Writing and Pulling Teeth

It's personal topic week at the Wicked Writer's blog and it couldn't have come at a better time for me. Boy. Yeah. Okay. So I somehow convinced myself that Book 2 would be easier to write than Book 1. You know, I'm wiser now. Book 1 was hard because I was new to writing novels. I was still learning. But I know exactly what I'm doing now.

So why does writing the dang sequel feel like pulling teeth? And why am I still using cliches like "pulling teeth"?!?!

*Facepalm followed by headdesk*

When you're a writer looking up at all the published authors sitting on their pedestals, all shiny and important, you might think "man, life must be so easy for them, with their fancy royalty checks." Truth is, we're all just writers. We all make peanuts for a living. And when all is said and done, each new manuscript still begins with two words:  Chapter One.

....Followed by a good ripping of the hair, lots of caffeine, and a hefty dose of insanity....

What's a writer to do?

Remember the reasons why you started writing the first place. Yeah, remember those? The good ol' days when it was fun and magical and every word felt like a roller-coaster ride on a gold-tinted rainbow? When you were an artist and every scene came from the heart. You didn't care about grammar or point-of-view or if all your characters' names started with the same letter because to you it was perfect. Every flaw was somehow right. You did that, you made that, and it was awesome.

Remember that feeling. Hold it close. Bathe in it. Eat it for breakfast. Sit down at your computer and say to yourself "Today I am writing for me, and I don't care if no one likes what I write because I love it and that is all that matters!".

J.D. Brown
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Study Your Peers - The Southern Vampire Mysteries

Today I'm taking a critical look into the Southern Vampire Mystery series by Charlaine Harris, aka The Sookie Stackhouse novels, aka the books that started HBO's TV series, True Blood.

Why am I attempting to analysis the work of a highly successful vampire author who's craft is one-hundred times better than my own? Well... that IS why. She writes vampire urban fantasy... I write vampire urban fantasy... She's famous... I'm just getting started. I'm trying to learn something here by studying one of the masters.

What? Surprised I didn't chose The Vampire Lestat for this post? There is no argument from me that Anne Rice is certainly a vampire master, but the industry has come a long way since the days of Interview with a Vampire and Harris' books are bit more current. Plus I am currently obsessed with True Blood, so of course I jumped to talk about it. *wink*

So here we go:

Blurb for DEAD UNTIL DARK - Book 1

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability". She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome - and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of - big surprise - murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next.


What I love most about this series:  Right off the bat in chapter one, Harris makes it known that humans are well aware of the existence of vampires. But they didn't always know. The vampires had recently "come out of the coffin" before book one starts. Unlike hundreds of other vampire books, the focus is not to keep the vampire lover a secret. Instead of focusing on the secret world of vampires, Harris plays on what would happen if we found out vampires were real? How would politics handle it? Would they have the same civil rights as us? Should human-vampire marriages be legalized? How would the church react to this? Do vampires have souls? Etc. Even though this is all going on in the back ground, Harris does such an excellent job of making it real - as real as the battle for gay rights, for example.

Why it works:  Plan and simple - it's different. I can't think of anyone else who's taken this approach before. In fact, it's so different that no one cares about the fact that she uses the stereotypical type of vampires (the exploding in the sun, needing permission to enter your house type).

The Characters:  The characters are always the reason why I love or hate any book. So of course that means I love Harris' characters - vampire and human. She does an excellent job of making each character 100 percent unique and quirky. My favorite character is - without a doubt - Eric Northman, the viking vampire and true alpha male and hero of the series. *Spoiler Alert!* I have to admit I was disappointed when Bill and Sookie broke up. I kept waiting for them to get back together - the flirting with Alcide was okay, but I really didn't care for that bald tiger guy. But Eric and Sookie, on the other hand, Oh - My - God! It's not even the fact that Sookie and Eric are together, it's the way Harris put them together!!! She was extra sneaky about it and it worked.

However, there were a few things that didn't work for me. Harris has a ton of secondary characters that just didn't seem necessary at all. Have you seen the show? Only about a third of the secondary characters from the book made it into the show. I'm glad the books are written in first person without any head-hopping (with the exception of Sookie's mind reading ability) or it would have been worse.

Also, a lot of her characters have some funky names and/or names that are spelled weird. I'm not sure if that's because her characters are from Louisiana or what, but I had a hard time trying to guess the proper pronunciation. This always annoys me to no end. If I can't pronounce a character's name, I'm not going to use it and not going to remember it either.

The Setting:  I've only been to New Orleans once when I was a kid, but you can tell Harris is from the area. I have to assume that's the major reason why she used Louisiana. She writes it well and she writes about Southern values and traditions from Sookie's point of view like she's been doing it herself her whole life - which she has. I always think using a setting you know well gives the author a huge advantage. It's easy to make it real because you've been there. Plus the twist - southern vampire racism - is oh so fun in this story. Does 'till death do you part have any power with a vampire lover?

The Writing:  Ah, here is we run into some issues. Before we all start to judge, I'm just going to say my own personal opinions here. You are all free to disagree. Ever since I became a writer, reading for pleasure as oppose to critiquing has gotten difficult. I have to tell my inner editor to shut up and just enjoy the story - no matter what I'm reading - so it's really nothing personal to the author.

However, I had a hard time with the flow of this series. The beginning of each book is always long and drawn out with little to no action. There are a ton of little passive scenes about Sookie doing her grocery shopping or some other errand that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. It's slow and boring and I sometimes skip over a lot of it. The only slight advantage I can see to this is that there is NO question as to what kind of person Sookie Stackhouse is because we're forced to follower her everywhere. It's a good thing Sookie is the type of heroine I like; strong, stubborn, and witty.

The middle is usually where we get the conflict - and the hot lovin' which is pretty much all I care about. LOL. Now as a new author who had the "rules" drilled into my head time and time again, presenting the conflict in the middle of the story is a huge no-no. It should be in the beginning! Harris likes to break this rule, especially in the later books.

It does lead to a fast and intense conclusion, though. And Harris likes to do the cliff-hanger ending which I both love and loath. Love because I just HAVE to get the next book! Loath because have to WAIT for the next book! :-(

Overall:  Guys, I really have no idea why The Southern Vampire Mysteries are a hit or why HBO decided to make it into a TV series. IMHO, the plot is week. The show is better - plot wise at least. But what it does have going for it is 1) The characters are awesome and dynamic. 2) Sookie is a strong leading lady that doesn't take vampire crap. 3) It's different. There is no other vampire book like it that I know of. And I think that's the most important element. And 4) Eric Northman would eat the Cullens for breakfast and make it look hot.

~ J.D. Brown ~
author of the Dark Heirloom series * March 2011

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Promotion: Laying the Foundation

This week, the Wicked Writers are blogging about self-promotion!

….ugh…

I mean… yay…

Well, I can’t tell you what works to sell books because my debut releases on the 19^th of this month. So, until then, I don’t have any numbers or sales success – or sales failures – to share with you.

But, I do have a pretty good web presence. Google my pen name, Danielle Ravencraft. You’ll see. I’m on Facebook… I’m ALL OVER Facebook… even my blog has a Facebook page…

Which brings us to blogging. I blog. A lot. I used to belong to about four group blogs, a blog hop group, and had two personal blogs. I was able to do it only because I had nothing published and, thus, nothing else to promote at the time. A few of those blogs went under and I converted one of my personal blogs into a group blog. So now I blog for two groups and my personal blog, plus I manage a website that promotes urban fantasy authors. That one is new. And not doing so well because I haven’t had time to promote it as vigorously as the others.

I also have a Twitter account. I love Twitter because it’s simple. Enough said. I’m also a member of BookBlogs.com, Linked In, Writing.com, SavvyAuthors.com, Slefari.com, Good Reads, my publisher’s reading group and author loops, my publisher’s blog… eventually I’ll have an Amazon author page…

Point is my name is out there. People know who I am or have at least heard of me. I have a pretty solid group of author friends from all different genres and levels of writing. I’m slowly – and I mean SLOWLY – building a readership of non-writing people, lovingly called “pen muggles”.

So, when my book releases, I won’t be starting from scratch. I have a solid foundation and that’s the first step. I have ways to go, though. Tons more to do. I think it helps to have a plan or rough outline of how you will market each book. For “Dark Heirloom”, for example, I have a list of eight review sites – all urban fantasy or vampire themed – that I want to submit ARC’s too. I plan to have a virtual book tour for it in April or May, just like theone I’m doing at the end of the month for “A Trace of Love”. Then there are bookmarks, business cards, giveaways, etc.

And of course, there are C.J.’s proven tactics which she has generously shared with me and which you can read HERE. She has also recommended a book to me, “HowI Sold 1 Million eBooks In 5 Months” by John Locke, which I now own and have read. I plan to mimic what both C.J. and John have taught me as best I can with my publisher’s permission.

Well, this has been a ramble post. I apologize. In a few months, I’ll have a book or two out and then I’ll have actual figures to share with all of you. Before I go, I want to mention it’s a good idea to keep a record of how much promotion you do each month, what kind, where, and when, and compare it to your monthly sales. Unless you have a PR team, you can’t be everywhere all the time. You have to make your efforts count in the places that pay off the most. So it’s important to keep a record.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll politely bow out, but please come back tomorrow and see what S.M. Blooding has to add.

J.D. Brown
website ~ blog ~ facebook ~ twitter
Ema Marx wasn't bitten and she's not undead, so how did she become a vampire? 

-"Dark Heirloom" look for it March 2012 from Muse It Up Publishing Inc.

Character Building Solutions

Today we're talking about how to get to know your characters. My characters are my best friends, I know everything about them. I firmly believe the more you know about your character, the easier it is to write from their point of view. That way you can drop your character into any situation and know exactly how they'd react. But the question is, how does one get to that level with their characters? Sure, you can character sketch, but that really only helps you shift through the physical stuff. You want to go deeper than that.

If you're like me, your characters talk to you. If this is the case, you should LISTEN and talk back. Yes, have a conversation with your character. Seriously. Try it. It's great. But sometimes characters don't talk. Maybe they're shy or just stubborn. Whatever the case, there are ways to get into their heads.

Bellow are six lessons/exercises to do with your character. You don't have to use any of this in your actual story, but boy does it help with those stubborn or underdeveloped characters!

(I copied and modified this from a workshop I took on Writing.com which was modified from the book "Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card.)

Lesson 1: Character bio

Character Name:
1) Age:
2) Birthplace:
3) Marital Status:
4) Children and ages:
5) Living arrangements (i.e. lives with wife and three young children, rents a ramshackle apartment alone, has a tent in nomadic tribe with three concubines):
6) Occupation, including name of employer if applicable:
7) Degree of skill at occupation (beginner, really competent, experienced but a bumbler, etc)
8) Characters feeling about his occupation (loves it, hates it, regards it as “just a job”, has mixed feelings, is actively seeking other employment, etc)
9) Family background (whatever you think is important: ethnicity, siblings, parents, social status, clan affiliation, total repugnance toward everybody he knew before the age of twelve, etc)
10) What three or four things does this person value most in life? (i.e. Success, money, family, God, love, integrity, power, peace and quiet)
11) What three things does he fear most?
12) What is this person's basic underlying attitude about life? (i.e. "things will usually turn out all right," or "they're all out for themselves," or "it's best to expect nothing because then you won't be disappointed," etc.)
13) What does she need to know about another person in order to accept that other as "all right" and trustworthy?
14)What would cause this person more pain than anything else possible?
15) What would this person consider the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to him?
16)What three words would she use to describe herself, accurate or not?
17) How accurate is his self-description?
18) What organization most embodies this person's values? (i.e. Mensa, Daughters of the American Revolution her church, Aryan Pride, PTA, etc)
19) Does he belong to this group? Yes / No. If not, why not?

Lesson 2: The “Why”
Go back to questions 10-15 and answer WHY your character feels this way.

Lesson 3: Character Introduction
Pretend your character is introducing himself in front of a large group of strangers. What does he say?

Lesson 4: Stereotypes and assumptions
List 2-3 examples for each of the following:

1. A Character is what he does. You see a guy at the party who spills a drink, talks too loud, and makes rude remarks. You form a judgment. You tell a friend a secret, and in a few hours everyone seems to know it. You’ve learned something about your friend. Show your character stealing, the reader will think “thief”. This is the easiest form of characterization: have you character  DO something that demonstrates his nature.

2. Motive. This is more powerful than action – it trumps it. What if you knew that the drink spilling rude guy was trying to attract attention on purpose, in order to keep people from noticing someone else in the room. You impression of him changes. How about a character who tried to commit murder, but failed? You still think him a murderer even though he never actually succeeded in his task. Knowing why characters do what they do, reveals them to the reader. We will cover this A LOT later on, as well.

3. The Past. Knowing a person’s past, revises our view. You’re sitting at a dinner table, getting to know Pete. What if before hand, someone whispered to you that Pete was a POW for 7 years and escaped through enemy territory? Or that he just caused a corporate merger that resulted in thousand of workers losing their jobs? Does this effect your impression?

4. Reputation. This isn’t just for legends and heroes, this is for everyone. “Don’t bother asking Jeff to contribute, he’s such a tightwad I heard he would not even help buy flowers when Dona’s father died.” Same in fiction: you readers will likewise form opinions about characters they have not “met” yet based on what other characters say about them. Use it to your advantage.

5. Stereotypes. Paint half a picture, and you can count on your reader to fill in the other half. “The old man was wearing a suit that might have been classy ten years ago when it was new, when it was worn by someone with a body large enough to fill it. On this man it hung so long and loose that the pants bagged at the ankle and scuffed along the sidewalk, and the sleeves came down so low that his hands and the neck of his wine bottle were invisible.” Got the picture? This narrative relies on your stereotype to work. As a writer, you can use this one of two ways: either let the stereotype stand – sometimes very useful in creating minor characters who must not upstage the action … or, use it to surprise the reader.

What if the passage above was followed by:
“Hey, old man,” Pete said. “You’ve lost some weight.”
“It wasn’t the cancer, Peter, it was the cure,” he answered. “I’m glad you are here. Come upstairs and help me finish this Chablis.”

6. Network. We act different around our mother than we do around our coworkers than we do around our friends. So should our characters. Take your character out of one setting and put him in another, and see different aspects of their personality rise to the fore.

7. Habits and Patterns. She carries a Mace with her everywhere she goes. He always parks across the divide to take up two parking spaces, so his car does not get dented by the other car doors. Or just general habits, that clue us in to the character’s mind. He always taps his finger when he’s worried. After a while, the finger movement alone will clue us in to his mood.

8. Body. This one is tricky, because it is so easy to overuse it. Your reader will picture your character more through knowing her motives than through her looks (although knowing whether one is generally attractive or grotesque will influence this to a degree). So, does it matter what length fingers, color eyes, or size of breasts your character has? Maybe. It matters if it means something beyond mere fact. For example, in Lord of the Flies, Piggy’s poor eye sight (he wears glasses), his asthma, and his weight play a role in the story. His hair color does not.

Lesson 5: The Way I See It
Find a random image and write a short paragraph describing it as you would in your character’s POV.

Lesson 6: Emotional Stakes

1) Suffering. A character’s pain, whether emotional or physical, increases the reader’s emotional involvement. Note, however, that a character’s grief does not make the reader grieve any more than a character’s cut makes the reader bleed – it is the character’s reaction and feeling about their suffering that engage the reader. Intensity counts. Too little (a paper cut) won’t get you much bang for your buck. Too much (ghastly torture) and it becomes unbearable to the reader, so he distances himself. Frequency is also an issue. The first time a character gets hit on the head, we wince for her. The fourth time, we think of the Three Stooges.

2) Sacrifice. Pain and suffering also increase emotional stakes if the character has a choice in the matter. Nora setting Pete’s broken arm has less impact on the reader than Pete deciding to set it himself, making painful choices will each movement. This also works on the villainous side of things: Pete accidentally hits a child with his car vs. Pete does it on purpose. The reader may hate Pete for the latter, but the reader will care.


3) Jeopardy. This is the anticipation of pain… think of waiting to see the dentist. Put a character in a situation where great pain is upcoming, and you’ve got the reader’s attention.

4) Symbols. You can increase a character’s importance by connecting the character to the world around her, so that what happens to her seems to have a greater reach. As King Lear reaches madness, a storm breaks out. Oedipus’s sins cause a famine, which does not end until he pays the price.


Readers, what types of fictional characters draw you into a book? What's the one thing every hero/heroine needs in your opinion?

Got Publication On Your Mind?

How odd it is to post on a Friday! I’m used to posting on Mondays for all my blogs, not just Wicked Writers. But while barbequing with my family last Sunday, a mysterious insect decided my earlobe might make a tasty treat. I ended up having an allergic reaction. Oh yeah, fun 4^th of July. :) But I’m better now.

Greg kindly filled in and the team allowed me to post on Friday this week. However, my post has changed considerably since then. As a Monday blogger, I like to think it’s my job to set the theme for the rest of the week. I say my piece and leave the topic open for discussion. But after reading everyone’s awesome posts, I now feel like it’s my job to give some closure.

What I take away from the discussion, and what I think all aspiring writers should get, is that there is no such thing as “One-Size-Fits-All” in the writing industry. It’s a rapidly growing, changing market and one of many trying to survive in the digital age and during a recession/depression nonetheless!

Every form of publication has its pros and cons. Do some serious thinking about yourself, your life, and your writing. Where is your life now and where do you want it to be in next ten years? In the next twenty years? Do you know how you’ll get from here to there? Take some time mapping out your career goals. Then, do your homework and choose the road that is right for you, that will take you where you want to go.

The truth is most traditionally published authors will swear that traditional publication is the best method. And many self-published authors will tell you that traditional publishing is the devil and will try to bring you over to their side. So be alert in your quest for knowledge and keep your career goals in mind.

Here are some common pros and cons to get started:

Traditional publishing:

Pro:  Quality – The select few manuscripts that manage to pass the query process are picked by literary agents or editors who’ve worked in the field for quite some time and know a good book when they see one. From there, author and manuscript go through the vigorous process of contract negotiations, content edits, line edits, production, and marketing to make sure the manuscript emerges as a worthwhile, readable book.

Con:  Long Lead Time – The query process alone can take years before you get accepted. The average query response time is three months and most authors accrue many rejections before they see an acceptance. The editing, production, and marketing process can take another 1-2 years as well.

Pro:  Advances – In most cases, trade publishers will pay their authors an advance that is theirs to keep even if their book does not sell well. This advance can be used to take some time off from your day-job to spend on writing.

Con:  Lack of support for new authors  - Traditional publishers expect the manuscript to be as perfect as possible before they get their hands on it. They won’t help you hone your craft or build your career. They’ll only market what’s in your book. They will also pool their money and resources into the “front-list” books that have already proven themselves in number of copies sold. Debut novels that haven’t proven themselves yet often get left behind and are seen as “risks”.

Pro:  Mainstream Exposure – Copies of your book will be widely distributed not just in book stores, but also in Walmart, Target, airports, novelty shops, grocery stores, online, etc.

Small publishers, Print-on-demand, and E-publishers:

Though smaller, these guys are considered traditional publishing but they have a few extra pros and cons, like they DO NOT have a very wide distribution. They focus more on online marketing and often are not able to sell to Walmart, Target, grocery stores, etc. (though usually they will sell to all major book chains like Barns&Nobel, Amazon, and Borders). Most of them DO NOT pay advances so the author must continue to work part-time at least to pay the bills until their books sell. However, these guys tend to be much nicer to their authors, including the newbies. They take un-represented authors as well as new authors and usually treat all books equally. They often DO NOT have a large budget for marketing, but they are usually willing to assist with marketing, give advice, and answer any questions about marketing.  

Self-publishing:

Pro:  Control – The author makes every single decision through-out the publishing and marketing process. They keep all rights to their work, they decided how to divide their time and their budget, and they keep all the profit.

Con:  You’re completely alone – Unless you have some cool author friends to help you out, you’re totally on your own. Every risk, every mistake, every loss comes out of your pocket. Some self-published authors spend years “experimenting” with different marketing techniques before they find any that work.

Pro:  Focus – Self-publishing is a wonderful alternative for books meant for a specific market, such as diabetic cookbooks.  Authors are free to focus on their niche, write, and market exclusively for that area.

Con:  Time and Funding – Again, you are on your own here. You’ll have to cover all cost for cover art, editing, ISBN registration, distribution, etc.

Pro:  Less Production Time – You can self-publish your book in a few weeks (versus a year or two with traditional publishing).

Con:  Prejudice – There is still some prejudice against self-published authors/books. Some people tend to think there must something wrong with a book if it is not backed by a traditional publisher. It was produced by an amateur so it must be terrible and not worth the money. Agents and Traditional publishers tend to hold the most prejudice against self-published authors, so if you were planning to self-publish to test the waters or to build up credence before taking on the professionals – stop! I’ve read an interview with an agent who shall remain names who said self-published authors are viewed the same as authors who have never been published before and that authors with even a single short story published by a small publishing house had more credence than an author with several self-published books. This agent did go on to explain her logic behind this statement, but I think I’ll refrain from repeating it as I predict it will only make some of you more angry.

These are the basics. Every publishing company has its differences, so again, do your homework! Investigate the specific publishing house you might be interested in and read the fine print. And while you’re at it, read up on marketing books. Because no matter which method you choose, you WILL be expected to self-promote on some level. It’s embarrassing when they tell you to join their Yahoo group to keep up with the news and you don’t know how a Yahoo group works (true story *ahem* luckily I’m not completely computer illiterate and learned fast). 

P.S.  I'm under contract with Muse It Up Publishing Inc. and yes, I would recommend them for anyone looking for a large e-publisher or small print-on-demand publisher. I'm willing to answer questions about my experiences with them if you are curious just ask.

When You Fall Off The Horse...

I love horses.

Hello readers,

This week's topic is "Do-Overs"; regrets, wasted time or money, anything we wish we could do over again. We've all wished we could have a "do-over" at some point in our lives, but since we can't I don't dwell on it. I'm one of those people who believes things happen for a reason. We may not know what the reason is. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. A smart person learns their lesson and moves on. Sometimes this means getting back on the horse and doing it right. Sometimes it means finding a new horse. And other times it means accepting the fact that horse-back ridding isn't for you.

Writing has been one huge continuous learning experience for me. Though I've dragged books around with me since I could crawl and grew up in a library and think Barns&Nobel is the coolest store in the mall, I never gave writing a thought until a few years ago.

I don't have any sort of writing degree. My venture started because I was broke and writing was a free activity. I learned the basics on a little site called Writing.com (okay, so it's really a HUGE site). I did everything backwards. Every newbie writing mistake in the book, that was my first MS in a nutshell... But I took workshops and joined crit groups and I learned and I moved on. Eventually I graduated to a site called SavvyAuthors.com where I took even more workshops.

I started my first blog in 2009 I think. That was a feat all in it's own. I had never blogged before. At the time, I was also afraid to look Twitter in the eye, but now we're best buds. Oh, and I write for five blogs now, one of which is a group blog that I am in charge of, and it's now safe to say I've mastered Blogger.

Editing my manuscript was a B#!$@ and I ended up doing it like twenty times over. Of course now I know about outlines and plotting and making notes in the margin and in a notebook and the difference between Content, Line, and Copy Editing and how you shouldn't do them all at once if you want to keep your hair on your head.

Learning to write a query letter took me about a year and made me cry LOL. I still hate them, but they're a necessary evil. The synopsis was shockingly easy. Don't ask me how I pulled that one off! But I wrote my first synopsis in a synopsis workshop and the instructor ... Ahem... Frankie... loved it.

Now, what am I getting at? Oh yes...Do I wish I could do any of that stuff over, knowing what I know now? Heck yes! Would have saved me a year of frustration and some tears. But I can't do it over, so why waste energy wishing that I could? I can only look foreword into the next step - which for me is balancing writing a sequel while mastering the painful art of self-promotion. Mmm, talk about a learning experience. At least my computer skills are improving. I can almost type with my eyes closed, which is good because the screen is taking a toll on my eyesight.

What about you? What do you do when you fall off the horse, get back on? Walk away? Find a Cheetah? Now if this was a blog about men and relationships, this would a completely different post. *Nods*

Have a good week,
J.D.

My Favorite Scene from Dark Heirloom

This week we're posting our favorite scene from our novels, which means today you all get a free peek at Dark Heirloom, which doesn't release until March of 2012. I don't want to sound egotistical here, but it was hard for me to pick just ONE scene. I really love the whole book. My beta readers wanted me to go with a make-out scene, but I didn't think that would be a good choice since the characters will be very new to you guys so the romance won't mean much yet. Instead, I decided to go with a scene that I had a lot of fun writing and that shows a bit of the world my vampires live in as well as what my vampires are like - because they are quite different from the average vampire, as you'll see.

In this scene, Ema (the heroine) and Jesu (the hero) are working together to rule out what kinds of powers Ema has inherited (since they don't know who her sire is, they don't know what kind of vampire she is). Ema's a brand new vampire, still getting used to the new sensations. Here, they are testing her ability to walk up walls... Keep in mind the manuscript has not been edited yet. I hope you enjoy it. :)

~*~*~*~

I gulped and faced the wall. It stood no more than ten feet tall. Not a big deal, except that I wasn’t Spider Man. “But how?”

            Jesu shrugged. “I am not sure. I am not Strigoian.” He stroked his chin. “Just try it. Either you can or you cannot, right?”

            “Yeah, sure, why not.” I stepped closer. The light of day obscured most of the stones’ detail even with the sunglasses on. I found two reachable spots extending out less than an inch. I took a deep breath and grasped the barely protruding stones as best I could. With one foot, I searched around for some place to wedge my toes into so I could push myself up. My nails nearly broke as I tried to dig my fingers into the cement filling. I might have been strong enough to punch a hole in stone, but I wasn’t cut out for rock-climbing.

            Jesu burst into laughter. I let go and rolled back on my left foot, which never left the ground. Crossing my arms over my chest, I faced him and huffed loudly. He was bent over, the tips of his ebony locks grazing the floor as he slapped his thigh and gasped for air.

            “Don’t laugh at me, I’m trying aren’t I?”

            He sucked in air only to bellow out more laughter as he clutched his waist. I rolled my eyes and sat on the bed with my lips pressed into a tight pout.

            “I am sorry.” He grasped the edge of the bed to balance himself while trying to regain his composure.

            “Humph!”

            “Really, my apologies. You just act so human. You should have seen yourself.”

            “Well that’s what I was for the first twenty-three years of my life, thank you!”

            “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

            “But I already tried. I can’t climb sheer surfaces … or rocky surfaces, for that matter.”

            He bit his lip, trying to fight back another chuckle. “You were doing it like a human. You were trying too hard. Do it more like an insect.”

            “Oh, like an insect? Is that the idea? Oh yeah, sure, no problem. Let me just go change into my grasshopper legs.” I rolled my eyes.

            He sighed. “Have you no imagination? Do not try to climb the wall, do not think about it logically. Just go do it.”

            “Uh-huh.”

            “Go.” He pointed. “Get up there.”

            “Ugh.” I stood and faced the wall.

            “Just let the powers come naturally.”

            God, I have no idea what he means. Climb the wall, but don’t try to climb the wall. I grumbled to myself. Frustrated, I slapped both palms flat against the black stone. Something sticky oozed beneath my hands.

            “Ew!” I jumped back. A dozen fine strings of a clear gel-like substance stretched like melted cheese connecting my hands to the wall. Walking backwards, the gel stretched over a foot before the strings finally snapped. “What is this?”

            Jesu examined my hands. “It looks like glue.”

            “Where did it come from?”

            He turned my hands this way and that way. “I think it came from the pours on your palm.”

            “Is this normal?” Who am I kidding, nothing within this castle is normal.

            “I don’t know. Wait.” He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the huge list of vampyre clans onto his lap. His eyes scanned the page for several moments. “Yes, it is normal. It says here the Strigoi secrete a thick clear liquid on the palms of their hands and feet which allows them to scale any vertical surface with ease.”

            “You’ve got be kidding me. You mean you could have warned me about this, but didn’t?” I stood with my arms outstretched, being careful not to get any goop on anything.

            Jesu snickered. “Sorry, I did not read that far ahead.”

            “So this stuff will keep me anchored to any vertical surface, eh?” I kicked off my shoes and then peeled off my socks with my toes. “Here goes nothing.” Holding my breath, I leaped two feet into the air with the palms of my hands and toes facing forward. My body smacked hard against rock, causing little black pebbles to crumble to the floor. Thank goodness I was numb or I might have gone into another coma doing that.

            Panting, I realized my entire body laid flat against the surface of the wall. I wanted to push back a little so I could see, but I was terror stricken and worried I would fall if I moved. The left side of my face smashed up against stone. Jesu was silent somewhere behind me.

            “Am I ‘oing ith?” I tried to ask.

            “Well, you are not climbing, but you are sticking to the wall. At least both your feet are off the floor.”

            I looked up, scraping my cheek. The ceiling loomed three feet above my head. I was determined to spider my way up the damn wall even if it was only an inch or two.

            Grunting, I lifted my right hand. The squishy goop tried to resist. It felt like I had Velcro gloves on and was stuck to a sheet of felt. I pulled my hand above my head and slapped it down, feeling the ooze suction me to the wall as a new layer of glue seeped from my pours and gripped the stones for me. Not having to physically grab anything with my fingers felt odd.

            I repeated the motion with my left foot, lifting it up and feeling the goop squish out a new layer when I replanted my toes. My knee scraped against the wall as I tried to angle my leg to get my whole foot as flat as possible for better traction.

            After a minute of getting used to the odd Velcro sensation, I found a good reach-step-reach-step rhythm. The crown of my head bumped against the ceiling in no time.

            “This is amazing!”

            “I am glad you are enjoying it. Come down so you can try shape-shifting.”

            “Hold on, I just got an idea.” Arching my neck back so I faced the ceiling, I reached my left hand up and over, laying it flat on the ceiling.

            “Ema,” Jesu hesitated. “I do not think you should over do it.”

            “I got to try this,” I whispered while placing my right hand parallel to the left one. My back arched at an uncomfortable angle. I had to think a moment about how to move my legs. If I lifted them too high, my knees hit the ceiling and I got stuck. I resorted to inching my way up little by little.

            A single beads of sweat dripped from my head, but it didn’t roll down. Instead, it rolled sideways and dripped off my ear. I was on my hands and knees, hanging up-side down from the ceiling. And I’ve never been so scared in my life. The goo began to thin and I didn’t know how to make myself secrete more.

            “Jesu?”

            “Yes?”

            “I think I’m freaking out.” My breath rasped as panic bubbled in my stomach. “I don’t know how to get down!”

            “Just crawl backward.”

            “I can’t! The glue is thinning and I’m scared.”

            “Then let go.”

            “What? No way.”

            “I will catch you, do not worry.”

            I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can’t.”

            My instincts kicked in and aggression replaced fear. Stop blubbering, stupid, and pay attention. Back up! There you go. Here comes the wall, one foot and then the other. But gravity decided to give me a reality check and I slid while trying to reach the wall with my right hand.

            I screamed and flailed my arms around like propellers. Unfortunately, that’s not how vampires fly. Jesu caught me in his arms, cradling me so that I was parallel to the floor, my feet still suctioned to the wall by the goop.

            His bright green eyes sparkled as he looked into mine. “See,” his lips stretched into a sideways smile. “I told you I would catch you.”

~*~*~*~

You can also watch the unofficial video trailer below: