Guest Blog for Tricia Goyer

Hello, my dears. I thought you might enjoy reading this guest blog post I wrote for Tricia Goyer's blog. Many of you already know the story . . . some of you might not. But I hope all of you will enjoy this updated version of my real-life romance! :)

Friday Tidbits

Who Is This Person? - Getting to know your character

There are SO many different methods out there to help writers get to know their characters on a deeper, more personal level. I have writer friends who "cast their characters," picking actor or model images to "play the part" of the character in their heads. I have writer friends who spend long hours interviewing their characters about everything under the sun, from their favorite ice cream flavor, to the darkest secret of their suppressed subconscious, to what might be found in the glove compartment of their car. Spread sheets, character charts, long family histories . . . the methods are many, and varied!

I've used some of these methods myself. But not anymore. It may work beautifully for you, and that's great! For me, it tends to distract me from the work at hand, and I have actually found that I lose the true sense of the character while playing with these various methods. (But you should probably experiment with all of them at some point to see what works for you.)

However, there is one trick that I have used that has actually stood me in good stead and which I continue to use to this day. So I'm going to suggest it to you as a possible addition to whatever other methods you are currently trying.

Write your character as a child.

Here's the thing: The childhood Me is as real and present in my memory as the adult Me. While I've matured, I don't feel all that different. Grown-up and married Anne Elisabeth is still little girl, tomboy Annie . . . just a bit taller with a few more experiences under my belt. What makes me Me, down at the very core, was already in place when I was just becoming aware of Me.
The thing about children is that they are equally complicated as adults, but they tend to be more honest. As adults (beginning when we're teenagers) we have to start wearing certain masks of social expectations. When we were younger, however, we were just OURSELVES.

My husband teases me that I have more childhood memories than any person has a right to. I vividly recall events and scenes of my life from as early as three years old . . . and, indeed, I have at least one crystal clear memory from before I turned one year, a memory of my big brother splashing in the kiddy-pool then running up to give me a kiss while I sat in my motorized swing. My childhood is still very present to me.

Not everyone experiences this. But, whether they remember it or not, every person is made up of who they were as much as who they are. The same goes for your characters!

So, in an effort to get to know my characters better, I will spend time writing scenes about them as children. Often these scenes work so well to establish the characters that they make it into the final novel itself! Look at the opening prologue of Heartless. Look at all of Part One in Veiled Rose. Even in Moonblood, there are several scenes throughout of Lionheart, my protagonist, as a little boy with his nursemaid . . . scenes that clearly illustrate exactly who Lionheart is. Many of these scenes began purely as exercises to learn more about these characters of mine.

What about you? What kind of child would your protagonist be? Popular? Confident? Eager ? Shy? Wallflower? Bookish? Makes friends easily? Makes enemies easily? Close with parents? Not-so close? Naughty? Helpful?

B is for Bebo

We started this series two days ago with one queen. Allow me now to continue with another!

Queen Bebo, King Iubdan, (and the golden mare gate-guarder of Fionnghuala Lynn) are among the few fairy tale figures I have lifted directly from our-world literature and placed in the Tales of Goldstone Wood. They were some of my very favorite fairies (as seen in this article), and I could not resist the charm of them and their Merry People! 

However, despite their names and some strong similarities to their original legends, I have taken both Bebo and Iubdan in my own direction as fitting for Goldstone Wood. Bebo especially has acquired a greater dignity and presence in this new setting than she enjoyed back in her folklore days.

My Queen Bebo, you see, walks in the Gardens of the Moon. 

The night sky itself spread below [Lionheart], an inky-black landscape unbroken but for a few straggling clouds. Stars bloomed as the brightest flowers around him, and the world, wherever it was, was far from sight. Lionheart stood on the top of Rudiobus Mountain in the Gardens of Hymlumé,. And Hymlumé herself was so bright and so near, he thought she would blind him. (Moonblood, p. 248)

To this place of imposing perspective, Bebo leads Lionheart, my unfortunate protagonist. And there she asks him to look upon the wonders of the Spheres, to see the very face of the Moon in all her glory . . . and there, perhaps, to know himself a little better.

Queen Bebo hears the Songs of the Spheres more clearly than others do, better than her husband or all the Faerie Folk of the Far World. She hears them singing all the time, and therefore, she is a woman who speaks many prophesies, telling others as she chooses what the Sun, Moon, and the Stars sing to her.

Iubdan Tynan may be king of Rudiobus . . . but his queen is far more powerful than he!

Bebo turned her childlike face to [Lionheart]. She was, he noticed, eye level with him. Queen Bebo might be small enough to stand in his hand, yet she could also look him in the eyes; and, he realized with a start, she could also loom far above him, towering like a giant with a majesty of age and wisdom he could never hope to match.

He would not meet her gaze.

"Take my hand," she said softly. He obeyed. Her fingers were small and delicate, and they could crush every bone in his hand without a thought. "Now can you see Hymlumé's face?" (Moonblood, p. 248)

 So Bebo tells Lionheart the prophesy of the coming Night of Moonblood and the fate that awaits him should he so choose.

What are your thoughts on the golden-haired Queen of Rudiobus? Would you follow her up the long stair to stand in the Gardens of Hymlumé? What might she say to you?

A is for Anahid

Dear readers, in preparation for the upcoming release of Starflower, I am going to write up my usual A-Z blog posts detailing aspects of Moonblood. Be forewarned: These posts may contain SPOILERS!!!!! If you have not yet read Moonblood, I would recommend skipping! Don't want to ruin any plot-points for you.

So, to get this thing started, allow me to introduce you to Queen Anahid of Arpiar.

Anahid was a character I'd written about before turning my pen to Moonblood. Several years ago, after writing Heartless (and while in the process of finding first and agent then a publishing house for that first novel in my series), I took a step back in time and drafted a novel called Goblin Son. A novel set five hundred years before Heartless. It opened like this:

The Queen of Arpiar bore twin sons, but only one could inherit the kingdom, so she was faced with a choice.

"No," she said to her two handmaidens, Sosi and Anahid, when her labor was complete and both babes were swaddled in gold-edged linen. Her handmaidens were her only attendants in that dark chamber, both sworn into her service with vows so strong that should either girl ever break her word, she would fall dead upon the spot. "No, I do not wish to hold them. Not yet." She motioned the bundles offered her away, refusing to so much as look at them. "Bring Zada the Soothsayer to me."

Those of you who have read Moonblood will immediately recognize the parallel openings . . . the queen of Arpiar upon her birthing bed . . . newborn children untouched by their mother . . .

But in Moonblood, the former queen's handmaiden has become the queen.

This backstory is hinted at in the pages of Moonblood. Do you remember? The statue of the old queen of Arpiar, whispering her angry secrets to her granddaughter, Rose Red?

"I told Sosi to kill it . . . Sosi was too squeamish for that kind of work. Anahid was better. But a queen? Faugh! He's made her pretty enough, I'll grant you, but she'll never have the force to rule  Arpiar!" (Moonblood, p. 164-165)

So Queen Anahid, we learn, has a long and bloody history with Arpiar, from back before her husband, King Vahe, was even born! A history which, we know, includes her love of a young knight named Diarmid.

Regret and repentance do not always walk hand in hand.

Queen Anahid wore guilt like weighty chains about her neck, but repentance was far from her. Thus she inflicted upon herself all the torments of love forsaken and the bitterness of slavery under the King of Arpiar. It seemed just punishment for her sins . . . for the lives she had taken as the old queen's slave. For the atrocities she had committed at the bidding of monarchs; first the queen, now King Vahe. She suffered every day, hating each moment of her life, waking or sleeping--for even her sleep was plagued with nightmares.

But it was punishment meted out by herself alone. And in that, she found a grain of satisfaction. (Moonblood, p. 185)

Anahid, we see, is so twisted up inside with bitterness and resentment, it is difficult to find any shred of goodness left inside her. The one redeeming light in all her life is that daughter she bore: Princess Varvare. For this daughter, she risks everything, fleeing even to the mortal world to find sanctuary for her tiny newborn.

She closed her eyes and placed hand upon her daughter's heart. "With all the love I have to give," she murmured, "though that is little enough." (Moonblood, p.12)

Her bitterness has driven her too deep for her to allow any grace for herself, however. Even the gentle call of the Prince of Farthestshore fails to move her, though we must guess that once she had followed his Path. See what she says to the yellow-eyed dragon who was once Diarmid:

"I want you to go from Arpiar. I want you to return to the Prince's Haven. Return to that place where we met so long ago, and where you loved me once. Find the Knights of Farthestshore and warn them of my husband's plan." (Moonblood, p. 186)

Yes, she once communed with the knights and knew safety at the Haven of the Prince. How she came to this dreadful state of power and slavery we do not yet know. But perhaps, one day, I shall have an opportunity to tell you . . .

What did you think of Queen Anahid? Do you think she and Rose Red share any characteristics?

Moonblood Giveaway: The Review Iteration

Dear readers, I think while you all are patiently waiting to hear the results of the Fan Fiction Contest, we should have another giveaway to pass the time. Are you game?

This one will play like this:

1. You write a review for any one of the Tales of Goldstone Wood on Amazon. If you have already done this for all three of the released titles, no worries! You can write a review for Barnes and Noble or CBD.com or any other major reviewing site.

2. You let me know that you have done so and where you've posted this review. I will then add your name to the name-drawing!

3. TWO WEEKS from today, I will draw a name at random, and that person will win a free, autographed copy of Moonblood!

4. If you have already written a review for one of the books, that does not count for this particular giveaway. But there are other books to review, so why not write up one of those?

Don't worry if you feel as though "you don't know what to say" in a review. Any review, however simple, helps me out. And you don't have to write an essay or anything! First you give a star rating. Then you write something about the story, what you liked and why you think someone else might like it too. That's it!

A basic rundown of the ratings is 5 star = I LOVED it! 4 stars = I really, really enjoyed it! 3 stars = I liked it! 2 stars = I didn't like it. 1 star = I hated it.

I make a point of not reading my reviews . . . the negative ones upset me too much, and you can't help seeing those when you look! So I won't be reading over your shoulder as you post reviews. If I feel the need to check and make certain reviews are actually posted, my husband will check for me!

Public reviews like this are an important part of a writer's career. The more reviews I have on amazon, the more people are likely to stop and look at the books. So in this way, you all can help with my career by getting the word out there for me!

Please take the time to share this blog post on your  facebook walls so that other folks will hear about this giveaway and have a chance to participate. Thank you, and good luck!

Friday Tidbits

Tease Your Reader

Good fiction is all about the tease of your reader's desires.

Your reader wants to see certain things happen to your character. Your job, as the writer, is to not give the reader what she wants . . . or not completely. Dangle enticing story-bits before your readers' eyes and lead them in crazy ways so that they are always just grasping at that satisfaction they long for! If you give them satisfaction too soon, they'll be bored and walk away.

This teasing game begins from chapter one, paragraph one, sentence one. It's a good place for a writer to begin practicing, because the whole macrocosm of the story tension is reduced into the microcosm of that little opening.

Here's an example from a wonderful manuscript I had the privilege of critiquing not all that long ago. Here is the opening paragraph as the writer initially wrote it:

"The Academy was set in the center of a wide plateau. It erupted from the head of the island, so high that all that could be seen from the valley were the four spires of the towered halls. As the car drove slowly up the winding road, the trees became less wild and more cultivated. The grass was flawlessly green across the wide fields that hemmed the campus in, only giving way to the sea at the cliffs. From a distance, the stone square of building appeared as a carefully planned fortress.

Lima gasped at the sight of it."

Good stuff going on here, interesting imagery, and a character introduction. Verbs like "erupting" and similes like "fortress" create a sense of drama and possible danger. But . . . is it enticing?

Look what happens with a very simple rearranging of the sentences using almost the exact same wording:

"All that could be seen from the valley were four spires erupting from the head of the island. As the car drove slowly up the winding road, the trees became less wild and more cultivated, grass flawless green across the wide fields, giving way at last to seaside cliffs. From a distance, the stone square of the central building appeared as carefully planned as a fortress.

The Academy. Lima gasped at her first sight of it."

See the difference in tension build up? From the start, the reader is made to ask questions which leads him into the story.

"All that could be seen from the valley were four spires erupting from the head of the island. ("All that can be seen of what? What are these spires for?") As the car drove slowly up the winding road, ("Who's driving this car?)" the trees became less wild and more cultivated, grass flawless green across the wide fields, giving way at last to seaside cliffs. From a distance, the stone square of the central building appeared as carefully planned as a fortress. ("A fortress? What is this place?")

The Academy. (Oh, okay!) Lima gasped at her first sight of it. (Hmmm. I wonder who Lima is?)"

What would a rearranging of your own first sentence and paragraph do? Tease those readers of yours! Dangle curiosities before their noses! Can you create more immediate tension? Get your reader asking some key questions? Foreshadow the perils to come?

And . . . CLOSED!

All right, my friends, the deadline for the first-ever Tales of Goldstone Wood Fan Fiction Contest (2012) has come! All the submissions are in, awaiting a last-minute streamline formatting . . . then it's OFF TO THE JUDGES!

After a month of judgerly work, the winner will be announced on September 1st, so keep your eyes open. That winner will receive a free copy of Starflower (as soon as it releases) and any other Tales of Goldstone Wood title of his/her choice. Exciting times, my friends!

I would like to take a moment to thank all those who submitted work. I was blown away by the creativity that kept flowing into my inbox over the last two months. Some of them moved me to laughter . . . some of them moved me to tears . . . at least one of them inspired me during a period of major writer's block . . . and all of them demonstrate a love of storytelling that is fresh and fun and exciting.

So thank you, those of you who participated. The rest of you, be sure stop by on September 1st and in the weeks following to read these fabulous stories!