Character Interview: Erich Welch from Resurrecting Harry

April 4, 2013 by

The character interviews from Resurrecting Harry continue today with Erich Welch…or is it Harry…or is it Erich.

young man sitting thinking, contemplating - isolated on white

Well, I guess I’ll just ask you. Which is it?

Erich.

You say that with such a certainty. I know there’s this place early in the book, you get angry when Jaden addresses you as Erich.

He gives me a curt nod.

 And later in the book just the opposite is true. He chuckles. Funny thing with Jaden, though, he sees it all with such a clarity. Doesn’t he?

He scraps his hand across his jaw.

I have all of Harry’s memories. Sometimes, when emotions get the best of me, Harry’s feelings will surge up. I’ll act without thinking. Without really remembering. But I don’t own his existence anymore. Not like it was in the beginning.

Do you regret any of it?

Sure I do. Don’t we all have things we regret. That’s what this whole thing was about. Mistakes. Missteps. Moving forward.

And now?

Well…. I guess that will just have to wait for the next book.

 

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Filed Under: Books, Fiction, Harry Houdini, Resurrecting Harry Tagged With: , , ,

Behind the Story… Music

July 13, 2012 by

Who needs some fun today?

I certainly do.

Sometimes when an idea hits, we have no choice but to write about. And it was just such an experience that led to a novella that you will hopefully will be seeing soon (in one way or another).

When trying to define characters I’m writing about, I need to things: a visual image, and the favorite song on their iPod at the moment. Today, I’d thought I’d share those notes on this story here.

In a recent post, I introduced you to the photo on the left — inspiration behind the hero in said novella.

Below is the song “Broken” by Seether. If Nate had a song that was her personal soundtrack, or song that he had stuck on repeat on his iPod, it would be this one.

 

“Broken” by Seether

Meet Hailey. While her spirit might be “broken,”  she knows what’s missing in her life: A true connection with another person. She’s been running after her goals with blinders on for so long, she lost touch with her family, friends and herself.

Her “repeat song” is Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.”

 Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now”

 

(Check in next week for posts about preparing for conference. The week of July 22 will be “best of” articles while I am away at conference).

 

Filed Under: Fiction, Life, Music Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What I Read: Born to be BAD by Sherrilyn Kenyon

September 16, 2011 by

What I Read/Watched is my Friday series detailing a writing lesson I learned from something I watched or read. It is not my intention to divulge spoilers, but sometimes it might be necessary to explain the lesson.

It should surprise no one that what I’m reading this week is a book by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I only recommend her to everyone who enjoys paranormal fiction.

There’s something about picking up a book by a favorite author. It’s like sitting down with an old friend in front of a roaring campfire for hot chocolate and smores. Cozy. Heartwarming.

Sometimes, when an author writes something in a genre you, the reader, aren’t used to, it can shake up that relationship. I haven’t read too many of Kenyon’s books outside the paranormal real for that reason, but picked this one up off the end cap at the bookstore because I was in need of familiar pleasure  this week.

What I’ve learned from reading this, is that there isn’t anything wrong with “shaking things up.” Talent is talent and it can cross genres and still give you the comfort you seek.

Even when old friends make a change, they’re still a treasure … and wonderful company.

Filed Under: Books, Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Like It or Not, There’s a Demon

September 29, 2010 by

So, I’m still in post-brainstorming mode here (along with getting a new roof mode and company coming mode, but that’s another blog post). As I talked about Monday, when you walk away from a brainstorming session there are some ideas you keep and some you set aside. One I was pretty sure I was going to set aside on Sunday afternoon was adding a demon to the current W-I-P (Actually, it’s a proposal for a sequal to the MS I’m shopping around now.)

…and then I started writing.

Brainstorming for a pantster is hard. You can take in all these offered plot points and try to weave them into your proposed story, but for those with a process similar to mine, you really don’t feel it until the words are flowing.  Even though I was looking forward to exploring this concept, I’d been putting off the writing, mostly because I didn’t feel like I had a good sense of my heroine.

Still don’t.

And even though I scratched a couple hundred words on Sunday, I was still having a hard time figuring out the main conflict that was going to carry my two characters through their journey. Yesterday, I decided to just go with what I did know and start writing. I had a good sense of my hero, and since I knew this was going to be his book anyway, I could just pick it up from his POV.

But one thing for sure — No demon.

That was, until I wrote another 250 words or so.

Through the mind’s eye in which my story appears to me, I saw my hero. I felt the temperature change and the cold dark chill and thought to myself . Oh crap! There really is a demon. I still don’t know exactly what he wants (Though I now have some solid suspicions.) and I’m not sure how my poor heroine fits into all of this, but it is time to dig into the MS.

Maybe I’ll learn something new today.

When your story throws a wrench into your plans do you just go with the flow?

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Characters: Like an Old Friend

August 23, 2010 by

I think the hardest part of letting go of one project and moving on to a new WIP (work in progress) is letting go of the characters.  At least for me, it take about fifty pages of a rough draft before i get a real good grip on a character. What makes them tick and their idiosyncrasies take time to come to the surface. After several months not only building the story, but layering the characters, they are no longer cut–out dolls, but they take shape in my mind and their voices whisper the story in my ear.

By the time I type “The End,” they are like old friends.

And moving on to a new project often means saying goodbye.

Goodbye can be hard, but life is about moving forward, making new friends and spinning new tales.

And how do strangers, virtual and otherwise, become friends? Through a getting to know each other phase, which takes us back to those first fifty pages.

Some other tricks that help paper cut out ‘concepts’ become real characters who grow into dear friends:

Pictures — This is a relatively new step for me, but it’s become a necessity.  For two previous characters (In two previous works) a character that had little depth for me, suddenly became very real when I had an image.  And while writing in that character’s POV, if I get stuck the remedy seems to be pulling the picture up. Suddenly mannerism show themselves and a dialect develops.

Character charts – There’s 1,000 or more of these on the internet and they all look very much the same. While they may seem generic (What can eye and hair color really tell you about a person) Thinking about the characteristics does help you dig deeper. I also find these are an awesome reference to keep computer side for when you forget what you said the hero’s eyes were in chapter 1. (And yes, this has happened to me.)

    How do you develop your characters? Do you have tricks for digging deep before you begin to write?

    Filed Under: Life, Uncategorized, Writing Life Tagged With: , ,

    Breaking Down the Elements: Tension

    April 7, 2010 by

    As promised on Monday, I’d like to do a series on the different elements of crafting a story. This is from my personal experience, what I’ve learned from those kind enough to critique me and some of the better craft books I’ve read. Three vitally important ones, that I recommend every writer read are: Writing The Breakout Novel (By Donald Maass), Save the Cat (Blake Snyder), and  On Writing (Stephen King). If some of my ideas seem very familiar, they probably come from what I’ve learned from these sources.

    One of things those of us who are unpublished most hear is “keep them turning the pages.” The best way to do that is keep the stakes and tension high. As the old adage says noting worth having comes easy and this should be especially true for your hero/heroine. They should have to fight and claw for every step them make toward their goal, make a couple wrong turns and end up in a back alley or two.

    No matter the genre you’re writing, I think it’s best to think about thriller movies when focusing on your tension. Flipping the pages is the equivalent of sitting on the edge of your seat. Two movies immediately jumped to mind I thought about a real roller coaster ride. I’ll talk about the newer one first: Taken

    First take a look at the trailer:

    From the time his daughter is kidnapped, we can imagine the hero’s (played by Liam Neeson) pain, but really the viewer was already on that thrill ride even before that.

    We learned he used to work for a government agency, is very good at security measures and tracking people, and left his career behind to be close to his daughter (Who lives with her mother and step-dad). Mom and Daughter pressure him into allowing the daughter to go overseas for the summer (Though the lie about the circumstance) He reluctantly agrees after employing security measures (like an international phone and a long list of rules) only to find out as the daughter rushes past security at the airport that she isn’t going on the trip he bargained for.

    Tons of tension, before we really get to the inciting incident. The kidnapping that sets the chase in motion.

    The other example of a great movie that kept tension high throughout is Con-Air (1997).

    Another movie full of twists and turns. Nothing comes easy for Nicholas Cage’s character as his desire is to return home to his wife and daughter, but is conflicted by the need to stop the prisoners who have taken over the plane.  Early in his capture he is given an option to leave, but an internal moral compass has him give that up and risk his own life to save that of a fellow diabetic captor.

    It’s not the last time the character is forced to choose what’s best for him and the greater good, which i will probably revisit when I tackle characterization. But it is just as important that there is a balance of push and pull as the jouney wages on.

    For every two steps forward, a step back will help increase the tension.

    Filed Under: Writing Life Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,