From the Backlist: "Writing the Story -- Just a Trip on the Open Road" by Pamela Palmer

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"Plotter or pantser" is one of the vital decisions all writers must make --- and also a question our Supernatural Underground authors get asked a lot. 

Here's Pamela Palmer's take in terms of her own writing. Enjoy!

Writing the Story -- Just a Trip on the Open Road

by Pamela Palmer

I used to think I was a plotter. Or maybe I just wanted to be a plotter since it appealed to my control freak side. The idea of sitting down to write with a thoroughly plotted outline at my fingertips enthralled me. I imagined that marvelous document, each chapter broken down into detailed scene-by-scene action, emotion, and descriptions, with character goals and conflicts spelled out in perfect clarity. Writing would be a snap, I thought. 

Then I tried it. And failed. Miserably.

I spent months creating that brilliant outline for one of my early books (a Scottish historical that will never see the light of day). But at the first critical turning point in the story, all that meticulous planning fell apart. The hero, who had come roaring to life in the first few chapters, simply refused to react to that pivotal moment the way I (and my beautiful outline) required him to. I could have forced him, of course. And he and anyone who read the book would have hated me for it. So I didn't. I let him react the way he needed to, which sent the story spinning in a direction I'd never foreseen. And all the meticulous planning I'd done from that point forward had to be scrapped.

So, I tried again, carefully plotting the rest of the story from that point on, convinced it would work now that I understood the hero better. Wrong. Within a few chapters, he was glaring at me, arms crossed, a mulish set to his chiseled jaw. No way in hell was he doing what I'd intended. Again.

I'd love to say that after two failures I'd learned my lesson. Nope. To paraphrase one of my favorite fictional characters (Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum), I try never to make the same mistake more than two or three times. Eventually, I figured it out. For me, traveling through a story is a lot like traveling by car along roads I've never visited before. Yes, I can grab a map and plan the route ahead of time, in detail, but all I'm doing is guessing the best way to go. We've all done it--chosen a route that appears to be quick, or short, or interesting, only to find the reality anything but. That 'straight shot' through the city has us caught in traffic so thick we haven't moved for an hour or that 'short cut' between two highways turns out to be little more than a track through the mountains where we can hardly tell the roads from the driveways.

Planning the trip ahead of time is all well and fine, but it's not until I get into the middle of it that I'm able to see where I really want to go.

I still plot, because my stories are too complicated to simply dive into without any plan. But my plotting these days looks more like a trip itinerary that reads: Atlanta to Cincinnati to Denver to Albuquerque. The highlights only. I refuse to plan the details of how I'll get from Cincinnati to Denver until I reach Cincinnati. At that point, I'll look at the situation (how much time I have, how much money, what the weather looks like, and how the traffic reports are stacking up), and make my decisions based on up-to-the-minute data. And even then, I'm okay with things changing. If a road looks good, I'll take it. If not, I won't. No commitments. No meticulous pre-planning. And if it starts to make more sense to switch Albuquerque with Denver, that's okay, too.

...

To read the full post, click here

Pamela's website is here

A time for everything and every thing in its time

I was working at a coffee shop recently with a fellow writer. A young man, who was trying to flirt with my fellow writer, asked what we were working on that morning and the conversation lead to us being romance writers. And he said something, between the overt attempts to get my friend to pay attention to him, like wouldn’t it be nice if romances happen like that in the real world. And I, being the curious one, asked why can't they? What is stopping us from making the grand gesture that we love to read about in books? 

He, of course, looked at me like I was crazy and hid back behind his laptop. This guy wasn’t ready to make the gesture and didn’t ask my fellow writer for her number.

But why not? Because he was scared of rejection? Because he was way too busy listening to his Pandora rock mix? Nope. He probably just wasn’t ready to be a hero yet.

Last month in her blog post, Pamela Palmer got me thinking about heroes when she said that “the true mark of character is revealed in how a person lives their life every single day.” She also pointed out that every-day people are presented a choice, and its that choice that creates a hero. In a romance novel, our heroes and heroines usually have to overcome some internal or external fear in order to be even considered heroic when they make their choice. Doing something (making that choice) in the face of fear is courage and courage makes a hero.

But there is also a notion of timing. I like the cookie dough theory from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. People are ready to make the big choices when they are ready, not a moment before and not a moment after. Think: Would Mr. Darcy have been able to brood his way into Elizabeth Bennett’s heart if he was still in university? Nope. (Bet he was still pretty cute though)

So to be a hero, you need to be the right person to make the right choice at the right time. 

I like to think the young man in the coffee shop was still a little cookie dough and not quite ready to take on the mantle of hero. I believe romantic heroes are out there in the real world just waiting for their moment to ask the right girl in the right coffee shop for her number at the right time.

My New Year's Resolution: Be more Heroic. Get over my fears and make the choices, the ones that really matter, to me and to other people. If nothing else, I need to set an example for the new Little Bean in my life. 

________________________________________________

Amanda Arista

Author of Diaries of an Urban Panther

www.amandaarista.com

Dancing with My Muse

It took me a few years to figure this out, but my muse loves music. Loves it. I've always known that certain music can stir my emotions and sometimes even spark scene ideas. But I had no idea it could actually help me write. I used to think music would distract me from my work. Turns out, it was just the opposite because my mind is a chatterbox, constantly talking to me, one stream-of-consciousness riff after another. Unless there's music playing. My internal chatterbox is enchanted by music and quiets at the sound of it, allowing my muse unfettered access to my brain. Plus, the right music delights and excites my muse.

I've experimented with a number of different types of music, all instrumentals. I've written to movie soundtracks (Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Last Samurai) and any number of other artists' collections. But I've discovered that my ear and my muse prefer the new age jazz of Keiko Matsui. My friend Lynne turned me on to her when she brought a Matsui CD to exercise class to listen to during cool-down. I loved it and borrowed it, but when I began to listen to it as I wrote, I had to ask our instructor (a good friend) to cool us down to something else. Once it became my writing music, I couldn't listen to it at any other time for fear it would completely foul me up.

When I sit down to write, now, I always turn on Keiko Matsui. If I stop writing for any reason--to check my email, to grab the phone, to refill my glass--I pause the track. If the music is on, I'm writing. Period. And having done this for a number of years, now, my muse is well-trained. The moment the music comes on, I'm back in the zone, my fingers flying over the keyboard. I still experiment with new music from time to time, but my muse is completely in love with Keiko Matsui. So far, I've had no success tempting her with something new. After eighteen books, I can't argue that it's working for us!

It's all in the Name

The menu is not the meal. - Alan Wilson Watts

Back in the 16th Century, early critics cautioned against reading too much into a title, saying,

The title is usually received with mocking laughter and jokes. But it's wrong to be so superficial when you're weighing men's (and presumably, now days, women's) work in the balance. Good advice, but don't titles sell books these days? I think it pays to consider them carefully.

The purpose of the title is to attract, intrigue and compel. It’s the headline, the very first sentence and it must hook the reader. It wants to sound good, to roll of the tongue, but not be overly predictable or clichéd. 

A good title can have double meanings, though it’s best to be careful there. For example, Mouse Work’s 1995 title, Cooking with Pooh is questionable, though funny.

Catchy titles can work, like Big Boom’s If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs but that’s not quite the style fantasy and paranormal romance readers are after. Maybe.

There are other considerations. Titles have to fit on the book cover. I’m not sure how Crown got ‘Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam’ squeezed together with the author's name, Pope Brock, and a billy goat (I’m serious) but they did. 

Short titles can be preferable. George Orwell first called his masterpiece The Last Man in Europe until changing it to 1984.

I did a search and found there are rules to follow for selecting titles. Some writers ignore them, to their great success. For example:

Rule #1 – Don't use noun-adjectives, like Pamela Palmer's Desire Untamed (NY Times Bestseller)

Rule #2 - Don’t use proper names in the title, like JK Rowling's Harry Potter . . . right.

Rule #3 - Don’t use words like Lord, Magic, Moon, Sea, Wizard, as in bestselling JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guin's The Wizard of Earthsea, or Patricia Briggs' Moon Called.

Rule #4 - Don’t use adjective-noun titles like Jeaniene Frost's bestselling Once Burned, Twice Tempted Or Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games.

Rule #4 - Don’t use needless complexity, like Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Rule #5 – Don't be ironic, like Kerrelyn Sparks' bestselling Eat, Prey, Love, or Charlain Harris's Dead and gone.

Rules aside, there is a website where you can put your title to the test. This program generates the odds a title has of becoming a bestseller. If it’s accurate, my next book is going to sell a zillion copies! However the Dead Until Dark, Charlain Harris's book that spawned True Blood shows only 10.6% chance of succeeding, so maybe take it with a grain of salt.

My first two books were named organically, like pets. Book #1 in the Quantum Enchantment Series, The Spell of Rosette was just ‘Rosette’ for years. She got ‘The Spell’ as the story matured. 

Book #2, Arrows of Time was named for the narrative structure. It’s based on the theoretical notion that time is fully symmetrical - arrows going both ways and around in circles. I named Strange Attractors before I wrote a word of it. The idea of ‘strange attractors’- a pattern that appeared chaotic until seen from the right perspective - intrigued me.  

My most recent release, the novella Blood and Water in Vampires Gone Wild, was originally the idea of a series of books in this genre (paranormal vampiric romance) called Of Blood and Water. Those who have had a look know why!

Has anyone a favourite ‘title story’ to tell? Is there one that particularly compels or repulses? I’d love to hear about it. Comments welcome!

* * * 

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels. She also co-directs Good Vibe Astrology, an astrology and law of attraction school.

You can find out more about Kim at kimfalconer.com or on the 11th House Blog. She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month. Her latest release is Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild. 

Blood and Water - Vampires Gone Wild

Hi Everyone! To celebrate the upcoming release of Supernatural Underground - Vampires Gone Wild, I'm introducing you to my contribution, Blood and Water, set in San Francisco 1906, days before the great earthquake . . . Read reviews of all four novellas at Unwrapping Romance.

Winners are
Chelsea B, Mary Kirkland, Bonnie and Barbara E. Copies will be sent to you February 12. Thanks everyone for jumping in!  

 Bonnie, I can't find your email to send you VGW. Email me please :)

We're giving away four copies (on the release date, February 12, 2013) so pop a note in the comments to be in the draw. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt to get you started. Enjoy!

Blood and Water

6:12 p.m. Sunday, April 15, 1906

Stellan shot toward the ferry, his naked body gliding through the water just under the waves. He swam over sharks and knobble-backed sturgeons, while above, the setting sun turned everything to gold. Brilliant clouds were mirrored on the glassy surface. Beautiful … but worrisome. There would be dozens of passengers on the observation deck tonight. Dozens of deaths.

The more the merrier, Salila said, her voice rippling through his mind. She wasn’t too far behind him.
He swam harder. The ferry was heading southwest and coming up on Goat Island, a rock in the middle of the bay. 

Listen to me, Salila. You don’t have to do this!
 

Oh, but I do!

The paddle wheel cut through the swell. It rose over the hum of the steam engine and the distant siren sounds of whales traveling slowly up the coast. Stellan was tempted to break the surface when he reached the Bay City ferry, but the sun, and better judgment, kept him beneath the waves. He dove, skimmed the hull, and came up on the port side, sticking to the shadows. In a leap, Stellan grabbed the lifesaver netting and climbed until he could see the main deck.

People were chatting in small groups, gazing at the horizon, taking in the last rays of the sun. Stellan counted them, sweeping his eye across the deck, up to the wheelhouse, and down the other side before stopping short. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

A woman walked toward the starboard railing, her breathtaking figure radiant in the light. The wind danced in her floor-length skirt, revealing the outline of long, slender legs. Fine lace pulled tight across her lower back, accentuating the curve from hips to breasts. Stellan felt a pounding in his chest. Impossible, he thought. Everything else was falling away, his vision a vignette with only the center, only her, in bright clarity. She was like living fire, or was that the sunset? Magnificent! What are you playing with, my lady? She seemed inordinately preoccupied with a small wooden box mounted on stilts. He watched, fascinated. Ah, a camera …

Isn’t she lovely? Salila cut into his mind.

He growled deep and twisted around, his dark hair trailing over his shoulders and down his broad back as he tried to spot the Mar woman in the water. This has to stop!

That’s not what Teern says. She surfaced and disappeared again. Taunting.

Stellan’s eyes went back to the deck. The object of his attention was sliding a glass plate into the camera. Quickly, she ducked under a black hood, and the whole thing flashed like a shooting star. A photographer! The thought would have made him smile if he weren’t so busy working out how to save her life.

The sun dropped into the sea, and the belated fog began to rise. A Mar fog. It was Salila’s shroud against detection. Stellan tore his eyes away from the woman long enough to dive back in and swim to the prow. The ferry chugged on, but the sound of the whales vanished. They tended toward silence when the Mar were hunting. The waves beat against his back as he clung directly underneath the main deck. He couldn’t see her anymore, but he could hear.

“There’s enough light for one more shot.”

She’s optimistic.

“Put your cape on and come inside, Miss Ralston! It’s gone quite cold and will be pitch-dark before we dock. You’ll catch your death …”

He hoped she would heed the warning. It would be the death of all those left chatting under the stars if Salila and the others had their way.

“Angelina Ralston!” The well-dressed matron beside her continued. “You’re not listening.”

Angelina … Stellan licked salt water off his lips. An angel … Her hair was auburn red and reminded him of autumn trees along the Atlantic Coast. Her eyes were dark like Egyptian onyx, and her lips full, inviting. She wore a long-sleeved ivory dress with pearl buttons that ran from her slender waist, between her round breasts to her high, lace collar. On her head was a matching hat, cocked up on one side. Stellan’s throat went completely dry when she spoke.

“Mrs. Blackwell, I am comforted by your concern.” She donned a forest green cape that hung to her black leather boots. “I assure you, though, I’m not the slightest bit cold.” She lowered her sweet voice. “The sea is mesmerizing, and the vista like warm embers. Look how the pale evening light dances across the rising mist. It’s so beautiful. If only I had a camera that could make sense of these subtleties … this other world.”

“Very poetic, I’m sure …” Mrs. Blackwell huffed.

“Ah, but light is poetry,” Angelina said to herself. Then louder, over the chatter of the other passengers, “There’s too much to experience on deck, Mrs. Blackwell. I can’t bear to walk away from the sensations.”

“Miss Ralston! Now I must insist you retreat to the safety of the cabin. Your father wouldn’t have you lingering in ‘sensations’ of any kind, I am sure.”

“Fortunately, Father is not here,” Angelina whispered . . .

 * * * 
More about Vampires Gone Wild: Kerrelyn Sparks's demure Pamela and sexy vampire sidekick battle the Malcontents in "V is for Vampwoman." Kim Falconer's aqueous San Francisco vampires in "Blood and Water" want nothing from "landers" -- unless it's dinner, but that's until Stellan meets Angelina. Pamela Palmer carries readers to Vamp City in "A Forever Love" where trapped Lukas pines for his lost love. When she appears, Lukas will fight to keep her alive. It's been a hundred years since Valiance has dated; all is great until they're attacked, but quiet Esme will shock Valiance in Amanda Arista's "First Dates Are from Hell."

Watch this blog for highlight from all the Vamps Gone Wild authors!

Kerrelyn Sparks  - V is for Vampwoman - reviewed in Unwrapping Romance

Pamela Palmer - A Forever Love
Amanda Arista - First Date 
Kim Falconer - Blood and Water

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at kimfalconer.com or on The 11th House Blog. She posts here at the SuperntrlUnderg on the 16th of every month. Watch for her next release, out February 12, 2013. Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.

The Next Big Thing - Vampires Gone Wild

Supernatural Underground author,  Helen Lowe, tagged me in the "Next Big Thing" and I'm blogging about it here, tagging other Sup authors too. It's a blast finding out whats coming up and today I'm thrilled to be talking about my newest story. Thank you Helen!  


1) What is the working title of your next book?

 Blood and Water, appearing the The Supernatural Underground anthology, Vampires Gone Wild, out February 12, 2013.

The book also features stories from:
Kerrelyn Sparks
Pamela Palmer
Amanda Arista.
  
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I have been developing the notion of an underwater, vampiric race over the last two years. I've written an alternate world epic fantasy around them, but this anthology called for paranormal romance and somehow the turn of the century San Francisco caught my eye. The fog, the ferry boats the steampunk feel. . . Blood and Water came from a deep, dark, unconscious corner of my mind. The Muse of this world was confronting in  many ways, but utterly worth it in the end. 


3) What genre does your book fall under?

 It's an Avon Impulse story, so 'paranormal romance.'   

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

  Ian Somerhalder playing Stellan Fletcher.

And, Deborah Ann Woll as Angelina.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  

San Francisco 1906, three days before the great earthquake, Stellan rises from his watery tomb, wanting nothing from "landers" -- unless it's dinner, but that's before he meets Angelina . . .  

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

This is an Avon Impulse book, published by HarperCollins USA. My agent is Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency in NY. She's the best!  

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

 Blood and Water is a 16k word novella and it took me 10 days to write the first draft. But, I'm a ten draft author, at a minimum. I don't write polished prose the first go round, or the second or third. I develop organically, and it can be time consuming. I spent another two months on the story, before and after it was read by three beta readers (one who's my former HC Aus publisher), and my agent, all with comments and insights that shaped the telling of this tale. Much of the time was also spend in research. The story is set in SF, 1906, before and during the major quake, prior to the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. There was so much to immerse in, the Model A cars, horse carriages, 'wheels' (bicycles) the fashion, mannerisms, photography, the Bay ferryboats, women's suffrage. Emancipation, Queen Anne homes, China Town . . . There are elements of steampunk as well. It was amazing to write this other world. Like traveling back in time.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Other vampiric, historical works of the paranormal romantic hue. I am thinking Souless meets True Blood meets The Vampire Diaries (1864 flashbacks).  

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It began with a  John Watherhouse painting called The Siren.

I was fascinated by the idea of an underwater race, beautiful and god-like, but needing human blood to walk on land.  This notion of the Mar has been brewing in me for years now. I have a lot of passion for it (I'm writing two separate Mar series, one paranormal romance, the other fantasy). You could say, I'm obsessed!

Blood and Water is the first glimpse of this world, this race. You can see the mood board I made for it  on Pinterest.  

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Sensual, spell binding, sexy and cinematic, Blood and Water will stay with you long after you finish the last page . . .

 Thank you Helen Lowe for tagging me! In turn I am inviting all the Supernatural Authors who would like to talk about their Next Big Thing.  In particular, I want to hear more about the other stories in Vampires Gone Wild! Officially, I'm tagging:

Kerrelyn Sparks
Pamela Palmer
Amanda Arista
Jamie Rush

How about you, readers? What next big thing are you up to? We'd love to hear! Comments welcome.

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at kimfalconer.com or on The 11th House Blog. She posts here at the SuperntrlUnderg on the 16th of every month. Watch for her next release, out February 12, 2013. Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.