To the Writing Cave!

Hey, guys! Today, we’re going to talk about workspaces. 

(If you follow my Facebook page, you got a teaser of mine last Friday.)  

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But before we get into that, there’s something you should probably know about me. A few years ago… I sold my bed.

Seriously.

I wanted an office more than a bedroom, so I sold my bed. (Hey, I’m single; I can get by with things like that.) Sure, I have to sleep on a pull-out that pokes springs into my back every night, but my workspace rocks! For me, at least. :)

I present to you...

*Grins* Okay, so I’m weird, but that’s how I stay motivated. What does your workspace look like? ♥

P.S. And don't you dare brag about yours, Jennifer Hillier. We're already jealous! ;)

Covers & Colors

During my blogiversary celebration, I asked around for topic suggestions. Angela Brown came up with the idea of dissecting book covers, so I thought I’d give it a try. Thank you, Angela! :)

Before you pick up a book, you probably make a few assumptions based on its color scheme. Publishers and authors use that opportunity—that first impression—to plant expectations in your mind. It's how they entice you, how they pull you closer.  

“Hey, you! Check this out!”

So, how can we decipher these cues? Let's start by listing the words we associate with these eight colors:

 RED  – Passionate, dangerous, romantic, intense…
(Brings to mind: love and war.)

 ORANGE  – Energetic, action-oriented, fiery, attention-seeking…
(Brings to mind: fire and construction.)

 YELLOW  – Happy, light, idealistic, inventive…
(Brings to mind: sunshine and light bulbs.)

 GREEN  – Natural, healthy, successful, lucky…
(Brings to mind: plants and money.)

 BLUE  – Calm, quiet, clean, cold…
(Brings to mind: water and sky.)

 PURPLE  – Royal, magic, feminine, luxurious…
(Brings to mind:  jewels and cloaks)

 WHITE  – Pure, simple, innocent, isolated…
(Brings to mind: wings and snow.)

 BLACK  – Dark, deadly, angst-ridden, stealthy…
(Brings to mind: night and shadows.)

[Note] A lot of this has to do with location and culture. In North America, white is associated with weddings and new beginnings. In many parts of Asia, it’s tied with death. Make sure you know your audience. ;)

Now, let’s grab an example and see what we can guess based on its color scheme. 

 

By looking at this cover, what kind of book would you expect it to be?

A) A torrid historical romance
B) A gritty psychological thriller
C) A playful picture book

If you chose B, you’re correct! ;)
(Freak, Jennifer Hillier’s second novel, will be out August 7th. Pre-ordered! ♥)

Let’s try another one.

Is this book:

A) An action-packed science fiction
B) A page-turning crime mystery
C) A humorous “chick lit” romance

Yep! It was C. You rock!
(And so does this book: Build a Man by Talli Roland. Read it; Loved it!)

Now, before you guys get too worried about your own covers, I want you to remember something: At this point, we haven’t taken images, text style, or overall design into consideration. Color is just one factor, and we’ve only covered (hah!) a tiny aspect of it. It’ll be okay, I promise. :)

Do you know of any covers particularly true to their color meanings?

Have a great week! ♥

So You Want to Make a Blog Button...

Many of you have asked for help with your blog buttons, so I decided to make a quick improv tutorial. If you want to follow along, go ahead and bring up Pixlr & TextureMate. :) It'll be simple, I promise!

(I suggest changing the video quality to 720p. You might also want to go fullscreen.)

There you have it! I hope you were able to see well enough to get a decent idea of what was going on. I know it was a little stretched. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! ♥

The Superpowers of Writers

The amazing Kathleen Doyle invited me to stop by Thirsty Thursday today to talk about writing superpowers. Will you meet me over there? :)

...Up, up, and away!

Of Memes & Awards

Two things on the agenda this week:

1. The "Be Inspired" Blog Hop/Meme
2. Awards

First, I want to tell you all how happy I am to be back! The widespread power outages last week—or as I like to say, the "Prepocalypse"—gave me a new appreciation for life's many blessings. Thank you to all the men & women who worked 'round the clock to restore power to this area. We're in the middle of a terrible heat wave, and I know it wasn't easy. ♥

Blog Hop/Meme

I was tagged by the lovely Hildred over at Musings of a Procrastinating Author. The instructions say to answer the following questions, and then tag five people. Sounds simple enough...

1. What is the name of your book?
STRENGTH

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?
For years, I'd been toying with the idea of writing a story with a unique, supernatural race (or three). One night, for whatever reason, I couldn't stop thinking about the concept of balance--specifically, the balance of power. I started jotting down notes while listening to music, and "All I Know" (the 2005 Five for Fighting cover) came on. As soon as I heard the first few sentences, the romance element fell into place. :)

3. In what genre would you classify your book?I

New Adult Paranormal Romance

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?
Are you kidding me? I couldn’t even pick during Casting Call! *Grins*

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.
When Rena falls for the campus outcast, she provokes supernatural warfare that puts a whole lot more than her heart at risk.

6. Is your book already published/represented?

I signed a book deal with Sapphire Star Publishing a little over a month ago. STRENGTH will be out:

3.7.13

…Get excited. :D

7. How long did it take you to write your book?
To write it? About three months. Followed by a year of editing, working with critters/betas, revising, and polishing.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
I would never compare my work to that of a bestseller, but I can give you an idea of the readership STRENGTH might appeal to: readers who enjoy complex, supernaturally-charged love stories. You know, like Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series... just on a younger, more voice-driven level. :)

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Darn it, blog hop. You’re not going to rest until I admit my author-crush on Gena Showalter, are you? :P

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.
Rena and Wallace share an intense chemistry. It’s not love at first sight, but their interactions are definitely charged with something. ;)

Five people (+ whoever wants to give it a try):

• Lisa L. Regan
• Nancy S. Thompson
• Melissa Maygrove
• Iain Carter
  
• Donna Weaver

Awards

I'm a little behind on awards. Shocking, I know. In the past few months, I've received nine ten (see: PS). Time for some gratitude! ♥

Thank you to Yelena, Juliana, Kathleen, Natasha, Melissa, Jaycee, Ilima, and Cassie! You're all rock stars, and I appreciate your generosity. *Hugs!*

And a boob slap for Cassie...

Of course, they all have different requirements. Let's see what we can combine...

• Kreativ Blogger requires me to answer 10 questions and post 10 random things about myself. I'll post 2 for this.
• Beautiful Blogger requires 7 things about myself. 1 for this.
• Sunshine Award wants 10 questions answered. I've answered these here. :)
• Napping Blogger wants to know what I do to take time for myself. I'll answer this. (1)
• Fabulous Blog Ribbon asks me to name five of my most fabulous moments, five things I love, and five things I hate. I'll name 2 of each.

Bam! That's ten. Here we go...

3 Random Things About Me:

• I can play the trombone and move the slide with my ankle. As you might imagine, this skill is diminishing with time.*Grins*
• I panic when people ask me to do mental math. Right brained, right brained! Nooo!
  
• The last song I listened to was Home:Word by Magnetic North. :)

How I Take Time for Myself:

  

It depends on my mood. If I'm stressed, I might do a cardio dance DVD. If I'm depressed, I might bust out an old favorite (like Firefly). If I'm happy... well, I probably don't need time for myself. :)

 2 Fabulous Moments:  

• Announcing my book deal ☺
• How about a random one? Throwing (jujitsu) my instructor--who is one of the coolest people I've ever met--in college. I didn't think I could do it! 

2 Things I Love:  

 

• Sandwiches
• Lists!

2 Things I Hate:

  

• Hypocrisy
• Scary bridges *Cough* Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge...

Nominees:

So, who am I going to pass these on to? Let's try something different. I'm going to list 5 achievements. If you've completed at least 3 in 2012, take one of the awards. (Individual images and links to the proper rules can be found here.) Ready?

• Posted at least 10 times
• Participated in at least 1 blog hop/blogfest
• Commented 10 times
• Turned off Word Verification
• Featured another blogger

Phew! That was a long one. Still awake out there? :) A couple more things...

1. After I pre-scheduled this post, I received the Inspirational Blogger award. Thank you to my wonderful CP & Pub Sister, Lisa Regan!


2. Resource alert: Best Colleges Online updated their Top 100 Creative Writing Blogs list this week. (Note: You can always find the link on my site under "Blogging".)

Have a great week! ♥

Magic 8 Ball Meme

Today, I was tagged by the lovely Jaycee DeLorenzo to participate in her Magic 8 Ball meme. Since it's hotter than Hades and I don't have another post scheduled until Monday, I thought I'd give it a try. :)

 INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Post the button and link to http://blog.jayceedelorenzo.com (following would be nice, but not required). ✓

2.  Share an excerpt from your current WIP, perhaps something you're struggling with, are stuck on, or just can't "get right." ✓
3.  Ask a question about your excerpt.  It can be something easy such as "What do you think?" or something more in-depth, such as "Can you suggest a better way to word such-and-such," or "How can I make the emotions in this scene more realistic?"  ✓
4.  Tag 8 people. ✓

...Yeah, I'm going to cheat. Shocking, I know. ;) Instead of posting an excerpt and asking a question, I'm going to use a poll. This is something I've been meaning to ask you guys for a while, anyway:

Thank you! ♥ Here are my 8 tags:

• Iain Carter
• Mark Koopmans 
• Melissa Sugar
• C. Lee McKenzie
• JeffO
• Kathleen Doyle
• Melissa Maygrove
• Leigh Covington

...So, who's ready for the weekend? :)

Three Ingredients for a Strong Scene + Giveaway!

Today, I have a special treat for you guys! The lovely Becca Puglisi, one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, is here to talk about creating strong scenes. She recently co-authored The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression and let me tell you, this woman really knows her stuff!

"Through an easy-to-use list format, this brainstorming tool explores seventy-five emotions and provides a large selection of body language, internal sensations, actions and thoughts associated with each."  

Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Well, you're in luck! Becca & Angela have graciously agreed to give a PDF copy of The Emotion Thesaurus to one of my lucky readers. All you have to do is use the widget at the end of this post. I added a ton of options, so enter however you like. :) This giveaway ends June 09, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. (EST).

Take it away, Becca!

Three Ingredients of a Good Scene

OK, so it takes more than three things to make a good scene. But Carrie has graciously allowed me to post at her blog today, and if I’d like to be asked back, a total takeover on my part seems ill-advised. So I’m limiting myself to three things every single scene in your story must have for it to be successful. Much of this is shamelessly stolen from Save the Cat (Blake Snyder for president!), but as authors, aren’t we all just glorified thieves? So let’s embrace the dark side and move forward, shall we?

Ingredient #1: A GOAL. Every scene contains a main character, and in every scene, the main character wants something. Maybe he wants to open an enchanted door (The Hobbit, chapter 11). Or possibly, he’d just like to get away from his horrific guardians (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, chapter 3). Regardless, if there is no goal, the reader doesn’t have anything to root for. There’s no momentum, no movement. For every scene in your manuscript, ask yourself, What does my main character want? If you can’t find an answer, create one. There must be a goal in every single scene to maintain reader interest and keep the pace moving forward.

Image Credit: popsique

Ingredient #2: CONFLICT. Once you’ve figured out what your character wants in the scene, ask this question: What’s standing in the way of my hero achieving his goal? In the above examples, Bilbo can’t open the door because it’s been enchanted to only open on a specific, undisclosed day; conflict arises as time passes and his companions begin to turn on him. The Dursleys dislike Harry as much as he dislikes them, but they have the power; every interaction with them simultaneously reinforces his goal and keeps him from attaining it. Why is conflict so important? As Snyder says, conflict is primal. It gets our attention. Conflict, and the tension it creates, is what keeps the reader engaged.

Ingredient #3: EMOTIONAL CHANGE. Character emotion drives reader emotion. If your character’s emotion doesn’t go anywhere, your readers won’t connect with him and they lose interest. (I’m seeing a pattern here). So the third question to ask about any particular scene is: What emotion is my character feeling at the start of the scene, and what does he feel at the end of the scene? For the reader to be emotionally involved, the character must experience an up or down change in emotion. Bilbo starts the scene excited (when the path to the hidden entrance is discovered), then moves to despair (when the weeks pass and they can’t open the door) and finishes the scene elated (when the door finally opens). Poor Harry starts out resigned to his miserable summer but quickly becomes hopeful when the mysterious letters start arriving. If your character’s emotions aren’t changing, then nothing must be happening, and if nothing is happening, the reader will lose interest. Make sure that in each scene, your character experiences a change of emotion.

If, when looking at a scene, you find that you don’t have an answer to any of the above questions, either create one or examine the scene’s necessity to the story. It could be that the scene has no true purpose and should be cut to make your story stronger.

And now that I’ve disclosed my three favorite ingredients of a good scene, I’ll ask you to complete the recipe. What else, besides a goal, conflict, and emotional change, should every scene contain?

Becca Puglisi is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with 75 different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. The Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.

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Have a great week, guys! ♥

P.S. Don't be silly, Becca. You two are always welcome here! :)