My friend and fellow Twilight Times Books author,
MariaDeVivo, asked me to join in the fun of The Writing Process Blog Hop. Check out
Maria's novel,
The Coal Elf, to get your YA Dark Fantasy fix. Yes! Santa is
real. But this isn't your childhood Christmas tale. The story is a lot of fun, and with over 100 5-star reviews on Amazon, you won't be disappointed. Check it out.
For the blog hop, I answered a few writerly-type questions,
and tagged a few of my friends to do the same on their blogs. Keep a look out for
their posts next week.
·
What are
you working on?
I'm finishing up the second book in
The Chronicles of the Knights Elementalis series, Knight of Air. The story continues three weeks after the events in Knight of Flame, and adds the
point-of-view of Cyndralla, the Knight of Air. In addition, I'm working on the
outline for a novella set in the Knights Elementalis universe focusing on
Cyndralla's past. We only catch the barest glimpse of her back story in the
first book, and I wanted to prime the pump for book two. Look for the yet to be
named novella to come out in the Fall, 2014.
·
How does
your work differ from others in its genre?
I have a hard time with this
question. It's not that Knight of Flame,
and the Knights Elementalis series, isn't unique, far from it. I just find it
difficult to say why it differs. I would much prefer to tell the readers what
it IS…and that, at its core, Knight of Flame, in fact the whole series, is a
story about relationships. Sure there
are all kinds of cool and groovy action, and magic, and dragons, and humor, and
tragedy, and honor, and… But, when all
is said and done, it's the relationships that drive everything else.
·
Why do
you write what you write?
I write what I love to
read—character/relationship-driven stories of love and honor, good versus evil,
set within a fantasy universe. It just so happens that my fantasy universe
lives and breathes within our modern world, hidden (or sometimes not so hidden)
in plain sight for those curious enough to look.
·
What is
your writing process?
I'm a hard-core plotter. I need
that roadmap of what happens when, where and to whom in order to make the story
elements fit together. Writing from multiple POV's presents the
challenge/opportunity of telling the story from different angles through the
eyes of fleshed out characters, each with his or her own goals, motivation, and
emotional baggage.
My outline consists of a
scene-by-scene breakdown of the entire novel. Within each scene description, I
determine the setting, POV character, additional characters, emotional drivers,
and objectives. Each scene must accomplish at least three things in the story
otherwise it gets cut or combined with another scene. Once I know what happens
and where "things" go, so to speak, I start writing.
I use the outline as a guide only—a
map from the beginning to the end. It is not the end all, be all of the
storytelling. That still happens during the writing. I come up with new and
exciting ways to torture my characters all the time. The plot lives and
breathes until I finish multiple edits, and lock everything down. If you're looking for ways to improve your writing, please check out
David Farland's writing courses. His classes are amazing.
Look for The Writing Process Blog
Hop post from this fine author next week:
Colette Black - When Colette isn't caring for her family, dogs, and a mischievous cat, she
spends her time writing. Born and raised in the United States, she has also
lived in the Philippines and Switzerland. Currently, she resides in the far
outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, where she loves the warm weather and the cotton
fields. Colette's newest release,
Noble
Ark, is available at
Amazon and will release to all major book sellers April 25th.
Her short story anthology,
The Black Side, released March 1st and you can find her recent
story, Watchboy, through
Isotropic Fiction. For more information, go to
www.coletteblack.net
