From the turkey and stuffing to the golden-brown hue outside my window, I can’t help but love this time of year. That’s why I scheduled Nora’s final book to release on the 28th.
Well, technically it should have been released for Halloween but life had other plans.
At any rate, the Nora Grayson Adventures have concluded, Advanced Readers have the novel, and pretty soon everyone else who wants it will be able to snag it from Amazon.
I am deeply grateful to those Readers who have followed Nora’s journey from the beginning and whose comments and encouragements helped push me to the finish line. For the record, I know some questions have been left unanswered – not the MAJOR questions, mind you, but some of the littler things – and that is by design because I intend to return to this world.
It just won’t be Nora Grayson leading the fray.
I want to do a separate standalone with Derrick and Vessa that deals with Derrick’s mother and those known as the Lost.
I also have plans for Eucilla. She’s a dracken and can outlive everyone else, so I imagine that novel taking place a century or so later.
Also (mild spoiler alert), the romantic in me can’t help wondering what the Atlas Court will be like for Nora when she finally steps into that role, but insofar as the storyline of Nora’s family is concerned, we have an ending.
For now, I have several novels that have been sitting on the back burner while I finished up Nora’s books, and it’s time I gave them the attention they deserve. (More on that in a later post.)
So what am I thankful for this year?
I have a home. Food in my pantry. Pets who adore me. My book is complete and I have a group of amazing readers who are ready to get their hands on it.
I have a son who is also a creative and I know he is working on his own writing and worlds. He’ll be 18 in January, which hurts my heart in weird ways and terrifies me at the same time because he’s about to get his license.
I have a loving husband who believes in me and works hard so that I can continue to live my dream.
And I have family and friends who remind me every day that I am loved and appreciated.
Thank you. All of you. Whether you’re friend, family, or reader, I hope your day is amazing and that you are equally blessed.
To be entirely transparent, this post is for my mental health. I am a socially anxious person, so social media is a special sort of torture for me and I may have opened a weird can of worms yesterday.
Let me paint the scene, because context matters.
Halfway through my cup of coffee yesterday, I was reviewing changes MS Word suggested for my manuscript when I happened upon the word burnt.
It had a blue line beneath it, saying something was up, so I clicked on it and in the margin of the screen Word explained that, in the context of the sentence with which I was using that word, burnt was the UK spelling whereas the American spelling would be burned.
Now, it is important to note that MS Word has done me dirty a time or two, so I zipped over to ye olde Merriam-Webster and, lo and behold, it affirmed that burnt and burned were used interchangeably as the past participle of burn in the UK.
Here’s the link for you. It’s honestly a little cheeky and I enjoyed this foray into language. LINK.
There are many, many, MANY more resources out there where the conversation delves deeper into the use of these words, but suffice to say, that is as far as I went on my half-cup-of-coffee brain power before slipping over to social media.
Here is the post I made on Threads –
Things I learned today… Burnt is the UK spelling of burned. Why do I like ‘burnt’ better? It just feels more aggressive to me and I like it.
Now, should I have added context? Yes.
The post was too vague and generalized the spelling of the word without explaining that it was being used to describe something as having been ‘burnt/burned’ into wood.
While my research stands and several lovely UK individuals affirmed that they do use burnt/burned interchangeably and went so far as to introduce me to learnt/learned, and spelt/spelled, the discussion did not end there.
200+ comments later and I was thrown into heights of social anxiety I had heretofore never experienced.
The majority of the conversation was pleasant and I appreciate all the commentary. I feel like I’ve grown as an author because of them, and I’ve found a few new authors to follow and whose books are now on my wish list.
Long story short, and without highlighting the less-than-pleasant commenters too much, context matters and I’ll be certain to include it next time.
I still prefer burnt to burned, but that’s no surprise because I also prefer grey to gray.
I’ve been watching the Bookish/Author community for a while now and I can’t help but notice some trends that are cropping up. Or at least a certain cycle of events that keep circling.
It has become the popular thing to do to draw lines in the sand or find hills to die on. Some of these are in good fun, told in a tone of voice that proves the creator is merely claiming their opinion on something silly.
Things like which Book Boyfriend is the best or which magic system they would prefer to live in. Things like this I have no problem with, they are meant in a joking manner and are both entertaining and fun.
But then there’s the other type of Hill to Die On.
Said with capitol letters.
Things like, First Person POV is the best POV.
Which, hey, if you love First Person and that’s where you go to relax and enjoy a book then hey… You do you! I’m so glad you enjoy those. I do too.
However, there seems to be this trend that says “If you don’t die on this hill with me, then you’re wrong and you’re awful and we’re going to throw bricks at you until you come around to our viewpoint.”
These Hills to Die On are everywhere.
Audiobooks don’t count as real reading!
Em-Dashes mean it was written by AI! (Reminder, this is utterly false and AI learned to write based on all of us authors, using tools we often use, so OF COURSE AI learned how to use the em-dash.)
Clean romance versus spicy romance!
Romantasy is killing literature!
Now… because I am a human being, I have opinions on these things, but I have them with the understanding that my opinions and tastes are going to change as I grow. So, why would I want to die on a hill here?
Further, why would I want to alienate people by deciding to plant my flag on that hill and start shouting it?
Again, when it is all in a joking manner there’s no issue but these days it seems were are hunting for ways to divide ourselves. Instead of a Reading Community that is welcoming, we start congregating in subsects and ganging up on anyone who likes different things.
I’ve watched it get super ugly.
And I can’t help but wonder why.
Why do we do this?
Why can’t we say – Hey! You read? That’s amazing! What are you reading right now?
And then, you know, NOT JUDGE THEM for what they choose to read?
There doesn’t need to be a war here. If someone reads a book you don’t like, why does it matter to you? For the love of God, stop trying to control other people. Their decisions are not up to you.
Yes, you can have an opinion, but don’t cross the line into – You are so stupid for liking that book.
Or
That book is ruining literature by merely existing.
First of all, the hubris on that last accusation is so high that maybe you should take a few moments of genuine self-reflection. Literature existed long before you were born and it’ll survive long after you’re gone. Further, literature is a reflection of the culture and times in which it lives.
I digress.
And I suppose I have found my own Hill to Die On.
Stop the division. Stop finding reasons to hate each other. Stop attacking people who have taken the time to read and stop trying to control people.
You’re allowed your opinions. You can write them in your reviews and give your stars, one through five, but at the end of the day it is nothing more than your opinion. It is not something to foist on other people and demand they agree with you.
We’re beautifully diverse. It’s alright to compromise here. It’s alright to be different. You live, you laugh, you love, you matter. And so does the person sitting next to you.
Warning, this conversation may make some uncomfortable. But you know what, sometimes the hardest conversations to have are the ones that help us grow the most, so let us go ahead and dive in.
Let me start by stating that not all books are for all audiences. Only you can decide what you like and dislike, so my job here is not to sway you one way or another in that argument.
If you like spice, good for you.
If you DON’T like spice, also good for you.
You know yourself and that is a great place to begin.
Now then, do you know what ELSE is not my job? Judging other people for what they like to read.
The beautiful thing about humanity is that we are all different. Our tastes sometimes align, but then vary in the next instant, and that’s GOOD. What isn’t so good is deciding that because someone’s tastes are different from yours, that they are somehow lesser human beings and unworthy of respect and space.
I beg of you, stop doing this.
You breathe, you live, you laugh, you matter. And so does everyone else. Give people the space to live differently from you because, at the end of the day, the only choices you are held accountable for are your own.
Now that we’re on the same page, I am going to admit that Blood of the Witch Heir gets a little racy. I still close the door/fade to black, but the intimate scenes are more noticeable in this book than in many of my other works, and this was on purpose.
Trigger Warning – The book does deal with SA. The actual event is not shown on the page, but it is relevant to the characters and has to be dealt with, which means that the intimacy between our two main characters was as much a part of the story as the grander plot.
Why?
Because intimacy after SA is difficult. It can also be either a detriment or a healing moment for the survivor. This is a sensitive subject, I know, and I suppose I am risking a lot in how I have done things in the book, but I believe the message is important.
Spice in books is not inherently bad. You either enjoy it, or you don’t, but please don’t shame the people around you who do because, quite frankly, it is none of your business. Not to mention the fact that books are a safe space where survivors often find healing.
No, sincerely, this is a thing.
Books permit us to explore in a safe, private manner and (at least one hopes) showcases healthy relationships on the page. I know that often there are unhealthy relationships (codependency/ jealousy/ etcetera) in these books and we end up swooning anyway but they are FICTION and still a safe space.
So whether you want no spice, low spice, closed door, open door, or the spiciest of the spice, please respect the rights of other readers to be different from you.
In response to the Chicago Sun Times debacle where they have printed an AI generated list of books for Summer Reading, which includes books that DO NOT exist, I thought I would be a little cheeky and send out a REAL Summer Reading List.
Or at least, MY Summer Reading List, which is curated by my personal tastes and some of them are literally waiting on my TBR pile. I lean heavily Fantasy / Romantasy / and Science Fiction in my reading.
FIRST UP – Broken Souls and Bones by LJ Andrews.
This is for my Romantasy friends. It is a happy blend of Vikings and Magic following Roark Ashwood and Lyra Bien and you can bet it has all the yummy Romantasy elements we open these books to find.
I devoured this book in a day and a half. It is new and I enjoyed the world the author built. This is also a Romantasy (hey, I like what I like) but its pacing alone is impeccable and the characters on the page were absolutely vibrant.
Admittedly, this one is on my TBR. I have enjoyed this author before, particularly her novel Future Tense and the amazing Halcyone Space Series, so I am excited to see what loveliness is in store for me with her newest novel.
FOURTH – The Maya Bust (Boneguard 4) by E. Chris Ambrose
Again, this is from my TBR pile and now that I’m looking I see I have SO MANY to catch up on with the Boneguard series. I loved Indiana Jones when I was growing up, so of course I’m going to love Grant Casey and the thrillers that Ambrose writes. We get history and action and a whole lot of fun in these novels.
FIFTH – The Crimson Moth series by Kristen Circcarelli
I read the first novel, Heartless Hunter, and love the mix of magic and Scarlett Pimpernel that was presented, so its second book, Rebel Witch, is patiently waiting for its turn on my TBR pile. I’m putting them both on here because, if you haven’t read the first one then you’re seriously missing out.
Actually, now that I’m looking at my TBR pile it is starting to grow teeth and I fear for my life. I have a lot of reading to do!
But hey, Chicago Sun Times… There are at least 5 actual, real life novels by actual real life people you could have put in your list instead of consulting a robot. Please hear the creatives in the room when we say that Art, and the consumption of Art, is a purely HUMAN experience. Stop trying to cut the humanity out of it.
(P.S. My own novel, Blood of the Witch Heir, debuts in June, so it could ALSO count as a Summer Reading Book. If, you know, you like fantasy. And romance. And witches kicking some serious butt.)
I am going to admit that this is the area I have grown the most in as an author.
Having just gone through a major revision of an older work, I can see that back in my twenty’s I focused a lot on building neat worlds and having neat stuff as opposed to the more compelling conflicts that come from people.
It’s not about earning that throne back when it has been stolen, it’s about why the character would bother. Who actually wants a throne in the first place?
Even the power-hungry villain has a reason behind his actions. If the quest is only for power, then that quest is boring. True conflict, the stuff that we can sink our teeth into, pits characters against one another.
It is far more interesting to know the villain wants the throne because they have a vengeance stake involved. A previous ruler rampaged through their childhood village and killed everyone they loved.
Now our hero has the dilemma of family drama, because SHOULD they retake the throne if they are descendent of such brutal behavior?
What it all boils down to is character.
If the characters on the page aren’t that interesting to begin with, then we are not going to care how or why they achieve their goals. The conflict comes from within. It comes from WHO they are as people.
Compelling conflict shows the struggle these characters have with the decisions they must make on the page. Their growth comes from that struggle.
That said, the struggles on the page will also help define those characters. We know Frodo and Sam for who they are because of the struggle they went through to get the ring to Mount Doom. Plot and Character go hand in hand. If you skim on one, the narrative will be lacking and you won’t have a compelling conflict.
So!
What do I do to help create compelling conflict in my works?
On a PLOT level, I follow “Yes, but” / “No, and”
This is where you ask the question for each scene – Does your character achieve their goal?
The answer is always either “Yes, but now (she has a stowaway on board her ship/he got gravely injured and is leaking vital fluids)” OR “No, and (her attempt has left the ship without power, so they’re floating dead in space with only 4 hours of air left/he accidently struck the prince so now there’s going to be a price on his head)
See how that works?
That’s on the plot level.
On a CHARACTER level, I have the major players in a scene noted off to the side of my screen with their core motivations for that scene highlighted. This just helps me to remember what is ultimately at stake for that character.
Example:
Chapter Three – Blood of the Witch Heir – NOTES
Dorian Feverrette arrives at Delgora Court. He is hunting the Bedim assassins who recently tried to take his life (see Chapter One). If he doesn’t succeed in locating them soon, it is quite likely that he will be assassinated.
Elsie Delgora is hiding in plain sight at Delgora Court. She is keeping tabs on the Vicaress who murdered her family. She needs the Vicaress to stay happy and oblivious to Elsie’s machinations.
Now we enter “Yes, but” /”No, and”
Does Dorian succeed in his goals for this chapter? No, and he has stumbled into a bigger plot revolving around the Delgoran throne.
Does Elsie succeed in keeping tabs on the Vicaress? Yes, but now this stupid noble boy has shown up and is making the Vicaress suspicious.
Anyway, that’s what I do. Many thanks to both the late David Farland for his book Million Dollar Outlines, and the Writing Excuses Podcast… Because that’s definitely where I learned this from.
Check out what my fellow authors do to help create compelling conflict in their works!
I did my Calendar of Doom this week, trying to make sure all of my deadlines are still going to be met. Life often gets in the way of these deadlines, but they are doubly important this year because of the tight publication schedule.
For example, the release of Blood of the Witch Heir is exactly 45 days away! That’s… really not that long. Especially since I am still refining it. Reminder that this is a RE-RELEASE. The original title was Witch Born and it was put out by Double Dragon Publishing an embarrassing number of years ago.
Sadly, Double Dragon sold to a new company and I decided to get the publishing rights back to it, thinking a re-release would be super easy.
(Insert maniacal laughter here.)
Safe to say I was wrong. There’s nothing easy about this.
However, I still love the story. I love the characters and the world and want to give it a decent chance out in the wild. To do so, that means editing.
A whole lot of editing.
But what about Nora’s final book?
Nora and the Vampire Court is set to release in 170 days!
And yes, that is a VERY short amount of time for a brand new book.
It’s a panic-inducing deadline, but it is one I will keep because of the (spoiler) cliffhanger at the end of Nora and the Siren Song. I simply refuse to leave you beautiful, amazing, lovely readers hanging for longer than six months.
Rest assured, this will be released on time. I have hit the mark in the novel where I had to re-read everything already written. (Why yes, this includes books 1-3, in case you were wondering) This is so that I do not miss anything, and so that I can add things into the early parts of the book that I have learned during the drafting process.
This means that, by the end of May, I will have a completed draft for the editor and Alpha Readers.
Also, in case anyone was keeping count, I have read 15 of the 50 novels I wanted to read this year. Which means I’m behind by 2 books. But I refuse to feel bad since I literally just spent a week re-reading my own novels for Nora’s series.
Recently I had the publishing rights to several of my novels returned to me. This was a strategic decision made due to the original publisher selling itself to another site, which I felt wasn’t a great fit for my work.
Before I did this, I reached out to Amazon to make sure there wouldn’t be any copywrite issues once the reversions were done and exactly what I was allowed to do with the work once it was mine to publish again. Things like if I wanted to change the title (which I did) and if I should put a notice in the front of the novel letting readers know that this is a Re-Release.
The answer to both those questions was yes, I could change the title but it would be like releasing a whole new book so the reviews I have on the original won’t be transferable. And yes, I can put a notice in the beginning pages letting people know so they aren’t shouting at me that I stole someone else’s work. (Difficult to do there, it’s still the same author name.)
Due to contracts and all that, the things that I COULD NOT use from my original publication was the cover art and the editing. The Publishing House paid for the editor to this work originally, and thus owned the rights to that version.
This was fine. I have grown enough in my craft that I felt confident I could take the book to the next level.
That said…
Revisiting old work is hard.
Mega hard.
Tooth pulling hard.
It hurts to see what I put out into the world. Not only have I grown as a writer, I have grown as a person too. Things that I didn’t blink twice at before have been unpacked and rewritten. The themes at the core of the book revolving around trust and independence and how the two have to learn in live in harmony are being highlighted better.
On the line-by-line level, the narrative has been given a major overhaul.
But more than that, the characters are being given the chance to breathe more. Elsie Varene Delgora is as sharp as ever, and Dorian Feverrette remains my favorite roguish nobleman. Their story is one of tragedy and triumph, despair and love, and I sincerely hope that readers walk away from it knowing that no matter how dark the path they have traveled, joy and happiness can still be achieved if we’re willing to open ourselves to it.
Last month we discussed settings in the real world and how we transport them onto the page. This month we’re looking at fictional settings, or settings that don’t exist OR are so far in the past that you couldn’t possibly have been there.
Since the majority of my writing takes place in fantastical worlds, or in the case of Tapped, other planets in our solar system, this is where I have the most experience. Obviously I have never been to Mars or Pluto or Europa, and I won’t lie, writing those places was a challenge.
It was a lot of FUN, but it was challenging fun.
So here’s my process, grown over the course of a couple decades of practice.
First, the rough draft is always bare bones. I can’t allow myself to get hung up on describing the setting too much or I’ll never finish the book. The rough draft is also where I spent an alarming amount of time researching/staring out the window/worldbuilding.
However, worldbuilding is its own topic. I want to get into the act of making that setting come alive on the page. And to do that, we have to skip forward to the editing process. Everything I’m about to detail is used during the Second Draft.
The KAVS Cycle
The late great David Farland taught a class on settings and in it he discusses what he calls KAVS. You can still access it through the Apex Writers Group online, which you will have to pay for but I highly recommend. I have been part of Apex (off and on when I could afford it) for years now.
Anyway.
I have my rough draft and I make 4 passes through each chapter focused on a different aspect of the KAVS cycle.
KAVS stands for Kinetic, Audio, Visual, Smell.
First pass, Visual. This is literally everything my character can see in their setting. Often when I am doing this pass I also have DeviantArt/Pinterest up in another screen because I need the inspiration. Sometimes I’ll even go so far as to build a mood board in Canva, but admittedly this is rare and I reserve it for settings that I circle back to often.
Also, here’s the mood board for Nora’s family home.
Alright, some important things to note. Not everything has to be exact in these mood boards. I’m just going for the feel of a place. For example, Nora’s office is in the round room of a Victorian House, though the picture shown is obviously square. What’s important about the image isn’t the shape of the room, but the style.
You can see that it’s more masculine in nature, which brings me to the next element in the KAVS cycle: Kinetics.
Kinetics is anything tactile (touch, taste), any movement in the scene (swish of a cuckoo clock’s pendulum as an example) AND the emotions.
Nora’s study is still masculine because it was her father’s office. It evokes a slew of memories for her. SO my second pass is going through how this setting makes my character FEEL and WHY.
The why is so very important, not only for character development but because showing the history of a place is one of the easiest ways to make a setting real for the reader.
The third pass that I do is the Audio pass. Which is self-explanatory, but let’s go ahead and get into it. We tend to react to sound in our environments.
Example, my cat just made a chirping noise, so I turned to look at her. She’s perched on the window sill, her tail flicking, white body coiled as though she might pounce through the windowpane to get to the bird outside.
Characters in a setting will also react to sounds in their environment, so let them. Honestly, I might do this too much sometimes, but having a sound draw the character out of an internal dialogue is a legitimate storytelling tool.
The fourth and final pass that I do is Smell.
Of all the senses we put into our books, I feel like smell really solidifies an environment. Foul, sweet, musky, we all have references in our minds that we can immediately draw upon when a writer says, The room smelled like pencils and leather.
Or
The scent of cinnamon was heavy in the air.
Or
The back of her throat tickled at the heavy pepper. (That one you get Kinetics and Smell all in one go.)
The reader picks up on the smell, has a reference, and suddenly it’s real.
Generally speaking, I do a chapter a day during my second pass at a manuscript. I know I’m not winning any races here, but by the time I’m done with that second pass I am confident enough in my story that I can send it out to my editor.
Take a look at what some of my fellow authors do to craft believable fictional settings in their work!
Today Nora and the Siren Song has officially been released, and I am so excited for people to get to read it. Nora’s story has grown, and so has her character. I am neck-deep in drafting the fourth and final book for her series, which is due to release in October, so fans of her story will be happy to know that by the end of this year, they will have the WHOLE THING.
No more waiting for another installment.
No more cliffhangers. (cough, ahem, sorry/not sorry)
Nora’s story has been a pure joy to write and I sincerely hope all of you have enjoyed it as much as I have. To celebrate this newest release, here are all of the pretty promotional things I’ve shoved on Instagram/Threads/X/FB.
Because using them all just ONCE after spending 2 hours creating them feels like a waste and I want my money’s worth of Canva now that they raised their prices. Again.
