There was no reason to pan this movie.

When it comes to movies, I can be a bit picky or demanding. Being a writer, I have a certain expectation of entertainment and quality in the story as well as the portrayal of that story and the characters in it. There was nothing really of John Carter that stoked my ire. The setting and graphics were wonderfully realistic and panoramic. The characters were just alien enough to substantiate the setting of Mars (Barsoom) without going overboard as some Sci-Fi flicks tend to do. The actors and their ability to convey the heart of their character was not only believable but engaging. The story and its presentation never ushered me into a feeling of consternation or confusion, and the love story blossomed from the conflict rather than feeling as if it was thrust upon me against my will.

I would give John Carter an easy 4.5 out of 5 stars, and the main reason I reserve that last 1/2 star is because I didn’t leave the movie with a feeling of awe, such as with Lord of the Rings, or Sucker Punch. That being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing the movie again. Taylor was a fantastic choice for John Carter.

Last night I played the downloadable 60-minute PS3 demo for 38 Studios, Electronic Arts, and Big Huge Games’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Lucky for me, conversations and pausing the game stopped the clock, so the demo ended up being closer to 2 hours than 1.

I am a girl who prefers to play games that are mildly challenging and not “scream at the television, throw the console out the window” type games. If there is a chance that I will die multiple times in the fulfilling of a single quest or overcoming of an obstacle, I will more than likely put the game away and never take it up again. Life is complicated enough without injecting that same strife into games, what I use as an escape. Down time.

Reckoning gave me the best of both worlds, a challenge as I learned how to manipulate my character, and an engaging storyline as I interacted with the environments and characters therein. While the character design and character interactions pale in comparison with that of Dragon Age: Origins, the game gave me enough options to make the character and game play experience my own. Reckoning is also more of an action-based adventure game than a point and click, but not so difficult that I found myself unable to get a handle on it. I also liked the fact that there were special moves you could learn, and that switching between using your primary, secondary or even magical weapons while in a battle was rather seamless.

It is a beautiful game. The controls are not overly complicated. The transition to battle is seamless, although there seems to be a bit of a hiccup when shifting to an NPC interaction, and the “skill tree” allows you more intricate advancement of your character’s skills than that of DAO. The voice acting and music also fit well with the game, making me wish all Anime would invest the same time and effort into their dubbing projects…. *ahem* But that is a different post altogether.

Reckoning also allows you to choose your own destiny (brawler, rogue, sorcerer), or intertwine them as your skill tree allows. You can also commit crimes, allow guards to take you to jail or resist arrest, or serve your sentence or break out of prison. Keep in mind that if you break out, or resist arrest, you will no longer be able to easily interact with people in that particular hamlet, making it difficult to complete quests.

The first portion of the demo was setup like a mild tutorial, which are usually so tedious! Thankfully, this one was not! The tutorial aspect allowed me to not only get a handle on the controls, but to toy with the different skills of future destinies, making it easier for me to decide to focus on the ‘rogue’ destiny for my character. The NPC that followed me around at the first, also used succinct interactions with my environment to clue me in to the fact that I was not your average character….

Reckoning is definitely worthy of more in-depth play, so I will be eager to see the disc come in the mail from GameFly so that I can give it the thorough exploration it deserves.

I thought perhaps this would be an excellent time to put a call out for advanced ‘beta readers’. There is nothing more key than perspectives of outside sources. My mother has already read the manuscript a couple times and offered some excellent insight and advice. Now it is time to go even further outside my comfort zone. There is no gain with no pain, right?

So, if you’re interested in receiving an ARC (advanced read copy), please comment with your email and I will forward you a PDF (or another format if needed).

*this novel was previously published as the fan-fiction A Wyndian Princess*

The following was an email I crafted to a young writer/fan of mine on this exact date in 2005. All of these tips are relevant even now, so I thought I would share.

A few very important basic facts to remember about writing, and the writing talent are going to be listed below. You might want to post these someplace as a reminder, which you will need.

1) “I’ve been writing stories my whole life and I’ve been told I’m very good, mostly by my family and English teachers, but I honestly don’t think I am.”

Our family members and teachers often see beyond the writing to the talent hidden beneath. We, on the other hand, are our own worst critic; forever and always we will go through phases when we abhor something we previously thought was pure literature. I have come to believe that this is one of the basic instincts a writer needs in order to continually strive for improvement (and eventual, unattainable perfection). It is okay to hate your writing; just don’t allow yourself to throw anything away. Especially not when you’re in a phase of hating everything that you’ve written. You will never know when you can use it, maybe not even in the original form you had intended it. Believe me, I’m speaking from long and hard-learned experience (mourns over lost scenes).

2) “I mean there are authors on fanfiction.net that write so well I almost want to give up writing.”

Never allow another writer’s ability persuade you to give up. If writing is your passion, truly, then you should instead use these writers as a guide. A way to learn and absorb different styles and genres so that you may eventually find your own, if you haven’t already. Each writer has their own unique ability, as well as a singular influence (life experience), that no other writer will have. Perceptions are also different, and these differences will affect your style as well as the story you have to tell.

3) “I know part of my problem is I just start writing on a whim, like I’ll get an idea and start writing without planning anything out so eventually I have all these plot holes and stuff later.”

Believe it or not, writing on a whim is something that is encouraged by writing magazines such as Writer’s Digest, and even my college writing professors. It’s a writing exercise that is very important to the duty of honing our ability. Believe it or not, sometimes the best story ideas are found when “writing on a whim” and “without planning anything out”.

In addition, when first attacking a storyline or story idea, it is best to write out all that comes to mind, plot holes and everything. This is called a “rough draft” or what I call the basic skeleton. Once you have that down, your mind is more freely able to wrap itself around what is yet needing to be written; the flesh waiting to be added and those pesky holes waiting to be filled. Sometimes a book/story will go through several “filling out” stages, which is par for the course. You can’t see a next step until you take the previous ones. It’s all part and parcel to the writing process.

Oh, and another thing to note, a writer is never EVER “done”. There is always something to be found, changed, or made better. In fact, I was told this by a published author, who then proceeded to show me the corrections in his *published* book. Why are we never truly done? Because we’re never truly done learning about the craft of writing. Which should be an exciting prospect, and not a depressing one!

4) “I also think I have a problem with holding back, like I don’t want to fully put all my potential into a story because I’m scared that if it isn’t liked then I suck, because if I don’t use all my potential and it isn’t liked I can just say I didn’t put a lot of work into it.”

This is a mindset that is very dangerous for your future potential, as I’m sure you’re aware. Unfortunately, writing with abandon will take time. Once you become more firmly comfortable with yourself as a person, this will be seen, also, in your writing. This will be something that we’ll work on little by little. Once I read your writing, I’ll give you some phrases/mantras that you will be required to repeat each morning/evening/whenever you write. It will seem silly, but once it’s a habit, you might begin to see the difference in your writing.

I hope these little bits help you.

If nothing else, it has reminded me – again – that self-discipline is a necessary skill for a writer to experience even a modicum of success. After all, if we do not practice control and discipline how will we ever accomplish a favorable end result? How will we survive the grueling task that is finding an agent/publisher/editor in order to see our books in print? It could happen eventually, of course, but success is not something that occurs out of blind luck. There is a requirement of a struggle, both internal and external. We must endure the critiquing, the re-writing, the editing, the hacking and slashing, the fleshing and all else that being a writer entails.

And if we don’t have self-discipline and control? We will always have a mind (or drawer) filled with ideas rather than a shelf groaning under the weight of our titles on proud display. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather the latter be MY end result.

But stating something like that doesn’t really sink in until I talk to others who share my love for writing.

Does that happen to you? Do you not realize just how intensely you adore a hobby until AFTER you talk to someone else?

There is something about the comparison that draws out the similarities and differences alike. Something like that fascinates me!

When I listen to others talk about writing, the wishful thinking and the “some day I’ll write that book” statements I am floored. If they love writing, if that is something they aspire to, why doesn’t it fill their every thought until they can finally see their story in printed form? Why do they not make time for their characters? Why do they not obsess over every possible lane and avenue the story could take?

My obsession was such that I even played video games in order to get more of everything. More stories. More characters. More possibilities. And then, when I took that first fateful plunge into writing video game fan-fiction? The heavens opened and the floodgates were drawn back! Such a blur of fun and agony. The angst. The joy. The first introduction to the submission process – and the acceptance! The fans. The mentorings. The entire experience was unlike anything I had before, and it is that I attempt to emulate now in the ‘original fiction’ realm.

Some day I will rewrite all my fan-fiction to original fiction. Then they too can bask in the limelight of being read on an e-reader or pulled from a shelf. And don’t you think every character should have that ending?

It encouraged me to think and plot and organize as I jotted down notes and questions to myself about motivations and hesitations. Later, when I spoke with Lynnette Bonner of Rocky Mountain Oasis and my husband (who devised the storyline for To Save a Soul and Silver and Iron), I was able to easily rework the outline to the new, more action-oriented romance.

The time saved rewriting the outline versus rewriting the novel inspired me to outline each and every chapter of the novel before actually sitting down to the fun part: the freehand investigation of the characters and their waiting story. To my surprise, I experienced a giddiness and an ease of outlining the chapter that I hadn’t expected. Previously in my writing life, outlining birthed in me an impatience to get to the good stuff. The meat of the story. For me, there was simply too much waiting in the wings that wouldn’t be discovered through outlining due to the extreme structure of the task.

Chapter one and then chapter two were outlined with comparative ease. The characters seemed real, conflicts were revealed, and I was eager to get started with the writing of it. Chapter three found me beginning to stumble and hesitate with the storyline. Questions were beginning to arise that I wasn’t certain how to approach in an outline versus story. So, in order to have the best of both worlds, I decided to begin writing out only those chapters outlined.

As is usual for the first page of a new story, I experienced the hiccup of choosing the perfect visualization that would introduce the character and the scene to the reader’s mind. Finally, after reminding myself this is a first draft and I can rewrite the beginning later, I allowed myself the freedom of writing what I saw in my mind… with continued glances to my outline to make certain I was following the structure decided upon. At first it seemed to go well, and then I began to notice the cryptic nature of the scene.

Perplexed, I continued to delve forward to the next scene, but the lack of depth to the dialogue and the main female character from the previous scene began to nag at me. To compound the issue, the male character in scene two, as well as the supporting character, were hiding from my internal story viewer. I couldn’t feel them or understand their current situation. Again and again I read over the outline, attempting to uncover the key that I had apparently missed in transferring the story from outline to paper… and then I recognized the internal anxiety that came from putting myself in too tight of a box.

I had stumbled into a trap (I know the antagonist laid it!). In the dedication to remain true to the outline, I was not allowing my characters any freedom. My desire to control them was distancing me from the discovery of the adventure they wanted to weave. In fact, it was taking the inspiration out of God’s hands and putting it in my own.

Outlines, for me, work better in an overall fashion. That is, the outline is to introduce me to the story, the characters, and the overall conflict. The outline is the tool God uses to inspire in me the excitement to craft this story. As writers, we all know and understand that writing a novel is hard work! What gets us through to the end is our passion for either the characters or the story itself. The outline helps me find that motivation. When I attempt to craft a more refined outline/guideline, that is when the blessing of an outline begins to disintegrate, sabotaging my giddiness and causing writing to become a chore more than a joy.

That is a deadly poison for a writer with a new toy (story).

When I realized the box I was beginning to write myself into, I stopped! I let myself out of the cage, set the chapter outline into my bag and out of sight, and then let AJ, the male character, tell me his story. Instead of informing him of his motivations and reasonings, I listened to his heart and mind. I let him admit to his fears and his uncertainty. I was quiet as he confessed his anger and frustration. He was a lot more cooperative once I quit telling him what to do!

AJ is happier for it, as am I, and the discovery leaves me refreshed and rejuvenated. Verna, the female character, doesn’t seem to mind one way or the other, but I have dedicated myself to a rewrite of her first scene regardless. She might believe her scene is fine, but I want to make certain her introduction to the reader is stellar. As the newest character in my fold, she deserves the time and attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How do you prefer to begin a new story? Outline? Summary? By the seat of your pants?

___________________

The two were served their meal in a private dining room on the second floor in the east wing.

Mun didn’t care for the posh surroundings as Para did, and sat ramrod straight in the high-back chair as the maid took his plate to serve him dessert. The warrior didn’t quite know what to make of the sweetness of the cream and fruit. It made Para realize that he must have been traveling in less than civilized situations for an even longer time than she had. That or he simply didn’t hold enough appreciation for foods of the higher-class.

He retrieved the small silver spoon in his massive hand with some initial difficulty. Then, once he had it adjusted in his hold, he scooped a small bit of the sweet cream and fruit and tasted it as if the spoon would bite him should he take it wrong.

Her lips twitched upward. “So, what do you think, Mun?”

He didn’t answer right away, so intent on the taste of the dessert and what he imagined it would do to his insides.

“Munwar.”

This time he lifted his gaze to meet hers. “I think it’s too sweet.”

“I think you don’t know when you have a good thing.” Para reached out. “Here; let me have it. You can gnaw on the table."

Once I have the colored headshot of Mun, I will be putting those into the book trailer for To Save a Soul and re-submit it to YouTube.

I have already inserted the grayscale versions of her headshots into the manuscript. I will insert the couple pic and the individual pics and then start the last revision. Once that is complete, I will resubmit to CreateSpace and make the story available for purchase again.

Hopefully all this can be accomplished by the one-year anniversary of TSS’s release (May 2010).