Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
What a month! If we thought October would be quiet, we had another think coming! In between releases, promo, and catching up on the meanders and intricacies of a publishing house, it's been non-stop rushing!
As you probably know, Eirelander Publishing opened its doors at the start of the month. Two authors of the RBA posse saw their releases debut-ing the Main and Heat lines of the publisher, respectively.
Aasiyah Qamar released Light My World, a multicultural contemporary romance with comedic influences set on a small and dynamic island of the southern Indian Ocean, Mauritius.
Tethys J. Killian released Master and Commander's Prey, a time-travel, erotic historical that brings you into the world of a master and commander hero, Captain Jacob Wolfson, and his Fate-determined clash with modern-girl Shiloh Montgomery-Moore.
In between all this, needless to say, the two have been hard-pressed to hold on to a scrap of sanity to blog. But, they knew they could count on the other wonderful ladies of the RBA clan to hold the fort. Sandra Marshall and Angela Guillaume (who made her blogging comeback with us - give her a big round of applause!) have done a stellar job of grabbing and captivating the blog's audience with their thought-provoking pieces.
So as we finish off October, amidst a show-stopping fireworks display to celebrate the above-mentioned releases and the opening of the publisher, and while gearing up for a fabulous Halloween weekend, we ask you again - are there skeletons lingering in writers' closets?
Don't forget:
This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.
This October, we're on the quest:
Searching for a some meat and beef...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Watching... books???
I'm gonna try to make this short and to the point, coz the power keeps going on a nd off at my end and that leaves me with a little window to get it all done. Yikes - how do I write short and to the point?
Hmm, maybe if I just related what I saw. You know, like you're watching a movie and it's a blow-by-blow visual of what's happening on the screen to the story. That'd be perfect, right? I'd be able to cover everything, innit?
Wrong! This is a blog about writing, and this means I gotta write.
That's where it seems a lot of writers are going wrong lately - they write a story with the same viewspan and attention span as watching TV or a movie. It's like, you watch a movie, get it? Start, middle, end, you show what's taking place in the story. There you go - story written!
Sure you go. You've written a story with start, middle, end and it even holds the line! But wait a second too - you're giving me the movie version, not the book one!
I'll take an example. Twilight movie v/s Twilight book. Each has start, middle, end, the same story, same people, same setting, same plot, same whatever. Where's the difference then?
This is what's different - I watch the movie while I read the book. Not making sense? Okay - the book gives you an addtional layer to the movie version, because you are not seeing the characters but you are the characters!
That's why you cannot 'watch' a book, you need to read it. Reading means you open a total different world for the reader, one where it's almost a virtual reality simulation without the gadgets coz the reader uses his brain as the simulator and your words as the connection.
Still not making much sense? Okay, let's try another approach. How many times have we as writers heard this line - show, don't tell! It's almost become a mantra that switches on automatically when we get to the keyboard. But how much are you really showing?
Bear in mind the virtual reality simulation again. You need to show something to your writer. Say, for example, your heroine is angry after a tiff with her lover. So, in show and don't tell mode, you go - Megan fumed inside, and as she went out, banged the door behind her.
Made your point, innit? She's so angry she bangs the door. You showed! Actually, no. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you didn't show me this. You gave me a visual, which is basically what one would watch in a movie. But in the movie, you'd see the expression on the actress playing Megan's face. You'd see her bunch her fists maybe, bite her lip extra hard, stomp her heel. Where have you shown this in the above line?
Also, is this door-banging in character with her? What makes her bang the door? Exasperation that her man is taking her for granted/brushed her off again? Is it completely unrelated, as in this tiff with him not understanding that he needs to pick his socks off the floor, is it simply the drop that made the vase overflow? Is she maybe feeling irritated by everything and nothing because it's a hormonal time for her?
All of this you would give your reader to connect with if you showed not just her movements but what's in her head too.
And this is the difference between watching movies and reading books. You watch a character on the screen, whereas you relate from the character's POV in the book. You become her, you experience what she is feeling, it's a virtual reality simulation for you!
You can call this Deep POV; you can call this being in her shoes; you can call this TMI, but this showing part is definitely lacking in books nowadays. If we wanted to watch a movie, we'd watch a movie. Where's the thrill in reading, in being taken to that other world with all your senses involved (not just eyes and ears), that reading is supposed to give a reader?
Remember that this connection lies in your hand, you the writer. It has to flow from your pen, to be able to whisk your reader away. Otherwise, why bother to read your work when he/she can watch a movie?
Any questions or comments, feel free to holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Available Now!! - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
Hmm, maybe if I just related what I saw. You know, like you're watching a movie and it's a blow-by-blow visual of what's happening on the screen to the story. That'd be perfect, right? I'd be able to cover everything, innit?
Wrong! This is a blog about writing, and this means I gotta write.
That's where it seems a lot of writers are going wrong lately - they write a story with the same viewspan and attention span as watching TV or a movie. It's like, you watch a movie, get it? Start, middle, end, you show what's taking place in the story. There you go - story written!
Sure you go. You've written a story with start, middle, end and it even holds the line! But wait a second too - you're giving me the movie version, not the book one!
I'll take an example. Twilight movie v/s Twilight book. Each has start, middle, end, the same story, same people, same setting, same plot, same whatever. Where's the difference then?
This is what's different - I watch the movie while I read the book. Not making sense? Okay - the book gives you an addtional layer to the movie version, because you are not seeing the characters but you are the characters!
That's why you cannot 'watch' a book, you need to read it. Reading means you open a total different world for the reader, one where it's almost a virtual reality simulation without the gadgets coz the reader uses his brain as the simulator and your words as the connection.
Still not making much sense? Okay, let's try another approach. How many times have we as writers heard this line - show, don't tell! It's almost become a mantra that switches on automatically when we get to the keyboard. But how much are you really showing?
Bear in mind the virtual reality simulation again. You need to show something to your writer. Say, for example, your heroine is angry after a tiff with her lover. So, in show and don't tell mode, you go - Megan fumed inside, and as she went out, banged the door behind her.
Made your point, innit? She's so angry she bangs the door. You showed! Actually, no. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you didn't show me this. You gave me a visual, which is basically what one would watch in a movie. But in the movie, you'd see the expression on the actress playing Megan's face. You'd see her bunch her fists maybe, bite her lip extra hard, stomp her heel. Where have you shown this in the above line?
Also, is this door-banging in character with her? What makes her bang the door? Exasperation that her man is taking her for granted/brushed her off again? Is it completely unrelated, as in this tiff with him not understanding that he needs to pick his socks off the floor, is it simply the drop that made the vase overflow? Is she maybe feeling irritated by everything and nothing because it's a hormonal time for her?
All of this you would give your reader to connect with if you showed not just her movements but what's in her head too.
And this is the difference between watching movies and reading books. You watch a character on the screen, whereas you relate from the character's POV in the book. You become her, you experience what she is feeling, it's a virtual reality simulation for you!
You can call this Deep POV; you can call this being in her shoes; you can call this TMI, but this showing part is definitely lacking in books nowadays. If we wanted to watch a movie, we'd watch a movie. Where's the thrill in reading, in being taken to that other world with all your senses involved (not just eyes and ears), that reading is supposed to give a reader?
Remember that this connection lies in your hand, you the writer. It has to flow from your pen, to be able to whisk your reader away. Otherwise, why bother to read your work when he/she can watch a movie?
Any questions or comments, feel free to holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Available Now!! - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
Monday, October 5, 2009
With Love, from Ms.Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Last week saw the opening of Eirelander Publishing, a small-press house many of us RBA posse are involved with. It's been a terribly exciting time for us, and take a moment if you can to check it out. I promise you won't regret it!
So. October... already! Hmm, spooky atmosphere, lengthening darkness, creatures of the night and hallows, Halloween... Expect to see jack-o-lanterns everywhere, rich and warm fall colours, ghouls and other such lot, skeletons...
Speaking of which, we here at RBA are sad to say this, but if you're a book lover, you don't need to look long and hard and even far to see skeletons lately. Just take a look at most books coming out right now and bam! There you are - a skeleton of a story packaged as a book!
This got us thinking, bumping our brains and making hissing sounds come from our lips. Why? We kept asking ourselves - why is there is no real story now? Where are the writers? Where did they check the 'wow' factor that should be so inherent to writing?
Stay with us this month as we try to answer this question while navigating through the sinuous and tortuous waters of what is known today and in this age as publishing and writing.
T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will be taking all these on, as well as our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja. And after months off (wherein she achieved another superwoman milestone - that of becoming a mommy!), Angela Guillaume is back with us and ready to roar!
Catch us this week as we hiss the turmoil out of our systems!
On Tuesday, T.J asks writers today whether they really care about their craft.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will want to know whether you're watching books or reading them.
Don't forget:
This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.
This October, we're on the quest:
Searching for a some meat and beef...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
P.S A little woman-to-woman aside: October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Take a minute to get the knowledge on how a little thing like a monthly self-exam can save your life, and remember, Think Pink!
Last week saw the opening of Eirelander Publishing, a small-press house many of us RBA posse are involved with. It's been a terribly exciting time for us, and take a moment if you can to check it out. I promise you won't regret it!
So. October... already! Hmm, spooky atmosphere, lengthening darkness, creatures of the night and hallows, Halloween... Expect to see jack-o-lanterns everywhere, rich and warm fall colours, ghouls and other such lot, skeletons...
Speaking of which, we here at RBA are sad to say this, but if you're a book lover, you don't need to look long and hard and even far to see skeletons lately. Just take a look at most books coming out right now and bam! There you are - a skeleton of a story packaged as a book!
This got us thinking, bumping our brains and making hissing sounds come from our lips. Why? We kept asking ourselves - why is there is no real story now? Where are the writers? Where did they check the 'wow' factor that should be so inherent to writing?
Stay with us this month as we try to answer this question while navigating through the sinuous and tortuous waters of what is known today and in this age as publishing and writing.
T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will be taking all these on, as well as our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja. And after months off (wherein she achieved another superwoman milestone - that of becoming a mommy!), Angela Guillaume is back with us and ready to roar!
Catch us this week as we hiss the turmoil out of our systems!
On Tuesday, T.J asks writers today whether they really care about their craft.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will want to know whether you're watching books or reading them.
Don't forget:
This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.
This October, we're on the quest:
Searching for a some meat and beef...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
P.S A little woman-to-woman aside: October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Take a minute to get the knowledge on how a little thing like a monthly self-exam can save your life, and remember, Think Pink!
Monday, September 21, 2009
With Love, from Ms.Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Read any good books lately?
Ask anyone this question and most often, sadly, you hear something like, not really.
I say, what a shame! I mean, come on, can you count the sheer amount of writers out there, the humongous number of authors in the publishing world? And not even a handful of good, memorable stories every month? Am I too demanding or what?
We, the Royal Blush posse, have been trying to wrap our minds around this sad fact - where have all the good stories gone? Whatever has happened to take the number of amazing books published from a good deal a decade or two ago to not even a handful today, while there has to be at least a hundred stories coming out every month?
Why, what, how? And again, why?
Catch us this week as we try to not tear our hair out and shed some light and thoughts on this terrible issue.
On Tuesday, T.J. asks whether it may be that investment is lacking in a story. Come check her post on what it was like when she started writing, and what the situation is like today.
Wednesday, Diana chimes in to bring us her simple but at the same time apparently 'un-get-able by writers today' view of what constitutes a good story in her world.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) asks whether the writer's heart is into her work or not, and how this may affect the story that comes out of said writer's pen.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Read any good books lately?
Ask anyone this question and most often, sadly, you hear something like, not really.
I say, what a shame! I mean, come on, can you count the sheer amount of writers out there, the humongous number of authors in the publishing world? And not even a handful of good, memorable stories every month? Am I too demanding or what?
We, the Royal Blush posse, have been trying to wrap our minds around this sad fact - where have all the good stories gone? Whatever has happened to take the number of amazing books published from a good deal a decade or two ago to not even a handful today, while there has to be at least a hundred stories coming out every month?
Why, what, how? And again, why?
Catch us this week as we try to not tear our hair out and shed some light and thoughts on this terrible issue.
On Tuesday, T.J. asks whether it may be that investment is lacking in a story. Come check her post on what it was like when she started writing, and what the situation is like today.
Wednesday, Diana chimes in to bring us her simple but at the same time apparently 'un-get-able by writers today' view of what constitutes a good story in her world.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) asks whether the writer's heart is into her work or not, and how this may affect the story that comes out of said writer's pen.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Imagine with your imagination
I know, cheesy title, silly really. What on earth is she gonna ramble about today, eh? Bear with me for a little while, you'll see what I'm getting at.
Yesterday, my six year old son must've been really bored out of his senses to come to my bedroom and plop himself down on the bed while I was blow-drying my hair. Usually one to talk the hind leg off a donkey, after a few minutes, he got bored again that we both had to shout over the noise of the hair dryer. So he did what every self-respecting little boy would do - look for something to do. Now, my room ain't exactly girly (remember I share it with the hubby, who's best described as a caveman of sorts) but it ain't exactly a little boy's heaven either. So there my little one goes, making tons of noise like the sound of a gunning engine, and with all things, a bottle of body lotion in his hands. As I usually do if he isn't breaking anything, I humor him, and ask, is that a car (he's obsessed by racing)? Little one rolls his big eyes and shakes his head (yeah, his mom's a hopeless basket case according to him!) and goes, it's a speedboat, Ma! Can't you see that's the engine and the propeller? And true enough, it was one of those pump bottles, the pump bit was turned in such a way that it really looked like the engine of a boat.
What I'm getting at is this - who'd have thought a pump bottle of lotion would make a great speedboat?
The answer is, imagination!
As a writer, it got me thinking then - where has our imagination gone? When you see the amount of templated work out there (which Sandy touched upon yesterday in her post), you wonder what happened to originality and twists and turns. It's as if writing, especially in the romance category, has gotten as cliche and as predictable as soapies. You always know in a soapie that the guy who loves this one is gonna marry someone else and this first love may try to break them up or they both pine for each other and blah blah blah. Same for romance with its rehashed stories.
But what's even worse, and that T.J. touched upon on Tuesday, is that there is no emotional drive behind the stories you get. Even if you lay your hands on a romance that is not loaded chock-full of mindless sex, you hardly ever have a plot and even more rare is good characterization.
Let's come to the mindless sex bit (sorry, this kinda sticks in my throat, and I know it's the case for many other unfortunate readers and writers of my acquaintance). Let's use our imagination, and let's use our common sense too.
So imagine you're a girl who's out in the big bad dating world. One of the big rules you would follow, as a sane and sensible person, is no sex on the first date. Why? You risk coming across as a cheap shag who has no respect for herself. How then do you expect a guy to respect you?
Makes sense, right?
So why then does the heroine of your book jump a guy's bones, not even on the first date, but within minutes of meeting him?
Okay, lust-driven attraction can happen, but it doesn't just happen bam, bang, boom out of nowhere. There's a buildup to this lust-driven state. So where is that in your story?
Another dating rule: don't shag everyone and everything. Come across otherwise as a no better than a brainless idiot who thinks with her libido. Now think of that girl you may know who shagged everyone and everything. Did you like her, respect her, want to know what happened to her? I'd bet on a big fat no!
So why then should we as readers like, respect, and want to know what happens to your heroine if she is like this?
Dating rule to never forget: a man who thinks with his crotch may be a good shag but he ain't ever worth it. Yes, he may have money, looks, a penthouse in the hippest part of town, drives fast and expensive cars, wears hand-stitched suits and shoes. So what? He shags you, shags the girl at work, the woman who hit on him in the wine bar, the woman he met in the elevator, basically he shags everything that catches the attention of his groin!
That's supposed to be a hero? We're supposed to cheer for him?
Oh, I forgot - the heroine is the one who's gonna change him and make him monogamous, right? How will she do this? By sending him into andropause thirty years before he's due to hit it?
Think, and use some common sense first and then lead that on with your imagination.
I don't say sex cannot be integrated in a romance, or in any other story for that matter. Take a very good example and you'll see what I'm getting at. Basic Instinct. Michael Douglas as tough cop. Sharon Stone as wicked temptress. Everyone will agree that movie is chock-full of sex and sexual innuendo (the interrogation scene, holy cow!). But, but, but - is the movie a string of mindless sex scenes? No! Why? Because the characters are involved, they're building up the tension, taking you along with them along that feverish, rising pitch of lust, emotion, and denial. In some places, you can cut the tension with a knife, and nothing more than a long, steady look is taking place between the protagonists.
Basic Instinct is hot, sexy, sultry. No one can say that isn't an erotic-inclined movie. But was it cheap? No! Was it hare-brained? No! Did it make sense? A resounding Yes!!
Why? Because there was thought, emotion, involvement, imagination that were all used in equal measure in that story.
Where has the imagination of writers gone then today? Into the gutter?
I'd love to know what you think.
As always, any questions, just holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
Yesterday, my six year old son must've been really bored out of his senses to come to my bedroom and plop himself down on the bed while I was blow-drying my hair. Usually one to talk the hind leg off a donkey, after a few minutes, he got bored again that we both had to shout over the noise of the hair dryer. So he did what every self-respecting little boy would do - look for something to do. Now, my room ain't exactly girly (remember I share it with the hubby, who's best described as a caveman of sorts) but it ain't exactly a little boy's heaven either. So there my little one goes, making tons of noise like the sound of a gunning engine, and with all things, a bottle of body lotion in his hands. As I usually do if he isn't breaking anything, I humor him, and ask, is that a car (he's obsessed by racing)? Little one rolls his big eyes and shakes his head (yeah, his mom's a hopeless basket case according to him!) and goes, it's a speedboat, Ma! Can't you see that's the engine and the propeller? And true enough, it was one of those pump bottles, the pump bit was turned in such a way that it really looked like the engine of a boat.
What I'm getting at is this - who'd have thought a pump bottle of lotion would make a great speedboat?
The answer is, imagination!
As a writer, it got me thinking then - where has our imagination gone? When you see the amount of templated work out there (which Sandy touched upon yesterday in her post), you wonder what happened to originality and twists and turns. It's as if writing, especially in the romance category, has gotten as cliche and as predictable as soapies. You always know in a soapie that the guy who loves this one is gonna marry someone else and this first love may try to break them up or they both pine for each other and blah blah blah. Same for romance with its rehashed stories.
But what's even worse, and that T.J. touched upon on Tuesday, is that there is no emotional drive behind the stories you get. Even if you lay your hands on a romance that is not loaded chock-full of mindless sex, you hardly ever have a plot and even more rare is good characterization.
Let's come to the mindless sex bit (sorry, this kinda sticks in my throat, and I know it's the case for many other unfortunate readers and writers of my acquaintance). Let's use our imagination, and let's use our common sense too.
So imagine you're a girl who's out in the big bad dating world. One of the big rules you would follow, as a sane and sensible person, is no sex on the first date. Why? You risk coming across as a cheap shag who has no respect for herself. How then do you expect a guy to respect you?
Makes sense, right?
So why then does the heroine of your book jump a guy's bones, not even on the first date, but within minutes of meeting him?
Okay, lust-driven attraction can happen, but it doesn't just happen bam, bang, boom out of nowhere. There's a buildup to this lust-driven state. So where is that in your story?
Another dating rule: don't shag everyone and everything. Come across otherwise as a no better than a brainless idiot who thinks with her libido. Now think of that girl you may know who shagged everyone and everything. Did you like her, respect her, want to know what happened to her? I'd bet on a big fat no!
So why then should we as readers like, respect, and want to know what happens to your heroine if she is like this?
Dating rule to never forget: a man who thinks with his crotch may be a good shag but he ain't ever worth it. Yes, he may have money, looks, a penthouse in the hippest part of town, drives fast and expensive cars, wears hand-stitched suits and shoes. So what? He shags you, shags the girl at work, the woman who hit on him in the wine bar, the woman he met in the elevator, basically he shags everything that catches the attention of his groin!
That's supposed to be a hero? We're supposed to cheer for him?
Oh, I forgot - the heroine is the one who's gonna change him and make him monogamous, right? How will she do this? By sending him into andropause thirty years before he's due to hit it?
Think, and use some common sense first and then lead that on with your imagination.
I don't say sex cannot be integrated in a romance, or in any other story for that matter. Take a very good example and you'll see what I'm getting at. Basic Instinct. Michael Douglas as tough cop. Sharon Stone as wicked temptress. Everyone will agree that movie is chock-full of sex and sexual innuendo (the interrogation scene, holy cow!). But, but, but - is the movie a string of mindless sex scenes? No! Why? Because the characters are involved, they're building up the tension, taking you along with them along that feverish, rising pitch of lust, emotion, and denial. In some places, you can cut the tension with a knife, and nothing more than a long, steady look is taking place between the protagonists.
Basic Instinct is hot, sexy, sultry. No one can say that isn't an erotic-inclined movie. But was it cheap? No! Was it hare-brained? No! Did it make sense? A resounding Yes!!
Why? Because there was thought, emotion, involvement, imagination that were all used in equal measure in that story.
Where has the imagination of writers gone then today? Into the gutter?
I'd love to know what you think.
As always, any questions, just holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
Monday, September 7, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
We launched off into September with a really swift kick to the backside, touching upon an almost taboo question in the writing and publishing world today: where have all the good stories gone?
Is it a wonder then how many of us as readers are falling back on books written one or even two decades ago? Why, when there's so much writing and books and ebooks and new authors popping up everyday in the world and in cyberspace?
Last week, we attempted to answer that loaded question from a the angle of characterisation - how good characters maketh a good, memorable and lasting-impression story.
This week, we continue to try to find answers to this dilemma.
Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us how she feels emotional drive is totally, absolutely missing in most stories today. She also asks us what we feel is lacking in stories today - are we up for grabbing good emotional drive or just mindless sex?
Sandra Marshall pens us her monthly point-of-view piece on Wednesday. Find out what she has to say about what attracts, retains, and repulses her from books. She tells us what a good story is for her as a reader.
On Thursday, catch another of Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn)'s endless rambles on the current topic. This week, she talks about the dwindling collective imagination of this bizarre species called writers.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
We launched off into September with a really swift kick to the backside, touching upon an almost taboo question in the writing and publishing world today: where have all the good stories gone?
Is it a wonder then how many of us as readers are falling back on books written one or even two decades ago? Why, when there's so much writing and books and ebooks and new authors popping up everyday in the world and in cyberspace?
Last week, we attempted to answer that loaded question from a the angle of characterisation - how good characters maketh a good, memorable and lasting-impression story.
This week, we continue to try to find answers to this dilemma.
Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us how she feels emotional drive is totally, absolutely missing in most stories today. She also asks us what we feel is lacking in stories today - are we up for grabbing good emotional drive or just mindless sex?
Sandra Marshall pens us her monthly point-of-view piece on Wednesday. Find out what she has to say about what attracts, retains, and repulses her from books. She tells us what a good story is for her as a reader.
On Thursday, catch another of Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn)'s endless rambles on the current topic. This week, she talks about the dwindling collective imagination of this bizarre species called writers.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, August 31, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Already September! Where did the time fly? Summer's practically over, fall is settling in, and with it comes longer evenings and thoughts of cozy fires and snuggling up with a good book...
If you even find a good book, that is! Big if here.
This got us thinking, here at the Royal Blush Authors, about good books, the lack of them on the market, the loss of desire by writers to pen strong, quality-infused stories. Where have all the good stories gone?
Catch us this month as we attempt to answer this question from our perspectives as authors, readers, editors, and even a publishing-house owner!
Throughout September, we'll cover aspects such as characterization in a good story, how cliche kills a good endeavor, how much respect needs to be paid to a genre, and also how the story of our heart as authors breathes a new dimension in our writings.
T.J. on Tuesday kicks it off with characterization - your characters are the stars of your story - it's high time all writers realized this!
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) tells us how characters have led the way for her in her writings, and how you too can figure out a totally unique story path when you listen to these fictional people's voices.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Already September! Where did the time fly? Summer's practically over, fall is settling in, and with it comes longer evenings and thoughts of cozy fires and snuggling up with a good book...
If you even find a good book, that is! Big if here.
This got us thinking, here at the Royal Blush Authors, about good books, the lack of them on the market, the loss of desire by writers to pen strong, quality-infused stories. Where have all the good stories gone?
Catch us this month as we attempt to answer this question from our perspectives as authors, readers, editors, and even a publishing-house owner!
Throughout September, we'll cover aspects such as characterization in a good story, how cliche kills a good endeavor, how much respect needs to be paid to a genre, and also how the story of our heart as authors breathes a new dimension in our writings.
T.J. on Tuesday kicks it off with characterization - your characters are the stars of your story - it's high time all writers realized this!
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) tells us how characters have led the way for her in her writings, and how you too can figure out a totally unique story path when you listen to these fictional people's voices.
Don't forget:
This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.
This September, we're on the quest:
Searching for a good story...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Friday, July 31, 2009
Juggle and Balance
Sounds like what someone working in a circus would hear. Well, would you believe me if I told you the life of a writer often resembles a circus?
T.J. talked of bonbons, Diana about her corrupt file (poor thing, heart and support go out to her). I'm gonna talk about the need to balance.
Yes, it's easy to strive for this equilibrium when your life and everything in it is ho-hum. You take the kids to school, make their food and snacks, help with the homework, play those mind-numbing games you wonder why kids like. You welcome the man home. You shower TLC on him (and hopefully he returns some back!). You sit and chat over a cup of coffee while the kids are killing themselves in their room (but that's not your problem currently since you're in couple's time). You sit down and grab a book to read before going to bed, or you turn on the TV and plonk down in front of whatever soapie is airing, wondering how this woman was chasing this guy nine months ago when you last caught this show and how she still hasn't got him even now. Oh no wait, she got him and then she left him for someone else, and now she realises she shouldn't have left him int he first place, and yada yada to make mush out of the remaining brain you still had.
So all this is fine on most days. Somewhere in there, you open that Word doc and stare at the words, asking this woman featured there, uh where did we meet...? And you go, oh yeah, you're the gal who's hooked onto that hunk of a fella, but he isn't looking at you, right? You want me to hitch you together. And that's where you also go, pray tell me how on earth I'll do that!!!
And then there are the days when nothing else exists, nothing but this story inside you that you desperately need to write. Forget chores and welcome a whole family of dust bunnies in your house. There's so much laundry to do you can simply tip the baskets over and have great free-form furniture. And last you checked, no one died from a diet of instant noodles and carbonated drinks.
Yes, this is what you want to do when the writing bug bites you, and I know what I'm talking about, because I'm in this very predicament! There's this story screaming to get out, and I mean screaming, as in yelling, screeching, hollering, using one of those sound-magnifying things the police use to call to a hostage taker.
How do you fit life in there?
I find it's not easy to do, but do it I need, since like T.J. said, life is not a dress rehearsal. What happens to your kid now is not gonna happen again the same way after you finish penning this story down. The hug and cuddle he wants to give you sounds like a break you don't need from your keyboard, but this may just be what will take this child through another hour with you zoning out in writer land. You think you got your man? Yeah, you do - that's your ring on his finger, innit? Well, get this - a ring is not fixed onto his finger, just like you're not the only woman in the world (well, maybe you're the only woman who will take him with all his pig headedness and lousy bathroom habits and strange food eating ways, but you wanna risk that?) What happens if after you've penned this story, who may not be a masterpiece even, you look around and find that there's a stranger in the house with you? The worst thing is, it's not him the stranger, it's you, because you retired into your world and lost touch with the reality he's been living in.
Want to try to rekindle everything then? Fine, go ahead. If there is anything to rekindle. Cold ashes do not blaze back to life.
So whenever the writing bug bites, you'll feel kinda weird. You want to write, write, write. But remember that you also have to juggle and balance, because unfortunately for us writers, there is also the real world out there and it won't stop existing because we will it to.
Have you ever been bitten by this bug? If yes, what did you do to retain the equilibrium in your life?
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
T.J. talked of bonbons, Diana about her corrupt file (poor thing, heart and support go out to her). I'm gonna talk about the need to balance.
Yes, it's easy to strive for this equilibrium when your life and everything in it is ho-hum. You take the kids to school, make their food and snacks, help with the homework, play those mind-numbing games you wonder why kids like. You welcome the man home. You shower TLC on him (and hopefully he returns some back!). You sit and chat over a cup of coffee while the kids are killing themselves in their room (but that's not your problem currently since you're in couple's time). You sit down and grab a book to read before going to bed, or you turn on the TV and plonk down in front of whatever soapie is airing, wondering how this woman was chasing this guy nine months ago when you last caught this show and how she still hasn't got him even now. Oh no wait, she got him and then she left him for someone else, and now she realises she shouldn't have left him int he first place, and yada yada to make mush out of the remaining brain you still had.
So all this is fine on most days. Somewhere in there, you open that Word doc and stare at the words, asking this woman featured there, uh where did we meet...? And you go, oh yeah, you're the gal who's hooked onto that hunk of a fella, but he isn't looking at you, right? You want me to hitch you together. And that's where you also go, pray tell me how on earth I'll do that!!!
And then there are the days when nothing else exists, nothing but this story inside you that you desperately need to write. Forget chores and welcome a whole family of dust bunnies in your house. There's so much laundry to do you can simply tip the baskets over and have great free-form furniture. And last you checked, no one died from a diet of instant noodles and carbonated drinks.
Yes, this is what you want to do when the writing bug bites you, and I know what I'm talking about, because I'm in this very predicament! There's this story screaming to get out, and I mean screaming, as in yelling, screeching, hollering, using one of those sound-magnifying things the police use to call to a hostage taker.
How do you fit life in there?
I find it's not easy to do, but do it I need, since like T.J. said, life is not a dress rehearsal. What happens to your kid now is not gonna happen again the same way after you finish penning this story down. The hug and cuddle he wants to give you sounds like a break you don't need from your keyboard, but this may just be what will take this child through another hour with you zoning out in writer land. You think you got your man? Yeah, you do - that's your ring on his finger, innit? Well, get this - a ring is not fixed onto his finger, just like you're not the only woman in the world (well, maybe you're the only woman who will take him with all his pig headedness and lousy bathroom habits and strange food eating ways, but you wanna risk that?) What happens if after you've penned this story, who may not be a masterpiece even, you look around and find that there's a stranger in the house with you? The worst thing is, it's not him the stranger, it's you, because you retired into your world and lost touch with the reality he's been living in.
Want to try to rekindle everything then? Fine, go ahead. If there is anything to rekindle. Cold ashes do not blaze back to life.
So whenever the writing bug bites, you'll feel kinda weird. You want to write, write, write. But remember that you also have to juggle and balance, because unfortunately for us writers, there is also the real world out there and it won't stop existing because we will it to.
Have you ever been bitten by this bug? If yes, what did you do to retain the equilibrium in your life?
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/
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