While Chrys is here, I'm being interviewed over at Horroraddicts.net. So after you're done reading here, please drop by and say hi to me!
Since this has been such a fantastic month, I'm going to post words of encouragement instead of fears. My big takeaway lately has been to write what you love, and to not let other people discourage you. If you like writing novels, write them. If you like writing short stories, write them. If you like horror, run with it. If you prefer romance, romance our socks off. Just pay attention to what you love, what you want to create, and enjoy the hell out of the writing of it. Remind yourself why you do what you do.
My submissions numbers will be at the end of this post.
I'm delighted to welcome Chrys Fey today, to talk about Seismic Crimes, the second book in her Disaster Crimes series. Check out her book, then visit her blog, where she writes informative posts about writing and publishing. Take it away, Chrys!
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I'm going to make my IWSG post short today. But it IS time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by the inimitable Alex J. Cavanaugh!
Don't forget to stop by and thank the awesome IWSG co-hosts this month: Stephen Tremp, Fundy Blue, MJ Fifield, Loni Townsend, Bish Denham, Susan Gourley, and Stephanie Faris!
Since this has been such a fantastic month, I'm going to post words of encouragement instead of fears. My big takeaway lately has been to write what you love, and to not let other people discourage you. If you like writing novels, write them. If you like writing short stories, write them. If you like horror, run with it. If you prefer romance, romance our socks off. Just pay attention to what you love, what you want to create, and enjoy the hell out of the writing of it. Remind yourself why you do what you do.
My submissions numbers will be at the end of this post.
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I'm delighted to welcome Chrys Fey today, to talk about Seismic Crimes, the second book in her Disaster Crimes series. Check out her book, then visit her blog, where she writes informative posts about writing and publishing. Take it away, Chrys!
Two POVs are Better than One!
I wrote Hurricane Crimes solely in Beth Kennedy’s
perspective because she was the character I felt could tell the story as I
wanted it to be told. Donovan was my mysterious (and passionate) character: Is
he a killer or isn’t he?
For Seismic Crimes, though, I knew I’d have to divide the
story between Beth and Donovan. I wanted to share both of their thoughts and
senses for every romantic, suspenseful and disastrous moment. It was fun starting an exciting
event in one POV and ending it in another. Certain scenes also seemed to fit
better with Donovan or vice versa, and it was fun exploring how each of them
would survive on their own.
Beth’s
POV:
Donovan was an amazing man; there was no doubt about that.
And she couldn’t ignore her feelings either. When she realized she would do anything
for him, even kill to protect him, she knew she was in love. Yes, in love with
a man she barely knew, but in love nonetheless.
The clock hanging on the wall was wrong but the minute hand
continued to move. Each tick frayed Beth’s nerves. Donovan had been in the
interrogation room for thirty minutes. What is happening? What are they putting
him through?
Her hair hung in damp ropes to her shoulders and her
clothes were wet, offering a bit of coolness to her heated skin. She stretched
out on the chairs, letting exhaustion take over her body, and drifted off to
sleep.
Donovan’s
POV:
Donovan sat with his back straight against the metal chair,
his cuffed hands clasped on top of the table. An officer sat in front of him.
The other two flanked his chair.
“Just watch the footage,” he told them, aggravation growing
inside him like acid reflux. “You’ll see I didn’t kill my brother.”
“Well, that’s something we’re all curious about,” the
officer sitting at the table said. “How did your brother’s murder just happen
to be recorded?”
“It didn’t just happen to be recorded,” Donovan seethed.
“My brother was a cop. He was in the Internal Affairs unit.” He spoke slowly as
if he were drilling the words into the officers’ heads. “He had a security system
to protect his home. It wasn’t a piece of shit system, but an elaborate one. He
had two separate systems of hidden cameras outside and inside his house.”
Title: Seismic Crimes
Author: Chrys Fey
Series: Disaster Crimes Series (Book Two)
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Format: Digital and Print
Page Count: 282
DIGITAL LINKS:
PRINT LINKS:
BLURB:
An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his
brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his
innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a
deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion
consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his
darkest moments.
Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she
can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do
whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a
criminal’s crosshairs.
When a tip reveals the killer's location, they travel to
California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them.
As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous
conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they
reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?
HURRICANE CRIMES 99¢ SALE!
DIGITAL LINKS:
Thanks for coming by, Chrys, and good luck with the rest of your tour! I hope you'll all visit Chrys at her blog, and come say hi to me at horroraddicts.net!
I usually do a monthly wrap up of my publication/submission numbers for the previous month with my IWSG post, so here they are:
In April:
I submitted 3 stories.
I received 3 rejections.
I received 0 acceptances.
I had 2 stories published (see THIS POST for more information on those.)
Just a few links this week since this post is pretty full up already. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing any of these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.
Accepting Submissions:
Alliteration Ink has put out a call for stories for Steampunk Universe. The focus will be on character who do not identify as abled or neurotypical. Pays $.06/word. 5000 words or less. Deadline June 1.
Helen is seeking short works that are literary or genre. Pays between $2 and $10. 500 to 4000 words. Deadline June 1.
Contrary is open for submissions for their summer issue. Pays $20 per author per issue. Fiction, poetry, commentary. Deadline June 1.
Contests:
The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation is holding a playwriting competition. No entry fee. Prizes run from $500 to $3000. Entry must involve someone who is LGBTQ+, and be based on someone from history. Deadline May 31.
Have you written multiple POVs before? Was there a reason, or is that just what spoke to you? Did you read Hurricane Crimes? What are your writing insecurities? Have you allowed yourself to be discouraged by anyone lately? How did you come back from it? Any publication news? Are you submitting?
May you find your Muse.
58 comments:
Excellent reminder about writing what you love and enjoying it. I think a lot of us forget the "enjoying" part sometimes. I know I do. Sigh.
Congratulations, Chrys! I like writing from two points of views, although it was interesting doing it from only one in my last book.
Romance your socks off - sounds like something my wife would say to me.
Congrats to Chrys! On my TBR list, I promise. I read Hurricane Crimes, so I have to catch up with these characters in Seismic Crimes.
Congrats to you, Shannon, two published stories this month. Awesome!
I love your advice and I'm taking it this month. While on break I'll get back to what I really love, writing my stories!
Have another great month!
A handful of well-meaning people have been pushing me to write something that will "sell well." I say these people are well-meaning, and I'm not being sarcastic. I know they mean well. But I also know that if I don't love what I'm writing, no one will love reading it, and if that's the case, it won't sell.
Great words of advice! We need to write what we want, what we are passionate about, and not let anyone else sway us or push us down.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog for this busy day, Shannon! I actually forgot my post was going to be part of your IWSG post or I would've made it short. Thanks again!
Thanks, Alex! Writing from two points of views is fun. :)
Thank you, Yolanda! I knew you'll get to it when you can. :D
I always get a kick out of reading your blog on IWSG Day. Thank you for the interview, Chrys Fey. I enjoyed reading it. I also loved the tips you give about what going in the market. I am still submitting. Haven't got any acceptances so far but I know they are coming.
Shalom,
Patricia @ http://www.patgarciaandeverythingmustchange.com/2016/05/the-second-milestone-iwsg-article-may-4.html
Hi, Shannon! I'm visiting as an IWSG co-host today! Your post is packed with interesting information. I certainly enjoyed hearing about Chrys Fey's new book! You are very brave putting that monthly accountability out there! I allow myself to be discouraged by myself too much. I often feel inadequate, but then I get on top of it. thanks for your encouraging and inspiring words!
Writing what you love to write is the only way to create something of value, so you're good to remind us of that! Loved one of Chry's book, so I'm cheering her on with this one.
Congratulations on your published stories! Two in one month is awesome. Yay!
And congrats to Chrys on what I'm sure is another great read.
Nope, I've been fortunate enough to have not experienced one of those.
Thank you, C Lee! :)
That's good. I hope you never do. Thanks for commenting, Heather!
I sure hope it is. ;) Thanks, Julie!
I completely agree with you about writing what you love. And I agree with Chrys about writing in multiple viewpoints. I like to read that way too.
Susan Says
Congrats to Chrys. I love the cover and it sounds amazing!!!
Good words of wisdom, Shannon!!!
Wise words! Writing what you love is the only way to go. Chrys' books sound awesome!!
The Discovery of Dragons and Parallels
If we don't write what we love, it will show to our readers. Congrats on the release!
Hey Chrys
Intriguing story. As you know, I used multiple POV'S too. Good luck.
Nancy
Best wishes to Susan and her latest and greatest! I need to do a few Tweets for her.
May 2016 IWSG Co-Host
May the 4th Be With You
Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blogs
If you don't write what you love or what you'd want to read, then what's the point! Congratulations Chrys and Susan!
Words of encouragement - great thought.
Sorry about the rejections.
Tweeted.
Congrats Chrys!
I completely agree we must write what we love! My writing life's been easier once I stopped worrying about making my projects "commercial." Thanks for all the info on Chrys's books. I'm going to plug her giveaway and link to this page on Fri, May 6, so people can come to your blog and read all about the books & giveaway!
Shannon, thank you for the reminder.
I love writing short pieces, but always feel that they are the "step children" of the literary family. *sigh* I know it's silly to think like this. I'm working on it.
Writer In Transit
Waving to Chrys. Several years ago, a tornado passed overhead. I could feel the air pressure change. We were all hiding in a basement at work. Scared. Discovered later that it touched down a mile away. We were lucky.
Shannon, you are so right. Write what you love! Can't say that enough. Don't try to follow trends. By the time you learn about them, they are on their way out. When you write what you love, your readers will know. Best wishes.
I love two POVs in a story. And it's even more fun when multiple characters see the same scene. There is a repeated scene in the first three books of my series and I had to look at it with fresh eyes for each character.
Shannon, I agree with every word of your post. I definitely write what I like and I intend to continue doing so
Chrys, your novel sounds fascinating. The story fits the two-POV mode. Even from your short excerpts, it feels that it would've been less rich with only one. I have written stories in one or two POVs, and it is definitely up to the story. Some are better in single POV. Others, particularly romantic stories, demand two. But the more POVs in the story, the less time you spend with each one, the less developed the characters are. Some writers introduce too many POVs in their stories, and that dilutes characterization, especially in the shorter stories. Two seems like the best balance for most novels.
I definitely write what I want, but unfortunately, no time for that at all this year :-( Love your blog!!
Thank you for the encouragement!
I've definitely felt discouraged in the recent past, but I've been plowing through my writing and submitting stuff anyway.
Congrats to Chrys!!! I'm a fan of writing multiple viewpoint, but I have a story that I'm trying to write in 1st POV, just one character right now. It's tough - I can't get away from my MC.
Way to go with your submissions, your publications, and even those rejection letter rebounds.
Grats Chrys! I write in multiple POVs all the time in my big books. :)
That's great that you got two publications, Shannon! I hope the new month finds you more acceptances. :)
With all the related business, it's easy to lose the enjoyment sometimes.
I've done both. It's definitely fun to look at the same story from two POVs.
Yay, enjoy your writing time!
I completely agree with you. If I wanted to write something that would sell well, it certainly wouldn't be horror!
It was great having you here, Chrys!
They are definitely coming! Keep submitting. I like to keep track of the rejections, because it means I'm working toward my goal.
I can't imagine any of us don't feel inadequate. It's the writer's bane!
I like how you put that: creating something of value.
I can't see how it wouldn't be. And thank you!
I'm happy either way, unless one is badly done. Sometimes it's monotonous to hear the same voice. Sometimes two voices are too similar, so there's not enough difference.
Thanks!
It would be dreary if we didn't write what we loved, wouldn't it?
I agree. They'll be able to see.
Thanks for stopping by, Nancy!
I'm sure she'd appreciate it!
Thank you for tweeting!
Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for that, Lexa! And yes, there's less pressure in a way when you're enjoying what you write.
They do tend to be the step children. I was surprised how little respect they had from some folks until I realized it was merely a reflection of their own issues.
Definitely on the trends! Whatever monster or trope is in now, will not be out by the time a person finishes and is submitting.
It's amazing how you can feel a tornado. The pressure changes. I felt it while in the basement my very first time. Went out the back door and discovered it forming above our house. Luckily, it never touched down. But it was crazy that some part of me knew exactly what it was before I confirmed it visually.
It seems like it would be a great way to stretch your writer's mind, to look at something with fresh eyes and write from that angle.
Wonderful! I agree that it depends upon the story. Too many POVs are hard to follow and to get into. We have to be able to get into the minds of the characters to be fully immersed.
I hope you get some time soon! Even if it's just a tad here or there.
Fun, but scary, to be changing direction with your genre! I've been pushing myself to experiment in different genres. It's a real pleasure, but can be hard to do.
Thank you! It's hard not to be discouraged. All we can do is write through it.
Thanks, Loni!
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