More Publishing News (And a Market for You!)

North Carolina must be bringing me good luck because I write to you again this week with more publishing news!

My short story The Eastern Route is being published in the August 1st issue of Vitality magazine.

You can pre-order now on www.readvitality.com for the issue coming out this Saturday, and if that's not exciting enough, my story was used as the Sneak Peek on their homepage.

If you haven't heard of Vitality magazine know that they are entirely online, so your issue will be sent directly to your email if you pre-order or subscribe. Vitality is unique in the fact that they publish stories, poetry, and artwork with casually integrated LGBTQ+ protagonists. This means they publish pieces that are fun and "escape" fiction rather than pieces that deal with the stresses of transition, bullying, homophobia, rape, or the martyrdom or death of LGBTQ peoples.

In their About section on their website, they describe themselves. "[Vitality is] a safe place full of wonder and awesome where the reader can see characters like themselves doing things like battling dragons, solving crimes, acting in a circus, or traveling the world. All genres and styles can be found in Vitality. The only limit is your imagination."     from: http://www.readvitality.com/about-vitality/


This is an extremely exciting proposition for writers because you can literally write close to anything. Have a fantastic space opera idea? Send it to Vitality! Want to write about sailors and sirens? Do it! Feel the need to dive into the realm of pixies or ghosts or time-hopping two-headed warriors? Now you can with the knowledge that a market exists. Just like they say, your imagination is the limit.

For me, this meant that I was able to write in one of my favorite genres: Steampunk. I'm really excited to present my transgender airship pilot and his love interest at the start of next month.

I hope you take a look at The Eastern Route if you get a chance, and please research Vitality. Not only is a great market with endless possibilities for creativity, but it also promotes diversity in fiction. What could possibly be better than that?


PS> check out that gorgeous artwork Rebecca Schauer did to bring my story to life! Can't wait to see the whole image!

The Power of Negotiation in Dialogue (Late Post)

Two years ago, I started a job at a medical facility in appointing. I'd lived my entire professional career in customer service, so I figured it'd be nothing new. However, I was now not only dealing with ornery doctors and overworked nursing staff, but angry, upset, and sick patients. I knew to expect that people would be short-tempered (we all are when we feel crappy, am I right?) but I didn't know just how volatile people could get. If I didn't diffuse their anger at having to wait 45 minutes to get through to me on the phone, or their frustration that they didn't get a refill of pain pills, or their downright pessimism onto how likely it would be for them to get to a doctor's appointment prior to two in the afternoon, then I was often called terrible names or even found myself dodging pens and other throwable objects.

I joked with my coworkers then that I needed a course in hostage negotiation to get through my day.

It seems that when it comes to writing, the same course would be very beneficial.

And I'm not just writing this post to those who write thrillers or detective novels. I'm talking to all you picture book authors, sci-fi scribes, and inspirational writers, too.

All of us need to better hone our negotiation skills to write one of the most important aspects of a story or novel: Dialogue.

Think about why dialogue exists in fiction. Yes, it's to spice it up so we're not only reading narration. Yes, it exists so readers better understand your protagonist's (and antagonist's) voice and inner thoughts. But what is common in the most effective dialogue? Answer: it allows characters to negotiate.

A child will talk to their mother in order to obtain the cookie they so desperately want.

A terrorist will talk to his victim in order to explain his side of the story.

A new love interest will talk to the shy girl in class in order to better understand her.

And why do the other characters respond?

The mother will want the child to do a chore to help her workload before the cookie is eaten.

The victim will try to talk the terrorist out of killing him so he can go home and see his family.

The shy girl will talk because she likes the attention she's getting from another human being and doesn't want it to end.

All of these stories, and all of these characters produce dialogue so that they can negotiate something. Characters want the outcome they've been hoping for. They want to convince everyone else that their way of viewing the world is the way that makes the most sense. It's the same motivation behind why we talk to our family members or roommates.

I remind my roommate before she leaves to get the cruelty-free dish detergent because it is the one that I want. She tells me to get it myself because she doesn't want to go out of her way just for that item. I offer in a free home-cooked meal in return. She reluctantly accepts.

It's negotiation through and through.

And it never fails. We communicate to negotiate our way. Your characters should be doing the same.

Homework: Go through your work-in-progress and reread your dialogue. Ask yourself what is being negotiated in each scene. Cut any dialogue that doesn't further each side's case towards that end negotiation.

Poem Publication News

Hey, y'all.

I feel like I can (or should/have to?) say that now that I'm a southerner. The move went as smoothly as you can hope it to. Dem Bunnies and I are doing well in the air conditioning because it is HOT-T-T here.

And for my first week back in the blogging seat post-move, I have exciting news to share with you:

My poem, The Fortune Cookie Writer, is being published in Volume 4 Issue 1 of Parody magazine.

I've known about this publication for awhile, but they've just posted the cover image and table of contents on their website, so I feel like it's officially official now. You should be able to read the issue and/or buy the printed copy soon.

Until then, I'm basking in the good vibes of seeing my name as a poet.

I'm taking this as a good omen for my life in a new region. I hope the luck transfers onto you, my faithful blog readers, and that you see success in your own writing endeavors.

Check out Parody Magazine here. 

Document and Forget

****Important Blog Info****

Next Tuesday is the closing date for my Wisconsin house. The closing is in the morning and then we start the long drive with four people, three vehicles, two trailers, two rabbits, one dog, a dozen house plants, and our essential belongings through most of the Eastern US until we reach North Carolina. 

This means that it will literally be impossible for me to blog next week on Tuesday. 

Sorry in advance, guys. Thanks for understanding. 

#                    #                    #

With that established, let's get down to business today. 

A few weeks ago my cell phone contract came up for renewal. I went to the cell phone store, waited almost three hours, paid out an entire pay check worth of funds, and finally left with a new phone. This upgrade was a massive switch for me. I was going from an Android Razar to the iPhone 5S. 

It took me awhile to get used to the new graphics, the new home screen, and, of course, Safari. Heck, let's face it, I'm still not very comfortable with where everything is located, but I'm getting better at using it on a daily basis. 

The other day, I turned on my old Droid to sort through the thousands of Notes I stored on it. Because switching my old pictures onto my iPhone was easy, but Notes was a whole 'nother story. I started at the top, wading through vegan smoothie recipes concocted during three a.m. moments of clarity, ideas for new paintings, cool character names I read or heard, hundreds of notes on novels and stories in progress. full poems written during lunch breaks, pointless rants I wrote when I needed to vent about that rude customer or this horrible boss, and lists of old grocery needs. However, the most important notes I found were titled simply "STORY IDEA". There were three. I expected to type them into a Word Document on my laptop and file them away for a later time when I needed a break from a novel revision or couldn't get a new story idea brainstormed. The first two I transferred over with no problem. One was an interesting exchange of dialogue I overheard while making someone's pizza that had blossomed into a possible literary story. The other was a link to a scientific study on genes and a possible sci-fi story idea. 

But the third made me stop. It was a mere five word sentence - probably a news story I had heard while walking past a newscast on TV. It was so short, that, had I written it out on a piece of paper, I probably would have thrown it away thinking it was nothing. 

What the note contained was so inspirational, I abandoned my Droid transfer and started writing a story around that idea. 

The moral of this anecdote is that I had completely forgotten about the original event that sparked the STORY IDEA note. I had completely forgotten that a story idea like that had ever crossed my mind. If it weren't for that five word sentence, I would never have written the story I'm currently working on. 

So, while I'm moving cross-country, I want you to start a Notes file on your own cell phone (or, if you're more old school, feel free to keep a pad of paper and pen in your bag) - just make sure you have something with you so that, when you walk past the TODAY show story in the hospital lobby and hear a weird tidbit about a remote county in Ohio, or your overhear a strange conversation between two women also waiting for their lattes, you can write it down. You don't have to have a story idea right at that moment. Just write down anything that makes you really listen or take notice. Document and forget. 

Then, when you come back to it weeks, months, or years later, it will effect you. Because it will be the right time for your note to spark an idea. It will be the push you need to start something new or to take up your old writing hobby.

Notice everything.

Write it down. 

Keep it safe. 

Character Blueprints: Building Your Best Person (AKA the super-late post of June)

So here I thought I was right on track. Logged in early to get my blog post done.........and then I noticed that I completely missed posting last week.

WHOOPS!

Sorry gang. It seems that an entire week has passed without me even realizing. Where did that time go? How is it I'm moving in less than a month? Why is nothing feeling complete yet?

Anyway, I'm filing this post under the super-late category. But I don't want your patience and dedication to my blog to go unrewarded. That's why, this week, I want to talk about character blueprints.

You've probably heard of them before. Most writers and coaches call them "character sketches", but as an artist, I consider a "character sketch" to be a pen and paper drawing of a physical character. So, I call them "character blueprints".

I believe "blueprint" to be a better term because it is through your blueprint that you're truly realizing who and what your character is. For example, when you look at a blueprint of a house, you get to see the dimensions of the rooms, the layout, and the overall feel. It is by looking at the blueprint that you can begin planning which bedroom you'll sleep in, determining if your dining room table will fit, considering which walls to knock down, and figuring out just where in the dickens those bunny cages will go. The blueprint is where you start from. The blueprint causes you to plan out your entire home life from square foot number one.

Why is this important for your protagonist? Because it is only through the blueprint (whether you actually write it down or simply have it memorized in your head) that you categorize what your protagonist looks like, what their flaws and strengths are, what their innermost desire is, and the disconnect between who they think they are and who they truly live to be.

Since you've had to be extra patient with this post, I'm going to sweeten the deal. Not only will I tell you what a character blueprint is and convince you why it's important, I'll also offer a WORKSHEET so you can keep this blueprint at your side for any story you write, and I'll do a REAL-TIME blueprint with you for the story I'm working on currently.

Exciting, right?!?!?!? I'm excited!

Let's get down to business-



I wrote a sci-fi/fantasy short story a little over a year ago when the premise for the world popped into my head. The first draft flew onto the page, but I never touched it after that. I recently found it in my laptop's documents folder and remembered just how much I loved the world and the protagonist. But, upon reading through it, I knew it needed a major overhaul.

This is daunting to me, especially since the first draft didn't possess an outline, character blueprint, or even any real direction. I knew that one aspect of the story was going to turn out a certain way, but I didn't know how it'd get there. And it was apparent in my draft that I was writing this thing from the seat of my pants. Realizations come too quickly, the dialogue is wooden, no one is properly described. To be short - it's a mess.

Trying to revise it from it's current state with only the current information would be like trying to order furniture for a home by only seeing the realtor pictures online.

Impossible.

So, I've decided to write a character blueprint right here and now, on this blog, to help me navigate my short story.


CHARACTER BLUEPRINT

Name: Malena Cyder

Age: 31

Race/Ethnicity/Species: Human, Mixed-race

Location: Chicago, USA, Earth

Year: 4104

Physical Characteristics: Medium brown skin tone, dark eyes, straight hair, normal weight range, Scars (faded with laser surgery, but most prominent around the left eye) on left half of face.

Occupation: Co-Founder of [tech company], Advocate for inter-species peace

Family: Mother - alive, but left Earth for the Moon Colony when Malena was fourteen, sending her to boarding school, where she met other co-founders of [tech company]

Childhood: Malena was burned in a planetary invasion by unfriendly aliens when she was a preschooler, which thrust her onto a negative public service announcement towards aliens


Mental Image: Malena believes herself to be cordial to the alien species inhabiting Earth, though she doesn't particularly like or associate with any of them.

Greatest Fear: Becoming someone who runs from her problems/fears like her mother. [Note: On a nightmare level, being harmed by the invading aliens of her youth.]

True Mental State: Though Malena is an advocate for inter-species peace, her true motivation isn't fueled by the hope that all species can coexist, but by the fear that if they don't, she could be harmed again by another unfriendly species.

Innermost Desire: To live a life where she isn't constantly afraid she'll be recognized as the little girl from the announcement, and where she no longer fears the aliens living around her. AKA, no longer a prisoner to her past - free to move forward.



So that's it! Malena Cyder in a blueprint image. Notice that not all the information has to be known right at the time you fill out the blueprint. Can't think of a proper last name? Don't know the name of the company your protagonist works for? Not a problem. Simply place the info in brackets like I did above with [tech company].

Notice that the character blueprint doesn't reveal everything about the story world or the conflict of the story itself. It is meant only to describe and maintain consistency within your character. So, we know Malena's physical attributes like age, race, and uniquely identifying marks. We know where she lives and in what time period. We know about influential family members/connections in her life and about her childhood. We also know Malena's inner blueprint: how she views herself, what is truly going on in her mind, her greatest fear, and her innermost desire.

All the major conflict in the story world will now flow from this information.


Ready to try it for yourself? I'll post a blank worksheet at the end of this post for you to copy-and-paste and work on for your own story. Feel free to doctor some of the categories, especially is you're not writing sci-fi/fantasy and don't need to specify what species your protagonist is.

After you finish the blueprint for your protagonist, consider also filling one out for your main antagonist and any influential people in your protagonist's or antagonist's life (like, for me, Malena's mother).

Utilize your blueprint as often as you can, and remember to always keep it close. You can't possibly know where to install those bunny cages if you don't know where the walls are.


(Worksheet)
CHARACTER BLUEPRINT:

Name:

Age:

Race/Ethnicity/Species:

Location:

Year:

Physical Characteristics:

Occupation:

Family:

Childhood:


Mental Image:

Greatest Fear:

True Mental State:

Innermost Desire:

Moving House and Home

Sorry about the late post, and about the brevity this week. I do have good news to share, though...............my house is under contract and I will be moving!

This is exciting, frightening, and exhilarating. It is also throwing my writing routine for a serious loop. So I must ask that you bare with me through the next month or two as I pack up, move, and then resettle. I will post as much as I can and be as helpful as possible through this time.

In related writing news: I'm currently revising. Revising what you ask? Oh, it feels like everything. Poems, my YA novel, every short story I have, some work for children - the list goes on. In many ways, it feels as if those little contained worlds are reworking their homes as well. Some of them are simply remodeling or repainting and others are moving cross-country just like me.

I've revised some pieces so many times, the paper is thin and translucent from where I've erased and erased over new and better ideas.

Who knows, maybe I need to take my own advice and let it all sit in a cardboard box as I move. Then, when I unpack, not only will I be in a new creative space, I'll be in a new state of mind.

And then all the right diction and plot points will fall right into place.

In the meantime, write as often as you can, as unbridled as you can, and with as much love and joy as possible. Write because you can't stop. Write because it's who you are.

Make Sure Your Characters Are Wrong

That sounds a little oxymoronic, doesn't it? All the time we talk about how important proper characterization and detail is when it comes to believable characters. So why would I intentionally write my characters wrong?

Because it's the most believable thing in the world.

Let's face it, how many times per day are we wrong? You think the barista who has screwed up your order ten times before will screw it up again, until she presents you with a perfect coffee. You think for sure you'll be late to work because you left ten minutes late, but then you catch every green light. You think that amazing dish you had at the restaurant the other night will be just as good so you order it again, only to find that it tastes terrible the second time around.

As humans, we're wrong all the time.

So why, then, are all our characters hunches and thoughts absolutely on point? Isn't it more realistic for them to be flawed? They should have those ideas that something is going one way, only to have it be the opposite.

One major case-in-point: Harry Potter and Severus Snape. (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Harry thinks Snape is the one trying to steal the Socerer's Stone. Wrong.

Harry thinks Snape kills Dumbledore because Snape's a deatheater. Wrong.

Harry thinks Snape hates him and his family. Wrong.

It creates more tension when your characters pursue one avenue, only to find out that they've been sniffing down the wrong path the entire time. Also, it makes them flawed, believable people.

So, next time your protagonist has a theory, make them think they're right, only to show that they've been wrong the whole time.

Because the only time something is supposed to work out for them is right at the very very end, when the whole story is being wrapped up.