myself. For instance, a year’s worth of Master Class where I can listen to Neil Gaiman chat about storytelling is not something I would permit myself to buy unless it was for my birthday or a holiday.

    Granted, I have many other options for authors and creators to learn from with this year’s long subscription that I fully intend to take advantage of but I would be lying if I didn’t mention it was Neil Gaiman’s name that prompted me to ask for it.

    What does this have to do with my Camp Nano progress?

    Everything! And… nothing.

    During my lunch breaks, I have been listening to one lesson at a time and while I do lean heavily on the idea that there is no better teacher than experience (aka – you learn to write by writing and reading) there is something to be said for listening to the experience of others. And what I have been gleaning from Mr. Gaiman’s class has mostly been permission to explore, to trust your instincts and write that first draft because it doesn’t need to see the light of day until I’m ready.

    Basically, permission to fail. In the failing, I can stand back up, dust the prose off, and find those parts of my characters that are truly interesting.

    We authors tend to be terribly critical of ourselves, and it is so difficult to ignore that sniping little (or loud) voice as we’re working on the first draft of a tale. Mr. Gaiman’s class has been a comfort during my lunches to the point that my Nano board shows I get more words on the page in the afternoon than I do in the morning. It has been a pleasure and I highly recommend it and his books.

    Certainly his books. Stardust being my favorite, with Sandman a close second and the Norse Mythology vying for a place as well. If you do the Norse Mythology, go to audible. Let him tell you the tale himself. It’s amazing.

    WIP Word Count:: 51265 (In case anyone really wanted to know. Technically I’ve won, but the novel isn’t finished yet so I refuse to count it.)

    To my author friends out there, go forth and write! Enjoy the writing! Fail and look for the interesting bits!

    To my fellow Nano’ers, we’ve got this!

  • Week 3 – Camp Nano 2021

    The joy of Pinterest, and the pitfalls!

    Whenever I’ve gotten stuck in the past few days regarding the WIP, I have flown to my Pinterest page where I have selected certain faces to help “cast” or represent the characters in the novel. This has been great fun.

    So much fun.

    Probably too much fun.

    I have a ten-minute sandglass timer that I regularly blow through whilst I am Pinteresting. (Is that a word? Let’s make that a word.)

    However, I can say that the garments, the settings, and the faces I have chosen all help me delve just a little bit deeper into the novel, which makes the scenes clearer in my mind as I try to write them. Which, regardless of how many times I’ve blown through that timer, has added productivity to the point that I am now ahead of schedule.

    So my little experiment this year has been a success so far.

    I admit that I have never cast faces for my novels before. I have, in retrospect, seen an actor on the screen and gone — Oh, that’s totally Nelek! (Tom Hiddleston, if anyone’s wondering.)

    But that was long after the novel was finished. And it made me love the movie Thor so terribly much I re-watched it a dozen times. I’ll re-watch it again this summer whilst my son and I do a Marvel Extravaganza too, because we’re nerds like that.

    In any case, having the faces has been remarkably helpful for the rough draft. I will likely refine the character in the next draft, divert from their chosen faces just a little to make them their own people, but having the “place marker” helps me visualize their reactions on the page.

    If you’re interested, you can visit that Pinterest page here.

    If you’re not, it’s no skin off my nose. The page is for creative brainstorming anyway. It’s just one of those weird “peek behind the curtain” things.

    And with that, I’m off to write some more! To those of you Nano-ing this month, happy writing! To those of you just writing your regular schedule, happy writing!

    To everyone else, have a lovely day!

  • Week 2 – Camp Nano 2021

    Well, I did say I normally hit a slump right around week two and I wasn’t wrong. However, my Pinterest/Reading/Netflix plan did work! I took several hours off yesterday doing other things and in the evening I was able to get words on the page.

    This isn’t to say that this process will work for everyone, but it certainly did the trick for me. So if you’re in a slump, don’t beat yourself up!

    Instead, step back, breathe in someone else’s creativity for a little while, and then sit back down to work.

    And because I still want to win Camp Nano this year, I’ll end the post with a super rough snippet of the current work so that I can get back to writing.

    Seizing me by the shoulders, Cade gave a little shake, his mouth grim as he bit out the words; “Think, Nora! You’re one of two outsiders here! Who are they going to blame?”

    Alright, so maybe my senses weren’t totally back in working order yet, but they were making the attempt. Meredith’s voice continued to cry murder, and there was a commotion coming from the direction of the manor. No doubt every wolf on the property would be hunting in seconds, and they weren’t likely to ask many questions when riled.

    Cade took my hand, gentler this time. Glancing around the forest, he listened intently for the space of two heartbeats before launching us down a different direction. I struggled to keep up, my little boots barely protecting me from spraining an ankle on many gnarled roots and rocks scattered across the forest floor. My lungs strained and my already shaky legs began to flag, but Cade wasn’t stopping.

    Howls pierced the night, so close I could swear they were on our heels.

    They probably were.

  • Camp Nano 2021

    Entering the world of Bright, where supernatural creatures live amongst us and steam engines rule! I hit my daily word goal before lunchtime, so I am feeling great. Though I do admit that whenever I do a National Novel Writing Month, the first week or so is always awesome.

    Midway through the second week, my energy flags and I struggle to reach that last word for the day and I have come to understand that this is a problem of focus.

    If I keep my focus on the word count, it crawls along.

    Also, my writing sucks.

    I mean, just plain sucks.

    I’m not the greatest writer to have ever lived, mind you, but I’m decent enough to know when it’s terrible.

    So, this year, when I hit that inevitable slog-fest, I’m giving myself Pinterest time. Or music/reading/anything else time. I’ll still put words to the page, but I will not count them. I won’t even try to look. Hopefully this will flick my brain back into motion and I’ll find that energy again.

    We’ll see.

    Think of it like an experiment. And one you’re welcome to conduct with me if you’re participating in Camp Nano for July.

    For now, however, I’ll leave you with my favorite snippet of this morning’s writing, because I should probably get back to work.

    —

    “He’s quite enamored with you,” Lord Malcolm said.

    I flushed and was glad of the dark. “I wouldn’t say enamored was the right word.”

    “What word would you use, then?”

    Indebted, I thought, but I could see how Malcolm might use that against Derrick somehow. I certainly wasn’t willing to arm the man with any more jibes and insults he might throw Derrick’s way.

    “Lord Malcolm, I am sure there are any number of your acquaintances here that would enjoy your company. I should hate to be the one depriving them of it.”

    He chuckled, and the sound held no small amount of menace. “I think I’ve made it quite clear which acquaintance I have the most interest in, my dear. But I applaud your efforts.”

    Alright, if courtesy was to be ignored, I decided to try being blunt. “If Derrick wishes to speak to you, I am quite certain he knows where to find you.”

  • Book Review – Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

    Why yes, I picked up this book after binge-watching the Netflix adaptation. I’ll take stories however I can get them.

    I will note, however, that I do not often choose to check out the book after seeing the story in some other media format. This is because my TBR pile is ever growing and there are so many tales in the universe already, I will never get to experience them all.

    I will not explain how the book differs from the adaptation. That verges on SPOILER to me, and we all know I hate spoilers.

    What I will say is that the adaptation sticks very closely to the core of the novel. And that, while I am still hunting for certain characters to make their appearance in the novels, I thoroughly enjoyed both the book AND the Netflix series. I haven’t read through the last two books yet, so my review is for the first novel only – Shadow and Bone.

    This is a graceful novel, with neat, clean prose and a vividly imagined world. Descriptions aren’t too heavy, and I would say it is safe for younger readers. Some of the politics from the Netflix series haven’t reached me yet, so I am curious when they will arrive.

    As a side note, I fell in love more with Mal in the book than I did in the Netflix series. That’s probably because I have long been a Ben Barnes fan and wanted desperately to see his character rise from the dark of his past and overcome it. But, well, given he is literally bound to shadows, he will tragically remain in the dark.

    So, of course, after reading the book I watched the first season again and fell in love with Mal appropriately. Even if the Ben Barnes fan in me whimpered to let him go.

    If you enjoy fantasy, I highly recommend this book.

    And the Netflix series.

    Do both. I promise you won’t be disappointed.