Monday, March 17, 2014

My Writing Process - Semi-Controlled Chaos #AmWriting

My Writing Process Blog Hop  #AmWriting

I want to thank my friend H K Carlton for inviting me to take part in the My Writing Process Blog Hop.  I've never been tagged for a blog hop before but I'm glad I have the chance to take part now.

My writing career started a few years back when I used to write short stories and submit them to confessional magazines.  Eventually, I grew bored and only wrote sproradically, but a submissions calls for different e-publications reignited my interest in writing stories with the goal of submitting them.  My story, Trusting the ER Doctor, was accepted into the Emergency Servicing anthology published by Totally Bound, and I've been writing ever since.  My latest, Trusting the Army Captain, is now available for early download.


1.  What am I working on?

I'm editing two different books, both novellas.  One is a M/F story I've coauthored with Anais Morgan about a woman who unknowingly falls for her best friend's ex, and the other is an M/M about a journalist who gets the scoop of his career about a reclusive billionaire, but feels conflicted when he winds up falling for the guy.  I'm also working on a short story about a broadcast news anchor whose network is taken over by a media mogul who just happens to be his ex.  I've also outlined another short story that I plan to submit for an anthology submissions call, and there's a werepanther shifter series I'm in the process of developing under another name.


2.  How does your book differ from others in its genre?

While I don't think my books are too different from others in the erotic romance genre, I think they stand out for their emotional drama.  I really like it when my characters fight!  My stories usually have at least one argument between the main characters.  I'll also add that there's probably less angst in my stories too.  I haven't yet written a story where a main character struggles with his sexual identity or fears being outed.


3.  Why do I write what I do?

I initially focused on erotic romance because it was closest to the confessional stories I used to write when I started my writing career.  It was also the genre that had the most demand and would be the easiest to restart my writing career.  That said, if I didn't love erotic romance and creating tricky situations for complex characters who ultimately have to choose whether their love for each other will overcome their conflict, I wouldn't be writing these kinds of stories, much less having them accepted for publication.  A few months back, there was a submissions call for an e-publisher where I wanted to get my foot in the door but the genre itself didn't particularly interest me.  I decided to give it a try anyway, figuring that if I can write one genre, I should be able to tackle another one, even if I didn't read it.  After several unsuccessful attempts to write a story that fit the guidelines, I had to give up.  My true interests lie in creating sexy stories with lots of drama, and I think that's where my talents shine best.


4.  How does my writing process work?

I don't really have a process, maybe if I did, I'd be more productive.  I have stacks of notepads and legal pads that are filled with story ideas and first chapters in various stages of completion.  When an idea occurs to me, which can be sparked by anything from watching the news to an offhand comment from a friend, I write a outline, maybe a page or so, of who the characters are and what the main conflict will be.  Usually these inspirations come to me when I'm in the middle of something else or I'm about to go to bed, so I don't start writing the story then and there.  Normally, I get back to it in a day or two, and decide, "Margaritas make me come up with really stupid ideas," or go ahead and flesh it out by writing the first chapter.  If I can get past a thousand words in an hour or two, it's likely a story that has legs and I'll complete it.  If four or five hours go by and I'm still struggling with what to say on page three, I'll put that idea aside and try to move on to something else.  I usually only work on one story at a time, but how long it takes me to finish the story depends on how hectic life is at that moment and how much time I can devote to writing.


Thanks so much for dropping by!  Writing about writing is a lot of fun!  Next week I've tagged my friends, authors C.A. Szarek and Anais Morgan, who will share their insights on the writing process.  They are both great writers and I'm looking forward to hearing their 'tricks of the trade!'  :-)



Anais Morgan has been writing, in one form or another, since she was fourteen. Her loves have always been romance, followed by paranormals. It seems cliché, but she loves a classic tale with a sexy twist. If she can get inspiration from anything, it'd be Titanic. Anais has been married since 2007 to an equally strange man. Technically they don’t have kids, but four pets equal kids, don’t they? 

Anais also writes under the pen name Erika Lindsen where you can check out paranormal romances, from sweet to steamy. But Erika does come armed with zombies and vampires.


* * * * *




Multigenre, award winning and bestselling author, C.A. Szarek is originally from Ohio, but got to Texas as soon as she could. She is married and has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.
She works with kids when she’s not writing.
She’s always wanted to be a writer and is overjoyed to share her stories with the world.
Her latest novel is Tartan MP3 Player.


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Friday, February 28, 2014

Trusting The Army Captain available for early download!

In case you missed my story Trusting the Army Captain in the Stand To Attention anthology from Totally Bound, it's now available for early download.  Here's a blurb:


Ambitious army captain, Patrick Bosworth, is eager to advance in his career so that he can live up to his family's distinguished legacy.  But having been passed over for promotion to major twice already, Patrick fears his career has stalled.  He worries he'll never match the accomplishments of other family members, especially his brother, a Bronze Star recipient recently promoted to lieutenant colonel.

When a superior office suggests a way to get the promotion that involves gathering information on a fellow army captain in the Medical Corps, Patrick reluctantly agrees to participate.  He regrets the assignment almost immediately, especially when he falls for Craig, the guy he's supposed to be investigating.

When he forms a passionate and intense bond with Craig, Patrick finds it difficult to separate where his professional obligations end and his personal feelings begin.  After working for so long to prove himself a worthy member of his accomplished military family, Patrick has to decide if finally finding the love of his life is worth sacrificing advancement in the army, or even giving up his career itself.






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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Author G. D. Ogan guest blog

I’m thrilled to welcome G.D. Ogan, author of the erotic vampire series, Immortal Relations, to my blog.  With three books already released, including Immortal Relations Coming Out and Immortal Relations Love and War, G.D. takes the time from a busy schedule to tell us a little bit about the writing life and share an excerpt from the first book in the series, Immortal Relations.






Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

A: I’m a retired Air Force Major. I have a pair of graduate degrees unfortunately not in English or Literature. I’m also retired from a second “calling” as a psychologist with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice where I evaluated inmates for various treatment programs and in another area of work actually wrote treatment programs for overcoming addictions.

Q: Did you ever imagine yourself writing novels?

 A: In my youth I'd written articles on various long distance running events I participated in. Then, in the military, I did a great deal of technical writing and continued technical working in my work for the Prison System in the State of Texas. I'd also written many articles and sent pictures about car shows I attended; however, if anyone had said I'd someday write adult paranormal-romance novels I would have laughed at them. I didn't realize how encompassing the romance genre' was, or how extremely interesting most of the books were! I think men misunderstand what "romance" means - they (and I include myself before I saw the light) believe it is a narrow tear jerker about "all that mushy stuff" women like...how wrong that is!

Q: You have already released two books: "Immortal Relations" http://amzn.com/B006ZCBT6G and "Immortal Relations, Love and War" http://amzn.com/B00A4IEHL6  and a third, “Immortal Relations Coming Out” that’s available on Amazon and Kindle now. Could you tell my readers what prompted you to write a series?
 
A: This is a little bit hard, but like they say, "The truth will make you free." When I was little my mother said some things that I didn't understand, things like "He is over there with that woman." At one point she even asked me what I  would think if she divorced my father. I think all little boys are defensive of their mothers and I told her if he hurt her she should. As I grew I "forgot" all about that as they never divorced. Now that I look back on it, they probably stayed together "for the children" or in the case of our family "the child" since I had no siblings. Being young, I never thought it odd that they slept In separate rooms. I had retired from the Air Force and was working for the State of Texas about four and a half hours away from where they lived when I got the call that my father had died. Knowing my disabled mother needed care, I set in motion my retirement from my job in Huntsville, Texas and went to care for my mother who stated that she wished to remain in her home. I was the single care giver for her for the next five years. She had given me life and cared for me all those years, I felt honored that I could do something for her. After she passed away from Alzheimer's I had the daunting task of going through all the many, many file cabinets my father had. These weren't the small light weight cabinets found at discount stores, these were tall and deep, seven drawer, lockable heavy gauge steel, government style file cabinets stuffed to bursting with papers back as far as the 1930s. When I finally got the last drawer cleaned out I had over 50 of the largest heavy duty trash bags full to overflowing. Looking into the bottom drawer I saw one more small item. Yellow from age with coffee cup half and full moon stains an abandoned envelop was all that remained. Grabbing it, I felt that it had something inside it, something flat, small and lightweight. Had I just thrown it in the trash, I wonder if my life might have gone on without ever writing a novel, let alone a series. Being curious, I opened the envelop finding a very old photograph of my father as a younger man standing in front of a strange looking building with a large clock face on the outside. I flipped the picture over and saw my father's handwriting, "Prague Czechoslovakia." Had I just glanced at it and threw it away, oh well, I didn't, instead I looked closely and saw the feminine handwriting on the lower half of the photo which said, "I'll always be waiting here." Suddenly, what my mother had said all those many years before came rushing back and the photo proved that my late father had had an affair while stationed in Czechoslovakia, or the Czech Republic as it is now known. This event is what started me writing the novels and the photograph is shown on page two of "Immortal Relations") that is what spurred me to start the series. My character travels to where "his" father had worked and had the tryst and there he meets a captivating lady. It doesn't take long before he realizes she isn't "normal," nor is love long in blooming between the two (and like they say, "love conquers all"). The story is full of action as the man trades in his human life for that of  a guardian vampire.

Q: In what way is your vampire series different from other vampire stories?

A:  These are not the "Bram Stoker" type of vampires, rather than attacking humans they are dedicated to protecting the innocent from the out of control type of vampires, human criminals and self-serving politicians seeking only continuation in power.

Q: That is a different concept. How do your vampires sustain their existence? Do they consume blood? If so, how to they get it?
 
A: The good vampires have corporations, one of which owns funeral homes. Under funerary law, the deceased's blood is drained (not by anything horrific but by professional means). . The blood is then mixed with a special anti-coagulant and quick frozen to be used by the good vampires. (I'm told this is a unique concept that I've added to the genre').

Q: The Twilight Series had her vampires hunt wildlife to get their blood. The Argeneau vampires of Lynsay Sands ran a blood bank, and those in Vampire Diaries combined killing humans, robbing blood-banks and hospitals as well as killing wildlife to survive. Are there any other unique aspects about your series?
 
A: In book one there is a good amount of "explicit togetherness" (sex) including the first known full vampire birth, followed by a human-vampire hybrid birth and their are multiple births of vampire in the second book. Also, there is "mind-meld" training involving tapping into the feelings and emotions between partners during sex and this can get rather "steamy." In book two, the explicit togetherness has already been established in book one, so it is less "in your face" in book two. There are multiple vampire births but that action is more discrete. Book three, "Immortal Relations Coming Out" has a shape shifter introduced who has a relationship starting with the human-vampire hybrid young lady.

Q: With so much sex in the series, do you feel readers will mistake it for erotica?

A:  My "Immortal Relations" was placed in the "Erotic/Erotica Section" by the local retail bookstore that carries it. I admit it does have, "explicit togetherness" (sex) including a ménage between the main male character and the two main female characters. However, these ladies are guardian vampires who have accepted the main male character into their "family," changing him into a vampire, at his request. My vampires don't harm humans or suffer the human hang-ups about sex so it is much more open and detailed in my first book http://amzn.com/B006ZCBT6G while my second in the series, "Immortal Relations, Love and War"  http://amzn.com/B00A4IEHL6 has far less explicit sex (but still can upset the prudish). The first has been called non-stop action; however the second has far more action. Some may see book one as erotic, but it was not written to be that, rather it was to show that my vampires don't have the hang-ups that humans do about sex. There is an internal struggle going on within Gary, the recently  turned male character who has to overcome his own reservations involving intimate relationships and all the training he gets called upon to help with.  As I said before, book two makes the explicit togetherness a bit more obtuse. The first has been called non-stop action; however the second has far more action. If I compared it to any other author, I'd say it read a little like a Tom Clancy novel. The second book has the efforts of the vampires to stop a war between China and Russia before it goes nuclear, as well as overcoming evil terrorist and preventing ecological disasters. The third book in the series, "Immortal Relations, Coming Out" http://amzn.com/B00G5BQS18 is now available. The guardian vampires, having saved mankind from nuclear war, terrorist acts and ecological disasters, discuss "coming out" to the humans; however, it is decided that humans don't always respond logically when confronted with the unknown so the idea is partially shelved. But love is in the air as Gary's hybrid granddaughter meets a young, shape-shifter werewolf who helps the good vampires keep their secret. Washington's Marxist regime learns those who contributed to the defeat of Communist China's invasion of Siberia have set up a station in Southern Canada and attempts to destroy the group and its leader. Those evil efforts are thwarted and love between a Canadian Police Officer and one of Gary's full vampire daughters results in a wedding which thanks to the efforts of the President of the Russian Federation is held at the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the same venue where Gary and Maggie were married. Upon returning to Canada, the newlyweds decide upon a honeymoon trip to Las Vegas and there are animals that need help along the way there and back. A potential Extinction Level Event is discovered, yet the regime in Washington is unwilling to help so our guardian vampires call on other nations to get the job done. 

Q: Did you draw upon your military background in writing the series?

A: Definitely, in the first book, an evil vampire gang is thwarted in their attempted frontal assault on the guardian vampires' compound and a secondary attack on military units to gain "converts" and heavy weapons to use against the good vampires is foiled by Czech forces with the aid of our vampires. Then the guardian vampires gain the support of the British Army and Royal Marines to keep the evil vampires from capturing nuclear weapons, followed by Russian Federation troops crushing their attempt to steal biological weapons to be used to blackmail human governments into allowing the evil ones to feed unmolested. As you will see, I use the tactical and strategic knowledge gained during my military career in both books. The second picks up where the first leaves off by offering one of the heroes of the first book the chance to beat the cancer threatening his life by becoming a vampire himself.
 
Q: Do you use any “present day” threats or concerns within your series?

A: Absolutely. In the second book in the series, there is a terrorist attack that decapitates the leadership of the Russian Federation. Suddenly the human friend the guardians are offering their help to overcome his cancer is thrust into his county's leadership role. During an ensuing fight with the terrorists, he sees the benefits first hand in changing and accepts their offer of "conversion." However, timing is not always optimal and it quickly becomes apparent that rather than an isolated terrorist attack, what has happened was a prelude to an invasion of Siberia by Communist China seeking vast oil and mineral reserves as well as land for their burgeoning population. It takes all the skill and daring of our guardian vampires, aided by the newly converted President of Russia to keep the war from "going nuclear." Like they say, solve one problem and others will pop up and that is what happens when greedy, rogue OPEC ministers decide to use terrorists to stop the distribution of less expensive Russian Oil by setting off a low-yield dirty nuke to take out the pumping station and the oil fields themselves. After solving that problem, our guardian vampires decide to tackle two real-world threats, the failing cap over the Chernobyl Reactor, where they realize the side benefit of constructing a series of needed warrens for covens in a location no sane human would ever travel. Then the idea comes to Gary that they could safeguard humans from the (real-world) potential Extinction Level Event that the collapse of the reactor building at Fukushima, Japan has been called. With all the non-stop action it seems amazing that there could be the opportunity to create more full vampire offspring during this story but it does happen. 



Excerpt from Book One:

     The sky was starting to clear and looked as if the day would be clear and bright. At that time of morning, since it was Sunday, there were very few vehicles on  the road. My driver slowed to a stop and pointed out the Old Town Hall through his windshield. Then he said, "Hotel...very soon," and in seconds he had stopped his cab at the curb by  the hotel's front entrance. I got out with my bags and held out paper money and coins to pay for the trip. He took what he needed; I thanked him and waved as he drove off.

     At the front desk, I arranged for a room and took the stairs to the third floor. I was still very early, but I wanted to start looking around, so I just dropped my bags by the bed, went back to the first floor and walked the short distance back to the Old Town Hall. The sidewalks were deserted; the only traffic I saw, as I walked, was a cab and an almost empty bus. Getting out my picture, I looked everywhere for other pedestrians, but it seemed too early, and I saw no one else anywhere in the area. I held the picture up high, walking around, and closely compared both the architecture and the angle from which the photograph had been taken. As I looked at the windows, I noted one that gave me a reflected view of the other side of the road. There, on the opposite side which had been empty only seconds ago, someone was suddenly standing; but I was sure there hadn't been anyone there a second before. Seeing her, dressed like a high fashion model, in a light blue, lacy, scalloped, and layered, yet shape-hugging haut-couture, dress, I gasped; My God she was stunningly beautiful! I'd seen pictures of "Hollywood starlets" and "super models" and I knew the Czechs had several of  these, such as the lovely Paulina Porizkova and Petra Nemcova, and I thought this had to be one of them. But just as suddenly as she appeared, she vanished! I thought she might have moved, and I'd missed it, so I turned to look and found myself starring into a pair of eyes with nearly black irises. Automatically, my head jerked back; the vision of loveliness I'd seen across the street was mere inches from me. She said, "Excuse me; I didn't mean to startle you!" Then she smiled the most brilliant smile I'd ever seen, my knees felt like rubber as I started to fall back, but her hand shot out, grabbing my arm to keep me upright. The power in her arm surprised me, and my heart raced, but I couldn't tell if it was from almost failing or the close proximity of such a beauty. After I felt like I could stand on my own, she introduced herself as Magdalena Dvora'k, saying she had seen me looking at a photograph and asked if I'd been to Prague before.

     When I  told her the picture was taken of my father standing near this building many years before, she asked to see it and I handed it to her. Without skipping a beat, she said "Doug Logan." If my legs had been rubber before, now they were Jelly! Dazed, I staggered back with her hand back on my arm, and I leaned against the wall of the building. Her gaze transfixed me as she looked deeply into my own brown eyes. It seemed as if she were God's own angel assigned to test and weigh my soul, but for how long I didn't know.


     Once I'd regained some composure I said, "How...how could you know my father's name?" 


FIND G.D. Ogan here:

blog site: http://immortalrelations.blogspot.com/ 
website on Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/guyogan 
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/guy-ogan/48/157/505/ 
Facebook: http://facebook.com/writervampire
Google+: http://plus.google.com/116481165364671791187/posts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thecarphotoguy1 
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Thursday, January 23, 2014

I finally set up my Amazon page!

Okay, I know I should have created my Amazon author page ages ago, but being a tech klutz, I procrastinated.  Seeing another writer talk about her Amazon page on a message board finally prodded me into creating my own.  See it here. 

I owe a special thanks to my friend and fellow Totally Bound author H K Carlton for providing me with the link to showcase my blog on the Amazon page.  I'm determined to take more advantage of marketing opportunities this year and FINALLY creating an Amazon author page is a step in the right direction.

P.S.  Stand To Attention, Totally Bound's military anthology which contains my story, Trusting The Army Captain, is available for early download on Friday!!!


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Friday, January 10, 2014

Led By Desire Available Today!

Led By Desire, my first M/F story for Totally Bound is available TODAY!!!  I hope you all check it out and let me know what you think.  :-)


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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

#PitMad!!

I started to write a post yesterday and I'm so glad I didn't.  It was a very uninspired post, something about how cold it was and how I didn't feel like writing.  I scrapped it when I nearly fell asleep writing it.  I figured, I'll try again tomorrow, maybe something will come up that will interest me more.

So glad I waited!  Recounting my 'experience' with #PitMad is way more interesting than crabbing about how cold it is.  I've seen tweets for over a year referring to #PitMad but didn't really understand what it was.  Basically, it's writers on Twitter pitching their stories to participating agents and publishers.  The twist comes in creating a tweet in less than 140 characters using the hashtag #PitMad that describes your story well enough to intrigue an agent or publisher.  It takes me half a day to come up with a 150 word blurb and a 25 word tag line, so anyone that can get an agent's or publisher's attention with a 140 character query has my deep admiration.

Although I didn't participate directly in #PitMad, I did retweet the pitches I found interesting, which wound up leading to a few new followers on Twitter.  I even had an exchange with an editor who invited me to submit work (!) after I whined about not having anything ready to pitch today.  Another #PitMad is taking place in March, and maybe now that I know what it is and how it works, I'll be ready to participate.  :-)
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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

What's Ahead in 2014

Happy New Year!!!

Although I'm getting tired of hearing "It's hard to believe it's 2014 already," it does bear repeating.  2013 dragged in some ways, but flew by in others.  Time seems to go really slow when I'm writing, but it seems to go at lightning speed when it comes down to meeting deadlines.  I got five short stories written and published in 2013, but it falls short of the goals I'd set.  I'd hoped to write more stories, including ones of longer lengths.  But distractions, both unavoidable and self-imposed, kept me from being as productive as I would have liked.

For the upcoming year, I think I'll try a different strategy.  Instead of setting production goals in terms of finishing stories, I think I'll focus on word count.  Some writers set out to write a million words a year, but I think I'll be setting myself up for failure if I attempt even half that much.  For me, 20,000 words a month is more realistic, yet still ambitious since I've done practically next to nothing in terms of writing for the last couple of weeks.  I do want to write longer works, including a novel, and I will do my best to fulfill that aim this year.  But for right now, I'm going to concentrate on productivity and actually writing the story than worrying about how long the story will be.
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