A.J. Maguire

Tag: Writing

  • About Character Growth – Part 2

    My first post about Character Growth dealt with Nora Grayson in particular. She is the main protagonist in the Nora Grayson Adventures and my focus was on how she has grown over the past several books. Currently I’m drafting Book 3 and outlining Book 4, so I have a pretty good idea what she looks like at the end of the series compared to book 1.

    Today I’m looking at other characters in the books, which might have some mild spoilers but I’ll try to lean on the HINTING side instead of the outright telling you side of things. Because we all know I’m not big on spoiling books.

    First, I’ll say that some of the comments from Werewolf Wedding have been about the team in the CEB. That’s Lieutenant Eucilla Norwind, Derrick King, Elliot Cade, Gretchen, and Sam Witters.

    Basically, people want to know more about them.

    And I get it.

    Because I do too.

    I should preface this with saying I am a kind of hybrid author. I do a basic worldbuilding bit to start, and then the story surprises me with the details as I move forward. Which means I take a LOT of notes as I write. And I have a Story Bible that is constantly being referenced to make sure I haven’t broken canon already set in stone.

    Fun note: the Story Bible is the messiest thing you’ll ever see. It’s my creative brain at its finest, handwritten in multiple shades of ink with circles and highlights and extra punctuation. The outlines are done in here. And the read-through notes when I prep for editing.

    Why is this important?

    Because it means I only had a hint of who these people were when I started. They grew with the story and told me who they were mid-draft.

    Now, this won’t work for every author out there. Some need to know everything from which kind of peanut butter their character prefers to how many times a day they think about their mother. And that’s fine. That works for them.

    It does not work for me.

    Drafting is a conversation between me and the characters. It’s where they show me who they are and tell me their story. If I knew everything going in, I’d get bored and stop writing.

    Now, writing in a series means I have to keep a tighter grip on things. Each of them have to grow, have to show a little more of who they are, without breaking what’s already established. So… I do a weird thing, and maybe it’ll work for someone else but… here it goes.

    I have Scrivener. And Scrivener has this amazing tool where you make character sheets. Before I start each book, I go through that messy Story Bible and type up what has already been established for each character. It’s my Filtered Download of the character, if you will. And then I go through my outline and put what I call CBP — Character Beat Points — at each chapter.

    CBP’s are comments and/or questions aimed at each character. Things like; How does Gretchen feel about the pawn shop? or Don’t forget Sam is still new to Earthside and doesn’t get a lot of the customs.

    And then, you know… I draft the first version.

    The CBP’s are mostly there to instigate questions that can be explored as the narrative unfolds. Oftentimes they lead to more interesting questions that get fleshed out between draft one and draft four.

    Anyway, that’s what I do. Maybe it’ll help someone else.

    Happy Writing!

  • About Character Growth – Part One

    As we’re gearing up for the release of Nora and the Duke of Autumn, I can’t help but see the differences in Nora Grayson’s character from book one. She’s still got a clear sense of right and wrong, her values haven’t changed even if everything about her life has been shattered, and she still has the compassion and empathy that I wanted to highlight in the first book.

    For those just joining us, Nora was inspired by the character of Deanna Troi from Star Trek the Next Generation. In particular, the empathy that Deanna portrayed on the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise is something I snagged and enhanced for the character of Nora Grayson. Only instead of making her an alien she is, obviously, a half human magic wielder.

    Because it wouldn’t be a Fantasy novel otherwise.

    The idea was to let a character with Deanna Troi’s talents stand front and center of her own work, because emotions are important and we should allow ourselves to process them rather than… You know, bury them away and pretend they don’t exist.

    SO!

    How has Nora changed from Book One to Book Two?

    SPOILERS AHEAD! Turn back now if you don’t want to know.

    …

    Still here?

    Alright, for starters, in book one Nora was confronted with the fact that her two caretakers – Nana Bess and Uncle Martin – are criminals. This eye-opener has wrought a lot of strife in her. She feels stupid, and every new part of Fairy that she learns about is feeding her rage at having been duped.

    Book Two has her struggling to find a sense of self again. There’s some self-pity in there because, well, who wouldn’t be ashamed? But this second book is all about overcoming that shame and finding the strength to make something new. By the end of Book Two, she has more control over her own life and is ready to start building again.

    Which is why Book Three is so very, very romantic.

    Ahem.

    Gird your loins, people. The romance that has already begun is about to take center stage.

    And that’s the only spoiler I’m going to give you.

    Nora and the Werewolf Wedding is available on Amazon in Paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited.

    Nora and the Duke of Autumn is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle.

  • The World of Nora Grayson – Setting

    With the second book of the Nora Grayson adventures set to release later this year, a couple of questions have reached me regarding the setting of the novels. This is not your typical Paranormal Romance, nor your typical Urban Fantasy. And I should know, I’ve read plenty of both.

    Nora and the Werewolf Wedding walked the line of Urban Fantasy pretty close. We only left Earthside — That’s the here and now for anyone who hasn’t read the book — and went to a safehouse in Fairy, without actually stepping foot in Fairy itself. Instead we were treated to Boston, Massachusetts and Allegany, New York — albeit it with magical creatures walking about in the daylight.

    Why?

    To be frank, because that’s what my Muse wanted me to do.

    There was an argument early on with my Muse about having this as Urban Fantasy, and in truth it does not really fit the framework of your typical urban fantasy novel. On the one hand, yes, you see magical creatures walking in and amongst humanity in a present world, urban setting. On the other hand, humans have been left wholly alone.

    We don’t have a human — or a character who grew up thinking they were human only to discover they were a fantastical creature in hiding — stumble into the fantasy elements of the book. Nora knows she’s a Bright creature, has known it all her life, and has a basic understanding of what that means.

    In point of fact, Bright creatures have been in hiding from humanity for centuries, and the lore of the novels is such that Fairy was created as a safe haven for Bright creatures to run to if they were in trouble. Also, the urban part of the novel doesn’t last long. By chapter six we’re in the woods, sequestered away from human society so that my werewolf socialites can do… what werewolf socialites like to do best.

    In Nora and the Duke of Autumn, we make a shift toward Fairy. 80% of the novel takes place in Fairy as Nora travels to what is known as the Autumnal Estates, where she and the trusty team from the CEB are investigating the murder of a high born sidhe.

    Does this mean it’s not really an Urban Fantasy anymore?

    Heck if I know.

    I’m just writing the books, you guys can categorize as you see fit.

    I will say that my steampunk loving self had a great deal of fun describing and creating Fairy for this book. The village of Delporte is my favorite, if anyone wants to know.

    Since I am midway through drafting the third book and have a clear image of how the fourth book is meant to go, I can state with confidence that we still bounce between earthside and Fairy at a pretty decent clip. I mean, if you could jump into a body of water and come out the other side in a whole different world, wouldn’t you go for it?

    Purchase Link! Nora and the Werewolf Wedding

    Pre-Order Link! Nora and the Duke of Autumn

  • What Sort of Author Am I?

    When my first novel was published, it was labeled as fantasy romance, so I always imagined that must be what sort of author I was.

    A fantasy romance author.

    For those who have read Sedition, I think many of you will note that while there is a romance between Nelek and Trenna and it does have an impact on what those characters end up doing, the book as a whole is not what many would call “Romantasy” these days.

    Maybe there’s a difference between “Romantasy” and “Fantasy Romance” but the popular moniker seems to encompass them both these days, which is why I’m sitting here today, pondering my writing style and preference.

    If you need a reference, Sarah J Maas’s books are all labeled Romantasy. And yes, I can see why. You have the relationship of two main characters as a centerpiece that works in conjunction with the larger fantasy plot. The world building on the Crescent City novels alone is beautifully done and I quite adore this author and her works, and will continue to read them as they are released.

    A quick bit of research suggests that fantasy romance is fantasy with a significant romantic element, whereas romantasy seems to be a romance set in a fantasy backdrop. Which… well…

    Alright. I think the main difference is going to be focused on exactly how significant an element that romance is in a fantasy novel to let properly categorize it. If you’re comparing the books of Sedition and A Court of Thorns and Roses, the two are super-duper similar. Focus is on the world and the characters in it, with a romance blossoming that the characters end up having to fight for.

    But once we move on from those first books in the two series, things start to look very different. A Court of Mist and Fury reveals a much larger romance, one that begins to shape that series into something very identifiable ad Romantasy. You’re showing up to see how these two come together and stay together through a great deal of strife.

    Saboteur sticks to the same romance introduced in Sedition and while there are some questions on how they are going to survive together, the main thrust of the book is centered on the world itself. So I can see a major split between what I write and what is popularly called Romantasy.

    I am not shy in admitting that there are romances in all of my novels. I am a romantic at heart. I love when two characters really know one another, accept all of the good and the bad, and choose to make a go of things. You are always going to see a romantic element in my books but I admit that these romantic elements are normally treated as just that, elements of the story and not the story itself.

    Except for Nora’s books.

    The second novel in Nora’s series really opens up the romantic element. And the third is just unabashedly about these two characters recognizing what they have is special.

    So what kind of author does this make me?

    I suppose… just an author.

    Sure, the romantic elements are there through most of them… Tapped wouldn’t be nearly so much fun if Jorry and Seach weren’t constantly duking it out over who gets the final say on board the ship… And when I turn my attention back to Nelek and Trenna I suspect we’re going to see a lot more of that romantic element come into play.

    But at the end of the day, it’s all words on a page. It’s all craft.

    So here’s me, nodding to the romances in my books and getting back to work.

  • The Importance of Having Fun (With Writing)

    Nora and the Werewolf Wedding will be out for sale on WEDNESDAY the 9th of August!

    Hurray and happy days!

    I absolutely love Nora and her books. She is a lot of fun. And the world she is in is a lot of fun to write. Writing her first book took longest because I was worldbuilding a lot, but her second book took me 4 months to draft. And because I’m editing in preparation for next year’s publication date, I just re-read it and still love it.

    These books are like Jim Butcher’s Dresden files meets Sarah J Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses and I really am having a blast writing them. And it’s showing in the work. I know because of the feedback I have been getting from readers. They are having fun reading Nora, which tells me I’m doing something right.

    I don’t know how other writer’s work but for me, if I’m not having fun then the work crawls along and I often don’t finish. I move on to something else that is fun and then I dissect the old book and implement the elements I enjoyed into the new work. Which is a legitimate means of morphing your craft, but the point still stands — You have got to be having fun.

    If you’re not having fun, if you’re not engaged and lying awake at night wondering how your character is going to make it through the obstacles in front of them, then I can guarantee that your readers won’t be either.

    This isn’t to say there have been no roadblocks.

    I spent four days grouching about a menu because I had no idea what to serve on board a dirigible.

    I spent a week trying to figure out the ending of Werewolf Wedding. (My husband helped me brainstorm during one of our drives. You guys can thank him for like… everything that happens there.)

    I spent two months revising Werewolf Wedding to make it steampunk 1890’s, and then another 4 months returning it to contemporary urban fantasy.

    But from start to finish, I have been having fun with the story. Even in the middle of the roadblocks. And I am excited to see what comes next, which motivates me to be at the computer long after I should have closed it for the day.

    There are some books that I’ve written that were a grind from the mid-point to the end. Some halted completely for months. In these cases, I have to start from the beginning, remind myself why I started the story in the first place, and ignite that joy again before I start writing. Because readers can sense when you’ve lost your way too and no amount of professionalism is going to cover that.

    So here is me, diving back into Nora’s world to get Book #3 Drafted. In the meantime, the first book is out August 9th! And here’s the placeholder cover for Book #2.

  • Mostly Mid-Year Check Up

    I finished Last Child of Winter last week! Confetti is still flying around the house and I continue to nurse my celebratory bottle of wine in the evenings.

    Now I get to take a peek at what I meant to have done this year and… have a mild panic attack about how little has been completed. Last Child of Winter was supposed to be completed back at the end of March? Sweet Bananas on Toast, how did we stretch it to July??

    Well, that’s easy to explain.

    And I suppose it’s time to fess up.

    Those who have been following along will remember that I said “Life Happened” some time ago that derailed several things. Now that we have come to the other side of it, I will admit that I had a bit of a cancer scare. Long story short, my schedule was interrupted by a biopsy and then a surgery and my mind was just not in the right space to get more than 100-500 words done daily.

    Which is significantly less than my 1k-3k normal workday.

    So, my panic attack is short lived today because, quite frankly, I’m still alive to work and that’s good enough for me.

    But how shall I spend the rest of this year?

    So glad you asked!

    This week I am building a book (ie: outlining / character sheets / charts) for the next project that I will begin next week. But I am ALSO going to take 2-3 days this week to write a short story for Nora.

    It’s been stuck in my head so I want to do it while it’s there.

    Nora and the Minotaur’s Husband will, hopefully , star in a Fantasy Anthology that I want to release in December. I have several fantasy short stories that have not found homes and, as you will recall, Torven is no longer available in paperback form because it is too short. So I will have it in the anthology so that people who don’t like digital versions can still read it.

    These projects should last me until the beginning of October (new book / Fantasy Anthology) and then I will pick up Nora’s second book (tentatively titled Nora and the Autumn Duke) for editing straight through National Novel Writing Month in November. If this goes the way it normally does when I put an editing project in NaNo instead of a fresh novel, I will probably be picking up Last Child of Winter and doing its third round of edits straight through December.

    Everything else I put on my plate for this year can simmer in the background until next year.

    Because, hey, I’m alive. And barring any freak accidents, I should be alive next year too.

    All that said, take time today to breathe and enjoy something. Life really is short and the minutes/hours/days that pass by will never come back.

    P.S. Nora and the Werewolf Wedding comes out August 9th! Advanced reviews have been spectacular and I cannot wait for everyone to get to read this one!

  • July Round Robin – Character Arcs

    The good people at Round Robin Blog Hop are having a conversation about Character Arcs this month and I am happy to join in. The question is how important character arcs are in our works and how/if we plan these things out.

    I am going to admit that until recently I have not paid much attention to character arcs in my story. I’ve mostly been along for the ride with my stories and delving into arcs and structures is still relatively new. Some of my characters have made the journey naturally, and I’m mildly proud about having stumbled into success there.

    Trenna, for instance, begins in Sedition as a wild-hearted swordswoman who can’t commit to a relationship or responsibility and ends with a fiancé and the burden of leadership.

    Johanna Rorry from the Tapped series begins as emotionally unavailable and ends in a committed relationship. (Yes, I enjoy love stories. I will probably always write them.)

    But both of these examples happened on accident as the story progressed.

    The novel I am working on right now is different. I have CHARTS for this one. Which is weird for me, but I have found it extremely useful. My two protagonists – Jack and Ryssa Rose – come from very different backgrounds and their voices need to be just as different. Their emotional journeys collide at times, but for the most part it’s felt like I’ve been telling two stories as one.

    It’s… interesting.

    But their arcs are so very important.

    I don’t do spoilers, but Jack starts the story as someone who is ready to leave the world behind. He has stepped away from his father and the woman he loves because he believes it is the only way to keep them safe. By the end of the story he has to come to a place where he understands that love will always have risk, and it is better to have taken that risk than to run away from it.

    Ryssa Rose starts the story as deeply focused on winning. There’s no room for failure for her. But by the end of the story she has to come to a place where she understands that failure is, in and of itself, a kind of winning. Because you learn who you are when you’ve fallen flat on your face. There’s more, of course, but I don’t want to spoil anything when I haven’t even gotten a chance to shop this book around.

    For the nitty-gritty of the character arcs, I will admit that I started using what David Farland put in his book Million Dollar Outlines. I don’t fill ALL of it out because I need the joy of discovery while I’m drafting, but by the time I go through the 3rd draft I should have it all noted down.

    Check out what my fellow authors have to say about Character Arcs!

    Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

    Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

    Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

    Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

    Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

    Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

    A.J. Maguire https://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/ ( YOU ARE HERE)

    Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

  • When Social Media Goes Right

    I am not awesome with social media.

    But other platforms are used for my professional self – Twitter, Instagram, etc. – and unless the weekend trip included a eureka moment for a work in progress then, quite frankly, I doubt anyone truly cares. Everyone has struggles. Everyone has opinions. NOT everyone wants to hear about my struggles and my opinions.

    Side note: Opinions change as new information is absorbed and thus I find it rather silly to blast what I think at any given moment. Often I am wrong. Often that opinion changes drastically. I would prefer to give myself the grace of being able to change in private rather than get strangled by society.

    All of that said… I have one moment when social media went right for me.

    We were having a weird chat about mashups that we would love to see. I believe the conversation derived from the Lucifer television show and how amusing it was that the devil had a therapist. And then, somehow, we wound up with supernatural creatures needing a marital counselor. And Nora Grayson was born in my head. She just showed up.

    Gentle. Quirky. A little lost. Chocolate loving. Sassy. And an empath.

    Because I love Deanna Troi from Star Trek and I did, in fact, wish to see her in a story of her own. So I snagged the empath ability and shoved it into Nora’s already mildly neurotic mess and wham!

    I had a story.

    Now, I will admit that the original intent was straight murder-mystery with supernatural creatures. In my head it was Clue meets Fairy creatures, but what ended up on paper was a little bigger. Because… c’mon. If Fairy creatures are living next door, wouldn’t you want to investigate a little more than one book would permit?

    So now I’m sitting with two books written and a third getting outlined and I owe it all to that original conversation on social media. I have to put a major shout to the writing community on the Twitter platform. Whatever your opinions are about the swap of ownership, the writing community got me to Nora and for that I am grateful.

    Pre-Orders Available for Kindle, or you can snag the book in Hardback or Paperback from Amazon!

  • Author’s Take on BookSirens

    A few weeks back I went ahead and gave BookSirens a try. I will put their link at the bottom of this post if they interest you, and if you’re an Indie author looking for reviews, they probably do. They have two plans you can choose from when you sign up, one for if you’re doing multiple books a year and one for if you are like me and only have one (maybe two) coming out.

    First note — It has to be an ARC. They deal with Advanced Reader Copies only. There’s no shoving an old book up there. The reviewers on this site have been promised to see books that haven’t hit the market yet.

    You put your Cover Art up – in my case, we went through several and it was informative to see which cover caught the most attention.

    You put up multiple formats of your book (all digital formats) so that you can reach the widest base of readers.

    And then you sit back and wait.

    Just like you would if your book just came out, only in this instance you have BookSirens pushing your book to their Readers. And as I signed up to be a Reader as well, I can tell you that they are on top of this. I even reviewed several books and intend to review more.

    The cost is perfect. Especially if you’re like me and paying 50-100 bucks for a single review makes your little Scrooge come out and snarl.

    Note to Other Review Sites out there — I’m a parent. While I understand that to earn money you have to spend some money, that’s the price of a decent pair of glasses for my kid. Or a night out with my kid. If I have to choose, it will always be the kid. And I guarantee you, in today’s economy, we are all having to choose right now.

    BookSirens has a nice, clean site that is easy to navigate. Payments are made as you go, so you aren’t paying a bulk price up front for X amount of reviews because they don’t guarantee that you will get any. If a reader wants to check out your book, they charge you only when that book has been downloaded.

    I will say that the most popular books on there are the same popular books out for sale – Romance books. So if you’re like me and your book is only glancing in the romance department, the reviews are going to be less than if you have a scantily clad person on your cover. That said, reviews are worth their weight in gold, so even if you only get a half dozen, that’s still a half dozen you didn’t have before.

    SO!

    I do recommend them if you are looking to publish a book in the future. You can check them out HERE.

  • The Media Kit and Me

    I’m a little late in the game here.

    Blame good books keeping my occupied.

    Or parenthood.

    Maybe even my fur-babies.

    Whatever the reason, I am late to the game of Media Kits, which are apparently something I should have been doing this whole time with my novels. I might have done something smallish for Paw Prints on the Wall last year, but it was nothing like what I have discovered is customary for a new book release.

    I’ve had a Bio for ages that I quite like, but it has been… you know… ages. So I thought to freshen it up some for this new book. But, you know, I prefer to talk about fake people and fictional scenarios. It’s gross to talk about myself. I feel so… weird.

    100-200 words about me?

    Ugh.

    Fiiiiiiiine.

    BIO:

    A.J. (Aimee Jean) Maguire has been writing about women rescuing their men since 2008. She loves stories in all shapes and sizes, which means her novels tend to run the full spectrum of fiction, but her favorites tend to be fantasy and science fiction. She is currently living her own happily ever after in Central Massachusetts with her husband and son, where they are surrounded by far too many pets. On the weekends she enjoys exploring the many historical sites peppering New England or hunting for lighthouses on the coast.

    So that’s just shy of 100 words, but it’s a work in progress and it’ll fit nicely on the back end of a book.

    But you know what else is supposed to be in a Media Kit?

    A Q&A Tip Sheet.

    Yes, that means I ask myself 10 questions and then answer those 10 questions for people to use as an easy cut and paste for their blogs and things.

    I’m still working on this one.

    And for the record… there’s a ton more on the list. Some of it is already done, such as book information with the synopsis, cover image, contact information and book details, but it can be more than a little overwhelming to look at on the surface.

    For those curious, I got most of this information from Reedsy, which has some invaluable information in it for authors. You should check them out CLICK HERE.