Rinelle Grey's Blog, page 13

It’s back to Fantasy Friday this month, as my new fantasy romance, Twin Curse, is out on the 12th! I’m in the middle of formatting for Kindle now.

I’ll be posting a new excerpt each Friday. Today’s is a little bit of excitement, in more ways than one!

“Serrile, you just have to see this! You won’t believe it.”

Brianna looked up at the sound of Ethean, the village elder, calling out her mother’s name. He ran across the grass in bare feet, nearly tripping over his long brown robes, waving a leather-bound book in front of him.

In spite of her other worries, Brianna was intrigued. She’d loved Ethean’s visits when she was little, enjoying sitting on his lap and hearing tales from long ago. At nearly seventy, he was the oldest person in the village, his occupation as a scholar protecting him from the troll raids. Usually, he only found out about a raid when he wandered out of his cottage days later.

What did he have to tell her mother now? Her feet led her across the grass of their own accord to where the old man held the open book under her mother’s nose. “See, I told you we must have some sort of purpose here…”

“Trolls!”

The voice, floating on the wind, froze everyone in the village. Ethean got such a shock, he dropped his book.

Chilling screams followed the sound as the watchers in the pass died, sacrificing their lives so that those in the village might have a chance to survive.

A small figure, the runner, whose job it was to warn the village, ran across the open field, yelling frantically.

The sound unfroze Brianna and sent her racing back to the house to grab her sword, cursing the long skirts that would hinder her in the fight.

If you want to be notified the minute it’s out, sign up to my mailing list below.

You may have noticed that my posts have been a bit thin on the ground lately, and that I kind of fell of the face of the NaNoWriMo planet there. Things have been a bit hectic here at home, and when my attention is needed elsewhere, something in my huge list of ‘to-do’s’ has to go. So I thought I’d write a post about the priorities in my life.

1. Family – My family are really important to me, and being at home allows me to be able to work around their needs. Since my daughter is homeschooled, her care takes up a fair bit of my time, and helping my hubby with his work takes up another chunk. Sometimes, when someone is sick, or we have a lot of activities on, this is all I’m doing.

2. Writing my books – I love writing, and more than that, when I see people waiting for my next book, I want to get it out as soon as possible. Whenever my family don’t need me, I’ll probably be sitting at the keyboard, typing away on my next adventure.

3. Blog/Facebook/Twitter – when my family are happily settled, and I’ve written as much as I can for a while, I might have a bit of time to update my blog, facebook page, or chat on twitter. This doesn’t happen as frequently as I’d like!

So if you notice that I’ve been quite for a while, it’s probably because I’m either playing with my family, or desperately writing that next book.

How about your priorities? What comes first for you?

Well, nearly half way through NaNoWriMo! Writing progress is not going as well as I’d hoped, due to many real life tasks getting in the way. But I’m not stopping writing, even though I’m nowhere near my NaNo goal.

I’m enjoying these two characters too much. They’re so alike, yet so different. And I think they both have a lot to learn from each other. If they can stay alive… Right now, they’re in an abandoned city, but they’re not the only ones…

She finished up her pie, and dumped the dish in the sink, unwashed, then began to blow out the candles one by one. Kerit picked his plate up, and stared at it. Something in him rebelled at the thought of not washing the dishes. Why was that? It wasn’t like anyone lived here, or would use these dishes ever again.

Folly leaned against the door jam, arms crossed, watching him, a half amused smile twisting her face. “You’re feeling the urge to wash up, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he admitted sheepishly. “Probably silly, right?”

She shrugged. “I had the same thing when I first started exploring. I even washed them a couple of times. But when you have to carry all your water with you, it seems a waste to use it to clean things that no one will ever see again.”

Her comment removed the last concerns he had about leaving the dirty dishes. “No point in wasting water,” he agreed.

He picked up the last lit candle, followed her to the door, and through into the living room, picking up the baseball bat that he’d left just outside the door. Folly eyed it, then him, but said nothing. Kerit put the candle down in the middle of the room, then crossed to the front window and pulled the lace curtain aside just a little. He stared out at the street, but all seemed quiet and still.

You can read the first two books, Reckless Rescue and Reckless Rebellion, now, or if you’re already up on the story, and waiting for Reckless Recon, you can sign up to my mailing list to be notified as soon as it’s available.(No spam, I promise, only new release notifications.)

It’s a fact of life that all of  us are different, and we all like and dislike different things. Some of us prefer horror movies, some like drama, some like comedy. Some of us like to live in the city, some prefer the country. Some of us like sweet food, others like hot and spicy.

And the same holds true for books. Some of us like character driven stories, other’s like plot driven. Some like romance, other’s like literary fiction. Some like love triangles, other’s hate them. Some people gobble up books in a series, other’s only read standalones.

So it’s not surprising, when you think about it, that any given book will have nearly as many bad reviews as good ones.

As I’ve collected reviews, I’ve been uplifted by the positive ones. The ones that say they can’t wait for the next book encourage me to write it. Those that say they love my characters, or my plot made them think, really make my day.

On the other hand, the ones who don’t like my book tend to stick in my head just as much. Sometimes, they get me down, sometimes they even make me wonder why I’m doing this.

But the reality is, that there is no way a single book can please everyone. We can never get complete agreement on what makes a good book, and what makes a bad one, because the opinion varies by the reader’s likes and dislikes.

So I’m trying to let the bad reviews roll off my back. I totally respect a readers right to their opinion, and I do consider reviews to see if they have some merit, and if there’s anything I can learn from them for the next book. But mostly, I think they’re just readers who were looking for a different kind of book.

And I hope they find it! I also hope the people who want to read just the sort of book I write can find mine.

Writers, how do you cope with bad reviews? And readers, how much do good and bad reviews influence your book buying?

It happens to everyone, to the point where it is a recognised part of NaNoWriMo. You start out enthusiastic, looking forward to getting all your brilliant ideas committed to paper (or screen), itching to start, then writing your daily quota each day effortlessly. (Well, sometimes…)

Then you hit week two. And suddenly, the ten thousand odd words you’ve written seem tiny in comparison to your goal. It’s like standing at the bottom of a mountain, thinking you’ve made some progress in climbing, then looking up to realise the summit barely seems any closer.

Well, I’m having an interesting week two here. I’m behind (more than 10,000 words behind!), and so I’m surprised to find that I’m still enthusiastic, still itching to find time to sit down and write my words.

What? Shouldn’t the fact that I’m behind mean I’m struggling even more with the week two blues? What’s going on?

Well, I have a theory. I’m proposing that the problem’s we encounter in week two have nothing to do with our wordcounts, and everything to do with the point in the story you reach during week two.

By the time I hit week two, and I’ve written around 10k+ words, then I’m past the bits I have planned. I’ve set everything up, the character’s and situations are all defined, and the initial problem has been well and truly expanded upon.

In week two, you hit the middle of your story. If you’re a pantser like me, this may well be about where your initial ideas end, and now you’re heading into uncharted territory. You have no idea what you’re going to write when you sit down, so you’re just as likely to end up staring at a blank page.

If you’re like me, and week two hits you because you’re not sure where your story is going now, don’t despair, there is a simple solution.

Sit down and plan.

Now, if you’re a pantser, don’t think that this doesn’t apply to you, and close the webpage and move on. I’m talking to you even more so. Yep, I’m a pantser, and I love finding out about the story as I go along. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any idea what’s going to happen next.

Once you sit down and come up with a few interesting twists to throw at your characters, you may just find that you’re week two blues disappear, and you’ll be back to flying through the wordcount.

Of course, I still have some writing to do before I reach that point. I’d better stop posting, and get back to writing!

How about you? How’s your writing progress going? Do you usually hit a point in a story where you get stuck? Any tips for overcoming the week two blues?

Yep, I missed  yesterday’s NaNo update post. Things are still a little… crazy… around here. And of course, this means I’m so behind for NaNo.

I managed to make my wordcount the first day, in fact, I hit 2,000 words through word sprints (setting the timer for 15 minutes and writing without stopping). But the story just isn’t flowing, and I think it’s because I need to write this first bit more slowly, taking time to find my character’s voices, and getting them just write. As I get further into the novel, and really know where both the character and story are going, sprints will be great, but right now, they’re just not working.

And I still have too much to do to settle down for a couple of hours uninterrupted writing! I have ONE more chapter of Twin Curse to edit before I send it off to the editor. Should be easy to knock over, shouldn’t it? But it’s the ending, and I know it needs a lot of work. I like my endings to be just right, so I don’t want to rush this last edit, or do it when I’m tired, so I’m going to save it and do it tomorrow, when I’m fresh.

I also need to finish my daughter’s homeschooling report, as it has to be posted by the 5th! I’m part way done, and hopefully I’ll be able to finish up tomorrow.

By then, I’ll be about three days behind in my writing. (Although I may just do a little tonight, but no pressure).

I’m not going to let that get me down though. I’ve been three days behind before, and made it up. If you spread out the missed words throughout the month, it’s not that much extra. And I know I’ll be able to write more effectively once these other tasks are out of the way.

How about you? Are you behind or ahead for NaNoWriMo? When you have several tasks to achieve in a limited time, do you focus on one at a time, or are you able to work on several together?

Well, first day of NaNoWriMo! This year I’m hoping to get a large chunk of the next book in my Barren Planet Romance series, Reckless Recon, done, so I thought that over November, I’d post an excerpt from around the area I’m writing in each week.

This week introduces a new character, Folly. I’m already loving this character, and looking forward to seeing what she gets up to this month.

Folly ran her hands over the tins, reading the faded labels. Her mouth watered at the thought of tinned spaghetti or chicken soup, and she made a face at the thought of tinned spinach. Not today. She moved past the labelled cans, to the naked ones, picking one at random.

She slid the edge of the can under the blade, the jangle of the gears grinding, turning the can and the circular blade at the same time, until a small click told her that the lid had separated from the can. She paused for a moment, imagining all the delights that could be inside the can. Maybe it would be rice pudding, tomato soup, or her favourite, tinned peaches.

Capturing the lid with a long handled magnet, she pulled it off. Beef stew. Nice. Anything with meat was always a welcome sight. She tossed the lid into the scrap metal box, sitting the tin on the steam heated plate in the corner of the bench.

While she was waiting for it to heat, she pulled the novel she’d been reading out of her pocket, and flicked through until she found the page she was up to.

You can read the first two books, Reckless Rescue and Reckless Rebellion, now, or if you’re already up on the story, and waiting for Reckless Recon, you can sign up to my mailing list to be notified as soon as it’s available.(No spam, I promise, only new release notifications.)

Do you ever wonder, if you live in a big city, what’s going on under your feet? It’s easy for us to think that it’s all solid ground, but the truth is, it isn’t always. Many cities, especially the older ones, have a surprising amount going on underneath them.

There’s the obvious, like power and phone cables, sewers and subways, but there can also be abandoned mines, natural caves and rivers, and a plethora of abandoned tunnels. Many of these are long empty and abandoned, forgotten but for a few.

A search of the internet will quickly reveal a lot of pages showing images from tunnels and abandoned buildings from all over the world. The images are fascinating, and I’m not surprised that some people search them out for the express purpose of finding these tunnels.

There’s something about these images, and the people who find them. A sense of adventure, a spirit of exploration, a need to know, and then to share with others. I couldn’t help following link after link, and reading many stories.

So when I needed somewhere for Marlee and Tyris to hide out from the government in Reckless Rebellion, it seemed like the perfect place. And of course, as these things do, it evolved from there. An abandoned tunnel had to be built by someone, so an ancient rebel alliance was born. And of course, with so many tunnels, they had plenty of room for extra people.

I love the fact that writing novels can lead you to research topics that you might not otherwise have come across. This was definitely one of my favourite ones. I especially loved combing Pinterest boards for interesting photos to inspire me.

What topics do you love exploring on Pinterest? Have you ever researched anything (for a novel, or something else) that you ended up being fascinated by?

Sorry I missed yesterday’s Friday excerpt post, but life got in the way. I think that’s happened to all of us at some point or another, but especially when you have young children, being regular can be hard! And yet, it’s also one of the best things about working from home, that I can adjust, and take that time to be with my family when they need me.

But it did spark my idea of today’s post. With NaNoWriMo looming on the horizon next month, I thought I’d talk about what to do when life gets in the way in the middle of NaNo, and how you can deal with it.

Be Prepared

If you know you have any regular events planed during the month, make sure you plan to fit your writing in around them. If you have exams, family events, babies, weddings, or work events, be realistic about how much you can write on those days (if at all), and change your daily writing goal on the other days to accommodate for it.

Be Realistic

50,000 words is a great goal, and manageable for most, but if you have a new baby or a new job, it might not be possible. Don’t let that put you off trying at all. Part of the fun of NaNoWriMo is writing with a bunch of other people, and that can be lots of fun, even if you know you’re not going to meet that goal.

Get Ahead

Whenever you can, write more than your daily goal. Everyone will have days when they just can’t write for some reason. You might get sick, or have a sick child, you  might have an emergency at work and need to work overtime. You might just hit writers block mid way through. If you can build up a bit of a buffer in the early weeks, it will make it much easier to cope with unexpected events or non-writing days.

Don’t Give Up

Even if you do slide behind, don’t let it get you down. Even a day or two of not writing won’t up your daily goal by more than a few hundred words, that’s nothing. And if you’re even further behind, well, just check out the NaNo boards for the stories of people who’ve come in from behind to win in the last few hours. It can be done. And I’m sure the victory is just as sweet.

All Words are Good Words

If you just can’t make that 50,000 goal, don’t feel bad. Life does sometimes get in the way, and that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Look at the words you HAVE written, and remember that if you hadn’t tried, you wouldn’t have them. All words are good words, and this competition isn’t against all the other people who are writing, it’s against you. If you normally only manage to write 5,000 words in a month, and you hit 10,000 words, that’s a win! If you’ve never actually sat down and put those words on paper before and you manage to write 5,000 words, then that’s fantastic!

And remember, that if life gets in the way, then it has precedence. Take care of life, and come back and write when the time is right! It will still be there.

How about you? Have you had years when you haven’t managed to finish NaNo? Have you had some spectacular wins against all odds? Share them in the comments, I’d love to hear about them.

That’s what we all want to do, right? Many indies are well aware that the secret to success with self-publishing is to have more books out. Not only does this have the advantage of more chances for a reader to stumble across you, but it also means you can take advantage of your 30 days on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list. Many books start off well, then hit the ’30 day sales cliff’, and authors wonder why their sales suddenly plummet. Usually, it’s because they’ve dropped off this list.

So frequent releases have a lot of advantages, BUT, only if you’re writing is good. So the question is, how can you increase your writing output, without sacrificing quality?

Here are some of my tips:

1. Know what you’re writing – now I’ve mentioned before that I’m a pantser, not a plotter, so I’m not talking about having your entire novel plotted out. But I find that if I have a general idea of where the scene is going before I sit down to write it, it helps.

2. Minimise distractions – We all know how insidious Facebook and Twitter are for sucking up time. I know I get much more done when I don’t open them up at all. If they’re open in the background, I’ll keep stopping and checking, which pulls me out of writing.

3. Don’t look back, don’t edit – If you do, you might end up with a perfectly structured paragraph, but what we’re aiming for here is a page. I’m sure many of you are thinking “But I edit as I go, and it makes my book better”. That may be true, but we’re not talking about writing the perfect scene here, we’re talking about getting as much down on the page as possible. You can edit all you like later, but don’t let it stop you getting that rough draft down.

4. Use a timer – Choose 10 minutes, or 15, or even 5 if that’s all you have, and write without stopping until the time is up. Even better if you can find a friend to race against! I can get about 500 words in 15 minutes with this method. Do that a couple of times a day, and you’ll find your word count is really mounting.

5. Choose when you write – And this might not be when you expect. I’m so not an early riser, but I find if I can force myself to get up, I get SOOOO much more done in the same amount of time. This could be because of the lack of distractions (my family is still asleep!), or it could be that my mind is more awake at that time of day. Experiment a bit, and find what suits your particular circumstances.

6. Do it more than once – If you find yourself flagging after 1,000 or 2,000 words, take a break. Go for a walk, do some other chores, play a game, anything. Then come back in an hour or two, and try again. Your mind will be refreshed, and you’ll find you can add to your word count more easily. My second session is usually shorter, but all words are good words!

7. Keep writing – Sometimes, I just feel like the words aren’t flowing, and that I’m having to force them out. I just want to quit, because it’s too hard. And it’s tempting to say ‘I write better when I’m inspired, so there’s no point pushing myself when I’m not’. But the truth is, that’s not always true. I’ve written many scenes by pushing myself, when I’m not feeling inspired, and they’re no different in quality to my other scenes. Sure, sometimes the sentences need a little more smoothing afterwards, but other times, they turn out to be some of my best work.

How about you? Do you have any good tips to help get through that first draft more quickly?