I Only Look Like I Know What I'm Doing

Hey there! My name is Sara and we'll be spending Thursday's together from now on here at Paranormal Romantics. So pull up a chair and the caffeine drug of choice (black coffee with one sweetener for me) and get cozy.

I write wherever my brain takes me. To say I'm an organic writer is a gross understatement. I never have a plan or course of how a writing day will take me. If a character from a book wakes with me, they'd done so for a reason and I'll spend the time necessary with them to get out what they have to say. I learned a while ago that this actually helps my brain purge growing ideas in order to work on others. For instance - earlier this year I finished up, and submitted, the next book in my Rebirth series, Blood Fever. I had a few notes scribbled on paper and 25K words already written for the next book I wanted to tackle, the second book in my Star Runner series (the first of which. Midnight's Ghost, releases on Monday, May 10th - WOOT!). So I sit down in front of the computer one morning and started to write. Only, I'm not writing what the notes sitting next to me talk to. I don't recognize what I'm writing but suddenly I've got 2K words.

And it's good.

So, I keep going. Learning about the people I'm writing about. I put away the notes and close the file on the 2nd Star Runner book. A month later and I'm looking at a finished book and I have no idea where it came from. It's not anything I'd usually write. It's not paranormal. It's not fantasy nor science fiction. It's...normal and I like it - a lot. *G* So, I let other people look at it and they like it too. This book came out of nowhere and the reaction to it is great! Which, if you know me at all, is a feat itself. It's hanging out in cyberspace for the moment. ;^)

I crack my knuckles because now it's time to dig back into the next Star Runner book. For a week or so everything is great. I even re-read Midnight's Ghost and pick up on a few things that still need to be dealt with and start dealing with them because I purposefully leave some unanswered questions at the end of Midnight's Ghost.

And then the characters start in. Only, it's characters from my Rebirth series - not the Star Runner one.

I fight and hold out. Determined that I will get more than just the bare bones of this book laid out. It will start to look pretty. Well, at least prettier than it does. However, my Rebirth characters are stubborn and determined. (Dealing with vampires and Fae - what did I expect?) So, I've given up. I shut down the Star Runner file and cracked open a file that had a "last save date" of Sept 2008. It won't change - it will always have that date because I also opened a crisp, shiny new file. Things in book 1, Flash of Dark and book 2, Blood Fever, have been changed from my first drafts and book 3 will have to be torn apart, chopped up and assembled before I wrap it all up in a shiny package - like a tasty piece of sushi.

Now I get to add the wasabi. :^)

Overcoming a Challenge

First, I'd like to thank Rebecca Royce for asking me to guest post today while she is out of town. I'm honored to be in some great company here at Paranormal Romantics for today!

For every writer, there is always something that proves to be a challenge for them. No two writers are exactly the same and everyone will tell you they have their own ways to overcome those challenges. I heard someone once say "write with your five senses". When you think about it, that makes perfect sense - however, that's where my biggest writing challenge comes in.

See - I don't have five senses. Way, way back in my youth, I developed scarlet fever from a cold/sore throat. something happened during the time of the high fevers and the doctors believe my olfactory nerve was damaged. I suffer from what is known as anosmia. Meaning that I do not have a sense of smell.

Zip.

Needless to say, that presents quite a challenge as a writer because none of the characters I've developed have the same affliction. This is where research really, really comes into play. Because the illness was so long ago, I have no memory of what things smell like, so telling me "Oh, that perfume smells like roses." doesn't help because I have no idea what a rose smells like in the first place. So even comparisons don't help. I rely heavily on people around me to help when I need to have a character reference a scent in one of my books.

In my first book, Flash of Dark, there's a scene where the hero, tells the heroine what she smells like:

“Why? What do I smell like?”
He dipped forward, pulling in my scent again, but this time he did so gently and unhurried as he savored it. A sliver of hot, powerfully intense lust snaked down my spine and curled tight fingers through me. “Vanilla I scent immediately, but it’s mixed with something else. A flower that I can’t quite place that softens the scent of it.” I was silent as he inhaled again. “Narcissus and oranges,” he said finally, drawing in another breath. This one was different, as if he wasn’t trying to place the scent any longer. Now it was like he was making sure that the smells were ones he never forgot. “I’m never going to be able to eat an orange again and not want you.”

This was one of those instances where I had to draw on information from friends and family. I don't know what vanilla, narcissus or even oranges smell like. My husband does a wonderful job of comparing scents to tastes for me and hence why a lot of times, scents in my books are associated with taste. It's something most readers wouldn't be aware of and probably see it as a better way of detailing scents, but it's simply a necessity for me to understand it.

This is just one example of a challenge I face as a writer trying to tell a story to a reader. Anyone else have any challenges they have to overcome in their writing? It doesn't have to be anything as drastic as my example, but I'm sure we'd love to hear it!

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Sara Brookes
http://www.sarabrookes.net
https://twitter.com/sara_brookes

Interview with Sara Brookes

Hi Sara, thanks for being here with us!!! Congratulations on the new release.

Thanks, Rebecca and thanks for having me here!

Let’s get started.

Tell me about your new release, Flash of Dark, available now from Liquid Silver Books.

Flash of Dark is an erotic paranormal romance/urban fantasy set in Cincinnati, Ohio and deals with the beginnings of something happening between the Tuatha Dé Danann, or the Fae, and vampires. Plus, there’s one stubborn human in the mix that just won’t leave Ana, the lead character – and a Fae – alone. There’s even a bit of a murder mystery in this one and, of course, a love story with some wonderfully hot sex scenes.

Here’s the blurb to tell you a bit more:

Remember when you were little and your parents warned you to stay away from certain things and told you that there were no creatures that hid in your closet? Guess what? They weren’t telling the truth. My name is Ana Sullivan and I’m one of those things that go bump in the night…

As a member of the immortal Tuatha Dé Danann, Ana was sent to the human realm three hundred and fifty years ago by the Fae council to keep tabs on the self-banished High King. Once a Celtic god with a talent for stealing souls, she does her best to keep her life on as even of a keel as possible, despite the fact that her best friend, Lucas Edwards, is a vampire. Keep as low a profile as you can, that’s Ana’s motto while she’s here. After all, she can live vicariously though Lucas.

Her tranquil life is thrown into a tailspin when an incident outside of her club points to her as the prime suspect in a high profile murder. As if that wasn’t enough trouble, handsome, rich and a media darling, Stark Grantham walks into her life she can see her peace and calm being chipped away one precious chunk at a time. Not to mention, Stark’s very, very human, as high profile as they come and everything Ana’s spent her life trying to avoid.

Given Ana’s Fae ability, a toxic touch that can be lethal to mortals, will his choice to be with Ana cost Stark his life?

I see that this book is called Rebirth Series I. Does that mean there will be more? Will it be the same characters?

Yes, I’m currently finishing up the second book in the series. I actually have one more chapter to write and it’ll go off to my critique partner for a bit. This is probably the sixth or seventh draft of it, so I’m hoping everything fell into place this time. While Flash of Dark deals with the Fae side of this fight, the next book will deal with the vampire side. It will be characters you’re familiar with from the first book, but not told from the same perspective.

Do you prefer to write series or stand alone books?

Actually, series are harder. Though stand alone stories are their own beasts as well. With a series, you have to really pay attention to timelimes and histories of the characters – especially when you’re working with characters several hundred years old. I actually have notebooks and scribbles on sticky notes to try to keep track of everything. With a stand alone, I always find I want to know more about characters and situations beyond just the book itself. That’s what makes series an attractive draw, you’re not just seeing this one small slice of time in the characters life and get to see a bigger picture.

What led you to the paranormal? Do you read a lot of it?

I’ve always been fascinated with paranormal, since I was a kid. I remember reading Christopher Pike and L J Smith’s Vampire Diaries and getting sucked into the stories almost immediately. I just read a lot period, but if the story has a paranormal element – all the better.

Do you have a favorite holiday?

Not anymore, it used to be St. Patrick’s Day, but my daughter’s dancing takes over that entire week. Because she’s an Irish dancer, St Patrick’s Day is probably a week long for us and there’s just a limit to how much green beer you can see.

Flash of Dark is a first person point of view book. Do you usually write in first person?

I’d say I balance between the two. Whichever way the story happens to come out, whichever character feels they need to tell it, that’s how the story gets told. I actually have a fantasy I’m working on that’s in its beginning stages and its third person POV from the male lead.

I always ask everyone to tell me about their muse, what is yours like?

I don’t have ONE muse, per say. It’s more a collection and it’s really the characters themselves. Which is helpful as it lets me learn their moods and personalities better but on the other hand, it lets me learn their moods and personalities better, if you know what I mean. It’s both good and bad and sometimes, those muses just have to be beat into submission.

What advice could you give new authors just starting out?

The same piece of advice I was given: write what you’d want to read. First and foremost, I write a story I would want to curl up with and read myself.

What do you do to combat writers block?

I work on several stories at once. If I get stuck with one story, I will move on to something else and work on it for a while. It usually it gives my brain a chance to focus on something else and not thinking about one for a while can get me un-stuck. It took me years to figure out that was what worked for me though and it was a frustrating – and long road – to get to that point.

Thanks for being with us today!!!

Thanks for having me, I had a great time!

Best,

RR