Thief of Time

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I've been in Nevada for the past week and haven't seen a computer in four days.  Anyway, I'm going to post a review on Thief of Time, a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett.

Thief of Time is about how one guy from Ankh-Morpork makes the perfect clock, one that can accurately measure time up to the smallest of units possible.  Unfortunately this would also cause time to stop.  Which means that the world, and possibly the universe, will end.  So while Death is trying to persuade the other three horsemen of the apocolypse to ride out, it is up to Lobsang and his master Lu-Tze of the History Monks to stop this clock from ticking.  Again, Death's own granddaughter, Susan, is pulled into the adventure, quite reluctantly, in a search to find the son of Time.  And of course, you can't miss the Death of Rats or Quoth, the raven (Po reverence, hint, hint) and a few Auditors are even thrown into the mix.

The world is coming to an end, yet Pratchett affectively adds his very unusual Discworld humor to lighten the atmosphere.  What with chocolate craving, human disguised Auditors and one very suspicious milkman, this is the book to read if you're looking for a good laugh.  As well as some very interesting and deep thinking.

Terry Pratchett is the author of the entire Discworld series, including The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.  You can find Thief of Time on Amazon.

~Catherine

Motive

If you want your characters to seem real and believable, a motive is always good to give them.  It is something that will drive them through the story and to their ultimate goal, whatever that may be.

For example, there's Harry Potter.  His destiny is to save the wizarding world by destroying the evil Voldemort.  Anyone who's read the last book knows how he achieves that.  Motive is the 'why'.  What motivates him to risk his own life to defeat Voldemort?  Why didn't he just run away with his muggle family and leave everything as it was?  Why does it have to be his problem?

Well, first of all, Voldemort killed his parents.  That's a big motive right there.  Another is that everyone knows what Harry is supposed to do and expects him to do so.  That's peer pressure to the extreme.  Not to mention the fact that Voldemort wants him dead and comes after him with all of his creepy Death Eaters.  That kind of thing is a bit hard to ignore.  So Harry's motive could be considered part fate, part defense, and part revenge.  He realizes that he has to defeat Voldemort in order to avenge his parents, to save his friends, and to protect the whole of the wizarding world.  When you add the 'why' to the story, Harry Potter seems a lot more realistic, doesn't he?  He's definitely not a comic book superhero who just goes and defeats the bad guys and gives no clue as to why he's taken on the responsibility.

I spent quite awhile yesterday coming up with motives for two of the antagonists in my own book.  The main reason Claudius is altering events in Wade's life is so that he can avoid disappearing due to the premature death of one of his ancestors.  Wade betrays his friends because he believes them to be siding with Claudius whom Wade hates for his interference.  The last thing I want my readers to think is why are the characters doing what they're doing.  That question will be answered.

I sure hope this helped anyone who is reading this and happy Fourth of July.

~Catherine

Tempest

This is my entry for the writer's contest that won me third place at the writer's conference:

Tempest

Lightning never strikes twice, but in my case it did. Or rather, this was the second time I had been marooned in this same general area of the ocean. The second time this year. There was no convenient island nearby so my friend Briny and I were dumped in the water. We could see the stern of the galleon, Defiance, as she sailed away.

If you don’t think it’s hard to walk on the ocean, you are mistaken. The waves pummeled my legs and I stumbled and slid across the roiling surface. I would be in up to my knees sometimes in water that was at least two miles deep.

“Kale!” Briny called, yelling to be heard above the roaring of the sea. I looked and he pointed to the sky. The gray clouds were almost black, churning like an upside down maelstrom. Lightning flickered and I could just barely see the metallic sheen of a gargantuan flying ship. Then it was behind the clouds again. Its great engines turned and the sky shook with thunder.

Something fell and hit the water with a splash. I tossed my stinging wet hair out of my face, could barely see through the waves. There was movement, something gray like rock. A blur. Suddenly I knew what it was and deftly drew my cutlass from its sheath, brandishing it in front of me.

The creature leaped and I fell back with a yelp, lashing out to bring the blade slicing across its hardened shell. It was barely affected. I could see its spindly legs, waving antennae, and sharp, snapping claws. But this was no ordinary crab. From some unknown planet, the creature was about six feet wide and its shell was stippled with green and orange.

“Come on!” I yelled, grabbing for Briny’s arm and making a run for it.

Then, as if nature were out to get us, it started to rain.

Writer's Conference

I just went to a writer's conference last Saturday and it was very informative.  There were several one-hour classes I went to, emotions, dialogue, and brainstorming being a few.  The classes were taught by published authors, including Lisa Mangum and Julie Wright.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn by just going to a one-day writer's conference.  I know now that I could insert a bit more emotion into my books.  Then again, I also need to reign in it at a couple of places, seeing as how my characters tend toward mood swings.

I would definitely recommend that you go to a writer's conference in your area.  You can learn a lot, especially if you are serious about getting published.

I also entered a writing contest supported by this conference and ended up tying for third place.  I'll try and post my entry with my next blog post.

~Catherine

World-building

The man walked through the village and down to the harbor.

I bet every single one of you just had totally different visions of that sentence.  Not one of you would have pictured the exact same thing.  It was a pretty bland sentence, wasn't it?  That's because it has no detail, no description.  You have no idea of what this place really looks like.  How about this:

He hurried along the cobbled road past wooden homes with thatched roofs and he headed for the harbor where his ship lay in wait at the docks.

A bit more descriptive, wasn't it?  Add a few more sentences (describe the people, the sound of the waves lapping the shore and the screeching of seagulls, describe the ships, etc.) and you will paint a more precise picture of this little village by the sea.  That's what world-building is all about.  You don't need to describe every single part of your world or where ever the story takes place.  But just describe enough to make it believable.

The trick is not to tell me about every building, every person, every ship, that is contained within the scene.  The trick is to tell me just enough so that I take for granted that the rest of the world exists.

If you can accomplish that, one more layer has been added to the story and it will contain depth.  It will seem full and I won't bother questioning your reality.  As for the world's rules, well, I couldn't care less whether you take up the laws of physics, crumple them in a ball and chuck 'em out the window.  At least I will believe that that is how is is supposed to be.

~Catherine

Characterization

Characterization is very important for writing any story, even more important than the plot.  If the characters are weak and 2-dimensional, the readers won't care about them.  You want readers to care.  You need to make characters that readers can believe in.

First of all, who is your character?  Is he brave?  Cocky? Intelligent? Confident?  Self-absorbed?  You need to figure out how your character behaves and rather than telling us what he is, show us through his actions throughout the book.  Bond with your characters.  Get to know everything about them.  For the duration of your novel, your characters should be your best friends (yes, even the bad guys).  You should know them inside and out.

Here is a video by Lisa Scottaline discussing the importance of characterization.

When writing your book, make sure your characters feel real.  Because a real good story is one that is driven by the characters rather than the plot.  I'm not saying plot isn't important because it is.  What I'm saying is that characters should be what drive the plot and keep the reader wanting to read your book.

~Catherine

The Price of Freedom

Hi, there.  I have decided that every once in a while I'm going to post a book review.  Writing and reading go hand in hand, after all.  I will be talking about The Price of Freedom, a Pirates of the Caribbean novel by A.C. Crispin.

This 653-page book is a prequel to the movies and tells of how Captain Jack Sparrow first acquired his beloved ship, the Black Pearl.  It starts out with a 25-year-old Jack working for the EITC and Cutler Beckett.  After the death of his captain, he is promoted to captain of an EITC vessel, the Wicked Wench.  Beckett has ordered him to persuade one of his house slaves into revealing the location of the fabled island of Kerma, the location of Zerzura, the Shining City, as well as an underground labyrinth filled with treasure.  But Jack knows that Beckett intends to take all the treasure for himself and imprison the people who live there.  Now Jack's not sure whether he really wants to go along with it and soon makes some plans of his own...

Crispin definitely did her research.  The terminology used and the lifestyle was what it would really have been like to sail a ship in the eighteenth century.  The culture was well-written for the period, yet Crispin managed to include aspects of the POTC universe as well.  I could easily see what was going on because of Crispin's vivid world-building.

Yes, this is quite a long book, but it is an exciting read.  It contains pirates, EITC, a princess in disguise as a slave, and, of course, an island hidden by magic with a monster-infested labyrinth.  It has the air of a POTC book, but is also refreshing with new characters and new places.  There are also a couple of recognizable faces, such as Captain Teague and Captain Barbossa.

If you are interested in reading this book, you can find it on Amazon: Price of Freedom.

A.C. Crispin is also the author of the Starbridge series as well as a few Star Wars and Star Trek books.

~Catherine