Friday, July 31, 2015

EMBATTLED - FREE



www.emandyves.com 

Blurb

My face is on every television, in every newspaper. They say I’m saving the world. I know better. I’m a school principal not a superhero. 
Of course that doesn’t explain the blood on my hands. Or the strange languages coming out of my mouth. Or the feel of swinging a machete. Or the sensation of lifting off the ground before I lose all memory.
Someone or something has hijacked my life. How do I get it back? 
Alien contact leads to adventure and love as the characters involve themselves in world affairs in this science fiction novel series. But are humans given second chances after our superhero fights war or will the gods decide our fate? 

Excerpt

“Sue,” Tom called. “You here?”
“In the supply room. Gotta check the back-up tapes. What do you need?”
“The Boss in?”
“Haven't seen her.”
Tom took a step back, and surveyed the office. “Her door's closed. Coast is clear. Listen Sue, what's up with her?”
Sue shrugged. “I don't know. She's been vague and forgetful lately. Not like her at all.”
“Loses her train of thought. Did you notice her struggling for words at the staff meeting? That's not like her at all. Normally sharp as a tack.”
Sue glanced out the door. Two teachers were passing through the office on their way to the staff room. She waited until they'd gone and lowered her voice. “Do you think we should talk to her?”
“I tried. As diplomatically, as I could.” Sue arched her brows. Tom chuckled. “Okay, so I asked her outright if she was okay.”
“And?”
“I don't know. It was like she didn't hear me. Like she was someplace else.”
“Do you think we should call her family?”
“Yeah, you should.”
“Me!?”
She didn't need to overhear that conversation to know she was slipping away. Away to that other world.

And later in the story:

She picked up the phone, dialed Tom's room. “Can you come to my office please?”
“What's up, Boss. You sounded worried and I don't mind telling you, you look like hell.”
She took a deep breath. “Do you believe in extraterrestrial beings?”
“Whoa, girl. Where did that come from?”
She shifted in her chair. “I... Nothing. Sorry. It was a bad dream I had last night. Spooked me is all.”
Tom frowned. “Are you sure you're not sick or something?”
She nodded. “Yeah, sorry to have bothered you.” She waved a hand at him. “Now get out of here. Back to the kidlets.” Her grin was wobbly.
Tom grinned back, but felt like cursing. He found Sue refilling her coffee cup in the staffroom. “She's not okay, is she?”
“No, and I don't mind telling you I'm worried sick. She asked me today if I believed in aliens and then seemed heart broken when I said no. I thought she'd burst into tears then and there.”
“So what do we do?”
“I've called her family like you suggested last time we talked. Waiting to hear back.”
Tom squeezed Sue's shoulder. “Let me know as soon as you get word. I'll go with you to talk to them.”


Friday, July 24, 2015

Blog Interviews

Q & A 

It’s common for authors to participate in blog interviews. We’re asked many questions—some mundane, others intriguing. Here are a few that captured my attention.

  • Have you ever written a bucket list?

When I was young, I had a list – cross the equator and International Date Line, spend time in Paris, go to Australia, ride a camel to the pyramids, go on safari, and visit all the continents. I haven’t been to South America (or the Antarctic), but the rest I’ve been able to cross off the list.

I had no idea when making that list as a youth, that not only would travel feature largely in my novels, but that it would include travel to unknown worlds—those of my imagination, worlds that housed aliens and gods and some of the magic that we could use down here on Earth.

  • What would you do if you had unlimited time, money and resources?

Money being the key word, eh? No need to think about the answer to this one. I’d go on safari again. That was without question, the best trip of my life. There is no describing the feeling of being miles from civilization, soaking up the utter silence, and seeing the great migration. Sitting around the campfire at night with the fires of the nearest tent camp 34 miles away, feeling the tremble of the ground as a herd of elephants lumber by, hearing the lions complaining in the distance—no one daring to speak. To do so would have seemed sacrilegious.

  • What are your biggest goals and dreams?

I’ve wanted to write ever since I was very young. I’m proud of my work and know that my books deserve readers. My big goal now is to have my novels be successful.

  • What are the most important things you can ever do?

Build solid and lasting relationships with the people important in my life. The greatest gift I can give to those I love and care about is time.


Friday, July 17, 2015

Authenticity



As writers, we’re told:
            Write what you know.
            Draw from your own experience.
            Research.

We do all of that and then … we receive a note like this from a reader.

This question has to do with your last book, EMBROILED (I'm still reading it). Emily's character intrigues me. Do you happen to know anyone who's visited a shrink before? I ask because Emily's sessions with David are vivid. Engaging. I can't help but feel that this goes beyond the imaginary. But then, that is what a wonderful writer does, right? Carry the reader along.

No, I don’t know anyone who’s been to a shrink. No, I’ve never been to one myself. So, if I’ve truly created an authenticity for my readers (as this one assures me I have) where did that ability to do so come from?

Perhaps the portrayal of a patient with her psychiatrist is influenced by memories of such events in books I’ve read or movies and television shows I’ve watched. I think that could be an explanation, but I believe that would be only a partial answer.

Then this conversation occurs.

Discussing a favorite movie, one of our friends commented on a key scene. “Then the character said exactly what I expected her to say.” For him that was a defining moment, the key to the character and the plot. If she had said anything else, it would have thrown him out of the scene and back into his theatre seat.

What does it mean to create an Emily, a character that readers find so real?

What does it mean to have characters that “stay in character” like the one in the movie?

How do we create the characters who take the reader into other worlds?

We can describe physical features. We can show their reactions to the world around them. We can have other characters react to them.

But, I believe the most powerful tool the writer has is dialogue. What characters say, how they say it, their tone and body language show the reader who and what they really are.

To create that kind of perfection, the author must know his or her characters intimately. The motives that drive them, their fears, their dreams, all of their idiosyncrasies, as well as the more mundane details of birthdays, family relationships, childhood experiences, teen traumas, friends and lovers. Most of this the reader will never know, but the soul of the character, as the author knows him or her, will leach into the novel and into the hearts and minds of the reader.


Working with Emily through four novels, I’ve come to know her intimately. I know how she would react in most any situation. I know what would make her angry or sad. I know what would set her on the offensive and when she’d cower away from danger. I know that she’s a passionate advocate for education, that she abhors war, that she’s a chocoholic … And I know that her choice of a psychiatrist wouldn’t be random. She’d walk out on one if she thought he was a quack, or his personality clashed with hers, or he lacked compassion. Emily would want an upfront, no nonsense kind of person and that’s what she’d get.

So now, I’m not only intimately connected with Emily, I’m familiar with her doctor and that’s what the scenes are built from. That’s what creates a situation that does not allow for a false note and provides a credible story for the reader.

Knowing their characters as well as they know their friends and family allows the author to create authenticity through the actions and dialogue they engage in.











Friday, July 10, 2015

Writing something new

I’m clipping along on a new novel that’s completely different from anything else I’ve written so far—no aliens, no super powers. I don’t like trying to fit any story into a genre as in my opinion that is limiting and unfair for the author and reader alike. That said, I’m undecided as to genre as I know from experience that the finished product will be much different from this first sketchy draft. This new book has elements of adventure, and mystery with literary overtones. I think ultimately if I have to squeeze it into a genre it will fit in “boomer lit” and YA.
My Em and Yves series is billed as Sci-fi, but I think of it as “soft sci-fi” as it does not encompass futuristic technology. Adventure, romance, current events, and “supreme beings” play their parts in the unfolding events and magic of the series.
Darlene Jones
Darlene Jones
My series was inspired by my experiences living in Mali. When I was there, it was ranked the fifth poorest country in the world. Try to imagine if you can, going from the luxurious life of the Canadian west to the edges of the Sahara. Anything I did to try to help wasn’t even a drop in the bucket as the saying goes, so I created a magic wand and waved it in my books. 
My writing process is evolutionary. I started with bits and pieces of ideas written in short scenes that grew to chapters and then played musical chairs with those chapters. In the beginning I worked without an outline. I progressed to a rough outline that was never static for the second, third, and fourth books of the series which certainly made the story easier to write
This new novel, I started with one sentence that popped into my head one day. I wrote it down on my “novel idea” list and forgot about it for several weeks. Then one day, searching for an idea for a new novel, I read my list, and seeing that sentence the light bulb flashed on—very brightly, I might add. I started writing without an outline and within a few days I had written twenty-one chapters. I can’t believe how fast this book is flowing.
I’ve always been surprised—pleasantly—no matter which style of writing I’ve used, by the way the characters and plot take over and I end up writing bits I hadn’t thought of originally. The ending to my first book, EMBATTLED, came as a complete surprise. I love that aspect of writing.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Creating characters that are real



AS WRITERS, we’re told:
Write what you know.
Draw from your own experience.
Research.
We do all of that and then … we receive a note like this from a reader.
This question has to do with your last book, EMBROILED (I’m still reading it). Emily’s character intrigues me. Do you happen to know anyone who’s visited a shrink before? I ask because Emily’s sessions with David are vivid. Engaging. I can’t help but feel that this goes beyond the imaginary. But then, that is what a wonderful writer does, right? Carry the reader along.
No, I don’t know anyone who’s been to a shrink. No, I’ve never been to one myself. So, if I’ve truly created an authenticity for my readers (as this one assures me I have) where did that ability to do so come from?
Perhaps the portrayal of a patient with her psychiatrist is influenced by memories of such events in books I’ve read or movies and television shows I’ve watched. I think that could be an explanation, but I believe that would be only a partial answer.
Then this conversation occurs.
Discussing a favorite movie, one of our friends commented on a key scene. “Then the character said exactly what I expected her to say.” For him that was a defining moment, the key to the character and the plot. If she had said anything else, it would have thrown him out of the scene and back into his theatre seat.
What does it mean to create an Emily, a character that readers find so real?
What does it mean to have characters that “stay in character” like the one in the movie?
How do we create the characters who take the reader into other worlds?
We can describe physical features. We can show their reactions to the world around them. We can have other characters react to them.
But, I believe the most powerful tool the writer has is dialogue. What characters say, how they say it, their tone and body language show the reader who and what they really are.
To create that kind of perfection, the author must know his or her characters intimately. The motives that drive them, their fears, their dreams, all of their idiosyncrasies, as well as the more mundane details of birthdays, family relationships, childhood experiences, teen traumas, friends and lovers. Most of this the reader will never know, but the soul of the character, as the author knows him or her, will leach into the novel and into the hearts and minds of the reader.
Working with Emily through four novels, I’ve come to know her intimately. I know how she would react in most any situation. I know what would make her angry or sad. I know what would set her on the offensive and when she’d cower away from danger. I know that she’s a passionate advocate for education, that she abhors war, that she’s a chocoholic … And I know that her choice of a psychiatrist wouldn’t be random. She’d walk out on one if she thought he was a quack, or his personality clashed with hers, or he lacked compassion. Emily would want an upfront, no nonsense kind of person and that’s what she’d get.
So now, I’m not only intimately connected with Emily, I’m familiar with her doctor and that’s what the scenes are built from. That’s what creates a situation that does not allow for a false note and provides a credible story for the reader.
Knowing their characters as well as they know their friends and family allows the author to create authenticity through the actions and dialogue they engage in.