My Agent Told Me To Make A Blog

Ready for my writing "life lesson" of the week? Today I had an epiphany about the difference between a scene that creates sexual tension in a sweet and romantic way, versus one that's silly and rom-com-y. Or at least, one of the main differences (plot and relationship context is important, too). Short Version:  Rom-com-y = accidental touches (tripping and falling into someone's arms, colliding with their hand when both reaching for something) Deliberate = intentional touches (gently moving someone aside, rubbing them while they're shivering)  Long Version: I had to rewrite a scene where the characters have a physical connection. A Moment, if you will. I've had to rewrite this a zillion times because of unrelated Plot Reasons. Each change involved a new setting, which necessitated a whole new scenario for the Moment, so I've had to brainstorm about this a lot. In the early drafts, the easiest ways to get these two characters to touch seemed to

Can I talk about one of my pet peeves? I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to writing. This one, unfortunately, pops up a lot, because it's something that tends to happen in the opening paragraphs of a story. What am I talking about? The awkward, self-aware, overly vibrant description of a character's eyes and hair. Nothing says amateur hour to me like seeing one of these shoehorned into the first three paragraphs There you are, getting interested in the plot, reading some dialogue, wondering what that explosion was--when some random sentence appears where the character focuses her icy sapphire eyes onto the object of her attention, and brushes a wayward strand of straight black hair out of her face. It's always the hair and eyes, too. Never an earring, a freckle, or a double chin. Some authors place tremendous importance on the color of hair and eyes, and the reader absolutely must know right away so we can be sure to picture the right thing dammit.  I have abou

Snow billowed between the high-rises, bright under the lights of the palace, as the Emperor's private railcar slid to a silent halt in front of the station. Imperial guards held the shouting and jostling crowd at bay, white-suited Revenants watching like ice sculptures behind them. The reporter took an anxious step forward, and a guard shot him a withering glare. Wait until you're cleared, her eyes said. He swallowed and shrank back. The railcar's hatch slid open. Guards poured out, dressed in white rather than gray, forming an additional barrier between the crowd and the Emperor. Under the main entrance's floodlights, everything shone--silver-lined walkway, gleaming Imperial railcar, pristine palace uniforms, all crisp and bright and flawless. Then the Emperor emerged, and put them all to shame. A sun blazing at the center of its planets. A ripple of activity rolled through the crowd. A hundred voices talking over each other, shouting profanities, demanding an

Last time, I talked about how grief shows up in different ways and in different situations. There's the sudden loss of an unexpected death, the crushing of hope when an improving patient takes a turn for the worse, and the grief of choosing when to say goodbye. Characters can encounter all these types of grief as they live through the plot--and what I want to talk about today is how the individual personality of the character influences their behavior. Everyone experiences and manifests grief in different ways. During a euthanasia, I always do the same things. I come in and tell them about the sedative. "It makes it calmer on then, gives you a few extra minutes to say goodbye, and then we come back for the final injection." They get a few minutes of privacy, then I explain it's essentially an anaesthetic overdose, and what they can expect during their pet's final moments. Then we find a vein, I ask if they're ready, and other than the occasional complicatio

This is a subject most people understand on an intellectual level, but experiencing it for yourself gives you a deeper, emotional understanding. And when I say "experiencing it for yourself," what I really mean is, "being involved in the grieving process of other families multiple times a week." A lot of times, the first thing people say to me upon learning my profession is, "I don't think I could put down animals." (Seriously, that's the first thing most people think about). Truthfully, that's the end of the story, and that's often not a very hard step. When people bring pets in for euthanasia, they've made the decision, processed and come to terms with it, can allow their family member to pass with peace and dignity, and get to see the passing in a way that I feel provides a fair amount of closure. There are much worse situations to deal with... 1. When the pet is diagnosed. Often, owners are expecting bad news. They know their p

I want to share a wonderful book written by one of my peers: The Deathsniffer's Assistant , by Kate McIntyre We're both represented by the same agent, which is how I became aware of her, and I think there's a reason. We must have very similar tastes; I loved every. single. thing. about this book. I'm always on about worldbuilding at setting--it has that in scads. The hero is such my kind of character, too--he's polite, mild-mannered, and sensitive. The setting is alternate-world Victorian, with fantasy elements taking over for any and all technology: bound spirits. That sounds kind of cliche on the surface, but I promise it's not. Each type of spirit has a defined role, a unique personality, and a vastly different appearance. Undines for water and plumbing, salamanders confined into lanterns or for heat, cloudlings for energy and current, and many more. The social structure, too, is inventive and flavored by the magical elements. Every person is categorize

I've been adventuring further and further into the mysterious realm of steampunk. I've always had a bit of a fascination and admiration for this sci-fi subgenre, though my knowledge of it has accrued slowly over time. The first time I'd ever heard of it was when I was a pre-teen and got a book on how to draw fantasy characters. There was a whole chapter on steampunk, and I was like, what is this ?? I like thinking of steampunk as Victorian sci-fi, or sci-fi set in the past instead of the future. I suppose it's really more alternate-reality. It's defined, obviously, by steam power, and things like gears, zeppelins, vests and tophats, tinctures, wires and tubes and neon glowing chemicals. But at the same time, one of it's most endearing qualities is how the genre is more of a collection, a heterogeneous hodgepodge of ideas and gadgets and dark colors. Part of what makes it is the combination of all those things--the sum of its parts. The grandfathers of ste

There are a lot of topical issues close to my heart, and a lot of areas of diversity and representation I care about. This has wound up seriously stumping me more than once, in an unexpected way. Here's my most recent dilemma... I really like sensitive men. (See: husband) One of the issues I care about is the image of masculinity in society, and how men are expected to act in specific, "manly" ways, or else they're less of a person. So I looooove subverting this by showcasing sensitive, emotional male characters, and getting deep into their fears and pains and using such things to drive their story. I conversely hate showing sensitive, emotional women, because sadly that's how women have always been portrayed--usually with the implication of being weak-kneed and needing a lot of support for their men. Thus, I tend towards soft, gentle male characters and tough, independent female characters. Because the heavy emotional stuff is more weighted on the men, those

For this chilly time of the year, today's setting inspiration is right in theme with cold and snow: Antarctica. More specifically, the photos I took from the Antarctica Museum in Christchurch. Christchurch is where most flights to Antarctica fly out from. Okay maybe the museum is targeted more for kids, but that's never stopped me before! The museum had several sections dedicated to different topics. Of note, there's the weather, the expeditions and vehicles, and the penguins. To get to Antarctica, people heading out on an expedition generally travel on one of two kinds of flights (don't ask me, I forget the details), on a long, grueling, windowless journey out of Christchurch or somewhere else in the southern hemisphere. There was a model area with a video explaining what the trip is like, and you can see the hard, unforgiving seats with the backs up against the wall and the cargo at your feet. There were a lot of model setups of camps, vehicles, and ani

What's the most important thing you learned about writing last year? Whether it's about writing in general, your own personal method, or even some small piece of advice that wound up being tremendously helpful. I learned heaps last year, and I think that's true for every year. Let's face it, there's a lot to learn about writing, and it doesn't stop! I think I know what I'm going to pick. I certainly became more familiar with the industry, elements of good queries, how to format a MS, and how to research agents. Technique-wise, I started coming to terms with the fact that I'm not much of an outliner . Content-wise, I discovered that tons of agents and publishers are actually really interested in more diversity, and my tendency for LGBT leads isn't a hindrance but, in fact, a positive. But honestly, the thing that made the biggest difference, the most memorable eureka moment, was what I expressed in my post about the difference in critques betwee

I'm back on this first day of the new year, with a huge stockpile of hopefully interesting blog posts, and we're going to kick off with some reflection! Last year was a big year for writing, for me. I finished my first MS, I queried my first agents, I talked to several real agents on the phone, and then I actually signed a contract with a fantastic agency. I also finally escaped the vestigial clutches of vet school reading burnout, and managed to read a bunch of great books, mostly by contemporary fantasy authors. So what are my hopes and plans for this year? See the Pull of Gravity polished up beyond my best dreams of how good it can be, and find it a home with an enthusiastic publisher. Finish up a second MS, my dark fantasy novel. Keep blogging consistently, and hopefully keep up the quality. Read, read, and read some more! Here's to a fresh new year, and lots of writing!