Because I'm Running Out of Ways to Gush over My CPs...

I'll just let Ryan do it for me.

Isn't it amazing when you spend the whole weekend critiquing, and you don't even procrastinate at all (not that you would ever procrastinate while drafting or revising. Never. ) because the stuff you're reading is JUST SO GOOD that you don't want to stop working?

And then when it comes time to write a blog post Monday morning, you realize that all your creative/intelligent thought and energy is sapped?

Yeah. That.

So I wanted to gush over my CPs again, but that's getting old, I think. So I'll just let Ryan do it for me.


(Reference: LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE by Gina Ciocca)


(Reference: ALEXITHYMIA by Francesca Zappia)


(Reference: THE ELITE by Maggie E. Hall)


(Reference: TIME BOUND by Jamie Grey)



(Reference: THE ALTERED by Jenny Kaczorowski)


(Reference: LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE by Gina Ciocca)


(Reference: THE NOCTURNIAN trilogy by Francesca Zappia)






Have a great week everyone!

Make Them Obsessed and Tear Their Hearts Out

So, I got to read the sequel to THE NOCTURNIAN, the YA Sci-Fi novel Francesca's querying right now, over the past couple of weeks. 

(I know. You're seething with jealousy. And you should be. Here's why:)

I finished the book and I felt like I needed a moment to be alone, just so I could deal with it being over.

Chessie's asked me what I thought about it, and I feel bad that I can't really put it into words any better than that. But it's true. There was a sense of completion, victory and hope, underlaid with a very acute feeling of loss. Something irreparable. Something life-changing.  It felt like there was sort of an emptiness, where the book had taken a little piece of my heart that I couldn't really ever get back.

What I could say about the book was this: The last book  that made me feel that way at the end was POSSESSION by Elana Johnson. The one before that? CATCHING FIRE, the second book in THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy.

Yeah.

Now, there have been plenty of books I've really really enjoyed that did NOT make me feel like that. Those books fall into the (much more easily definable) category of "Obsessed." That means, to me, that even when I'm not reading, I'm thinking about the story. Songs  I hear on the radio make me think of that-one-chapter-when. I see someone at a coffee shop, and think, "Oh! That looks just like Alexis." I can't hear something about Paris on the news without thinking of the fictional hi jinx that occurred there in that one book I loved so much.

So all my CPs' books fall into that category, (duh)  right along with HARRY POTTER and TWILIGHT.

All these books are ones I am passionate about, for one of two reasons:

1. I'm obsessed with the world and/or the characters and/OR
2. I feel like my heart got torn out and trampled on by the end.

Of course, I want to write a story that others are passionate about. After all, a book's not going to sell too well if people pick it up, read some pages, say, "eh," and put it down again.

This is only my second project, and so I'm still not quite sure how to go about inspiring obsession.  But I think I have some idea of how to tear hearts out.

This brings me to a post my CP and writing-life coach Jean made recently about war in fiction. In the blog, she discusses her WiP,  and how even though it's about kid assassins (I know! Awesome, right?) it's really about war.

Then I commented that  reading about war is so gut-wrenching, because at the end, no one wins. And that's the worst part of the whole thing.

And then I thought, well, that's really how real life is, isn't it? There are no one hundred percent happy endings. For stories to feel real, and identifiable, and to tear the readers' hearts out and put them back in again not-quite-whole...there has to be a sense that no one really won here. Even if there was a literal win, like of a battle (oh hey HARRY POTTER) there's still going to be a lot lost.

The same sense we feel in our own lives.
The same things that build us up and tear us down.
The same things we know to be true.
The same things that make us human will make our characters and our stories human too.

Quite frankly, this is something I think is a little flawed about my first project. Sure, there's a bit of loss, and it's something that punches me in the gut every time. But I'm not sure it's something every reader would care about. In writing ONE, it was one of my hopes that, in achieving some of her goals, my MC also had to sacrifice a great deal. I think I'm getting a lot better at that with this second project.

So, what makes you crazy-in-love with a book? And what are you doing to make that happen in your own writing?

Friday Obsessions: New Coldplay, Outstanding CPs, and Tater Tots

Everything I was obsessed with this week. 
Because I know you want to know.

1. Oh, heavens to Betsy. It's NEW COLDPLAY.
Close the door, crank up your speakers, sit back, and bliss out. Simply incredible.
(It might be good for your writing too. If you listen to this song your book will be a bestseller. Promise.)



2. My CPs. You guys, I have the best CPs on the planet (I'm looking at you too, Heidi.)

 I'll just come right out and say it - I've been reading the mushy-gushy scenes from Gina's first novel when I feel, well, like I want to read something mushy gushy. And then last night, she sent me three chapters from a new one and *sigh* - incredible.

 I'm obsessed with Chessie's book, not only because I'm in the middle of critiquing it.  I became uber obsessed when she sent me a mushy-gushy-yet-super-intense scene of her own, which I somehow forced myself to stop reading after only two five twelve times.

I have favorite books just like anyone else. It says a ton that these are two of my go-tos, even over a bunch of  published, bestselling ones. So I'm pretty sure these ladies will be published and bestselling too.

3. Tater Tots
Tater tots are one of the most perfect foods in existence.  There's nothing like those tiny cubed potatoes, compounded into nuggets and encased in a crunchy, golden, greasy shell. You don't even have to chew them if you don't want to - those little pre-masticated bits are just as easily broken out of their tasty casings between tongue and roof of mouth. Best of all, they taste like they came out of the fast food fryer, but  - and this is important - you don't have to actually go to the fast food place to get them.

Oh, and since I know you're wondering - with barbecue sauce. Is there any other way?


4. Alllllrighty. I hestiated this week to share some of ONE, mostly because we are in a fight. I worked on this sucker at NaNo speed throughout August, only to hit the worst of blocks once September rolled in. In the last two weeks? I've written 4500 words. Compared to August's FIFTY THOUSAND.

Yes, I am now working at 1/5 the speed I was just a few weeks ago. So needless to say I'm not feeling so warm and fuzzy toward the ol' WiP. But I figure maybe your cheerleading will break the block. *fingers crossed*

Meet Leni (short for Helen.) She's been buds with Elias forever, and all her friends are bitchy, dieting cheerleaders. Here's a scene where Merrin (MC) sits down to have lunch with them.

“Is she crushing on Elias?” another brunette girl asks while unpacking her lowfat yogurt and carrot sticks. I have to keep from rolling my eyes, though I know that now I’m definitely not pulling out that candy bar I was going to call lunch.
“Save your energy, honey. Elias VanDyne has only dated one girl at this school, and that was back when we were little freshmen.”

I raise my eybrows at her, silently questioning - I can’t help it - and then she suppresses as grin and points at, her index finger making a circle in the air.

“Yep. Helen and Elias, sittin’ in a tree…”

Leni rolls her eyes, pushes the girl lightly on the shoulder, and says, “Quit it. You know I was too good for him.” She laughs, and all the other girls eye each other.

Oh. So Leni’s the ringleader of this group. That could be really good or really, really bad. Depending on how much she feels like sticking up for me.

“Yeah. Too good for all the boys at this school, apparently.”

“You know it.” Leni smiles, but it’s the same face I’ve seen on her once before, and on Elias. Faking it.

The Obsession Factor: Supporting Characters

There's only so much writing, waiting, and nail-biting those of us in the querying trenches can do to sustain our passion for the craft. Eventually, one has to turn to daydreaming.

Sometimes I like to daydream about When I've Arrived. What does that look like in my flighty head? For some people, it would be signing a book deal with a Big Six publishing house. Maybe it means having all five-star reviews on Amazon (miraculously.) Maybe hitting the NYT bestseller list.

Know how I'll know When I've Arrived? Fanfiction.

I mean, seriously. All those other factors mean that people want to buy your book. Hopefully the read the whole thing, and you pray they like it. But you really don't know those things, do you? No. Not unless some obsessed fan is writing fanfiction about your story and characters.

It all comes down to the Obsession Factor. Do people close your book and wish there was more? Do they wonder what your main character wore on his first day of school? Do they imagine themselves living in the world you've created?

 And, the sub-factor I want to talk about today - are your supporting characters so awesome and fascinating that your readers can't stop thinking about their stories?

Raise your hand if you loved TWILIGHT. Go ahead, this is a blog, no one can see you. Okay. Now put your hand down if you didn't give two figs about Alice and Jasper or Carlisle and Esme. That's what I thought. You're arm's starting to ache, isn't it?

How about Ron and Hermione? Don't tell me you've never thought about how Ron would propose to her. Or what about Ginny? Did she really go for that last year at Hogwarts? Neville and Luna? They totally got together, right?

I'll tell you, my phenom-of-a-CP Chessie does an awesome job with this. I mean, her main characters are great, blah blah, great story, etc., but know who I really love? Two of the supporting characters. I wish they were in the book more, which says a lot. The boy is so cute and the girl is so kickass and they are so sweetly in love that I just squee every time they show up on the page. (My other CP, Gina, does a bang-up job too.  Mmmm....Jeremy....)

When Chessie drew this picture of them DANCING! Geez. I almost wrote some fanfiction. (But I didn't. I swear.)


Maybe that's because I'm lucky. If I beg Chessie for scenes from future books enough, she gives them to me.  If only that worked for every other story that grabs us with the supporting characters just as much as the main ones (or sometimes more?)

Your turn! What is your favorite book that has the Supporting Characters Obsession Factor?