How were your weekends? Good I hope. Mine was good, quiet and I worked out a couple of tough scenes in Awakening. I find these sort of scenes very draining and some of you may remember the post I did last year (feels sooo long ago ;p) on what I call ‘method writing’. Method writing is how I write. I imagine myself as the character and pretty much act out the scene – emotionally and often out-loud (and now you see the other reason Glenn and I have our own rooms *lol*). I’ve always done it this way and I presume lots of other writers do it too. Glenn was helping his family move which was probably a good thing as coming across me bawling my eyes out or seething with fury for no apparent reason does tend to bewilder him a little. Though he’s totally fine with it when I’m working on the … intimate scenes *giggle*. As I get closer to the final scenes of Awakening I find myself already planning scenes in Feel the Burn – book three of the Trilogy. I found myself doing the same thing when writing The Arrival, planning ahead to scenes in Awakening.
I got a couple of new reviews on the weekend which was exciting. One, a two star review had me laughing.
‘Everything is too breathlessly marvelous. Probably a perfect book for a young teenage girl. Some interesting creatures are introduced, but the focus is on the four beautiful girls and their beaus and their fairy tale romances.’
It’s the first time anyone’s complained about that! I’ve never been one to write dark. It’s just not me so I can understand where she’s coming from to an extent. But I wish she wouldn’t recommend it to tweens – as Kerrin (who’s read the first portion of the draft to Awakening) can attest, Awakening is very adult. I have to assume the reviewer found the switching POV’s easy enough as she obviously read it and didn’t complain about them. And it’s funny to me to see the characters described as ‘beautiful girls’. Yes technically they are attractive but that’s not really what I see when I write them. It’s always fascinating to see how a reader interprets your work, and the other review was a 5 star – WOO!
The book download count is over 18,000 and it’s now available on UK Amazon and is in their top 100 free e-books list. Which is very exciting. Again I find it interesting that the percentage of people downloading after viewing the page has dropped. I hope it means that only those who genuinely are interested in the blurb/sample are grabbing it.
Meet Gredel – aka Dash Mihok
Maybe Zooey? Just with blue hair (see below for inspiration, though I envisioned it darker) and gold eyes
And now, introducing Gredel and his lovely wife Citaan.
Gredel is the second in command in the Griffon Guard and can appear rather gruff to outsiders. He’s very level headed and can deal with pretty much any situation thrown at him. Except his lovely wife who tends to turn him on his head with just a smile. Recently married after a whirlwind romance Gredel is utterly infatuated with Citaan and her with him. As second in command Gredel stands in for Alek where necessary and rides Phroma, a dark griffon with violet undertones in her wings. Phroma has a young pup, Ageip, whom Gredel is very fond of. He also hopes that Ageip may link with his unborn child in the future.
Citaan is part water-sprite (her grandmother was a full blooded sprite) and consequently is gifted with water. This is also what gives her, her unusual blue hair and golden eyes. She works in the castle for Elena as a research assistant and first met Gredel when he was required to fly her deep into the Scrodian Mountains in search of some unusual fae Elena was interested in. She is one of six girls and has a far outnumbered brother, Brece. Her father adores all his ‘girls’ and is very protective of them, in fact his reputation for protectiveness tends to precede him. It’s what makes Gredel a tad nervous of him.
Take care all!
Nic
right well I've been in bed reading on the kindle, and had to get up and come find your blog. The Arrival (while a bit hard to follow in places) was a really good read. I note that someone suggested ok for tweens/young teens and until I read your remarks on that I would have thought so too – so no to letting my 13yr old read part 1 if she wont be allowed parts 2 and 3! But I will read the next two… most definitely! Please hurry up (with utmost respect fellow Nic) because I am not a patient person.
Wow hoo…a reader making a comment is always a good thing. I like the blue hair and gold eyes. Very cool and to me, original. Alex J. Cavanaugh talks about critique groups, I thought you might be interested. You can decide. Good luck with writing. I can so see you pacing about acting out the scenes.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium
oh, Zooey looks perfect for the part! And i too envisioned darker blue hair – like cartoon blue!
I love how these characters are coming alive on the screen! When i was reading Awakening i could see them as i read (except Cat – i envision you!)
Hi Nic – a fellow kiwi and same name ;p I did see your review on Amazon and many thanks for taking the time 🙂 I promise I'm working at book 2 hard!
Hi Nancy – I'll have a look 🙂 thanks for letting me know.
*grin* you envision me? Hope that doesn't make the scenes too awkward *lol* Yes I love Zooey's permanent cheerful expression, just felt right for Citaan 🙂