Tuesday's inspiration #amreading #am writing J L Walters' Thoughts on Limits and Creativity

It's always interesting to find someone who has read some of the same books you have while seeking to learn about the creative process and limitations. Katherine Paterson is such a writere both read Rollo May's Courage To Create. This is what she discovered. "There is no such thing as unlimited creativity. It is within limits, often very narrow limits, that a creative work comes into being."

What are your limits? There are things limiting me. The way I grew up, the life I have today, the kind of memories I have about emotional events and the very emotions, the love I've had and the love I've given. The list could go on. Even my imagination has limitations. There are stories I can never tell, words write. Take horror stories. I can't read them and I can't write them. This isn't to say I can't write very bad people into my stories. Their villany is limited by what I know and have lived.

Part of the trick is in recognizing the limitations you have and using them. Filtering them through your imagination brings a story into being. My life as a child, as a teen, as an adult, the things I feel about what happened to me is filtered through my imagination and usually finds its way onto the paper.

What about you? Have you looked at your own limitations and filtered them through your imagination? Take a moment to think about this.

Meandering on Monday with Janet Lane Walters #amwriting

Another week has pass the past week there were so many meanders impinging on me that I'm not sure where to start. The first is contests. I've been busily reading books and partials for two contests. Next year there will be a third. I did drop out of judging one contest since I found it one that was difficult to handle when the second came into line. So next year there will be three again. Hopefully spaced a bit better.

The second meander was about a talk I'd like to give and that's on World Creating. A sudden inspiration struck. No matter what genre we write, we are creating a world. There will be more on that later. Now to busily sketch that idea out. Do I have a special insight. Who knows.

The third meander was something I kind of disagree with. A fellow writer said the only reason to go with a publisher is for the editing factor. I'm not sure I agree with that, but then I don't like the idea of doing the entire mss myself. Art work, formatting, editing. Not sure I want to hire people to do these chores or learning to do them myself. Part of this has to do with age. Doing these things takes a lot of time and I have a lot of books that still want to be written.

Continuing to type the corrections into Lines of Fire and should be done by the the month or into the beginning of December. Will come close to my target word length. Am re-working what is not The Goddesses of Er and the new twist seems to make the words much faster. Just finished a fight scene and felt as if I'd been the fighter when I finished. Being part of an imaginary scene alwys tells me I'm on the right track.

So enough meandering and it's back to work.

3 blog visit Sunday found by Janet Lane Walters

http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/11/07/amazon-tackles-review-problem-deletes-wrong-reviews/ interesting article

http://bookswelove.net/contest.php contest news

http://heatherthurmeier.com/2012/11/lessons-from-sandy/ Interesting bit about the hurricane and storm that followed

Saturday's Excerpt from Ancient Awakening plus blurb Annie's Heart by Barbara Edwards

Ancient Awakening by Barbara Edwards


Paranormal

In Ancient Awakening, Police Officer ‘Mel’ Petersen investigates a death only she believes is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her.

Her neighbor Stephen Zoriak is a prime suspect. Steve worked for a major pharmaceutical company where he discovered a weapon so dangerous he destroys the research. He is exposed to the dangerous organism. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help her find the truth.

In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find the real killer and a love that defies death.



Excerpt:

Legend gave him many names, but the wide halls of his mountain retreat no longer echoed with countless worshipers. He could have ruled the world had his ambition not died with the passage of time. The endless whispers were from the cold winds and the few praying priests. He didn’t care that he couldn’t remember his real name or birthplace.

For an eon he’d regretted the loss of softer emotions. Love had been the first feeling to die, along with the woman who had insisted he would never harm her. He couldn’t recall her features just the merry tinkle of her laughter and the bright smile she had greeted him with every morning. He licked his lips. She’d tasted sweet.

Fierce need flared in his gut and he sniffed the air. Outside his chamber a single acolyte in long brown robes waited to escort him. His mouth curved with a mirthless smile. The silent servants had ignited the flickering wall torches. Shadows jumped and shivered in the drafty halls like nervous virgins.


Barbara Edwards

The Wild Rose Press: Ancient Awakening, a Black Rose


Annie’s Heart by Barbara Edwards

Historical Romance from WingsEpress

ISBN 978-1-59088-210-5 Ebook

ISBN 978-1-59088-806-5 Pod

316 pages

Available at http://www.wings-press/Bookstore/Annie’s%Heart.html

Read more excerpts at www.barbaraedwards.net

Only two coins and a gold pendant heart separate widowed Annie Moss from disaster. The fields need to be plowed, the barn repaired and food stored for the winter, but she is alone and afraid. Her dream of a home for her children hangs from the promise of a wandering man to keep moving on, a man she has no reason to trust.

Trace Randolph has lost everything except his honor, so when a desperate Annie saves his life he knows he must pay his debt, even if it means marrying her. The only promise he makes is to leave before the winter snows. A promise he finds impossible to keep.

"... Barbara Edwards creates a romance that proves life is about surviving disaster. Growing back stronger, and most of all, the courage to love." **** (four stars), Gerry Benninger, Romantic Times Magazine


Author Web: http://barbaraedwards.net

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Facebook: http://facebook.com/BarbaraEdwards

Ancient Blood http://on.fb.me/naHRY5

Twitter: http://twitter.com/barb_ed

Authors Den: http://authorsden.com/barbaraedwards

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003F6ZK1A



Buy link http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

Friday's How She Does It featuring Barbara Edwards

Welcome guest Barbara Edwards. She's telling us how she approaches a story.
Janet: We all know there are six elements in writing fiction and often fact. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead to the sixth which for me is the plot. What's your take on this?


Barbara: In my opinion, plot is more important. A good plot is the starting point for character building, emotional tension and suspense. The plot is a curve that draws you from the starting point upwards. Building the story with details, you reach the crisis and fall to the conclusion. I regard the plot as weaving all the separate strands of my story into a tight braid.



Janet: How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific process?

Barbara: My initial characters appear in my dreams. Building my characters is like getting to know a new friend. Their first scene is our introduction. I learn about them as I write. Ancient Awakening, my paranormal romance, began with a nightmare about the cemetery next to the house where I grew up.

As to process, unlike many writers, I use a book bible instead of character sheets. I record the details as I go rather than coldly describing each detail ahead of time. I did try that. I found my style doesn’t work that way.



Janet: Do your characters come before the plot? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the characters develop the route to the end?

Barbara: I guess you’re asking if I’m a plotter or a pantster, I’m definitely a pantster. It makes me laugh to remember when I first became serious about writing. I thought all the pundits knew more than me and I should use their methods. Outlining? Character sheets? I tried it all and found it slowed my writing to a crawl.

I need to allow my muse to create as I write. It works for me. When I begin, I know my first scene and I know how the plot will resolve. The rest needs to be filled in.



Janet: Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one?

Barbara: I start a story after a vivid dream about the opening scene. I know at that time how the plot will resolve. It’s not something I could share. It’s the way my mind and imagination work. That knowing has worked for me.



Janet: Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around?

Barbara: My paranormal series is set in New England. I grew up in a small town very similar to my Rhodes End village. I like writing what I find familiar: ghosts, werewolves, vampires and eccentric people.

One of my Historical romances: Annie’s Heart, is set in Kansas and I had to do research to find details about the place. By the way, my belief in reincarnation was reinforced a few years ago when we visited the local at the Fort in Kansas. I had many details right although I never read them anywhere.



Janet: Where do you do your research? On line or from books?

Barbara: Whew! All over. I have a terrific memory for details and can recall facts I learned years ago. I do interview people. I like reading so I do a lot in books from the library. I’m learning to use the internet more although it can be difficult to verify anything I question. Any historian will tell you to have three sources before believing anything.



Janet: Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along and why?

Barbara: I revise as I go. My method is to open where I started the day before and edit those pages. It puts me back into my mindset and I can just continue forward. That doesn’t mean I don’t need final edits because I do.

I’ve tried several different methods and always go back to this since it works for me.



Thank you for having me as your guest, Janet.



Please visit me, friend me, tweet or follow at these places. I love to hear from you.

Author Website: http://barbaraedwards.net

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Ancient Blood http://on.fb.me/naHRY5

Twitter: http://twitter.com/barb_ed

Authors Den: http://authorsden.com/barbaraedwards

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/barbaraedwards

Email: author@barbaraedwards.net

Thursday's Who Janet Lane Walters is reading #am reading

So this week's reading is a bit of a mishmash or an eclectic selection as usual.

Lightning by Taryn Kincaid - short, spice and a great take on a one night stand.. Paranormal element are very inventive. If you like hot, you'll enjoy.

Murder, Mi Amore by Cara Marsi - good romantic suspense. Adventure in Rome and lots of tension both physical and sexual.

The Serpent's Tooth by Kathy Fischer Brown - Historical part of a trilogy, American Revolution. A lot of exciting action and an interesting love story. Rooting for the heroine.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip #mysteries and other fiction

For awhile I'll be looking at things I've found interesting in How To Write Mysteries by Shannon OCork but first a few thoughts. Good writing is good writing and I've found I can learn from reading and analyzing other genres, And of course, I tend to write in several. One of the first things I'd like to look at is all the sub-genres of writing mysteries. Most of the ones I write are cozies and I recall having a fellow writer ask me what I meant by a cozy mystery. I gave my thoughts and other people added their ideas and the lines became sort of blurred. I believe a touch of mystery can be found in other genres of fiction. In fact I've read some great ones in historical, science fiction, fantasy, romance and probably any genre one can imagine.

But back to looking at the variety of mysteries.

The Amateur Detective for this think Sherlock Holmes.  These detectives can run the gamit from hard-boiled to more ordinary characters. They usually do not have to work for a living and can spend their time solving murders or other crimes.

The Cozy mystery. The main character is an amateur but there is a difference here. The voilence is muted and can mostly take place off camera. My own Katherine Miller mysteries fall under this category.

The Puzzle can be a tour de force sort of story. The murder takes place in a locked room. The weapon has disappeared and can't be found. Someone is stealing money, jewelry but there's no way this can be done.

The Private Detective and this is a man or woman who runs a detective agency and takes on cases. Can be hard-boiled or sophisticated and anywhere in between. There are many takes on the private detective.

Police Procedurals professionals take on crime and the stories follow the actual procedures.

Romantic Suspense brings the mystery to romance with a hero and heroine who are involved and often in great danger.

The Thriller often involve spies and bounce from country to country. I've been reading James Rollins' Sigma series again and the mystery and the action advent stirred in equal parts.

Tuesday's Inspiration - J L Walters' thoughts on a quote from Colette

When I found this quote I remember thinking That's how I feel. "It's terrible to think, as I do every time I start a book, that I no longer have -- that I never had -- any talent ..."

I know the feelingand experience it with each new beginning. Starting a new story is exciting and scary at the same, at least for me. I have an idea of where I want to go. I have a slight acquaintance with the characters who will people the book. Then there is the blank page and for so long it remains blank. Finally I decide on a title after choosing a half dozen. Then I go back and decide don't like the characters' names. I spend a lot of time looking up names. Then I stare at the blank page more times. There's a clenching of my stomach and I think I can't do this. Sometimes I doodle on the blank paper. Finally words begin to arrive and I write them down.

Those first words writtin are sometimes, no most of the time tossed in the basket. I find myself in the Colette syndrome until I tell myself it doesn't matter if I have talent or not, there are people in my head who want their story to be told and the rough draft is born, the draft only an author could love. So what I'm saying here is I suffer from a form of stage fright but one must continue to follow the story to the end. Talent is only a small part of the writing game. Persistence and production are also part of the road to the end.

Meandering on Monday with Janet Lane Walters

They say it's all in a name. For me it's all in a title. I was totally stumped with my current WIP because I did't like the title. The title was appropriate forty years ago when I began the book and sent it out again and again. The final straw was when a publisher of the type of book it was decided to stop publishing fiction. Then I was searching through my old files sort of clearing things out and found the mss on carbon paper. The title had nothing to do with where my head is not in writing but the elements of a good story were there. As I pondered what to do, I saw elements I had missed and knew what I wanted to do. Thus were born the Goddesses of Er, Sola, Luna and Erda. I've used the concept of goddesses before. Once the goddesses took root in my thoughts and the new title was in place, I was able to see what stayed and what had to go. Some to the to go things were archiac stules of writing and back story in the first 25 pages. In fact a lot of those things took up pages and pages. Leaving enough backftory to set up the world was interesting. Setting a world when it's one of fantasy or paranormal is difficult. The reader had to believe in the world you're created but not be so bogged down in a history lesson that they forget what they're doing. So now I can continue to fashion this story.

A real problem I'm having these days is with my reading habits. I've spent nearly all my gift cards and so must choose what I want to read on my Kindle carefully. Can't wait for Christmas. On one of my loops we've been talking about pricing ebooks. The conference I went to and a speaker I listened to said some interesting things about pricing. He felt 2.99 was too low and books should be above 4 dollars and yet not above eight. I seldom even buy one that's above that price. There are books I would buy since they belong to favorite authors but I'm not about to pay 9.99 or more for them. I'll wait. If they don't come down I'll have missed a book and they will have missed a sale. I'm sure they don't care.

So enough wandering for today and I'll get back to work plugging in corrections and working on the new story.

3 Blog Visit Sunday discoveries by Janet Lane Walters

http://annherrick.blogspot.com/2012/11/reviewing-reviewers.html reviews

http://star-crossedromance.blogspot.com/2012/11/guest-toni-v-sweeney.html  world creation

http://ffnp.blogspot.com/2012/11/social-media-and-author-by-lynda-k-scott.html  great post on social media