Make-Believe Mondays With Maiia Strong

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Maiia Strong.

Maiia, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Maiia: The one that's in the writing stage right now is an f/f fantasy romance. I'm not sure yet if I'm telling the right story, though, because it's positively giving me fits. The characters are very clear in my head, but I'm having trouble with the setting. I think I need a trip to a Kona coffee plantation in Hawaii to really get it nailed down. That's a business expense, right? ;-) I usually have a very strong sense of place, but this one's been a big challenge for me so far.

Debra: Oh, yes, that is a business expense. There are also some very good dvd's of Hawaii on the market. I used to watch travel videos when I ran my travel agency and was addicted to the travel channel. But there is nothing like being in a place and catching the scents of the flowers, or the sea, tasting the food as they prepare it, watching the way the sun rises and sets upon the land, and listening to the voices of the people, a music all their own.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Maiia: What a marvelous quote! I love Ray Bradbury and I wish I had an answer to the question. Hmmm... The best I can say is by reading. There is inspiration everywhere around us in the world, but I find that unless I'm reading, I have trouble pinpointing that inspiration and getting it onto the page myself.

Debra: I collect quotes and it's one of my favorites. The answer is as individual as each author I speak to, and this is one of the reasons I still enjoy doing these interviews. Been doing them three years now and each is unique.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Maiia: Absolutely! Sometimes it's right away, other times it can take a while, but for the most part my characters are very real people inside my head--as disturbing as that sounds. LOL. The best part is when a character does or says something completely unexpected. I'm a pantser by nature, so it's not at all unusual that I don't know what happens next until I write it, but there are still times where characters can genuinely surprise me. It's quite delightful!

Debra: It sounds disturbing to people who don't write I suppose. LOL I write by the seat of my pants too, though I think ahead a little to what might happen. It's wonderfully delightful, isn't it?

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Maiia: I love language. Always have. I've been a Shakespeare geek for as long as I can remember, and he was certainly one for making up words: incarnadine and multitudinous, to name the two that leap immediately to mind, and that's in just a single line in a single play! There are so many luscious words that he created out of what he knew in order to say exactly what he needed to say. I'm no Shakespeare--no one is--but that doesn't stop me playing. The primary universe I write in is pseudo late-medieval/early renaissance so I've had great fun trying to come up with slang terms that fit that world while still being obvious in their meaning based on their context. Although I also cheat sometimes and take words from my "Forgotten English" calendar. ;-)

Debra: Oh, I love Shakespeare too. Most of my favorite authors played or play with language. Multitudinous is a marvelous word. I believe that must be the word of the day today. Multitudinous. :-)

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Maiia: Oh man, what author didn't? I was a voracious reader as a kid. I read Madeleine L'Engle, Susan Cooper, Ray Bradbury, Alan Garner, J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, William Sleator, Lois Duncan... The list is enormous and I could go on for days. I think the ones that drew me in deepest and left the most lasting impressions were Cooper and Tolkien. I've long ago lost track of how many times I've read The Dark is Rising Sequence and The Lord of the Rings over the years. (To this day, I buy every Susan Cooper book that comes out. I will be devastated when she passes away.) Those two series are quintessential works for me and absolute must-reads. And then I hit middle school and dove head first into Evelyn Waugh. Go figure. But Brideshead Revisited is one of the best books ever written. Easily Top 10. Don't argue. You know I'm right. ;-)

Debra: I won't argue with you. :-) And thank you for sharing Susan Cooper. I have never read her books. So there's another for me to add to my list. Now if only the to be read pile weren't so tall. (Well, I should say piles. They are in almost every room in the house.) LOL

Maiia, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Maiia: Thanks for the opportunity to visit. I had a great time!

Debra: I am so glad! It's been fun for me too. :-)

Readers please visit Maiia at
Website: www.maiiastrong.com
Blog: maiiastrong.blogspot.com

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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

This week I am working on galleys, as well as the new western I am writing. It's a busy work week I have planned, nose to the manuscripts, and I love every minute of it.

www.debraparmley.com

Male-Believe Mondays with Mima

Today, on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Mima.

Mima, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Mima: I have twelve manuscripts in my wip file. A year ago this would have sent me into a gibbering pile of drool. I’ve really grown as a writer this past year, my first as a professional.

The two I’m most focused on right this second are a paranormal contemporary with a chick lit feel titled Deep Water and a dark, dark, dark gladiator-style futuristic currently called Torpor. In both cases, it’s the heroines that really excite me, although of course creating heroes worthy of them is also fun.

In terms of editing, I’m officially working on a feline shapeshifter anthology, Half-were House, at Liquid Silver Books.

Debra: I know just what you mean. Not long ago I listed the various works in progress I had going and was quite surprised at how many I'd started. My muse is a giddy child who wants to play more than one thing and I have to learn to tell her, this one today and if you are good we'll play that one tomorrow. ;-)
Great titles, BTW.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Mima: If they don’t, I drop that story. I can’t write unless the characters are real to me. Plus, I have a trick where I put a little bit of me (mostly my problems) into my heroines. So Amaya (Alpha Within) had my yearning for the exotic, KarRa (Wild Within) had my bitterness over betrayal. When even one line in a critical scene is autobiographical, it helps make the women real to me. I can pull on that emotion so much easier.

Debra: My guess is, this is true of most of the better fiction out there. The author has to put bits of themselves or things they've seen and experienced for the stories to even come close to holding truths. It's a good idea to drop the ones that don't seem real.

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Mima: Well, when you write scifi and fantasy, your options just pretty much are limitless. Then you get to play in the world of Let’s Make Shit Up. I think it’s helpful if you choose terms that sound plausible in our world, and just twist them in unique ways. The terms “elite” and “craft,” for example, carry specific connotations, but you don’t want to be trite. I like to try to use those common words, but invent new definitions for what they are and how they function in my non-earth worlds.

I have a series at Samhain where there are Singers and Elite. Singers can work aspects of the natural world with psychic powers, and Elite are cybernetic, technologically-enhanced humans who can also manipulate the physical world. My Bonded series at Liquid Silver has a world where everyone can manipulate one of six elements. This ability is called “craft.”

Debra: I've always been interested in this word play when authors create worlds. We certainly see more of it in fantasy and sci-fi than anywhere else. There's a certain freedom allowed authors of those genres.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Mima: Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden were two classics I read young, and they had a HUGE impact. When I was older, books like Jacob Have I Loved, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and A Ring of Endless Light were probably read, oh, about 100 times. I liked the depressing stuff because I was DEEP. (snicker)

On a lighter note, the series I was most into was the Choose Your Own Adventures. And then I discovered Harlequin in high school and was pretty much locked in on happy endings.

Debra: Alice in Wonderland and Island of the Blue Dolphins were two of my favorites too. I was actually thinking of Alice and Wonderland just the other day and wondering how it would read now that I'm an adult. :-)

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Mima: That’s the beauty of epublishers. They give you this freedom, because there are more readers out there who don’t require expectations than NY thinks there are. I already have written my wildest flights of imagination, and now can’t imagine writing anything else. I suppose the most genre-busting story I’ve written is In Service, a scifi-action-erotic-intrigue-romance out at Loose Id.

Debra: Mima, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Mima: Thanks so much Debra! I invite readers who want to see my title list, latest news, reviews, and excerpts to visit
mimawithin.com

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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

Galleys for A Desperate Journey are in! They just came in this weekend and that is another exciting first for me to celebrate.

I'm also at work on a new western and beginning to plan my conference and book signing schedule for 2009. Once I'm done, I'll post the calendar events on my website.

debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Christine Norris

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Christine Norris.

Christine, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Christine: I’m so excited about this because I just finished it! Well, the “first” draft, which has been tweaked a little as I wrote it. It’s the third book in the Library of Athena series. Megan and all her friends are back, and dealing with a new problem and a new enchanted book. This one is set in Ancient China, and it’s got all the same adventure and magic the first two have. I don’t want to give too much away, because I never know what’s going to change between the first and final drafts.

I’m also really excited that the first book of the series(The Crown of Zeus)is coming out in paperback later this year!

Debra: That is exciting! Something well worth celebrating.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Christine: I watch a lot of movies, read a lot of books. Really, I’m always looking for new stuff to read. I call it Feeding the Muse. She’s a hungry girl.

Debra: Feeding the Muse, I like that. Mine must be a teenager, because she is always hungry and very curious and experimental.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Christine: I’ve always been a reader. Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time books were well-worn in my house. I must have read them a dozen times. I don’t have those copies anymore, but I should replace them. I’ve done that with a few favorites, like The Westing Game and The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. That one was just re-published last year, so of course I bought a new copy.

Debra: There is something about holding a well worn book, they are so loved and familiar. It can be hard to let those go for the new replacement.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Catherine: Isn’t that what I’m doing now? Well, since I write Young Adult, there really aren’t many expectations to meet except for those that come with a good story. I don’t necessarily need a HEA, or need to follow those ‘rules’ that seem to come with Romance. I’ve gotten some good reviews for the previous Library of Athena books, and several have said they’re very different kinds of stories from other stuff out there for YA Fantasy. Which is good! I don’t want to be just another magic wielding, dragon-riding, vampire-using writer.

Debra: Well, that is what I hope every author is able to do, because it means they are free to imagine and create. And that is where the best fiction comes from, in my humble opinion.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Christine: Just that if you can dream it, you can write it. I have some ideas floating in my head for stories outside the series, and I’m playing around with them, mostly still in my head, but they’ll be making the move to paper soon. They’re odd, but that’s what makes them wonderful.

Debra: Odd is wonderful, isn't it? The unusual, the unique can be so much fun.

Christine, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Christine: Thank you for having me!

Debra: My pleasure.

Please visit Christine at
www.christine-norris.com
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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

This week I am working on the new western, while planning the book release party for A Desperate Journey, which comes out March 31, 2009.

Please visit my website at
www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays with Claire Delacroix

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm thrilled to introduce my friend from RWAonline, Claire Dleacriox.

Claire, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Claire: Right now, I’m working on the third book in this new future-set fantasy romance series with fallen angel heroes. The world of these books is a gritty place, it’s post-nuclear and pre-Apocalyptic, and essentially the angels are volunteering to sacrifice their wings in a last ditch effort to save humanity. Each hero takes a mission to fulfill on earth – his idea is that he’ll regain his wings when the quest is complete, but love seems to change their minds! The first book in the series is out right now (October 2008) and is called FALLEN. It’s had some terrific reviews and has a gorgeous cover – you can read the back cover copy and an excerpt on my site:

www.delacroix.net/fallen

The second book, GUARDIAN, comes out next October and the third – the one I’m writing now – will be out in October 2010.
The challenge in writing these books, set in such a different world, is finding different facets of that world to explore in each book. I’m having a great time with the series, although each book comes together more slowly for me.

Debra: Claire, I've always been fascinated with angels and I'm thrilled you are writing this series. I am ordering the first one today. Can't wait to read it!

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Claire: I’m a big fan of Julia Cameron’s book THE ARTIST’S WAY – I do my morning pages daily and my artist date every week. For me, playing with colour seems to help me to solve problems in books or figure out what comes next in the story.

So, my artist dates usually revolve around the pursuit of colour and new images – I’ll go to an art gallery or a museum or a guild store and look at the displays but not read the explanations. I visit stores that sell colourful and beautiful things – tile stores, fabric stores, bead stores, yarn stores – anywhere that there’s an avalanche of colour. I also like to walk - in busy cities, in different neighbourhoods, in the woods, on beaches – I think it’s healthy to explore new environments.

Invariably I bring souvenirs home with me - balls of wool that I’ve bought or pebbles from the beach or magazines from the thrift store - but those give me items to play with once I’m home again. Beach pebbles can be arranged in the garden, for example, or around a potted plant. Sometimes I make collages, just to play with the colour and shapes. I try to play a bit with texture and color every day as visual stimulation seems to encourage my words to flow.

Debra: You were the first person to tell me about Julia Cameron's book, and I am ever so thankful to you for that. It is excellent.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Claire: Yes. It happens in two phases. There’s a point right when I begin the book that I can hear them talking. I feel at this point like a landlady eavesdropping on the new tenants (they’re in the rental apartment in my imagination). That gets me started and is usually a very exciting point.

Then, when I’m about 100 pages into the manuscript, there’s a bigger challenge – that’s when they get opinionated. Often, they don’t like the story I want to tell and either modify it or have an entirely different story that they’d like to live. This is both exciting – because the characters have become real – and irritating – because I don’t really know what they’re up to yet and because they often have better ideas than I do – but it always works out well in the end.

If they don’t start arguing with me, then I worry.

Debra: Oh, what fun! I like the eavesdropping idea. Silent characters make me nervous. It usually means I have taken them somewhere they don't want to go and they just haven't told me yet. Stubborn arguing characters are good. Well, I like your endings. :-)

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Claire: I frequently use dreams in my work, or more accurately, use the energy of dreaming to create my work. One of the challenges in writing a work of fiction is to ensure that it’s not predictable. One of the ways to avoid predictability is to put characters into very challenging situations, situations in which there appears to be no way out.

The problem is that sometimes I don’t know the way out either! But there always is one and I’ve learned to trust in that, that I wouldn’t have thought of the situation if it couldn’t be resolved. And often, I find the solution in dreaming.

Here’s how:

If you fill your mind with a question or a problem before you go to sleep, you will often dream of the solution. Before you fall asleep, think about the question or problem. Examine it from all sides. Think of all the variables that created it and all the things that need to come out of it. Roll it around in your mind so that it’s the only thing in your thoughts and do this until you fall asleep.

When you wake up in the morning, probably 8 times out of 10, you’ll know the solution. You might remember the dream and you might not. You might “remember” the solution shortly after you awaken – the shower is good for this, in my experience – but it will come to you before you sit down to work. If not, repeat the exercise the next night. It seldom takes me two nights to find a solution and never takes three.

It works for questions other than “what comes next” in the book, too!

Debra: Oh, thank you, Claire! I am going to make that a new practice. What an excellent way to problem solve. (For more than the creation of fiction, I am thinking.)

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Claire: I think that book is FALLEN! I wrote FALLEN when I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. The historical market had slowed down a lot and I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to write more medievals anyway. I felt restless and ready for a change. The problem was that I was already writing contemporary romances as Claire Cross, so I didn’t know exactly what else I wanted to do.

Then this character marched into my office. She said her name was Lilia Desjardins and I had to help her get something done. Gid, her estranged husband, was dead, and the cops thought it was an accident but Lilia knew better. She thought Gid had been murdered and was going to find out the truth, no matter what the price.

I assumed she was crazy in love with Gid, but no, she told me she owed him this, that finding justice for him was the least she could do for him. I was intrigued.

I was even more intrigued when Lilia headed straight into danger – what a dangerous world she inhabits! - and met a very yummy cop. Was Adam Montgomery her friend or her foe? He certainly had a bunch of secrets…

Debra: And now I am wanting to know what those secrets are ... ;-)

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Claire: I think we all need to remember that we are creative beings. No matter what you do to make a living or how you pass your time, you’re creative. The thing is that when we allow ourselves to be creative, when we explore creativity in our lives in any way, we feel more vital and alive.

We’re happier.

Remember that problem solving is an expression of creativity. The ability to look at any situation and find a solution no one has considered is creative. The ability to get any number of people working together productivity is an exercise in creativity. You don’t have to be an artist in your working life to be creative. Expressing yourself in your home, in your garden, with your décor, personal style and even your cooking is all creative. There are many kinds of creativity, and each one is just as valid as the others.

So, don’t dismiss yourself as “not creative”. Do something that only you can do, or do something in a way that only you would think to do it. Let yourself play, and you’ll probably feel a bit lighter for it.

Debra: Such beautiful and encouraging and empowering words. Claire, thank you so much for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers. I knew it would be a treat.

Claire: Thanks, Debra, for having me!

Debra: It's been my great pleasure.

Please visit Claire at

Visit Dragonfire online at www.deborahcooke.com
Visit Château Delacroix at www.delacroix.net
Visit Claire Cross online at www.clairecross.com
Blogging weekdays at www.delacroix.net/blog