WRITING WAY TOO FAST -Tom Odell - Another Love

I have never written as much, as fast, as I did last week.
I put it down to this track by Tom Odell which I played on repeat. I tried to match the writing with the intensity and the of driving pace of the song. 

IS THERE A PARTICULAR PIECE OF MUSIC INSPIRING YOU AT THE MOMENT?

My sister is visiting from Australia. Although my notebooks and research may take up a lot of the back seat, we are going to take our Mum going on road trip. :D

THE JERUSALEM PUZZLE COMPETITION

This week, I learned about an amazing opportunity for writers to showcase their talents:

HarperCollins have created an opportunity for writers to be published alongside one of their exciting new writers.

The competition prize, for three talented authors, is to write a short story :(but, don't start writing those short stories yet ;) which will be published in a special, limited edition epub of The Jerusalem Puzzle: the second novel from Laurence O'Bryan. 

Firstly, you have to read the second chapter of The Jerusalem Puzzle.

Then, in no more than 500 words, say where you would take the story next either in the form of a synopsis, or the opening of the next chapter.

You need to be a member of Authonomy to participate in the contest so remember to register first if you're interested.

The authors of the ten entries judged to be the best will be given the chance to submit short stories for consideration by HarperCollins’ editors. They will also get advanced ring-bound book proofs of The Jerusalem Puzzle.

At the start of December, three overall winners will be selected to be published in the special edition Jerusalem Puzzle e-book next June.

If you want to enter you must email your 5oo words to yourauthonomy@harpercollins.co.uk by midnight GMT on 31st October.

With such an exciting prize awaiting the successful writers, I've written and posted my entry - already.

WHAT MORE COULD HARPERCOLLINS DO TO TEMPT YOU TO WRITE AN ENTRY?

WHINING AND WANING - COUNTING DOWN AND TYPING

HMS DOLPHIN?
I CAN SEE WHY.
Photo credit: NASA, public domain

Time is too slow for those who wait,

too swift for those who fear,

too long for those who grieve,

too short for those who rejoice,

but for those who love,

time is eternity.

Henry Van Dyke

In 1764 HMS Dolphin voyaged to discover the lands in the south of the Atlantic Ocean. Many previously unchartered islands were identified and surveyed. The captain of the vessel was John Byron.

Small ship. Unpredictable seas. Unknown destinations. I bet time moved with heart stopping irregularity once they had passed out of well-known waters.

Voyagers and voyages without the thrill of the unknown you just wouldn’t bother.

The deadline for Harper Voyager open submission is 14^th October. Deadlines smedlines ;) my Voyager project is keeping me busy.

DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT IS KEEPING YOU BUSY?

DRAWN DOWN A DARKER PATH

OR, THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS
WHAT YOU'VE DONE?

The plot of DRAWN has moved on, the seeds of betrayal have been spread in the furrows of actions at suitably regular intervals ;)

I'm struggling. I don’t want to reshape my character – he has a lot of good points – but, based on the facts as he knows them, he has made a decision with consequences. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about bravery. Fear. And the nature of cowardice.

With the empire under attack, what situation might make a person, abandon their friends, desert their responsibilities, run away or betray the people they love.

Having run away, if not the truth, what do they say when questioned by others? What do they believe, inside?

Later, could a character believe the lies they've told? Believe them to the point where they convince themselves that the fabrication is the truth?

If classic masculine qualities are physical strength, courage and calmness in the face of danger or adversity, could a person see themselves as brave if they abandoned their duty and hid? What if, putting themselves first meant they had to actively put someone else in danger? Betray a friend.

Are all lives equal? Is one life more valuable than another?

Should it be survival of the fittest? Surely, anything else is unnatural.

HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF UNABLE TO SEND YOUR MC ALONG A DARKER PATH?

COUNTDOWN - 14 DAYS TO COMPLETION

I love oak trees, they are so gnarly.
A combination of the two middle trees
is definitely where I pictured Gaell and Rylo.

I have one - or technically fourteen days - until my fantasy novel has to be ready to submit in response to Harper Voyager's call for submissions. My fingers aren't typing quickly enough, they need to squeeze my brain into gear and I'm sure the problem would be solved ;)

I've been going through, on chapter at a time, applying Donald Maass' writing tips.

The alterations I made to the opening were inspired by tip 55

55 What do you like best about your MC?  How soon can we see that on the page?  How often?  Add more than you think needed.

DRAWN

CHAPTER 1

LOOK-OUT

As they always did in the days between harvest and fall, high winds blew across the valley.

Another gust of wind flustered her loose sleeves as Gaell crawled further out along a thick branch. Her fingers couldn't reach all the way around the wooden limb, so she dug her nails as far into the bark as they’d go and she inched along a little more. Looking down, she sucked air slowly into her lungs. The branch, comfortingly still, reminded her of the planks that ran through the rafters in the wool shed. If she were at home, indoors, she would have run along a board this wide.

“Gaell!”

The squeak made her pivot and steady herself, placing a hand against a smaller branch. Her friend who had been a sickly shade of green since he realised the height of the oak tree she wanted to climb, was now the whiter-shade of pale.

“Are you all right?” She crept back a step. “Do you want me to…”

Hugging the tree, with one cheek pressed to bark, he waved his free hand.

“Rylo?”

“No. A deal is a deal,” he said. Slowly, he lowered himself until he could squeeze back against the solid part of the tree. “You go. Dance along the branch like a squirrel. Don’t worry about me.”

She crouched, perched on the branch. Hesitant. Always small and thin, her friend had never looked so young – so sheltered. “Rylo. You said you’d climbed trees before.”

Rylo picked at the surface of the rope that lay along the branch between them. He stopped with a sudden reddening of his skin and rubbed the wiry threads flat. “I may have exaggerated.”

She narrowed her eyes and moved a pace back to where he clung like a tick on hair.

“Go. Go,” Rylo said. I’m fine.”

Gaell had never seen a less fine specimen. But, Rylo picked up the rope she'd lashed around the tree before winding it around her dress like contrasting piping. While she watched, he tucked the rope across his stomach. Then, he waved weakly at her.

The submissions Harper Voyager are looking for are all forms of adult and YA speculative fiction: Epic Fantasy ;) Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and Supernatural. It is also worth knowing, you can make as many submissions as you'd like.

DO YOU HAVE A MANUSCRIPT YOU ARE CONSIDERING SUBMITTING TO HARPER VOYAGER?

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY - SIGNIFICANT OTHERS - SIX WAYS TO MAKE SECONDARY CHARACTERS WORK FOR YOU

DIFFERENT FLAVOURS?
IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves. ~ Carl Jung

Is your secondary character proving to be no better than a negative reflection?

Is your secondary character too loveable? 

Is their comedic talent in danger of stealing the show?

Here are six ways to zap their star quality and to make sure your MC is memorable but not in danger of stealing your MC’s spotlight:

·  Screech them into second place by writing them unable to modulate their pitch, nothing grates on the nerves like a well…poorly–placed, high-pitched, comment.

·  Uh? Spread their attention too thin: give your secondary character has a method of communicating with others and make sure they do it whenever your MC wants to share a deeply meaningful observation

·  Attention deficit, in a best friend – no matter what kind of situation they're experiencing – makes for a more clearly defined MC

·  Have that secondary so-and-so sprinkle litter, cups or the broken-hearted around them, it will give your MC something thoughtful and strong to do

·  Give them two ears for listening but an over active tongue – nobody falls in love with the secondary character who displays a tendency to interrupt your MC’s train of thought.

While they’re there, your secondary character can bring out the best in your MC

From Donald Maass’s writing tips:

#7 What does a sidekick or secondary character see about your MC that your MC denies? Force a showdown over it.

#58 What’s one way your MC tackles the big problem? Find another character who can do the same thing, or the opposite.

My secondary character is loyal, reliable and even tempered but finds it hard to think outside the socially acceptable norms. My MC is impulsive, changeable and rebellious.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MC AND SIGNIFICANT SECONDARY OTHER IN THREE WORDS?

TUESDAY TEASER - RIBBLESTROP FOR EVER AND HARPER VOYAGER OPEN TO SLUSH

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of ShouldBe Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and the author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am reading MG:  Ribblestrop Forever by Andy Mulligan 

This is the second Ribblestrop adventure. In this book, Inspector Cuthbertson is only a step behind the children-determined to destroy the school forever...again-and there's only a mad librarian around to help. The orphans are in for a worryingly-adventurous kind of adventure.

This excerpt is a timely reminder of the potential hazards inherent in eating boiled sweets while piloting aeroplanes ;)

You get four sentences for the price of two today:

The gobstopper spun against his uvula, where the digastric

muscle strained at once to eject it. The plane bobbed yet

again and the pilot panicked. He tried to swallow and disaster struck. The gobstopper was sucked straight into his

windpipe where it lodged like a cork in a bottle.

I THINK IT'S GOING TO SNOW

Get your boots out, Harper Voyager is opening up to slush ;)

If you are writing any kind of speculative fiction - science-fiction to fantasy - you need to know about Harper Voyager's decision to open themselves to unsolicited submissions. The window is between 1st to 14th October. Check this link. If your novel is polished, rather than published, this is a great opportunity to get your work noticed.

IS YOUR CURRENT NOVEL READY TO SUBMIT? WILL YOU BE TEMPTED TO THROW YOURS AT THE HARPER VOYAGER'S WALL?

Mine is about 50% short of the target. I can get a lot done in 19 days but I don't think complete and edited is anywhere near achievable.

OK. What do you think? This is my only stab at a YA fantasy. There's miles to go before Gaell can call herself anything like at home. Is it worth me doing little but work and write? I have ironing to fit in somewhere. And shopping. And football ;)

As they always did in the days between harvest and fall, high winds blew across the valley.

Gaell crawled further out along a thick branch that held aloft a section of the great oak’s canopy. She licked at her lower lip as she wriggled forward. Her arms couldn’t completely encircle the wooden limb, but she inched along. Thinking about it, there was a caterpillar-like quality to her movements. Gaell grinned and nodded her thanks. Then she spread her knees to secure her grip and let the rough bark rub the surface of her toes as she wriggled with efficiently away from the trunk.

Dawn glowed a warm orange that lightened the dark sky but not enough light to disturb her view. For once, she was glad her hair was uniformly long and plaited in two tidy brown ropes that dangled down over her ears. The fabric of her old, grey mourning dress was smooth enough to slip over the rough bark but it was unfortunately still pale enough to show the stains. She would have to find something more suitable to wear next time she slipped out to find adventure.

First she had to make sure she didn’t fall, of course.

The wind blew her cowl until it snapped and flapped at her neck as if she were being attacked by a silken bird. Shaking her head, excitement uncurled inside and she breathed out slow and long. She felt as if she had been holding her breath for a very long time. While she waited for the wind to settle, she stared at the grain in the bark and pictured again the fleeting thought, the image, that had pulled her from her bed so early.

“Can we go yet?” asked the boy who clung to the rope they had lashed around the trunk of the tree. He gripped the knot, wrapped around his stomach, in one hand and pressed his back against the thick body of the oak. He clung to the rope with white knuckled fingers and, although his arms would make only useful twigs Rylos to took his role very seriously. He was dressed in his scholarly best: the silver tunic, black silk stockings and laced boots. His cowl was pulled up to cover his head and ears to keep the wind from nipping at his delicate Vagan skin.

“No,” said Gaell, more forcibly that was needed. She turned back to her task and shuffled forward again.

Rylos sniffed. “I agreed to one hour. It was a bargain. I’m sure it’s nearly been an hour.”

Gaell shrugged her shoulders. It was as non-commerce a gesture as a person could make. In truth, including the time it took her to get him out of his solsaal, her hour was almost up. She refused to look at hm. She was doing him a favour, Rylos would learn the essence of trade was in the details.  “We haven’t been here for an hour.”

“I don’t know why you wanted to make this deal,” Rylos called at her back. “I still don’t see what kind of trade could benefit from climbing the tree anyway.” He grumbled away to himself and tugged and tested the line. “Nothing of any value grows here.”

There was so much tugging, Gaell had to grip to keep her balance. Poor Rylos. He was the reason Gaell was able to come to the tree anyway. Who else would accept her trade? He was also the reason why she did not plan to fall. No doubt, Rylos would try his best to hold the rope if she slipped. Fell. It was all she hoped for. She would make every effort to find whatever it was that drew her to the tree and she wouldn’t break her neck in the process. As well as having no desire to experience that level of pain, Gaell couldn’t bear to think of Rylos’ face if he failed to keep his side of the bargain. Generations of reliability snuffed out by a fall that had nothing to do with profit. It was too terrible to consider, she thought with a grin.

“Gaell?” called Rylos. “Why are we here?”

Gaell sighed, “Does it matter?”