Online Review and Giveaway!

http://girl-who-reads.blogspot.com/2011/02/gateway-chronicles-six-by-k.html Click on the link to read a review of The Six by a blogger and to get a chance to win FREE signed copies of both The Six and The Oracle! I was very thankful for the opportunity to send my books to this blogger, who has been very kind to me!

Wish I Was Writing...

I'm having one of those evenings where I really feel the itch to write, and I just can't. It's simply not time to begin writing The White Thread. While I CAN work on notes and outlining and ideas, it is virtually impossible for me to begin the serious work of writing the novel until school is out and my life as a teacher is exchanged for my life as an author. (I guess that I am always a little bit of both, but you get the idea.) I get so many incredulous responses from people when I tell them my writing schedule, but the summer months are the only months during which I can truly devote myself to a writing project. Teaching is so all-consuming that it is a rare night that I even have the energy to write a blog before bed, and while I love my characters and my fantasy world, I love my flesh and blood students too much to abandon their education for my own personal writing "itch."

Perhaps the forced writing hiatus is beneficial, however; it imposes a period of deep reflection on my work before forward progress can be made. In that, each step of my story is carefully thought-through before the proverbial pen is put to paper. And that is always a good thing, is it not?

Pronunciation Guide, Take 1

Most of the feedback that I receive on my books is very positive (phew!), but it is also commonly coupled with questions regarding pronunciations of names and places. I consciously tried to fashion the names in my series in such a manner as to appear pronouncable to most people because few things are more annoying to me than attempting to read names that look like total and complete gibberish! (That also tends to interrupt the flow of the story and add to an inability to suspend disbelief in the case of fantasy). So, most of my names come from other languages, either as exact words or as derivations from real words, because I figured that even if people didn't know exactly how they are "supposed" to be pronounced, at least they will look pronouncable. Despite all my best efforts, however, I think that many of my names are actually very difficult, so I thought that I would take a couple blogs to put together a rudimentary pronunciation guide for some of the names in my books. (Let me also say, however, that I don't really care how my readers choose to pronounce my names, this is just how I pronounce them in my head.)

Alitheia: a-lih-THEE-yah (the first "a" as in "cat" and a soft "th" as in at the end of "math")

Orodreos: o-row-DRAY-yohs (all long "o"s)

Tellius: TEL-lee-yus

Cadmus: KAD-mus ("a" as in "cat")

Torrin: TOHR-rin (long "o")

Yahto Veli: YAH-toh VEH-lee ("veh" as in "vet," not "vay")

Voitto Vesa: voh-EE-toh VAY-sah (hard "v"s [for all my Latin students] and long "o"s)

Tullin: TUH-lin

Tselloch: TSEH-lahk ("ts" as in "lets" and "lahk" as in "Loch Ness")

Tsellochim: tseh-lah-KEEM

Tsellodrin: tseh-luh-DRIHN (singular), tseh-luh-DREEN (plural)

Any questions on this first batch or any that you want to see me write out? These are all from book 1 so far. I'll include some from book 2 next time. Enjoy!

$3.99 Kindle Edition!

I guess I'm using this blog post as more of an advertisement, but that's okay sometimes, isn't it? Anyhow, I wanted to announce a HUGE promotion that I am running! For one month, book 1 of The Gateway Chronicles, The Six, is going to be available on Amazon Kindle for just $3.99! If you have a Kindle or a Kindle reading app and you haven't read the first book of my series yet, this is a great opportunity for you to try it out! Tell your friends with Kindles, too! Enjoy!

Have Your Journal On You at All Times!

I was reminded today of the importance of always having my journal on me at all times (or at least near to me). I was sitting on my bed stealing a few minutes of alone time while my kiddos were in front of the TV, re-reading a favorite book, when inspiration struck me. Nothing major, just a minor epiphany about a clever element that I can add to book 3 (something that I can add in that will make all former 8th grade students of mine happy), but it was one of those things that probably would have flitted right back out of my brain if I hadn't written it down at that exact moment. Lucky for me, I keep several journals stashed around the house (and in my work bag, and in my car, and in my desk at school, etc.), and so I had only to reach down, snatch one up, and write as frantically as I could before the moment left me. (On a side note, the vast number of writing journals that I have does make for a difficult process of consolidating notes before the actual process of writing begins, but it's better than losing those precious moments of inspiration!) As I completed my notes, I chuckled to myself and thought how true it was that any person worth their salt in any trade is never without the tools of their trade. Good thing I'm a writer and not an astrophysicist!

Clearly Defined Characters

I had a kind reader ask me tonight how I clearly define characters, including how I add new characters. Well, having clearly defined characters is like keeping track of any other detailed aspect of a story, but it is also hugely important! (I strongly believe in character-driven stories.) As I have told my creative writing students in the past, you must know your characters better than anyone else. When I was first writing notes for The Gateway Chronicles, of course I had a general outline of a storyline, but where I really started was with my characters. I named all the main characters and began writing mini-bios of each of them, including things such as likes and dislikes, but also mundane details such as birthdays, hometowns, number of siblings, etc... Many of these facts will never be shared with the reader, but the make the characters more real in my mind, and therefore helps them to come across as more real on the paper. Now, that being said, I don't believe in being so thorough that your characters have no chance to evolve with the story. For example, when I first conceived Tellius (crown-prince of Alitheia, for those of you who haven't read my stories yet), I wanted him to be a little impish and silly, and I wanted his dynamic change in the story to be learning how to take life seriously as he got older. Well, I started to write, and I realized that, with the way the story was coming together and with the history that I had written for his family, that personality didn't make any sense for him. So, Tellius came together more as a result of how the story was turning out than anything else. Darcy, on the other hand, is exactly how I conceived her in my notes. Adding characters, whether from the beginning of a story or mid-stream, usually starts with a name though. I think that names are just hugely important, and they should be reflective of a character's personality/identity. (I actually feel the same way about name my children!) In that, most of my character's names have very specific meanings, and a few are word plays (which always makes me feel clever... and a little pretentious too, aparently! lol). Anyhow, I'd be happy to answer any specific questions along these lines from my stories, but I told myself that I would keep this post under essay length, so that's all for now! Good night!

Complexity, Not Ridiculosity

For starters, yes, I do know that "ridiculosity" is not a real word, but it had such a nice ring to it when paired with complexity that I decided to coin it. If Shakespeare could invent words, so can I! (I'm sure there's room for argument there.) :o) Anyhow, to the meat...

I firmly believe that fantasy authors must create stories/series that are sufficiently complex without crossing the line into the realm of being ridiculous. By way of illustration, have you ever read an Amazon book description or a back cover excerpt on a sci/fi/fantasy novel that contained so many twists and turns, funny-sounding names, and detailed plot points (that the author clearly thought would entice you to read) that you snorted in amusement (or disgust) and moved on to the next book? I know I have! Take this fictional excerpt as an example:

Zarnog, the high supreme emperor of the sphere of seven planets, is on a quest to find a bride for his son, the soon-to-be heir to the supreme emperorship. Unbeknownst to Zarnog, however, his son, Phoodoo'zycarnum, is already in love the the unworthy slave girl, Shiibya, who is a Ha'aba spirit entity capably of splitting the life-force of the prince if he refuses to wed her. Meanwhile, the evil empress Ranca of the sixth planet in the confederacy is devising a means of capturing Shiibya and using her Ha'aba spirit powers to control Zarnog and steal the emperorship from his son. Only Zarnog, with his ability to harness the power of the crystal moons, is capable of stopping Ranca, but, distracted by his quest and ignorant of his son's love affair, he may be too late...

Ridiculous, eh? But I've read so many back cover excerpts like this! (Many of them much worse and much longer). Here's the thing, sci/fi and fantasy novels usually ARE complex and they usually do contain a lengthy list of strange-sounding names and details that would sound completely ridiculous if strung all together at once. I think the key to avoiding death by "ridiculosity" is to use moderation when doling out some of the more complex elements of your plot. Give enough details to hook a reader's interest, but not so much that they will drown in them. And this does not merely apply to back cover excerpts or summaries! I've had to keep this in mind when writing books one and two of The Gateway Chronicles because I have a few elements that could be very hokey if presented poorly. My creation of the narks is a good example. I have a lot of notes on them, but I didn't need to tell my readers everything about them in the first book; I think that would have been, well, ridiculous! In the first book the reader learned that narks are elves, they are exceptionally fast and talented, and that one nark body is shared between two nark entities - a night nark, and a day nark. The reader also learned a few random things pertaining to these main elements, but that was it, because that was all that was needed (and I didn't put it all in one chapter). In book two, the reader learns how narks marry and have children, and about a very important ethical boundary between them. In book three, the reader will learn that narks can choose to - oops, almost gave away a secret. ;o) Anyhow, this is getting rather lengthy, and I hope that you get the idea. I'm certainly not trying to pat myself on the back here, in fact, achieving complexity without ridiculosity is something that I certainly struggle with! And really, YOU are the best way for me to know whether or not I have been successfully complex without being ridiculous so far in the first books, so let me know! (And don't hold back the construction criticism where needed.) Even if you haven't read my books, you can follow the links on the right of the screen and read my back cover excerpts on Amazon. Any takers? I'd love to hear what you think...