Month: January 2014

You ever read a book and your mouth drops open and you’re just shocked because you swear to all that is good and holy in this world that you had the exact same idea?  And within that book, there’s a scene or two or a conversation that was exactly like what you had pictured with your characters?

It’s happened to me.   Twice now.

One was so similar that the characters even said dialogue lines that I had already thought of.

I’m not going to lie.  At first, I was a little bit pissed.  There goes that brilliant idea I had!  Now I can’t write it.  It’s been done, and done in the way that I would have done it, so it has to go away. And, admittedly, I was kind of glad that I had read the books so I didn’t put in all that time and energy to write the book when it would be rejected as plagiarism.

But after the initial shock, I was sort of…pleased.  There is someone else’s brain out there that works just like mine!  It was kind of comforting to know that I’m not alone in this world…at least not in the slightly strange way my brain works.

So, as sad as I am to see the story idea having to get tossed, it was also kind of validating to know that my ideas are not complete crap.  🙂

The release of Dr. Feelgood is only two weeks away!  Huzzah!  You can check it out here.  On February 10th, the anthology goes live in both ebook and paperback formats.  An anthology of 14 short stories centered around those in the medical profession.

My contribution, Hero Worship, is about Alex Sullivan, a paramedic, and Matt Carter.  They are brought together by a bee and a scheming best friend.  In the end, they find love (of course!).

I will fully admit that the idea for this story was sparked when I saw the submission call.  It was in the back of my mind when one day, drinking my morning coffee, the opening scene flashed in my head.

Paramedics have always been a fascination for me.  I even contemplated being on at one time, when I discovered that I could actually stand up in an ambulance.  My sister has a friend who was a paramedic for a lot of years before he moved to the fire department and when I needed a little clarification on some things, he helped out.  Rest assured that my information is accurate…at least for my area.  I am aware that things differ within companies and areas.  After the draft was complete and tweaked with the help of my awesome beta, I sent it off.  A few weeks later, I was told it would be included in the anthology.

Hearing that news is never going to get old.

So this one was inspired by a submission cal.  But really, any little thing can inspire me.  Like someone showing up at the door when they aren’t supposed to and waking you up.  And that right there is what sparked my current WIP.

You ever get an idea that just will not leave you alone?  That doesn’t care that you’re supposed to be working on about five other things?  But it’s exciting and persistent…and actually scares you to death.

I mean, the world building alone is completely daunting.  There’s just no way I can do it justice.  Details aren’t my strongest suit sometimes so the thought of building this world terrifies me.

But it won’t leave me alone and I might just have to write it anyway.  Even if AU’s and urban fantasies don’t sell as well or get panned by reviewers.  Going with the premise that nothing I write is going to make every single person happy–because they all bring their own likes and perspectives to the table–then I might as well write the story that won’t leave me alone.

Maybe it’s exactly the change of pace I need to get back in the groove.

My sister and I were having a conversation about books we liked, specifically in the M/M genre.  Our tastes vary widely.  She doesn’t like a lot of angst, anything that’s too over the top drama, nothing BDSM–in fact, she likes the straight forward, happy, fluffy, two boys meet, have a few getting together issues, fall in love and live happily ever after.

On a whim, I said, “Play a game with me.  Tell me the premise of what you want to read.”

She did.  She told me a bit about the two boys, a bit about their personalities, an overview of the sort of conflict she wants to see, and came up with a cute twist.  Then she waggled her eyebrows and gave me a little “cat-head nuzzling” and batted her eyelashes and asked me to write it,

So, now that’s in my queue too.  And that one will be especially fun.  Because it’s for my sister.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…

It was a dark and stormy night…

Marley was dead: to begin with…

In all my web perusing, I’ve read how other authors write.  One thing I’ve learned, without a doubt, is that everyone’s process is a little bit different.  Some need music, some complete silence.  Some write an outline they stick to religiously, some fly by the seat of their pants.  Some can jump around, writing scenes out of sequence…I, most certainly, cannot.

I have to start at the beginning.  Word one.  While I do “see” scenes out of order, I can’t write them that way.  For me, the only way I can make a coherent story is to start with the first word and write each consecutive word until I get to the last.  That’s not to say things don’t get switched around, added or deleted, and rewritten out of order when I edit.  But for the first draft?  That initial putting the story on the page?  For me, it all starts at the beginning.  

As a reader, the beginning is often what makes or breaks a book for me, too.  That beginning has to grab me, make me want to find out more about these characters I’ve been introduced to, or I find the whole thing lacking.  I think that is, actually, a fairly universal truth.  And perhaps that’s why I need to write that way as well.  If I can’t get the beginning to to grab my attention when the characters live in my head, how can I expect a reader to want to follow their journey?

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not knocking anyone else’s method.  If you can write scenes out of order, more power to you.  I just don’t operate that way.  For me, the beginning is where it all starts.   As soon as I can figure out that, I can write a story.

Sometimes, life just gets in the way.

It’s hard for a person like me, and I’m sure other authors can attest to this, when life gets in the way of putting the words on the page.  But the fact is, life needs to be lived.  There are things that have to be taken care of and, for me, a day job to go to.  And sometimes all that other stuff interrupts the writing.  And as much as you want to sit at the computer and tell the stories that are swimming in your brain, you have no choice but to step away.

It was like that for me last week.  That’s why there was only one post and that is why, regrettably, there was no flash fic on Friday.  I hope it’s not something that occurs very often and I hope it’s not an unforgivable trespass.

But the past couple of days, I’ve managed to get in some stellar plotting.  I have to let ideas percolate for a while before I can even begin to get them on the page.  I see scenes in my head and I have to “play” them several times before I know if they’ll work or not.  I have to write out–long hand–some ideas and notes to see if I can make it to the end of the tale.  I don’t outline in the traditional sense, but I do write notes and paragraphs of the beginning, middle, and end so that I know where I intend to go.  When I’m actually writing, sometimes that changes as I go.  But I need a basic plot settled firmly in my head before I can even think of beginning to write.

I got there this weekend and this week, there should be plenty of words on the page.

Here’s the thing: in my life, I can’t use the word “plan.”  You see, if I plan something, no matter what it is, it invariably goes to shit and the plan falls apart.  So, I try not to make plans, per se, as there is little point.  Either life, or my own idiocy, gets in the way.

But I do make lists.

I love lists.  They help to keep me focused and I get quiet satisfaction from being able to cross things off the list.

Now, I didn’t want to plan out my writing schedule for the upcoming year.  If I did, it would a recipe for disaster.  Instead, I combed through the plot bunnies and made a detailed list of the things that I want to write.  And while they are in no particular order, I do intend to focus on some before the others.

Right now, I’m working on the first thing on my list.  A short story that may or may not turn into a novella.  Also on the list? Rewriting Postcards from start to finish, writing another book that takes place in the same world with a MC we met as a secondary character in Postcards, a paranormal novella, and there is tentatively a contemporary novel skirting the edges of my brain that’s on the list as “That one about the guy.”

Trust me, I know what that means 😉

At any rate, I’m writing and editing.  It’s nothing too groundbreaking, I assure you. In February, Hero Worship will be released in the Dr. Feelgood anthology from Dreamspinner Press.  More details on that as the date gets closer.

The list will, undoubtedly, grow and change as the plot bunnies start hopping.  But that’s all right.  That is the way of it.  In the meantime, I have the list to help keep me focused.