The Lonely Whelk: Editing Has Begun

Everyone has a slightly different editing process when they go through their rough drafts. I know people who write everything out by hand and then type it as a way of processing; others might read it out loud to themselves. I do what I like to call "putting my editor hat on;" in other words, I am doing for myself what I would do for any friend or writer's group member: track changes! I thought I would share a few of the comments I have begun to leave for myself, just in case you want to try to guess what my next book is about. :)

• This is too obvious. You’re clearly trying too hard. Perhaps you should cut this paragraph out, and use the story at the end when [spoiler].
• Run away; play along in case she’s insane - rock
• Rewrite this section. Hazel would have a less… suspicious response. This is probably something she’s thought about a lot before. She should be better prepared.
• Rewrite through here at least.
• How will I get home?
• Men tend to be less afraid of strange women than women are of strange men.
• Not probably a good reaction. FIX! FIX!
• You should decide what kind of drunk he is, and then make him follow that stereotype.
• Okay, so we need to do some serious work on Maddy's personality here and everywhere, really.
• Got hit in an asteroid belt.
• hahahaha
• And suddenly he’s not drunk any more. Either he is or he isn't. Make up your mind, yo!
• Now he is again…
• Ummm… no.
• What does this even mean?
• Pick something less game-y
• Enough with the ‘cute’ already!
• Too much drama. Give Rupert a less irritating character.
• This description could be way more awesome. Get your game on, Ariele!
• Etc.

Next steps: Go through each note as an action item and get my "writer's hat" on.

And since this book is about a lonely whelk, I give you this:

The Art of Telling Stories: A.H. Browne

Welcome to the first of my series "The Art of Telling Stories." Over the next few weeks I will be interviewing a series of individuals who work in different vocations, and looking at how they approach the art of telling stories.

My first guest is Ariana Browning, who writes under the name of A.H. Browne. She is author of Dark Illusions, Dragon's Dawn, and Always Consequences. You can check out her writing website and personal one, and you can find her on Facebook here.

Ariana, tell me a little bit about yourself and your writing career.

I have been writing since I was young, but never really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the storytelling and fantasizing part of it, but not the writing aspects. I never really had a passion for it until my mid 20's, at which time I used it as a way to save myself. A lot of personal stuff happened in my life and I needed something to focus on to get my mind off that. Around my mid teens, I ended up starting with poetry because I've never been good at expressing my emotions and I used that as an outlet. I began to write short stories around 18 or so and then progressed from there with encouragement from people to put it online. When I noticed how much joy it could bring people to read what I wrote and that I could perhaps change lives through it, I found this passion strike me that has stuck with me since then. No matter how much hard work it is at times and how much I wish I could have a break, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I love it.

I've published 3 books so far and many poems. Short stories too. Some of my poems have been in writing magazines and poetry books, but I've lost touch with where those all are. When I was younger, I sent them off, but didn't think about keeping track. Most of the poetry and short stories can be found on my website (www.ahbrowne.com), as well as what I've published, and the list of what's to come.

How would you define storytelling?

Now that's a great question. I've never really thought about it. Let me see; I would say that storytelling is taking someone into another world of existence. Opening up their heart, mind, and soul, and taking them on an adventure without them ever having to leave where they are at. Magic does exist. All around us. That, is storytelling: magic.

Do you do any other forms of storytelling (any element of theatre, design, fashion, music, etc.)?

Other than trying to motivate other people to better themselves and showing that they can do anything they want, through telling my own story on www.arianasmemoir.com, for now, I do not. I have plans later on for more, maybe even sooner than later, but right this second I am focusing mostly on my books. 

How do you think about designing your book covers to communicate to your reader what they are going to experience?

When I design a book cover, I think about the colors and images that most convey the story in psychological ways without giving everything away. For my most recent cover, Always Consequences, I wanted something with a slight military theme overall, but also a woman imprisoned. The psychological part is whether she is imprisoned mentally, physically, or both. I went with a title font which portrayed a military theme, and the blue, green, and grey colors. Those colors went with that more somber quality of being imprisoned. The slight bit of red on her dress was to be eye-catching for the observer and break up the blue, green and grey coloring, but also because one of the main lead males, Umar, happens to dress her in a red dress for his benefit. It's also the color of passion and strength. Then you have the bars she is looking out, which happen to be a window to signify a prison and mental anguish.

So the main theme became military, imprisonment, and the colors blue, grey, green, and red. Simple, but loads of meaning behind it. Covers don't have to be complicated, just eye-catching to make the reader check out the synopsis. (Keep your eyes peeled for free download days! Coming up June 4th and 14th, and July 18th and 19th!)

How do you decide what you are going to write? Where do your story ideas come from?

My ideas come mainly from dreams. Or moments where an idea pops into my head from reading another story, watching a movie, or staring out at nothing and losing myself in nothing for a while, which I admit, I can do when it's gorgeous out. Nature is my addiction. I choose which story to work on through gut instinct. I have had to abandon stories that, after a few chapters, didn't stay with me when I didn't listen. But in general, I always advise choosing one that you feel within. That little voice that says this one. You will never go wrong because even when you're mad at your book, and hate your characters, the love will be there, and you will stick with it. Since doing so, I've rarely, almost never, experienced writer's block.

What is your favourite word?

Favorite word ... wow, not something I thought about. How about "which" when I write and in real life, all the old words! I am determined to keep using old words because I love the sound of them, how they sound, how they flow. I may start annoying people by avoiding contractions too. 

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Shall I share how much I love chocolate? Oh, sorry, about writing. How about some advice? Know that we all think we're a failure or have that little voice saying "I will never be that good." The winners are the ones who have those thoughts, but keep pushing ahead, despite that fear. In the end, the winners are the ones who don't let that fear keep them from being as amazing as they can be. 

Thanks, Ariana for sharing all of this with us! And good luck with your work!

The Clock Winked

So I published a book.

I highly recommend trying it - for anyone who thinks they can make it all the way through to the other side of the revision stage. But honestly, the most difficult part for me was making the cover.

Now, obviously, you can hire people to do your design for you. And sometimes you can even find people to do it for free - but in that case, you're asking a lot of someone, especially if you want to do it in a specific time frame. So after poking people around a bit, I did it myself.

I went through a wide variety of versions - blue, black, orange, different fonts and font sizes. I stuck with the clock image throughout the whole process, however, because I liked it. I asked different people I know for feedback - which versions they did and didn't like and why and eventually I got bored.

I get bored very easily. So I made one final version that was completely different from the others, and then said, "That's it, it's good enough."

This was due in large part to a piece advice from a coworker, which was not intended to be advice and spoken in relation to something entirely unrelated to my book. The advice (paraphrased into my own words) was this:

There's something to be said for perfection, and there's something to be said for getting it done. Sometimes you need to just get it done.

And for your own enjoyment, I will post the old versions of the cover here, and you can decide which one you like best. Oh, and you can buy my book, too. It's on Amazon: click here.

What Kind of Book Are You Looking For?

What kind of book are you looking for? There are millions of them, some less tantalizing, others more so--but sometimes you just can't find what you want. Here are five books, in five different genres, that I enjoyed.

Do you like fantasy? Do you like swords and sorcery? Are you tired of happy fantasy, where everyone lives and good always triumphs? Are you looking for something dark and mysterious, but with all of the imagination and captivating detail of any good fantasy novel? Try Christopher Kellen's newest novel Legacy, the second in a three part trilogy about a dying world and the desperate efforts of five heroes to save it from the rotting torments of death. Of course, you might just want to start at the beginning, so check out Elegy too!

Do you like plays? Do you like social satire? Do you like British Humor? Do you like classic literature? Try Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, a hilarious story about a gentleman who pretends to have an ill cousin in order to avoid unfavourable social events. And if you click here you can get it for free!

Do you like adventure? Do you like King Arthur? Do you like a world of knights and kings and the fight of good versus evil? Do you like a little humor and romance mixed in (but not too much because it might make you gag)? Try Gerald Morris' The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf. A young princess travels to King Arthur's court to find a knight to rescue her castle from the siege of an untoward knight. Along the way there (and back) she learns about what love, life, and knighthood are all about.

Do you like princesses? Perhaps the rather typical "princess discovers birthright, princess marries prince" or "girl is poor, girl marries prince" story lines are getting a bit old. Try Kate Coombs' The Runaway Princess, in which the main character, Margaret, discovers that her father is holding a contest for all the princes to come rid the kingdom of the dragon, the witch and the bandits,. The prize for winning is Margaret herself. She gets locked in a tower but escapes in an act of definance, and sets off on a mission to rescue the dragon, the witch, and the bandits from the evil princes.

Do you like science fiction? Do you want something a little weird and hard to digest? Do want a book that might have a happy ending or might have a sad ending depending on your perspective on the world? Try Greg Bear's Blood Music. An angry scientist, cleaning out is laboratory after being fired, injects a strain of intelligent bacteria into his blood stream and watches as the world around him (and the world within him) begins to change.

The Book Thing

People are weird about books. I once visited a house that had none. I almost suffocated. I personally have over 300, but would like to have more. But the most interesting attitudes towards books are expressed in a variety of interesting ways. Such as...

...some people revere their books: 

...other people play with their books:

...others enjoy their books: 

...and others get angry. I feel that I fall more closely into this category:

A Closet Full of Teleports

I used to have this closet--just a little bit bigger than a shower. At first it was filled with my parents' stuff. After a fair amount of begging, my parents let me move their stuff into a different closet. In place of their stuff I put two bookshelves--each filled with books (naturally). 

The thing about books is that they're filled with stories--and not just stories, but whole worlds with their own laws of physics, their own gods, and their own fantastic people--and books allow us to enter their worlds, learn their physics, meet their gods, and watch their people.

It's like having a closet full of teleports.

I organized my books by colour. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, then black, grey, white, and brown. I knew every book I owned personally. I knew what colour it was. I knew what characters were in it, who wrote it, what happened in it, the laws specific to its universe. I read them over and over--and not just my favourites--all of them.

That said, my favourite books did get special treatment: I probably read Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) eight times (and the rest of the series almost as much), and I read Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine, don't watch the movie) four times a year for at least six years--and I still read it at least once a year. The first chapter of Emily of New Moon (L. M. Montgomery) always made me feel better when I was irritable (it still does), and just this weekend I finished The Runaway Princess (Kate Coombs) and The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf (Gerald Morris), both for the nth time.

My favourite author of all time is Terry Pratchett, partly because his sarcasm is fantastic and partly because his universe is so huge and likeable. Every book I've read by Neil Gaimon has piqued my interest, and Wordsworth is my favourite poet. Or maybe it's Coleridge... ("I fear thee ancient mariner! I fear thy skinny hand!")

Then I went to college. And you know what? I took my books with me

But there are so many--J. R. R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, Ray Bradbury, Arthur Lobel, Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Christopher Paolini, C. S. Lewis, Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, Michael Crighton, James Herriot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Franz Kafka, A. A. Milne, Tamora Pierce...

Go read them all.

Each book is a little piece of the universe (or parallel universe)--it's another place, another time, another world where anything can happen--since I myself cannot go whirling through the stars, I send my brain on extravagant journeys with hobbits and dwarves, or sit down to eat breakfast with a Wookie and a Martian. I even feel this way about text books. Even though I am not experiencing mysterious places and creatures, I am visiting my own world with new eyes and from an untried perspective.

A closet full of teleports. 

Now I keep them everywhere: in my kitchen, my living room, my bedroom. I leave piles of them on the floor next to my bed and scattered over my couch--on the coffee table, by my desk, in the bathroom.

This way, if I ever want to go somewhere, I don't have to go very far.

Because I have a house full of teleports.