Blog - Carmen Fox

June 24, 2014 The Write Path Post a Comment

THE WRITE PATH – Cora Maxine

Cora Maxine

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about finding their way through the writing landscape. My guest today is Cora Maxine, author of Choices: Make Me Paranormal.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Cora’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

I love to write. That’s one thing that got me through writing my first full-length novel, Choices: Make Me Paranormal. I knew that even if no one bought a copy, I had fun writing it and wouldn’t regret the time spent. I’ve been creating stories for several years, but it was only in the past couple years that I got serious about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

Waiting for reviews. An author can go crazy waiting to see what readers think about their finished product. I obsess over what readers are going to think and check for reviews several times a day after publishing.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

The moment I realized that it doesn’t take years to write a novel. I worked as a freelance writer for almost 8 years and it’s nothing for me to turn out a few thousand words per day. I knew if I could put just half of that time into fiction, I could write a novel every couple months.

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

H.P. Mallory is the biggest inspiration in the writing world for me. She started as an indie author and got picked up by a big publisher; it’s the story that all writers dream of. Also, she was one of the first urban fantasy authors I read. She’s inspired me in so many ways.

5. Describe your ideal reader.

My ideal reader is someone just like me – female in her 30s who loves the paranormal. When I write a novel, I’m writing something that know I would want to read, something with paranormal elements and sexy male characters.

Links:

www.coramaxine.com
www.facebook.com/coramaxine
www.twitter.com/cora_maxine
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6541045.Cora_Maxine

Author Bio:

Cora Maxine lives in Western North Carolina and uses the towns around her as inspiration for her urban fantasy novels. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found reading, baking, and spending time with her amazing boyfriend and houseful of pets.

June 22, 2014 Books, Reviews 1 Comment

INVISIBLE FEARS by Mary Buckham – Review

INVISIBLE FEARS: KELLY McALLISTER (INVISIBLE RECRUITS 6) – Book Review

As a writer, I watch out for issues like setting, action and language, combining to make up the main character’s unique Point of View. I learned very little from this book. How disappointing. Because despite my best intentions to dissect this book like a top-of-her-field medical examiner, I was sucked into the story after the first two paragraphs. Seriously, I remember it started with a vivid description of scent, and then woosh, Africa, action, mystery, preternaturals, twist, relationship, more action, twist, bam, and the roller-coaster ride was over.

Kelly McAllister has left her kindergarten teacher days far behind her. Far behind. Well, okay. Perhaps not that far. She’s still a kind, nurturing person, but she has an edge to her I found incredibly endearing. Determined, she leads her team of Invisible Recruits to Sierra Leone with a clear mission. And an ulterior motive. Her mission: dealing with a threat to humans and preternaturals. Her ulterior motive: to avenge her sister’s death.

I make no secret of the fact that Urban Fantasy is my favorite genre. And this book features everything that makes Urban Fantasy great.

Check out Mary Buckham’s other books.

June 19, 2014 The Write Path 6 Comments

THE WRITE PATH – Matthew W. Harrill

Matthew W. Harrill

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about fighting their way through the writing landscape, from their early beginnings to where they are now. My guest today is Matthew W. Harrill, author of Hellbounce, which has just been released.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Matt’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

That’s actually a quite difficult question. I don’t necessarily consider myself a writer as such, more someone who has a job but has written a few stories. I have a way of storytelling that people seem to be agreeable with. My first novel, ‘The Focus Stone’ (available on www.lulu.com) was the extension of a short story that just never finished. I’m quite creative naturally, and I have read a LOT of fantasy books, enjoying the larger series (I love being immersed in a world). I also have a brain awash with so many pointless random facts. It looks like I was always destined to put pen to paper.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

Spelling, grammar, uncertainty as to whether the audience will suspend their disbelief and buy into the story. For me with Hellbounce, the most difficult part initially was proceeding with a much smaller word count per chapter. My Epic Fantasy series ‘The Tome of Law’ had chapters ten thousand words long. My goal, as set by my mentor David Farland (www.davidfarland.net) was to go between 2-2500 words per chapter, about 12 pages of text in standard editing format (12pt courier, double spaced lines etc etc – it helps give you an idea of what will be showing on the final pages). Initially, I was stumped, but having a word count in mind actually helps one focus on what is important, and as such I have found that my story flows a lot better, the hooks are easier to place. I have heard thus far from many different people that once they get started, they can’t put Hellbounce down. You can’t ask for more than that.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

The moment of epiphany:

No, but the idea is fun!

Dave

Quoting “Harrill, Matt” :

Dave,

I was just wondering, have you ever come across a story whereby hell
is literally freezing over? I was wondering if the concept of the
inhabitants of hell coming back up to earth for help because they
are under attack from something that is taking that cliché literally
and trying to destroy the realm had ever been used before. I thought
it could make quite a story.

Matt

That’s where it all started, with a simple email and a unique selling point that became the book below:

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

I have a bizarre and varied list of people I count as influences on what I have written. Obviously David Farland has been crucial in my development as a writer. He has always been there for me to bounce ideas off of, and as a writing guru of great magnitude, he has helped me make many right choices regarding style and content. I admire his books greatly. They are so easy to read. I am also a massive H P Lovecraft fan, and initially I wanted to create something Lovecraft-esque for Hellbounce. However it evolved into something that I can only describe as quintessentially ‘me’. Oddly, I do count the fictional author Hank Moody (from the TV series ‘Californication’) as an influence. Writing can be that fun.

Is there a line I wish I had come up with? The funny thing is when my publisher asked for teaser quotes, and I had my editor go through my story, she came back with some absolute gems, even to the point that I did not believe I had written them. I think I’m happy with my own creations:

5. Describe your ideal reader.

I think somebody who is prepared to think out of the box, is prepared for a surprise, a bit of a shock, a smidgeon of romance would be my ideal reader. I never started out writing this series with a target audience in mind. There is so much science to writing: marketing, audience research etc. I had an idea and I did my best to get it down on paper. There is no way I am the finished article, so in my opinion things can only get better with every book that is out there. My next book, Hellborne: The ARC Chronicles Part 2 is in editing and will be out soon, so anybody that has read book 1 won’t have long to wait. Book 3 – Hellbeast – is in my research phase. I go into great detail compiling notes, maps, scenes etc. I write each scene as if I am there, visualising it. I have been told my story has a movielike quality. It’s not text to me. It’s screen already.

I hope to keep everybody involved when my website, blog and mailing list all go live, hopefully within the next couple of weeks at www.matthewharrill.com. Anybody interested in Hellbounce can find it on Amazon at www.amazon.com/dp/B00KNLZO4S/. I find myself privileged to be surrounded with an excellent team as I undertake this journey. Faith Bartow my publisher, Rebecca Cartee my editor, Clarissa Yeo my cover artist and Michael Lowndes my marketing advisor are all top people. This is a team effort. I’m just the point man!

June 18, 2014 Techie stuff 3 Comments

GUIDED TRANSFER TO WORDPRESS.ORG – Part 1

Guided Transfer – Part 1

Preparation
(for a quick check list, see end of Part 2)

Moving your blog to WordPress.org isn’t straight forward. The easy way is to let someone do it for you. But even that is not all that simple. Without a Guided Transfer For Beginners manual, it’s tempting to give up. Don’t. If I can do it, so can you.

I’m an author, preparing for the moment when my first book will be released. More than that, I’m a blogger. It gives me joy if people comment on my posts, especially since I put a lot of effort into them. After having been with WordPress.com for a while, I became jealous of other websites that had fancy plugins. I didn’t really know what plugins could do and how they worked, but whenever I wanted my website to do something, I was told I needed a plugin. And WordPress.com don’t to plugins.

So I wanted what all the cool authors had. A WordPress.org site.

I already had my domain name, also hosted by WordPress.com. I had all the tools I needed, right? Before embarking on anything techie, I usually read up on the details. I studied several instruction manuals, checked out websites from people who had experience. Within a few hours I knew I wanted to use the Guided Transfer service offered by WordPress.com. Much less complicated.

Much less complicated doesn’t mean not complicated at all. At every turn, my lack of knowledge became ever more apparent.

During a Guided Transfer, a Happiness Engineer will be transferring your files, i.e. your blog posts, your scheduled posts, your pages, your stats, your blog followers etc., but he will NOT transfer the domain www.yourname.com. That’s an important difference.

Before I paid for the Guided Transfer, I needed to pick a new company to host my website in future. I chose Bluehost. WordPress recommended them and I heard good things about them.

So I paid my money, expecting everything else to take care of itself. It doesn’t. Bluehost offer all sorts of extra services, like security certificates to certify your website is free of malware, but it’ll take me months to find out what they all do. Anyway, so they had my money. Everything else was up to WordPress’s Happiness Engineer, right?

Wrong.

A couple of days later I got an email from Bluehost, reminding me the next payment for my domain name was due. It’s important you keep up payments, because once you let ownership of your domain lapse, you most likely won’t get it back. Or at least not for a price Joe Average can afford.

When I first joined WordPress.com, they had registered the domain name with a company called Wild West Domains. Bluehost gave me the choice of continuing to pay Wild West their yearly fees, or move my domain to Bluehost. There was no pressure.

I figured it made sense to have it all in one place, so I followed their link to the transfer site (there’s also a handy button on their website called “Transfer”). It informed me of two things. My domain, held by Wild West Domains, is locked, and I need an EPP Authorization Code.

At this point I wanted to cry. What’s an EPP Authorization Code? I found a contact address for Wild West Domains and asked them for information. Their response was they needed some information from the person who registered the domain before they could do anything. Yep, the tears started to trickle. I sent a support request to wordpress.com, since they originally registered my domain, hoping the Happiness Engineer would take care of everything.

Here their reply: ”We don’t transfer the domain to a different register during a Guided Transfer. We change the name servers to point to your host if the domain is purchased with us.”

I didn’t know who was pointing why and where. The tears were flowing now.

I’ve since found out that this means they will NOT deal with the domain at all during the Guided Transfer. What they will do is, once I have moved my domain to Bluehost, they will make sure that my website still links to my domain name, whoever is hosting it.

Ever resourceful, I rifled through my email account to find the original email sent to me when I signed up with wordpress.com. Bingo. That email contained a link. Guess where it took me? To my usual wordpress.com store on the dashboard. All the information was right there!!! I unticked the box labeled “locked” to change it to “unlocked,” then I clicked the button asking them to send me my authorization code.

A few minutes later, I received the code (in my spam filter) at the email address I registered with. Heartened, I copied the code they sent me into the Bluehost’s EPP Authorization Code field. To do that, I had to log in to Bluehost again. I simply clicked on the handy link at the bottom of the “Transfer” page. Bluehost then sent me another code (for verification purposes). I copied that code into the next field on the Bluehost site.

I think it worked. Well, something happened.

I was taken to another page which gave me the option of doing some “pointing” to something or other. I left the ticks at default, because I still had no idea what that meant. But I remembered the engineer saying that they will be pointing something at something, so I figured, if leaving it at default was wrong, they’ll probably sort it out for me. Anyway, Bluehost told me the transfer of my domain might take a few days.

This was all preparation for the big day. I hadn’t even paid for the Guided Transfer yet.

To find out how the actual transfer happened and what further surprises lay in store, click here to see end of Part 2.

June 16, 2014 The Write Path Post a Comment

THE WRITE PATH – Kathryn E. Jones

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about fighting their way through the writing landscape, from their early beginnings to where they are now. My guest today is Kathryn E. Jones, author of Conquering Your Goliaths, Marketing Your Book on a Budget, and book one of the Susan Cramer Mystery Series, with book two out in September.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Kathryn’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

When I first became serious about being a writer, I was pregnant with my first daughter. Before that, I’d taken creative writing classes but never felt like I was really that great at writing. I never had a teacher that said, “You have a future in writing,” or anything like that, and so when the thought first came to me that I’d like to try writing, there wasn’t really any previous slaps on the back to get me going. To be honest, I had morning, afternoon and evening sickness and was just trying to fill in the long hours of being sick on the couch. When it occurred to me that I might write, it was merely an idea to do something fun and perhaps, fill in a bit of the daily gaps.

After writing my first story, “Weebles Wobble” (which is pretty terrifying, I can tell you), I decided that I liked writing and would one day be a success. It took 8 long years following that first story to break into print.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

The toughest part about writing is getting up and doing it. Getting started. I always have excuses, but I’ve learned through the years to ignore them and get to work; because writing IS work.

And yes, I have weaknesses in writing. I think we all do. In the beginning, I struggled big time with voice and basic sentence structure; now I push myself to add more setting to an otherwise empty world. I love dialogue and do well at it. Coming up with a captivating setting is another story. But I continue to work on it.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

Years ago, when I was writing a short story entitled, “The Awakening of George Mahooney,” I suddenly realized the story was coming to me as if I was merely the transcriber of something very real. It was like George was standing next to me telling his story. It was incredible then and still is. I still get goose bumps every time I think or talk about it. I have had many of these experiences since that first story, and every time it’s as if I am merely listening and writing down what I hear. At times like these, when I’m not correcting every line as I go, or looking at the paragraph I’ve just written; when I’m truly listening, the writing comes the easiest.

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

My favorite line from Galaxy Quest: “Never give up, never surrender.” I love this, because as a writer giving up is never an option, even when you don’t feel like writing. Writing is a job, but it’s more than a job; it’s a career.

It’s something I do daily, something that keeps me breathing and moving forward in life. If this sounds sappy, so be it. I don’t know who I’d be if I could not write.

5. Describe your ideal reader.

My ideal reader is someone who is open to new ideas; someone who wants to improve his/her life and isn’t afraid to act on their belief that they can do so. I primarily write Christian fiction, but I have also written Christian and Business nonfiction (for writers). I am currently working on my second cozy mystery, so, even in this, I find that open readers are the best readers.

I try to reflect the positivity I share in the Christian works I write. It isn’t enough to write a book to help others, it’s important to me that I live what I have written. And that means that I am out there when it comes to book signings, blogging about writing, and so forth. It isn’t enough for me to be a great writer, I want to be there for those who are trying to be more in their own life.

Want to find out more?

http://www.ariverofstones.com
http://www.ideacreationspress.com
http://amazon.com/author/joneskathryn
http://www.goodreads.com/KaJones
http://www.twitter.com/kakido
http://www.pinterest.com/kakido
http://www.facebook.com/kathrynelizabethjones.author

June 13, 2014 Books, Urban Fantasy Post a Comment

Urban Fantasy Heroes – To Kiss, Kick Or Kill?

Check your weapons at the door and welcome today’s urban fantasy heroes.

Horror books and films used to portray vampires, werewolves and the like as bloodthirsty and violent monsters. In the good ol’ days, mythical beasts were truly scary.

How times have changed. Across the Urban Fantasy genre, the mystery of their existence has been romanticised. Century-old lore is being gutted for wisps of a truth that serves to present to you, the reader, civilized monsters and misunderstood bad boys with a heart of gold. A heart of gold, provided they meet the right girl. How wonderful that in literature, at least, the search for redemption is still alive. Men want to change for their chosen gal, and the worthy woman will turn the disaffected monster into a dreamboat through the medium of love.

Aww.

These “monsters” must of course retain the traits that characterize them as a member of their species, and it helps to throw in a few acts of shocking violence to reinforce their dastardly nature and to provide sufficient reason to let them wallow in that oh-so-sexy misery. Urban fantasy writers know, the worse his reputation, the greater the love that transforms him.

Let’s dissect the Twilight Saga.

Or let’s not. Filled with typical teenage angst, Edward & Co are too soppy for my taste. I simply can’t take Stephenie Meyer’s vampires and werewolves seriously. That’s fine, since I’m not her intended readership. However, if I’d come across her in my youth, I’d probably covered my notebooks with ‘Jacob’ and my name, enclosed by pink hearts, like a thousand other girls.

Oh yes. Despite my scathing tone, I love my heroes to be rugged, tough, and just a little bad. My heroines sassy, kick-butt, and…just a little bad. And why not? If my fantasy world were populated by humdrum dweebs, it would hardly qualify as “fantasy.” Certainly not my fantasy. And while the teen heart throbs of Young Adult fiction don’t do it for me, Urban Fantasy has plenty to offer for a variety of tastes.

I adore the hard edge of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series, whose resident vampire Ivy constantly struggles with her inner monster, never allows the reader to completely relax around her, and yet makes the best friend a girl could have. Ivy isn’t the only house-trained monster I enjoy reading about or watching on TV. To think back, who didn’t crush on Buffy’s Spike? Urban fantasy at its best.

Basically, turning monsters into heroes is one of the hallmarks of Urban Fantasy. Witches are hip and sexy, vamps are tortured hotties, and werewolves become a woman’s best friend. It’s what UF does so well. We take elements from genres like fantasy and horror and transport them into a world we know. Magical amulets are available side by side with knock-off Prada bags from street vendors, and a flick of the digital-watch-wearing wrist may change weather patterns.

“Soft vampires are not believable,” I’ve been told. Seriously? Their gentleness tips the scales from everyday normalcy to Nah, I don’t buy it? Not the existence of vampires in the first place? Once you suspend disbelief, everything becomes a measure of subjective likes and dislikes. So stop being down on toothless vamps and puppy-eyed werewolves and enjoy the madness.

Even if you don’t love the genre yet, the right evil-to-seduction ratio for you may still be waiting to be discovered.

June 10, 2014 The Write Path 12 Comments

THE WRITE PATH – Marie Dry

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about fighting their way through the writing landscape, from their early beginnings to where they are now. My guest today is Marie Dry. I can see a lot of myself in her answers (and not just our gratitude to Mary Buckham for making us better writers). I hope you can, too.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Marie’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

I made up stories even before I could read, and I couldn’t wait to go to school to learn to read. I wrote my first little story at seven and then from about age thirteen I have always been working on some new story. For me it’s not a question of wanting to be a writer, but more that I have no choice. The characters in my head demand that I write their story.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

The toughest part for most writers is the self doubt. Is it a good idea, will the readers and editor like your character, will you be able to write the story and do it justice? Moving on from questions like that plaguing me is the hardest. Luckily, the characters in my head would never allow me to give up on them.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

I had several since I started to seriously work on my craft. The courses I took with Mary Buckham really helped me take a step forward. She gives examples of writing that works and doesn’t work, and seeing what doesn’t made a light go up for me. Especially in her course on the twelve steps to intimacy. The concept of show don’t tell was another aha moment. It took me long time not to simply replace telling with better telling.

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

I have always been a big fan of Jayne Ann Krentz and have read her since I was in high school. When I read a Hunger like no other by Kresley Cole I was depressed for a whole week because that book was so good.

5. Describe your ideal reader.

I have been an avid romance reader since I was a little girl and see myself as the average romance reader. And that is who I am writing for. I make time to read to stay up to date with what is happening in the world of romance.

Any final words?

Yes, thank you for hosting. I really enjoyed our chat.

You can visit Marie’s website at www.mariedry.com.

Her book is out June 21, so why not check out and pre-order Alien Mine now?

June 8, 2014 Interests and hobbies Post a Comment

Cool Links To Awesome Sites – Beating Boredom In A Click

In-between my usual posts, I thought I should update you on what I’ve been up to. Well, I’ve been checking out blogs. And let me tell you, some are just a delight. So I wanted to share just a few cool links with you. The owners don’t know I’m doing this, and they don’t know me. That’s because this isn’t about me. (It’s Sunday. It’s enough if Mon-Sat are about me :-)). If you have some time to waste, why not give them a try?

Tricia Drammeh
This website held my interest for an entire afternoon. The author writes well, which is what you hope for from an author. She also has a section offering book reviews and author interviews.

Evil Editor
Hugely popular website, not just among writers. Evil Editor and his minions provide free feedback on query letters — in the most hilarious way. He also offers other fun features like Guess the Plot on the basis of the title alone and other gems. Has to be read to be fully appreciated, but be warned. Highly addictive.

Medium
A new concept, to me at least. A website dedicated to writing of all kinds. Extremely stylish. Just browsing made me feel all artsy.

Mental Floss
Lists, whacky facts, a bit of geek and genuinely fun facts. I could spend days on this website. And have.

Buzzfeed
Speaking of lists, this site has them all. Well, most of them. If you’re truly bored, this will cure you.

Textastrophe
This guy picks random ads or numbers from the Internet and starts random conversations by text message, which he then publishes here. Truly hilarious and just a little bit weird.

Honest Slogans
The owner of this website mixes graphics from the brands we know with slogans that convey how we really feel about that brand. Lots to smile about here.

lolmythesis
This blog was started in December 2013 by Angie, a senior at Harvard College studying. College theses get the one-liner treatment with hilarious results.

Once you’ve had a chance to visit these sites, I’m sure you’ll agree. Cool links indeed.

June 6, 2014 Books, Writing craft Post a Comment

Building Trust In Fiction And Life

After watching an episode of the TV series “Perception,” I became interested in the issue of trust. On the show, Dr. Pierce suggests not only does a breach of trust affect the same parts of our systems that regulate our visceral responses, but we’re also physically rewarded when we believe in something or someone.

So reading fantasy and suspending disbelief results in a physical response of comfort and happiness. Who needs chocolate, eh?

The idea of physical responses explains why I keep exploring the effects of trust and the betrayal of that trust in my characters.

I dug further into the subject. Please note I’m not a psychologist, so what follows is as much my opinion as it is fact. It has been suggested that trust recovery is easiest and strongest if a long, good relationship existed prior to the breach. I believe that tallies with our expectations. The reason may be that once a relationship becomes habitualized, trust responses are automatic. If your husband of twenty years has cheated on you, you want to believe it was a one-off and it’s not going to happen again. They’ve learned their lesson. Right? Without intervention by our rational sides – and well-meaning, interfering friends – we might readily forgive.

However, if the breach occurs early on in a relationship, trust recovery is inherently weak*. This is because our responses are still somewhat under our control and not yet automatic.

What’s worse for an author is that building trust in high-stress and emotionally charged situation is a bitch. Pile on the stress, and our hearing diminishes, our logic abilities suffer, and remembering information becomes harder than driving a stick shift while knitting. According to the Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication (Heath and Hair), it takes several positive messages to outweigh just one negative message.

Applying this to the lives of our fictional characters, we have to be careful how we build trust believably. The reader feels, or is supposed to feel, with our main character (MC). The minute an unproven character lies – and is caught in a lie – the reader, just as our MC, will be suspicious and write him off.

On the flip side, proving your trustworthiness on the fly goes a long way toward building deep relationships. And by deep relationships I mean those that will survive some form of betrayal. But is it even possible to quick-build deep trust over the course of a few chapters?

Here, actions do speak louder than words.

Management getaways often focus on this. You are blindfolded and told to fall backward, on the understanding a coworker catches you. Why would you possibly do this? Well, mostly it’s down to peer pressure, i.e. the fear of looking stupid if you refuse, plus the rational part of your brain that convinces you the organizers know what they’re doing. So you don the blindfold and fall. Now the pressure shifts to the other party. If Gary from Accounts does his job and prevents you from cracking open your head, your brain is a leap closer to trusting him with more vital aspects of your life. Go, Gary! Repeat such a high-stake exercise a few times, and your responses become automatic. Like it or not, you want to forgive.

Another way of proving our worthiness is by confiding secrets. You’re laying yourself open, risking humiliation – or worse – by spilling all. Ordinarily, building trust this way is gradual, with the revelation about our lives and secrets increasing in importance, until finally, trust becomes automatic behavior.

So if we, as writers, want to build a believable relationship between our main character, our secondary character and the reader, we should combine serious jeopardy for the vulnerable party and a strong, overwhelming show of trustworthiness by the other character.

This danger need not be physical, but it needs to be stressful, and it needs to be based on scenarios where the trust we’re establishing can be tested. The repeated passing of these tests will make trust an automatic response, which is what we want. Throw Mary and Gary into a hell-like world. If Gary supports Mary, saves her from scoundrels, and macgyvers a device that catapults the pair out of the pits of hell, Mary begins trusting him automatically (that is to say even against her better judgment), even if he subsequently lies to her.

A revelation of a heavy-weight of a secret, and its reciprocation by the other character, could also speed up the process. So if Gary catches Mary sneak into the office at night, Mary will be on the defensive and not trust him enough to tell him why she’s breaking in. BUT if Gary discloses a huge secret about himself, Mary might have the confidence to reciprocate. Once bonded by these secrets, their little alliance will stand square against the outside world. Their trust is strong.

A final word. Trust is also an issue in creating relationships between authors and readers. You can build trust by producing quality books of reliable content. But get it right from day one. Once gone, trust with your readership is not easily regained.

*”Effect of relationship experience on trust recovery following a breach,” Schilke et al., PNAS

June 4, 2014 The Write Path Post a Comment

THE WRITE PATH – Laura Welling

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about fighting their way through the writing landscape, from their early beginnings to where they are now. My guest today is Laura Welling, author of Talent To Burn, which is released this week.

For more information on the author and her book, see below. But first, let’s get to know Laura a little better.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Laura’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

I have been writing as long as I can remember! It started when I was four and wrote my first book, about spies. It filled an entire notebook with mostly pictures. I also taught myself to type around then, because I decided my handwriting was too babyish. When I was in kindergarten I typed out a long story about dinosaurs, which the vice principal made me read to the whole school. I was so terrified I could barely see through the tears to read it, but I have never been scared of public speaking since.

The point of this is that it wasn’t a conscious decision: it’s something I’ve been doing for my entire life. I can’t imagine not being a writer.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

At this stage in my life, making the time. I have a full-time job, a four year old, and a farm. I have learned though that if you wait for the time, it will never come. You have to make it. Taking a workshop with Kerri Nelson inspired me – she has a bunch of kids, and a job, and writes a huge number of books every year. The key is to learn to get something done in fifteen minutes or less, and find those gaps. If you wait for a solid day, it will never happen.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

Not a particular one, but this is generally how my brain works if I’m trying to solve a problem, writing or otherwise. I’ll throw myself into it – total immersion in the problem. Then I find the trick is to go do something unrelated: go for a walk, take a long shower, take a day off. My subconscious will often pop the answer up for me and it’s as if I always knew it. This is very helpful for plotting, for example.

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

This is a very long list of writers indeed. Most recently, some of my favorite authors are Ilona Andrews and Kristin Cashore. Incredible world-building, and a lyrical writing style on both counts.

5. Describe your ideal reader.

I write for myself! I think you have to. If you try to please other people…well, you’d have to be a mind reader. If I write to please myself, chances are, some other people will like it too.

About the book:

TALENT TO BURN by LAURA WELLING

Passion burns. Betrayal scars.

Cat Wilson grew up a misfit among misfits. She couldn’t read minds, see the future, or start fires like the other Talented kids inside the shadowy Grey Institute. Finally she ran, leaving her beloved brother, Eric, behind. She’s been running ever since.

When she learns that Eric has escaped, leaving deadly fires in his wake, Cat is torn between fear for her brother, and unwanted attraction to the messenger, a charming, Talented ex-con who lives for the next adrenaline rush.

Jamie Murphy is sure his group of outcast Talents can help Eric—if they can get to him before the cops or the Institute, and before he kills again. Cat’s aversion to Talented bad boys is like a wall of ice, but to his surprise, he doesn’t have to use an ounce of his own unique gift to find a way through it.

Yet locating Eric is only the beginning. In the battle to pull him back from the brink, Cat must find the courage to unlock a fearsome Talent of her own. And pray the psychic backdraft doesn’t destroy everyone she loves.

About the author:

When’s she’s not writing, Laura Welling wears a lot of other hats: mother, farmer, and software engineer. She’s Australian but lives in the United States on a horse farm, which she shares with her family, an over-sized dog, and various horses, cats and chickens. She is a compulsive reader of all genre fiction, who started reading before the age of two, and never stopped. She wrote her first “book” when she was five—a spy story, which has since been joined in a bottom drawer by various other early attempts.
This book was inspired by some of her favorite stories: Anne McCaffrey’s science fiction novels, Marvel’s X-Men comics, and The X-Files television series.

Blog/website: http://laurawelling.com
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