Margaret Ann Shepherd just wants to be a normal high school senior and not be seen as the least bit weird. But nothing extraordinary ever happens to anyone who is not a little odd . . .
When Margaret Ann wakes one morning acting as though she’s just stepped out of the Middle Ages, everyone starts to doubt her sanity. But what really happened on the night in question? Placed in therapy to get to the bottom of her eccentricities, memories emerge of another body, another world, another life lived over the course of one night. In The Soultrekker Chronicles Book I, The Healer of Guildenwood, Margaret Ann struggles to make a new life with a new name, Arwyn, in a world where elves, mortals, and dwarves live beneath a shadow of tyranny, groaning for redemption. Arwyn must carefully navigate her abilities in combat and the art of healing, which she learns from a mysterious old hermit who seems to know more about her than he willingly admits. And when she accidentally attracts the attention of a brutal dictator, Draigon, her new world becomes even more dangerous. Is she truly an elf, revered by some, feared and hated by the powers that be, or do her passionate tendencies hint at a mortal nature?
Elf or mortal, her soul was borrowed for a purpose she can scarcely imagine. Arwyn will either fall into despair over her lost life . . . or discover that which she was born to be.
In book two of The Soultrekker Chronicles, Margaret Ann Shepherd, still under hypnosis with therapist Dr. Susan Renfroe, continues recounting memories of the night she lived an entire other life as the elven maiden, Arwyn, in the beautiful but troubled land of Bensor.
A perilous journey smuggling fugitive dwarves leads Arwyn to the enchanting realm of the elves, where a lukewarm reception by the elven lord, Valdir Velconium, a man plagued with secrets from his past, makes her wonder if she will ever find the place she truly belongs. Yet an unexpected meeting with an intriguing stranger challenges her resolve to aid the Alliance in its upcoming rebellion against the dictator, Draigon, forcing her to choose between two men who seek to win her heart. It is a choice between love and duty that could ultimately destroy Arwyn when Draigon springs a trap of his own.
A few of your favorite things: Christmas lights, waterfalls, photo albums. Things you need to throw out: My box collection. A good box is hard to throw out.
Things you need in order to write: A shower (in which to collect my thoughts). Things that hamper your writing: Three teenage boys, a husband, two dogs, and a slight case of ADD .
Things you love about writing: Figuring out another piece to the puzzle, whether it’s a word, a paragraph or an entire scene, and seeing it come together to create a beautiful picture that enhances the overall story and moves it forward. Things you hate about writing: Coming up with unusual names of fantasy places and characters.
Easiest thing about being a writer: The commute . Hardest thing about being a writer: Book marketing.
Things you love about where you live: Being unable to go two miles in any direction without running into a body of water. Things that make you want to move: Wanting to live in a house that is actually on a body of water.
Things you never want to run out of: Chocolate, toilet paper. Things you wish you’d never bought: All of those Donny and Marie Osmond albums from back in the 70s.
Words that describe you: Weird, Quirky, Friendly, Optimistic. Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Quiet, Technically-challenged.
Favorite music or song: Anything Josh Groban, Old Sting and the Police, Contemporary Christian. Music that make your ears bleed: Rap.
Favorite beverage: Coffee with flavored creamer. Something that gives you a pickle face: Lemonade.
Favorite smell: Anything that reminds me of Christmas. Something that makes you hold your nose: My son’s socks.
Something you’re really good at: Scrapbooking, Interior design/decorating . Something you’re really bad at: Technology .
Something you wish you could do: Play the violin. Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Play the violin because, trust me, it’s not something you would ever want to hear me do.
Something you like to do: Travel, snow ski, water ski, scrapbook. Something you wish you’d never done: The last dive on a trip to the British Virgin Islands in 2001, when I ended up with the bends and had to be airlifted to Puerto Rico for treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Not a great way to end a vacation.
Last best thing you ate: Filet mignon Last thing you regret eating: That same filet mignon, which sat in my stomach the following night like a brick .
Things you’d walk a mile for: A photo op. Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: A room full of cobras, pit vipers, scorpions and black widow spiders (duh!).
Things you always put in your books: Symbolism . Things you never put in your books: Anything considered “R” rated.
Things to say to an author: “I LOVED your book!,” “I just wrote you a review on Amazon,” “When is your next book coming out?” Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I’ll be sure to write you a review on Amazon” (and then never do).
Favorite places you’ve been: Italy, Santorini, Greece, The Lake District of England, Disney World . Places you never want to go to again: Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Favorite books: Anything set in reality but with an element of fantasy, like the Outlander Series. Books you would ban: Harlequin romances.
People you’d like to invite to dinner: Chip and Joanna Gaines . People you’d cancel dinner on: Most politicians.
Favorite things to do: Scrapbooking, decorating, traveling with my family . Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Scrubbing the bathroom, ironing.
Things that make you happy: Traveling with my family. Things that drive you crazy: Wasting an hour or two getting sucked into social media or the news.
Proudest moment: Getting my first book published and people telling me they loved it! Most embarrassing moment: Singing along to “Happy Birthday” and then realizing it was to ME it was being sung!
Biggest lie you’ve ever told: I was raised by apes in Africa. A lie you wish you’d told: I’m sorry, but I’m busy this weekend. I have to go visit my uncle in prison.
Best thing you’ve ever done: Married my husband . Biggest mistake: Going on that date with that person I should’ve lied to.
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Putting life on hold to go live in Europe for a year . Something you chickened out from doing: Marrying the guy to whom I should’ve lied to get out of the date with.
The last thing you did for the first time: Went on a book tour. Something you’ll never do again: Eat “Kaestur Hakarl,” also known as “rotten shark” in Iceland .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary E. Calvert grew up in Virginia, the daughter of a Baptist minister. Even as a youngster, she had a propensity for telling stories and quickly became recognized in school for her writing abilities. Reading The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings in middle school changed the focus of her story telling, and she found herself making up the tale of a young woman from this world who suddenly pops into a fantasy world of magic, mystery, elves, dwarves and wizards. When in high school, she realized this story had taken on a life of its own and started to put it onto paper, spending hours over three summers locked away in her room on her typewriter. By the time it was completed, Mary was ready to move on to other challenges, so she put her fantasy novel away in her closet where it collected dust for years.
Realizing it would be difficult to make a living as an author, Mary went on to study psychology at Furman University and then on to get a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Georgia. For thirteen years, she worked as a psychotherapist in a psychiatric hospital for adolescents in Atlanta, Georgia. Over those years, she learned quite a bit about the human psyche, something that would later have an important influence over the development of the characters in her books. It was in 1997 when the idea struck to re-write the story she had written as a teen, only with more twists and turns and from a more adult perspective. The decision was enough to breathe new life in Mary, who determined to finally realize her dream of becoming a published author, and she set to work on re-writing her fantasy novel.
Soon afterward, Mary met her husband, dated, got married, had their first son, moved half-way across the country to Colorado, and then gave birth to their twins, all while grabbing tidbits of time here and there to write a page or two of her novel. In 2006, her masterpiece complete, she employed the services of an editor who informed her that no one would publish her book being the length it was and that it would be better as, say, a trilogy. But after receiving a succession of rejection letters from agents and publishers, Mary decided to take a break from writing to re-evaluate her story. Though discouraged, she was determined not to give up on her dream or the story she fully believed in. It was then that she decided to re-write all three books, telling the story in first-person point of view and deepening the message of the trilogy by weaving a spiritual element throughout.
In 2012, Mary and her husband, Rob, decided to take a break and move their family to Italy for a year of traveling, homeschooling, and immersing themselves in Italian culture. It was during this time, while living in a 300-year-old converted horse barn, that Mary went about the task of re-writing her books to reflect these changes. And she found that with the echo of her footsteps on cobblestone streets still ringing in her ears and the exhilaration of standing in a white-washed village clinging to a cliff above the Mediterranean still so fresh in her mind, it sent her writing to new heights. She returned to the states, ready to be published for real. The question now was “How?”
After another upheaval, which led her family to move from Colorado to the Midwest, Mary made the decision to self-publish her trilogy. Like most new authors who struggle with going it alone, Mary went with a “hybrid” publisher for her first book, The Healer of Guildenwood, Book One of the Soultrekker Chronicles, published in October, 2016. Having learned more about what to do and what not to do with the first book, and having been introduced to more seasoned authors who were able to walk her through the publishing process, Mary published the second book in her fantasy trilogy, , through KDP, Amazon’s self-publishing arm. She has just returned from her very first book tour and gets excited when she sees the growing number of positive, enthusiastic reviews for her books on Amazon. Mary looks forward to the release of the final book in the trilogy but also has a sequel to The Soultrekker Chronicles in mind, a story that follows the adventures of one of the trilogy’s characters upon coming to this world from the fantasy realm.
Ayelen Barrios Ruiz Pagano is here to talk about her young adult contemporary romance, The Donahues, published by Safkhet Publishing.
About the book:
On Emily's sixteenth birthday, she discovers a letter that tells of her long lost father, who not only wants her back but is also filthy rich! Tensions between her and her mother were never very good, and with this letter, they escalate to where Emily moves out for the summer to her new/old family - at their opulent summer home. Find out how Emily wrestles with her feelings, finds love and balances her two families in The Donahues. (Safkhet Publishing)
Interview with Ayelen Barrios Ruiz Pagano
How long have you been writing, and how did you start?
I started to take writing seriously at the end of elementary school. I would write a very bad stories but from there I would write more and more. I would show it to my friends and had a different project at all times. I’m 21 now so it’s been at least ten years. How many of those years have included good writing is a different question.
What’s the story behind the title The Donahues?
The last name itself to me sounds like it is from a wealthy family, so it was easy to decide that their last name would be Donahue. As for making it the title, I think the title should represent the book itself. The plot in the book only begins after Tim’s letter to Emily is found. He is a Donahue, the name Donahue to Emily represents her true self for a long part of the novel, or the missing part of herself. The surname is also what drives her to go back home after spending the summer with them. It is a catalyst for many decisions and actions in the novel so I thought it suiting.
How did you create the plot for this book?
I think the plot creates itself once you’ve established all of your characters. Yes, I came up with the beginning part, the makeup, of the story: Emily was adopted, however her parents never gave her up. The rest came with the characters. The characters drive the story. The decisions they make are the drivers for the next series of events. Jason for example: Jason thinks she’s cute, but he values being popular. Therefore, he only actually goes for it with Emily when he realizes who she is and who she is related to. Ben’s love for his family and university future merge and give him incentive to accept Tim. Stephen keeps Emily’s secret because he would do anything for her. Their true selves influence their decisions which influence the plot. How do you get to know your characters?
I need to know a little bit about my characters before I can ever write down a word. I need to understand their motivations even if those motivations and intentions never get written down. I get to know them as people. Each character therefore (like people) have different taste in music and movies. You can learn a lot about a person by taking a look at their iTunes "most played." I like to say the dialogue out loud when I get the chance to; it helps me make sure it is true to the character, the way the character would speak instead of the way I would speak. Sometimes that creeps in, but it can’t be completely out of character.
Which character did you most enjoy writing?
I would have to say Debbie because like Emily, I find her to be very amusing. She’s a free soul, she’s a little bit of a wild child but a true friend. She’s the kind of friend you want to have. Because of her absolute free-child spirit it was fun to let her do what she does best--have fun and not apologize for it.
If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose?
I think Debbie has it pretty good. She’s free spirited, confident, rich, and has a cute boyfriend. She has a lot going for her. So I’d choose her. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
My favorite scene from The Donahues would have to be the scene alongside the train tracks. I think there’s something romantic about a railroad station, and in this scene Emily completely breaks (SPOILER) Stephen’s heart, which I love because in a way it defies the norm. I like that she realizes what she’s doing, and that she gets called out for her actions. I like that Stephen finally has the courage to speak up, and they talk to each other as equals. It’s my favorite scene because the reader really gets to grasp how these two characters are in their own worlds. When they are together, there may be people around them but it doesn’t matter. That’s what it’s like to be a teenager, and that’s why I like that scene.
You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?
Ooh, let’s see. Since the story is told from Emily’s point of view I would choose a girl, as for who I would have to say...Emma Stone. She’s young, funny and has a great voice.
Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
I like it to be quiet around me when I’m writing, meaning no one there to disturb me. However, every once in a while, I like to blast some music to get the juices flowing. It doesn’t matter where I am, as long as I have head phones, music, and no one speaking to me. I like to talk out loud especially when writing dialogue, so being alone in those moments is a must, otherwise people think you’re crazy. Ha ha.
If you could only keep one book, what would it be?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Yes it’s a stereotypical answer, however I decided to study English in University because of my pure love for Jane Austen. My favorite of her books, the one I read when I’m sad, happy, or just feeling meh is P&P. Mr. Darcy always makes me feel better.
That's one of my favorites, too. You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?
This is easy, Elizabeth Bennet, for one reason: Mr. Darcy. The pretty dresses wouldn’t hurt either, and since it’s only for one day the pros conquer the cons. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Read, Homework, Work, TV, Movies, Web series, or think about what I’m going to write about.
What are you working on now?
I just finishing launching my first web series (Ironically called Firsts it can be found on You Tube). So for right now I’m focusing on school and then off to continue writing. I don’t know what that project will be but I hope it’ll be great.
About the author:
Ayelen is a proud fanatic of Disney, bad reality TV,
and all things romance. She's always looking to find a new project to
occupy her already busy time. Loving nothing less than a good story, you
can find her reading, writing, or watching a movie based on a book
somewhere in Canada.
Today I'm excited to bring you Andy Gavin and his novel, Untimed, a YA time travel book, published by Mascherato Publishing. In addition to answering my inane questions, Andy treats us to a guest post and an excerpt from Untimed.
About the book:
Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
Interview with Andy Gavin:
Andy, Untimed is your second book. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?
I’m a lifelong creator and explorer of worlds. As far back as first grade, I remember spending most of the school day in one day dream or another. I had a huge notebook stuffed with drawings, story bits, and concepts for an elaborate Sci-Fi/Fantasy world I cobbled together from bits of Star Wars, Narnia, and Battlestar Galactica. By fourth or fifth grade not only was I loosing myself in every fantasy or Sci-Fi novel I could, but I was building Dungeons & Dragons castles and caverns on paper. Then from 1980 on the computer.
Over the following decades I wrote dozens of stories and created and published over a dozen video games all set in alternative universes. And as an avid reader (over 10,000 novels and who knows how many non-fiction volumes) it was no surprise that I eventually decided to write some books of my own.
Wow. That's quite a background. How did you come up with the title Untimed?
I wanted a single-word title, and I wanted it to imply time travel, so I bounced words and phrases around in my head until I came up with Untimed. It seemed pretty good immediately.
How did you create the plot for this book?
Typically, Untimed began from a fusion of ideas. Lingering in my mind for over twenty years was a time travel story about people from the future who fell “downtime” to relive exciting moments in history (until things go wrong). I worked out a time travel system but had no plot or characters. Separately, in 2010, as a break from editing The Darkening Dream, I experimented with new voice techniques, especially first person present. I also read various “competition.” One of these was The Lightning Thief(the first Percy Jackson novel), which has an amazing series concept (if a slightly limp execution). I love mythology and history, and liked the notion of something with a rich body of material to mine. I wanted an open ended high concept that drew on my strengths, which brought me back to time travel.
Some of the mechanics from my earlier concept merged well with a younger protagonist, voiced in a visceral first person present style. I started thinking about it, and his voice popped into my head. I pounded out a chapter not too dissimilar from the first chapter of the final novel. Then the most awesome villain teleported into the situation. I can’t remember how or why, but it happened quickly and spontaneously. Tick-Tocks were born (or forged).
Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?
Personally I find the two different modes: plotting vs. just writing, to use different sides of the brain, and therefore useful to stagger. I can only handle a few days of plotting before I need the release of getting it out there. There really isn’t any rush in writing as good as just pounding out a great scene that’s already gelled in your head, and it’s even better when the scene and characters take on a life of their own and bring something novel to the process. Looking back on it, I realize that as a computer programmer I took this same exact alternating approach (between designing the algorithm and just coding) and that the rush and rhythm were nearly identical.
Did you have any say in your cover art?
The cover photo-illustration is by award-winning fantasy artist Cliff Nielsen. I found him originally for my first novel, The Darkening Dream. Back then, I combed through the more recent books in my 10,000 novel collection and put aside ones with covers I liked. Going through those I found like eight (including the new edition of Narnia!) with covers by Cliff. But it was really the Map of Time cover that totally sold me. I had to have him do mine. So I called. With Untimed it was natural to go back to him, as the first cover rocked. I had the Tick-Tock image in mind all along, still he read the book and then we talked. It was instant agreement, had to be Rapier.
Untimed also has interior illustrations by Dave Phillips. I could tell looking at his portfolio that he was an amazing artist. I have a lot of experience judging art, my mother is an oil painter, I half grew up in museums, and video games are all about art. Dave’s figures had an emotive quality, a correctness of proportion, and a sense of motion that only good artists can evoke. I picked twenty-one scenes from the book that seemed to cover the most characters and iconic moments while being fairly well spaced out and then wrote up detailed descriptions. I had really specific images in my head, so I included reference images, particularly costumes and props. Dave did rough drafts of each and pretty much nailed them all. We made a few tweaks and he popped out awesome finished versions. It sounds simple, but it took a few months as he has a day job and twenty-one detailed illustrations takes a while.
Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
Perhaps, but I’m not telling. Really, like most authors, I just borrow bits and pieces of traits from people I know and even from characters in other books and movies. Literary tradition (I include TV and film here) supplies a lot of rough templates.
What song would you pick to go with Untimed?
I’m not sure, but while writing it I listened a hell of a lot to the Daft Punk Tron Legacy album. It seems to fit.
Who are your favorite authors?
I have so many, but to start: George R. R. Martin, Dan Simons, Tim Powers, Orson Scott Card, Guy Gavriel Kay, Sherri S. Tepper, Octavia Butler, Ian M. Banks, Jack L. Chalker, Robin Hobb, Stephen King, Gene Wolfe, Katherine Kurtz, and Vernor Vinge.
Do you have a routine for writing? Do you work better at night, in the afternoon, or in the morning?
My work space is extremely messy but with a great view of Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean. I write on a 12 core Mac Pro with two Apple 30” monitors. Yeah, I’m a computer geek, and an Apple weenie to boot. I write in Scrivener which is a totally awesome writer’s word processor. Any writer still using Word is crazy.
I just have to interrupt to say I agree on both counts: Apple and Scrivener are awesome! Also, I'm extremely jealous of your view of the Pacific Ocean. Okay, please continue.
Unless something distracting is going on I try to have my butt in the chair by around 10am (after working out) and more or less keep it there until around 6pm. If drafting new prose I try to do about 2000 words a day. I write, then I do a polish pass. If I had to rewrite significantly during that pass I’ll do a third sweep to cleanup.
Then I print and run to my wife for instant feedback. Next, I email it to my mom and my “story consultant” (one of my friends who reads it right away). Feedback is good. I find that I’ll often redraft a chunk on the basis of these early comments.
You read a lot. What three books have you read and would recommend?
Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. Powers has ability to bring to life the fey in a grounded yet truly otherworldly way, and Gates is the best of his many books. It’s totally zany with time travel, werewolves, ancient sorcerers, Romantic poets, and more, yet it totally works.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons. A space opera roughly based on the Canterbury Tales? It’s got not only a massive scope and impressive world building, but repeated and genuine pathos.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Martin has this uncanny ability of making his gigantic cast of characters feel developed and above all, human. He plots like a demon too as the number of twists and reversals is out of control. But fundamentally he really makes you care about the people.
What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Think of it as evolution in action” is pretty good, but in light of this being about Untimed, we could use a favorite Ben Franklin saying, “Three men can keep a secret, if two of them are dead!”
Gotta love Ben Franklin. What are you working on now?
Yep. Right now, I’m writing two more novels and adapting Untimed into a screenplay. The new books are the Untimed sequel and a totally separate short novel that involves old school fairies and iambic pentameter.
Sounds intriguing. Come back and tell us about them when they're published!
Guest Post by Andy Gavin:
Games, Novels, and Story
Storytelling, the old fashioned way
Modern man has a wide variety of "pure" storytelling mediums, like film, long form television, and novels. While these have some very significant differences they all share the same basic focus on plot and character. Typically at least, good stories introduce a character with problems, get you to like them, then chronicle the struggle as they are compelled to change and adapt to overcome these problems. In the end, they either do so, or are defeated to teach us a lesson (a variant we call tragedy).
These elements: character, plot, and transformational arc, are completely central to the normal story (I deliberately ignore weird experimental storytelling). Really, they are the core of what makes a good film or novel.
Roman mosaic showing comedy (right) and tragedy (left)
But with a game, this whole business is secondary. The primary focus of a game is fun. And fun through gameplay. Does Tetris have any character or plot? Did even Doom? No. But they were fun games. Really fun.
Games such as Naughty Dog's Jak & Daxter or Uncharted strive to bridge these gaps by offering both. This is very difficult because they don't really serve each other.
The gameplay in Uncharted 2, for example, has three primary modes: survival gunplay, platforming, and puzzle solving. The player must assess the layout of the level, learn it, and navigate it without getting killed. This involves anticipating the enemies and taking them out first. You use the weapons at your disposal, the mechanics, and the terrain provided to do so. With platforming you need to come to understand what the character can do physical, find your way, and successfully traverse the route.
Some games do focus on story
When these are done well, when the design is varied, the levels pretty, the enemies cool, and the challenges measured, challenging and above all, doable - it's fun. Uncharted 2 is such a game.
It also has a pretty darn good story which is woven in with the design of the levels and the challenges. This adds to the whole thing. Watching the next segment of story becomes part of your reward for finishing a segment. There is a tremendous level of art that goes into getting both of these to work at the same time, but certainly each is constrained at times by the needs of the other.
Content in games is expensive and difficult to make. Therefore it needs to repeat. You really do need to shoot the same enemy hundreds of times. Otherwise the enemy isn't providing enough mileage to justify the labor involved to create him. The player is also in control and therefore the consequences of his play affect success or failure.
My first novel
But in storytelling, success and failure are the carefully monitored heartbeat of any good story. You bring the protagonist up, dash him down, grind him into the ground, lift him up, slam him sideways. I knew this intuitively when writing my first novel, The Darkening Dream. I've read so many books and watched so many films and shows that it seemed "obvious." But at the same time, it turned out to be far from easy. Writing a good story has less constraints than making a good game, but it's still extremely difficult. You need to be constantly balancing the issues of character, motivation, the logic of the plot, and the need to seesaw the dramatic tension. In the end, stylistic concerns sometimes overwhelm dramatic ones (to the reader's detriment).
In a game, it's even more complicated, and there is barely a chance of hitting all the right dramatic notes. The player has a lot to say about this natural up and down pacing, so the story-based game tries to separate how well you are really doing from the actual plot. Usually death or failure in the game causes the player to merely repeat some segment of the game (and hence the story), when they finish the level and get the next segment of storytelling, they'll get it regardless of whether they died once or 100 times. The better player merely proceeds faster.
This is different, but even more problematic in a less linear game such as World of Warcraft. There, the mechanics of the game heavily distort the conceits of storytelling. The story is even broadly linked to the chronological evolution of the game in real time. For example, in December of 2009 Blizzard released the Icecrown Citadel patch of Wrath of the Lich King, making it possible for players to finally reach and confront the ultimate boss of the expansion (the titular Lich King). But the fact is, in order to properly maintain the reward mechanics of endgame raiding, each character was and often did, progress through this segment of the story once, or even twice a week.
The Lich King
Now, two years later, the Lich King has been defeated, the world of Azeroth has been broken, yet it's still possible to go back to Icecrown and take on Arthas again. And again. Ditto for any of the several hundred even older bosses. Players accept that they have random access to a long and convoluted story. In fact, the need to generate so much gameplay in WOW has created a body of lore that gives the Silmarillion a run for its money. But the way in which it's experienced mutes the emotional intensity.
What really provides the excitement in WOW (and many other games), isn't the question of whether the dragon queen Onyxia lives or dies, but the - shall we dare say - drama of whether she does tonight, for us, the group fighting her. And more importantly, will she drop the Nemesis skullcap (arbitrary cool piece of loot) one has been trying to get for six months.
Excerpt from Untimed
“You think me daft, do you?” the girl in the refuse pile says. “You’re from the future.”
Living the last hour in a high-budget documentary has made me a time travel believer, so I’ll take her word for it.
“How do you know?”
“Boys always be from the future. What’s me name?”
“Yvaine?” I say.
Her smile is so genuine it startles me.
“There you go. I haven’t never heared that since I was a wee bit.”
I know how she feels even if I only mostly understand what she says.
“Help a lady up, Charlie.”
I take the hand she extends, pull her upright, then kick my feet into the dirty pair of shoes I took off when I ran after her. Her scruffy outline stands out with unnatural clarity.
This cinches it. I know how to spot the historically homeless!
Dad’s history books, all his lessons, swirl in my head. He totally knew! If us extra-in-focus-no-names are time travelers, and he and Sophie have been off visiting the Crusades or whenever, why’d they wait till right before the clockwork cop showed up before trying to tell me?
“Are you from the future too?” I ask.
“You know nothin’, dinna you?” Yvaine cuffs me on the arm. “Boys are from the future, girls are from the past.”
“Where? I mean when? And when is now?”
“Let’s cosy someplace warm.” She tugs me toward the alley entrance. “We’ll be lucky not t’catch cold.”
“That’s what my mother would say.”
“I’m not your mother.”
Check out the book trailer for Untimed:
About the author:
I’m an unstoppable storyteller who studied for his
Ph.D. at M.I.T. and founded video game developer Naughty Dog, Inc. at
the age of fifteen, serving as co-president for two decades. There I
created, produced, and directed over a dozen video games, including the
award winning and best selling Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter
franchises, selling over 40 million units worldwide. I sleep little,
read novels and histories, watch media obsessively, travel, blog (a
million hits last year!), and of course, write.
Rose comes from the capital of the Confederation of Cities where its citizens live in luxury and the greatest fashion statement of all is being Altered. People change everything about the way they look as often as they do their hairstyle but Rose is different. Her position of privilege has made her an outcast and led her to suspect that something sinister is happening to the citizens and flees the capital along with a past that imprisons her in search of a fresh start in the Land of the Unaltered.
Flynn lives in the Land of the Unaltered and hates the capitol and everything it stands for. So when a spoiled capital girl is assigned to work with him, he wants nothing to do with her and is prepared to make her life miserable. But Flynn was not prepared for someone like Rose. She doesn’t fit the mold he expected and finds himself strongly attracted to her. As she continues to surprise and outwit him, they begin to forge a bond that is tested when they discover a secret that could change everything they know about Land of the Unaltered.
Land of the Unaltered is a Dystopian Romance and is the first installment of the The Confederation Chronicles.
Interview with Leti Del Mar:
Leti, this is your second published novel. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?
I’ve always tinkered around with writing but it wasn’t until 2009 that I sat down and wrote my first novel, The Inadvertent Thief. After a very long time of looking for an agent, sending away my manuscript, getting rejected, doing it all over again, followed by even more time waiting; I decided to self-publish in 2012. The last year has been an incredible journey from which I have learned so much. I now find myself much more business savvy and ready to promote my newest novel with a strategic marketing plan.
Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?
I am an obsessive compulsive organizational freak when it comes to writing. I create character charts, plot charts and checklists before I start writing. When I finish my first draft, I go back to these charts and lists and see what needs to be improved upon. I’ve made all of my tools available on my website under the “Author Resources” tab. Feel free to check them out and use them.
I will. Thank you! Did you have any say in your cover art?
As an obsessive compulsive organizational freak, I have a lot of trouble handing over the reigns in any part of the creative process. My covers are all mine. For my recent book, I knew I wouldn’t be able to create the exact cover I had in mind so I got help from the very affordable Digital Donna.
Do you have a routine for writing?
I am a big believer in checklists and calendars. I like to give myself a deadline for when I want my completed product to be finished by. Then I break it down into all the steps I need to do to make this happen and assign them smaller deadlines. That way each week, and even each day, I know what I need to accomplish.
Do you ever get writer’s block? What do you do when it happens?
Writer’s block and I are old friends. We go way back. My solution is to stop writing. Instead, I switch gears and do something else that is productive. Sometimes I focus on the business side of writing. The point is to switch gears until I feel the creative juices flowing again.
Leti's Guest Post:
As a self-published Indie Author, I’ve learned a thing or two about this business from other professional in the publishing industry, fellow authors and book bloggers. This know-how has really paid off. The publishing and promoting of my second novel has gone so much smoother and has seen greater results. Looking back, I think I can consolidate it into 5 tips that I wish I knew before self-publishing.
#1- Market your book before it is even published
If you wait until your book is published, then you have waited too long. By telling people, readers, bloggers about your book before it is even done, you start to build a platform for potential readers. I wish I had done this with my first novel. I published it and then wondered, “Now what?” The key is to have a solid marketing plan in place and begin working on it while you finish writing and publishing your book.
#2- Network
Gaining contacts is golden in this industry. Find and meet fellow authors. I have been amazed by the results. These friendly people have pointed me in the direction of resources that have helped me immensely. Search blogs and blog directories. When you find a blog that looks helpful and interesting, follow it and comment frequently. Read their books and build real connections with these people. I have also directly emailed other Indie Authors with brief questions and those emails have led to wonderful exchanges of tips and ideas. You will get back just as much as you give. I promise.
#3- Choose quality over quantity
It sounds easy to tweet and post daily about your book. But no one likes a commercial, much less a persistent one. If you have something worthwhile to say, then tweet it, post it, ect. For example, while visiting a Kindleboards forum, I posted a question about using KDP Select and had a great discussion there. It was meaningful and helpful to me and in the end, one of the guests told me she just purchased my book! Not all online discussions will lead to a purchase, but you will have a better chance of selling your work if stop trying to sell your work with every breath you take.
#4 Learn your craft
I’m not talking about the craft of writing (although the same advice goes for that), I’m talking about the craft of selling your books. Keep looking for great sites, sign up for informative newsletters, join communities, read books by those who have made this work. This is a business after all, and you should be invested in doing it to the best of your ability.
#5 Write more
You’re a writer, so write. It can be easy to get caught up in the business side of being a writer, but you need a quality product before you can sell it. I have learned two things about successful Indie Authors. They write series and they have a huge back list of titles. This didn’t happen overnight. So if you feel discouraged and think it is never going to happen, then write another book. Keep writing those books, preferably write them as part of a series. It may not happen this year, or next, but it will happen. Believe in it!
From the author:
I live in sunny Southern California with my husband,
daughter and abnormally large cat. When I'm not writing, reading or
blogging, I am teaching Biology and Algebra to teenagers. I'm also a
classic film buff, passionate about Art History and love to travel.
Book 4 in the Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series!
People aren't always what they seem to be. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves.
So discovers seventeen-year-old Russel Middlebrook in The Elephant of Surprise, a stand-alone sequel to Brent Hartinger's landmark 2003 gay young adult novel Geography Club (which has now been adapted as a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky).
In this latest book, Russel and his friends, Min and Gunnar, are laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise – the tendency for life to never turn out as expected. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot but mysterious homeless activist named Wade, even as he's drawn back to an old flame named Kevin. Meanwhile, Min is learning surprising things about her girlfriend Leah, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest technology obsession.
But the elephant is definitely on the move in all three of their lives. Just who is Wade, and what are he and his friends planning? What is Leah hiding? And why is Gunnar taking naked pictures of Kevin in the shower?
The Elephant of Surprise includes Hartinger's trademark combination of humor and romance, angst and optimism. Before the story is over, Russel and his friends will learn that the Elephant of Surprise really does appear when you least expect him—and that when he stomps on you, it really, really hurts.
Interview with Brent
I’m very happy to have Brent Hartinger here today, to talk about The Elephant Of Surprise, his fourth book in the YA Russel Middlebrook series. Before we start talking about this latest book, due to launch tomorrow, I asked Brent to catch us up on the first three books in the series.
First of all, Brent, tell us a little bit about the three books leading up to The Elephant Of Surprise (great title, by the way). Geography Club tells the story of a gay kid and his misfit friends, as they create a secret gay-straight alliance in their school. It's mostly about Russel (the gay one), Min (who's bisexual), and Gunnar (who's straight).
As for the others in the series, well, my theory on sequels is that people THINK they want to know what happens "next" in a story -- they think they want a continuation of the last book. But that's not really what they want, because if a story is told well, it's resolved. It's over.
No, what readers want is a sequel that makes them FEEL the way that first book made them feel. To do that, you need to give your characters a whole new story: new challenges, new themes, new secondary characters, new twists, new resolutions.
So for The Order of the Poison Oak(the second book in the series), I had the three main characters, Russel, Min, and Gunnar, leave town completely: they go to work at a summer camp for burn survivors -- and they all learn about sex and betrayal.
Then inDouble Feature(the third book), the three of them get jobs as zombie extras working on a horror film -- and Russel has to deal with coming out to his parents, and also a long-distance relationship. That was a fun book to write, because we get to see the same period of time from two different perspectives -- Russel's and Min's -- and of course their experiences are COMPLETELY different.
You are living every author’s dream, Brent. A movie is being made of the first book, Geography Club. Congratulations! How did that come about?
Thank you. It's been a long time coming.
First of all, it took ten years to sell the book itself. I wrote the first draft in 1991. Over the next few years, lots of editors wanted to buy it, but their publishers wouldn't let them. The accountants always said, "There's no market for a book about gay teens."
So then HarperCollins finally buys it in early 2001, it's published in early 2003, and it's a big hit, right? I mean, right away. Apparently, there was a market for a book about gay teens. Who knew? And so the movie rights are optioned just a few months after it's published.
And for years, different producers tried to get it made. Big budgets, small budgets, as a TV series, you name it. It came really close to getting made a couple of times, but over and over, they kept hearing, "There's no market for a movie about gay teens."
I know. Right?
So when I learned in 2011 that it was finally really going to happen, I was, like, "Uh huh. Sure." In fact, even on the plane down to Los Angeles to the set, I was thinking, "I bet this still isn't going to happen." And when I got home, after the wrap party and everything, I remember thinking, "Boy, I really hope they back up their files!"
At that point, I'd been around the block a few times. But it did happen, and I'm overjoyed.
As a writer, I would be afraid of what a script would do to my story. Did you have anything to do with the movie? Did you have any say in the storyline?
I wasn't involved much with these particular producers, although they did ask my opinion from time-to-time. In a way, that's okay with me. There's much, much less pressure: I get credit if the movie's well-received, but I don't get blamed if it's not.
It helps that I have another movie that I wrote that will hopefully film this spring. Being involved with two movies in the span of a year has been wonderful. I feel like I've made so many new friends.
As for Geography Club, the movie, I finally saw it two weeks ago (and as I said, I was also on the set for a while). I'm pretty confident it'll be well-received, because it's very good. A little different from the book, but good.
An interesting thing about the individual scenes: I was watching them film one scene that was right out of the book and that also basically happened to me as a teenager. And as I was watching, I sort of had this weird, out-of-body experience where reality all ran together, and I couldn't quite remember which part happened to me, which I made up, and which I was seeing in front of my eyes.
Surreal!
Here's the trailer:
Go ahead, tell us the truth. Is the book better than the movie?
I'm not just being diplomatic when I say they're two totally different things. You can't compare them.
Okay, yes, I'm being diplomatic!
Okay then, I’ll say it: the book is always better! But I’ll still go see the movie. When will it be out?
No official release date just yet. They say by the end of the year, but you know how these things go.
(Fun fact: Justin Deeley who plays hunky Kevin in the movie was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where I live!)
He's a very nice guy! I hope he has a big career ahead of him.
Did any of the things that happen in the books actually happen to you? Have you ever saved someone from a forest fire? Did you ever join a baseball team to impress a guy...
It's almost never exactly what happened to me. I never saved anyone from a fire, and I never joined a baseball team for any reason. But when I write about something, I have almost always experienced the emotions involved. For example, I've worked with lots and lots of kids over the years, including some like Ian who are way wise beyond their years. I've always had a really easy rapport with kids and teenagers. One time one of their parents said that to me, and I said, "Really? I wonder why." And she said, "My child says it's because you don't treat him like a kid. You don't talk down to him." And for a minute, it didn't make sense. How else would you treat a kid? But then I remembered how adults had treated me as a kid, how patronizing they could be, and how incredibly frustrating that was. I guess that taught me not to do it!
I have saved kids from drowning (as a lifeguard). And unfortunately, I've also done waaay too many things to impress guys.
I also did once work as an extra in a movie, but it wasn't a zombie movie. It was Come See the Paradise with Dennis Quaid. And you can barely see me, and it ended up being a total flop. I mean, like one of the biggest flops of the year.
In Order of the Poison Oak, Russel is a camp counselor. It’s written so convincingly you must have also been a camp counselor once?
Nope, I was never a counselor, but I'm thrilled I fooled you!
I did have a couple of former camp counselor sources that I grilled mercilessly on the details of being a counselor. And just from life experience, I could sort of figure out the emotions involved.
There were certain things I wanted to include because they're seem so iconic to summer camp: skinny-dipping; an Indian legend; a summer romance; and lots of action around the camp fire. But I'd like to think I wrote about these things in a way that was somehow fresh and different. And just in its being a gay teen book, I think I subvert a lot of the camp stereotypes. How do you get your ideas for plotlines?
Usually something I read, or a story someone told me. Sometimes it actually happens to me. But whenever I see a good idea for a story, something fresh and new and original, I always know it right away. I think, "I'm going to write that story one day!"
And eventually, I do.
How do you handle the load of promoting published books and writing new books?
I don't sleep!
The truth is, I really, really, really love what I do. So even though I work really hard, it usually doesn't feel like work.
I've never enjoyed the "boring" parts of the business: pitching projects, outlining, putting together presentations or lesson plans, proof-reading, and the like.
But I can honestly say I love the actual writing, the answering emails from fans, doing interviews like this, meeting new people. I'm a shy person, but it's easy to talk to people when you're a writer, because everyone wants to talk to you!
Plus, I spend so much time alone, I'm always ready to go out into the world whenever anyone invites me. Is The Elephant of Surprise the last Russel Middlebrook book in the series or will there be more? Please say there will be more, please say there will be more...
It's very, very possible. It depends on how well this one sells. But if I do it, I'll jump five years into the future, with Russel in college. And if Geography Club, the movie, is a hit, there's already talk of doing the next book as a movie too.
Cool. I love the idea of a jump into Russel’s college years. Excellent idea. Now get writing it. :) I’ve read that you also had a trio friendship in real life, like Russel, Gunnar, and Min. Was your Gunnar a geek and Min a brain?
It's funny, those characters are so loosely based on my friends that I sort of forget that I've said they were. My friends are just as quirky, but in such different ways. Well, my "Gunnar" really did want a theramin once, and my "Min" is very smart, but not a know-it-all or a brainiac.
Incidentally, I love writing about Russel, Min, and Gunnar. I never get bored with them! I could write about them forever. It helps that they're all so different. But I especially love writing about their friendship -- how they affect each other, how they joke around. That's the most interesting aspect of all my friendships -- although, interestingly, my "Min" and my "Gunnar" live in different towns and barely know each other.
See how different my books are from my real life?
What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favorite thing?
It's actually the same thing. I love writing, and I hate writing.
I think everyone can write the first three chapters of any project based on excitement and momentum alone. But then you hit that wall. You realize you've got a whole story to tell – a whole damn world to create. And for me, that's intimidating and exhausting.
You're so right! I am totally there with my current WIP.
I always compare writing to getting a boulder rolling. It’s really, really, really hard for me to get it moving – so hard I really have to work myself up to even trying. And it’s so hard that once I get it rolling, I don’t want to stop, not until I’m done with the whole project. I'm sort of manic that way.
But there's another part of it too. Once I get rolling, once things are really coming, a sort of euphoria takes over. I'm not a religious person, but I gotta say: I find the writing process to be a transcendent experience. You're at one with the universe. It’s such a rush, pushing harder and harder for that elusive glimpse of infinity — and then, finally, getting it.
Basically, I hate the writing process, and I love it at exactly the same time.
Do you have another job outside of writing?
This is it. Which is great in those years when everything's hitting, and I'm making a lot of money. And it's terrifying when your projects aren't connecting, or your editor leaves, or when that "sure-fire" movie deal falls through.
They say writers should have a "back-up career," which is probably smart. The problem is, if I had a back-up career, I would have switched to it long ago. This is a high-wire act we writers do.
Writing fiction is a really, really, really hard way to make a (good) living. On the other hand, it's never dull.
How did you create the plot for this book?
This is book #4 in a series, and with every book, I've wanted my characters to have some interesting, but completely different experience. In Geography Club, they start a "secret" gay-straight alliance (they call it the Geography Club because they think that sounds so boring that no one else will want to join. And yes, I have heard from dozens of angry geographers over the years!).
In The Order of the Poison Oak (the second book in the series), they go to work at a summer camp for burn survivors. In Double Feature (the third book), they get jobs as zombie extras working on a horror film.
I've also always tried to make the books light and funny, which I think explains some of their success.
Well, for The Elephant of Surprise, this latest book, Russel gets involved with a mysterious guy who's a member of a group called "freegans." They're actually a real-life group of environmentalists who give up all their possessions and live on the streets, foraging for food and other necessities. I remember reading about them years ago. And the more I researched them for this book, the more interesting they became. It's a totally different kind of life – and as Russel learns in the book, it's a pretty fascinating one, and in some ways, even a very romantic one.
And dramatically speaking, there's nothing like a character who makes your main character question everything about his life. That's the function Wade (the freegan) has with Russel in The Elephant of Surprise.
Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?
Oh, I'm a big outliner. I don't get into too much detail in the outline, and I never stick that closely to it, but I like knowing it's there. I need to know: can this story even work? IS there a story? Basically, I'd rather see the flaws in my story in an 8-page outline than after I've written myself into a corner in 200-page manuscript.
I know other writers use a different process, and whatever works for them works for them. I used to do it that way – for years, I resisted the whole idea of an outline. But I write screenplays too, and that's sort of impossible to do without outlining – screenplays are so much about plot and structure. So I was forced to outline, and it worked for me, and I'm so much more efficient now. I think my books are better to.
Did you have any say in your cover art? What do you think of it?
The cover was my idea, and I worked with an artist who I've worked with on all my recent books – April Martinez.
The title is a pun on the expression "the element of surprise," and it's a whole recurring theme in the book – when surprising things happen (and they do!), the character imagines an actual elephant stomping on him.
I wanted to convey the book's humor and fun, and I think April got the look exactly right. But then she always does.
I think she did too. Great cover. Have you ever bought any books just for the cover? Did you enjoy the book(s)?
Yes, when I was 12. And no. Learned that lesson well!
What do you do to market your book?
You name it. Wash your windows? Bake you some cookies?
Why yes, to both. But I have to admit I’ve already read all four in the series.
It's funny, just about the only thing I don't do anymore is tour. I've done that – I once did a 14-city tour. And it's fun to meet new people, make new friends. But it's also expensive and exhausting, especially for an introvert like I am. But the Internet has changed all that – bookstores have closed, and it's much harder to get people to turn out for any author's event (unless you're Suzanne Collins). Which is actually fine by me. I'd rather interact via social media anyway.
That said, I still do just enough events that if you really want to meet me in person, you can.
Do you have imaginary friends?
I do! I constructed these whole, elaborate fantasy worlds when I was a boy – super-spy, Middle Earth adventurer, member of a rock band. And I'm proud to say, but also a little embarrassed, that I still return to these worlds whenever I'm alone. And you know what? You're the first person I've ever admitted that too!
That's probably because you sense I have imaginary friends too. I’m constantly on the lookout for new names. How do you name your characters?
That's such a tough one. You want it to be unique, but not call too much attention to itself, not be too precious. You want it to maybe say something about the character's personality, but you're worried about being too literal.
I have a character named Otto Digmore, which is about as far out as I've even gotten. But it is my favorite name.
My main character in these books is Russel Middlebrook. I liked the named "Russel" because it seemed to suggest movement (and I spelled it with only one "l" to indicate he was different from other people). And the last name, which I love the sound of, was meant to sort of indicate that he was "mid-stream," in the process of moving from one place to another – on the border between one place and another. Since the title of the first book was Geography Club, and I sort of play with the metaphor of "geography," it seemed like the perfect choice.
What would your main character say about you?
"Geez, you're even more neurotic than I am!"
I think your imaginary friends have a lot in common with mine. Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
Russel is certainly "inspired" by me, and his two best friends Min and Gunnar were "inspired" by two of my friends. All through my life, I've also always had a thing for friendship trios. Maybe this has something to do my being a gay teenager -- life was safer that way. But it's interesting how quickly Russel, Min, and Gunnar became their own characters. In my mind, they now seem totally different from myself and my actual friends. Embarrassingly, I think of them as real people. Even now, when people ask me who they're based on, my first impulse is to think, "What do you mean 'based on'? They're real people!" Which I guess is the goal of writing fiction, right?
Absolutely. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
There are four long scenes that map out the trajectory of the love affair between the two main characters, two guys, but they're about as unlikely settings for a love story as you can get (by design!): the first takes place at a Dumpster and then a garbage dump; the next takes place in an abandoned building; the next takes place in an abandoned streetcar in the woods; and the last one takes place in the abandoned building again.
If I do say so myself – ahem! – I love everything that happens in all these scenes. I think it's one of the most unusual gay teen love stories ever I've ever heard about, and I think it's some of my best writing ever.
Thanks for asking!
Thanks for answering! How do you handle criticism of your work?
That's the real challenge, isn't it? Because the job of a writer isn't to be adored. It's to be read. And reading fictional is all about an emotional response, some good, some bad. It's literally a writer's job to be criticized.
That said, I stay as far away from criticism as I can. I write the book, and my job is pretty much done. While I'm writing the book, I listen to criticism from my editors and early readers. But once I'm done writing it, that means I'm satisfied. It also means it's out of my hands – it can't be changed. I let other people have their own reactions, and I don't want to intrude. I also don't want it to bum me out! It can be such an emotional roller coaster if you let it, because obviously everyone reacts to a book differently. Again, that's the whole point. But I don't want to be there to watch. I'd never get out of bed if I did.
Smart man, very smart. Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.
I live near Green Lake in Seattle, which is a neighborhood near this urban lake just north of downtown. It's so fantastic!
It has something called an "aqua theater," which means the stage is out on the water, and the seats are built on the shore. Good idea, huh? Um, yeah, except for synchronized swimming, it didn't work so well. Now they just use it for rowing.
There's a park that surrounds the whole lake – almost three miles. And almost every day, when I'm done writing, I walk it. It's WONDERFUL, especially for a work-at-home person like I am.
A fact? I think it's the second most-used urban park in the country (after Central Park in New York). Do you ever get writer’s block? What do you do when it happens?
What I get is "I don't want to write" block. Writing is hard, hard work for me (see above answer), so I procrastinate. But it's never been the case that if I actually turn off the Internet and sit down at the computer for five days in a row, nothing comes.
If anything, I have the opposite problem. There are way more stories that I want to write that I'll ever have the time to get down on paper.
Is there anything in particular that you do to help the writing flow?
Oh, I get stuck all the time. So I go for a walk, or take a shower. Or I give up for the day, think about it before I go to sleep that night, and let my subconscious mind work it out. What do you know? Nine times out of ten, that works!
You obviously write a lot, but what do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I confess I’m a little envious of writers like Stephen King, who writes for exactly four hours every day (even Christmas), stopping at noon. And I feel bad that I don’t do what all the writing books say I should do: keep a journal, constantly observe the world, make notes on napkins.
But when I’m not writing, I’m so not writing. I’m reading or biking or cooking or playing video games or going to plays and movies — basically, enjoying life — but I am definitely not writing. I don’t think I’ve ever once had an inspiration for anything writing-related if I’m in one of my “non-writing” phases.
I can’t just turn my creativity on and off, and it’s definitely not always running in the background, like my computer’s anti-virus program.
For me, it’s all or nothing: all consuming or completely checked out.
Fortunately for us, the "all consuming" wins out most of the time. I read all four books in the series and loved them all. Brent's characters stick with you and become your imaginary friends. Check them out, people.
About the author:
Brent Hartinger is an author, teacher,
playwright, and screenwriter. Geography Club, the first book in his
Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series, is now a feature film.
In 1990, Brent helped found one of the country's first LGBT teen support
groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded
the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom
in 2006. Read more by and about Brent, or contact him at
www.brenthartinger.com.
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