Empress Alexandra character interview
Holly from “Naked Came the Sharks” has been hogging the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour 2014 spotlight but don’t forget another heroine from an earlier era. Empress Alexandra from The Lost King holds court and answers her subjects’ most probing questions.
Character interview: Holly in the hot seat
Following the authors on the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour, Devorah Fox’s Street Team catches up with Holly, heroine of Naked Came the Sharks, for a character interview.
Mashing up a new genre
In this interview, author Alesha Escobar talks about how her Gray Tower trilogy takes the fantasy genre to a new level.
Meet Francene Stanley
Learn about Francene Stanley, another author on the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour 2014. Busy lady, Francene is the author of the Moonstone series but has also co-authored ANOTHER series with author Edith Parzefall.
Meet Alesha Escobar
One of the travelers on the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour 2014 started writing at a very early age. Meet Alesha Escobar, author of the Gray Tower trilogy.
Meet Samantha LaFantasie
Hard working writer, editor, reviewer Samantha LaFantasie took time out to be interviewed for the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour 2014. http://devorahfox.com/index.php/2014/02/meet-samantha-lafantasie
My deepest darkest secrets
On the Addicted to Heroines Blog Tour 2014, I was interviewed by author Samantha LaFantasie. I found some of the questions quite challenging. https://samanthalafantasie.com/2014/02/04/ath1-interview-with-devorah-fox/
National Novel Writing Month – in Corpus Christi
There will be no November meeting of the South Texas Scribes as many of our members will be participating in National Novel Writing Month. For those wishing to participate in National Novel Writing Month, please be sure that you have signed up for the event at http://www.nanowrimo.org
If you are participating in the Corpus Christi area:
- I, Gloria Vasquez, be your Municipal Liason and you may contact me with any questions about nanowrimo. PhilosopherSocrates@yahoo.com
- All in person meetings are optional but very helpful.
- At every event, look for the table with the viking helmet.
- Plot-in
- What: Time set aside to plot our novels before November
- When: Sunday Oct 13, 2pm.
- Where: “Coffee Waves” on Alameda, 5783 S Alameda
- Kick Off Party – Costume Optional!
- What: Just to mingle and get to know your fellow writers or ask questions. Family and friends of participants are more than welcome.
- When: Sunday Oct 27 3pm.
- Where: “Executive Surf Club” 309 N Water St
- Weekly meetings
- What: To discuss nano progress and general discussion. Feel free to drop in on the weekly meetings even if you are not participating in NaNoWriMo this year.
- When: Every Saturday of November at 2pm
- Where: “Coffee Waves” on Alameda, 5783 S Alameda
- Write-ins
- What: Timed writings that are either online or in person.
- When & Where:
- Nov 9 8 PM IHOP.
- In person write ins Sundays 2PM at Cafe Calypso
- Online write ins Tuesdays and Wednesdays 8PM on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/southtexasscribes/
- To receive updates via email, sign up at nanowrimo.org and set your home region to Corpus Christi Tx.
- TGIO Party
- What: To wrap up the event sometime in the first week of December
- When and Where: To be announced. To receive updates via email, sign up at nanowrimo.org and set your home region to Corpus Christi Tx.
FanFiction – From an Original Author’s Side
I have to admit that I am not a fan of Fan Fiction. Many people enjoy writing it. Others enjoy reading it. Still more prefer to both write and read it. My personality doesn’t fit with the idea of Fan Fiction: I want to be the creator of the character. I want to develop that character and give it life. Given how much of my writing is published at this point, I had never thought of Fan Fiction from the author’s viewpoint. A local writing friend who recently published her second book, Devorah Fox, has written a good article about the subject. She calls it the sincerest form of flattery. What are some of the things she says?
First she describes Fan Fiction:
“Fan fiction” is a term that describes stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work rather than by the original creator. Fan fiction is rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work’s owner, creator or publisher. Writers of fan faction assume that their work will be read by other fans of the work that inspired the creativity and so readers of the fan fiction are expected to have some familiarity with the characters, setting, plot, etc. of the original work on which the fan fiction is based.
Later she describes the reactions of other authors – you’ll have to read the original for that. Then she gives her feelings about fan fiction as related to her own work:
The issue of fan faction recently came up in a Facebook group to which I belong and the general consensus seemed to be resentment. I suppose if someone were making a mint from fiction based on my characters I’d feel differently but for now I cherish the fan fiction that’s been inspired by The Lost King and The King’s Ransom. For one, I find the mere fact that my writing spurred that initiative in someone else to be validating. Isn’t awakening creativity in someone else about the highest compliment an artist can be paid?I’ve also learned a lot from the fanfic written about King Bewilliam and his world. It’s like someone held a mirror to my character, turned it at an angle and showed me a different side. I have in turn been inspired by the added dimensions that I see the character can have, the different paths that he can take. Because fanfic writers have their unique style, my character has had a chance to play in different arenas.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery, a guest post by Devorah Fox
At What Frequency Does Writer’s Block Crumble?
It’s more than half way through July NaNoWriMo and I have almost nothing written. I’m set up in my parent’s patio watching the rain with bebop jazz on Pandora and coffee on the table. The only thing that would complete this mock-café scenario would be the sound of dishes clattering, people chattering and baristas calling out orders with the excitement of a greyhound race announcer. “Macchiato ready at the bar with chi latte and a bagel gaining in second!”
In addressing writer’s block, the use of sound, or the lack thereof, is frequently suggested. It is the screwdriver of any writer’s tool box. The problem is, there are all kinds of screwdrivers for all sorts of jobs and it’s no different when talking about the frequency on which one’s writing brain tunes in static-free. I’m not simply referring to varying taste in music from scribe to scribe but rather to the way it’s used in a writing session.
Many experienced writers agree that it is best to write to music without lyrics. I didn’t think I could get into that since, everything I listen to, I sing along with but that’s just the point; I want to focus on writing not singing. Lyrics tell their own story and I should tell mine. Fellow writers have suggested classical music and movie soundtracks but neither of those really fit my style. I never realized how limited to dramatic scenes movie soundtracks can be. Most of what I write falls somewhere between the intensities of the great battle and the death bed. I can’t have my characters bickering at a newsstand while symbols crash or harps swell.
During a write-in at a Starbucks, an exquisite piece of jazz music came on just as I was describing a femme fatal swirling gracefully in a futuristic swimming pool. The music had character without grandeur. I never was much of a jazz fan but, as soon as the scene and the melody were over, I hopped up to the bar to ask what track that was and if they sell it. The barista was really surprised that I actually liked it. I’m sure working there must be like serving coffee in a posh elevator for 8 hours. I don’t think his reaction could have been more comical if he were an ice-cream truck driver and I asked him if I could get “Pop Goes the Weasel” on my iPod.
I bought a few jazz cd’s and listened to them any time I sat down to write. That helped a bit. I already had a few tracks of thunder storm sound effects and they mixed well with the jazz. In addition, I have a program that simulates the look and sound of an old fashion typewriter. The clickity clack of the keys and the ping of the carriage return are sounds that get my frontal lobe firing. Sometimes I write absolute nonsense into a scene just to hear it and that turns out to be my best work. I fiddled with things like lighting, décor and coffee scented candles over the years to create an ambiance that might fool me into thinking that I was C.S. Lewis writing from a window overlooking an English garden. I recommend it for anyone who wants to feel like a writer without actually writing.
Purely for that ambiance, today would be perfect. The Texas lawn is returning to a healthy yellow after a long drought and that’s close enough to ‘English garden.’ I don’t really want to be at a café either. I feel required to buy an extra pair of love handles any time I go to those places and, if I’m not feeling the story, I leave with nothing done.
That doesn’t matter because right now all I want is that café sound. I had used the Amazon Cloud Player to download rain sounds and crowds cheering (don’t ask) in the past. I wondered if they had café background sound effects and joy to me they did! As I scrolled through the tracks available for 99 cent downloads I was spoiled for choice. They had airport cafes and Italian restaurants complete with authentic utterances, at least I assume they’re authentic. But as I clicked through I discovered something so much better than a good writing mood. They have background noise for space stations, offices, high schools and playgrounds.
That’s when it hits me; I’ve been going about the concept of using sound as a writing aid all wrong. It’s not about creating a writing mood in my world. It’s about “listening” to the scene in my character’s world. How can I take dictation of my character’s dialogue if I’m not listening to them? If I’m on the phone with someone who tells me to get an address down I don’t crank up the radio. I played a bus station track and I was in the space station docking area that I needed to write about next. Is this inspiration fleeting? I’m willing to give it a shot.
Happy Writings,
Philosopher
South Texas Scribes 