Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Play that Funky Music!

I love music.  I write, play, and clean to music - heck, in the hospital, I even slept to music!  My tastes run the gamut.  It's difficult for me to say what I like because it changes so frequently.  My husband informed me that I like whiny and flow-y music - like Coldplay or X Ambassadors.  To his credit, Torches was playing at the time on my flash drive (I don't listen to the radio, woe-oh-radio).  Four points to you for catching the reference.

While writing THE ARRIVAL, my playlist changed very little and included mainstream music (like Stone Sour's Through the Glass during Chapter 2 from Eric's POV), classical (Beethoven's Sonatas), Enigma (album MCMXC a.D.) and anime and game soundtracks.  And therein lies another gamut of options:  Bleach, Blood+, Trinity Blood, Hitman (love Jesper Kyd), Martian Successor Nadesico (Dearest during the latter part of Chapter 7), Devil May Cry, Ghost in the Shell, Mirage of Blaze, Monster, Speed Grapher, Witch Hunter Robin, and Texhnolyze.  Just to name a few. 

I mixed and matched based on scene and mood.  Enigma had just released MCMXC a.D. when I had the nightmare/dream series that birthed THE ARRIVAL, so it fit in anywhere (and still does).  It's a safe assumption that readers could loop only Sadeness and Mea Culpa and hear the book's basic soundtrack.  When I write, it's like watching a movie in my head, and movies use music to invoke certain emotions.  My writing style is no different.  Chapters 2, 4, 7, and 14+ required special playlists to keep my mind and the scenes in sync.

With that in mind, some readers have asked about a sequence in the last few chapters.  No spoilers, I promise.  

I did have a short list of certain songs, in a specific order, looped for the scene in question.  Most were classical-esque or opera-y (like Ave Maria sung by Christina England).  However, two were key:  White Room & Main Title by Jesper Kyd (Hitman's OST - game) and Good by my Master by Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell's OST - anime).  If you listen to these two songs during that moment, you'll get it.  ^_-      

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Arrival and Confessions

The Arrival, in some form or other, has been in my head for nearly 3 decades.  I wrote the first draft, which would become the now published book, in 3 months, but for a variety of reasons (life/health/name it), it was stuck in edits for 10 years - one of which was with a  professional editor.  Its sister book, Confessions of the Second Born, was also written in 2007 and stuck in edits, but I stopped working on it completely in 2015 (when cancer announced its presence).  Needless to say, when I have the time and energy to look at it now, I am beyond happy.

Between these two paper bound siblings, Confessions is the favored child (because I love Jonathan - he's an ass, but he's an ass that came to life in my head).  And every beta reader has been completely absorbed by the story, leaving me with little criticism to work with.  LOL

But really, the way readers react to Jonathan in The Arrival will affect they way they view Confessions, something I've mentioned in a few after-the-fact discussions, and is the closest thing to a spoiler I'll give.

I digress . . . The Arrival is out there!  I've heard so many theories at various stages and had wonderful conversations with readers afterward.  It's amazing.  It's truly awesome.  Between my beta readers, people who read my manuscript for fun, and the folks who have purchased the book, I haven't heard the same theory twice - ever.  The one constant?  No one can put the darn thing down!  And that makes me giddy.  Joyfully, school-girlishly giddy. 

Another constant?  It sticks with you.  You think about it.  You want to talk about it.  And none of conversations are the same because the take away is different for each reader.  Yeah - it's a vampire book, except it's not.  It's a book that has vampires in it.  There's a reason for that, just like there's a reason there are humans in it.  But I'm not saying anything else about that. 

I'm eager to polish Confessions and get it out there.  The 3rd book, Children of the Morning Star, is only partially written, and, like Confessions, hasn't been touched since early 2015, if that.  I do worry about finishing it.  Being able to finish it.  But then I remember when I started writing it and how it took over and wrote itself - characters changed themselves in ways I never expected and a character created itself with a surprisingly prominent existence that I still have yet to figure out.  I have to believe that I can do it.  There's even the possibility of a fourth book or character shorts.  Writing is cathartic for me and I have boxes upon boxes of notes and research detailing the overarching tale alongside each book's story.  I know how it all ends. 

For now, I am thrilled that The Arrival is out and that people love it and want more.  The confessions are coming. I promise.  And so are the COMS.  ^_-

Sunday, November 5, 2017

It takes a village

I completed my first e-book today (for The Arrival).  I've never used an e-reader, instead preferring my almost maddening addiction to paper books, so I have no idea how it compares to other e-books.  I feel like I rushed it, and partially I know why I feel that way, but I don't really know if it matters.  The bonus illustrations at the end of the paperback gave me quite a bit of trouble and I nearly chose to omit them altogether.  However, I didn't think that fair to the reader, so I figured out a way to include them and must hope that it is good enough, which is not something with which I am usually content.  Before MS and Cancer, and the Stone Soup that makes up my health, I was a perfectionist and a control freak.  I don't know that I am either, any more.  I am barely in control of anything at all, and being a perfectionist requires too much energy, but this project has been so close to my heart, for so long, that I want to produce the best result possible.  I hope I did.  Hence, "it takes a village."

If not for the reader, electronic or analog, books serve no purpose, which reduces authors to nothing beyond our own egos.  Readers make up the bulk of "Team GO BOOK!" with the author falling back to watch the charge and momentum build, like a coach on the sidelines.  (I know!  I just used a sports metaphor.  Correctly.  Go sports!)  Sure, a coach can yell, but the coach isn't playing.  Once the book is out, its success or failure is decided by the reader.  And we authors get to learn from both success and failure.  Yes, we "get to."  It's an honor that anyone would pick up a book and want to read it, even more so if the person is paying for it. 

And so, through comments and reviews, I will learn about my first e-book and where I succeeded, where I failed, and where I landed in the Goldilocks Zone.  The same will happen with the paperback, as well, but I don't have that same anxiety of not knowing with a physical copy.  I own a few books and am happy with the layout, formatting, font, etc - all the technical aspects of something tangible.  I am not at all comfortable with the intangible, especially when I've never seen another e-book for comparison.  Now, the story - that's all subjective. 

Some people will like it and some will hate it.  I can't help that.  I like it and I'm pleased with the end result.  I can't ask for much more than that . . . except for, of course, the reader's enjoyment.  I thought I was the happiest I'd be in this process the moment I received my first physical copy, finally seeing my manuscript, a rough stone, polished into a beautiful gem.  I love it.  But then my friends and family and others appeared, jubilant and excited, and began receiving their copies, and I was even happier!  The excitement is infectious and builds a new anxiety about reception, anticipating those first opinions, comments, thoughts, reviews. 

I look over at my book and I am happy.  To me, it's a success.  It's a huge win out of a decade of trials.  I am excited to see and hear the response.  I am excited to learn from it.  Mostly, right now, while I'm happy to have the e-book out, I am insecure about how it compares to other e-books in format and style, and readability.  These are the reviews from which I will learn the most.  And that is why it takes a village.  Without the reader, I wouldn't learn anything at all.