#feytouchedtrilogy

[author-a-holmes]

May 3rd #FantasyIndiesMaytober

Saturday Snippet - "Fear"

This is a section from one of my favourite scenes in the first 25% of Darkling.

I’m really happy about where ‘Fear’ fell in this piece. If I’d shared anything else before or after this section, there’d have been spoilers abound!

"I just want you to leave," he insisted, expression shifting from pleading to resigned, and in two long strides he was beside her, on hand lightly touching her elbow as she flinched, stopping her from retreating further. "But it’s too late," he added softly. "They’re here." His gaze was fixed past her, and Lizzy spun around quickly, ridges of sand rising up around her feet as she twisted, almost sending her stumbling but the foreign fingers still resting against her elbow tightened, and kept her steady. It took her a moment to spot them. Long enough that fear began whispering that maybe he'd lied. That maybe she was about to feel teeth against her skin, but then a near-skeletal form staggered out from between two of the small, brightly painted, wooden huts and Lizzy felt herself freeze. "Squirrel shit," she hissed, panic clawing at her throat.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

The cover for Changeling, book one of the Fey Touched Trilgoy, was created by the fantastic people at Getcovers, and I couldn't be happier with it.

I honestly went into the design phase with only an incredibly vague idea of what I might want included, and they knocked it out of the park.

And now, I'm one step closer to having a publication date set in stone...

(Taglists under cut)

General & Fey Touched Taglists: @faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @cedar-west @ettawritesnstudies @jezifster

[author-a-holmes]

The cover for Changeling, book one of the Fey Touched Trilgoy, was created by the fantastic people at Getcovers, and I couldn't be happier with it.

I honestly went into the design phase with only an incredibly vague idea of what I might want included, and they knocked it out of the park.

And now, I'm one step closer to having a publication date set in stone...

[author-a-holmes]

Give me a sentence from your novel...

Changeling, Book One of the Fey Touched trilogy

In the nocturnal peace of Lizzy’s bedroom, that was lit only by the dim shards of light from a newly risen crescent moon, the thud of her jewellery box hitting the hard wooden floor and snapping open seemed amplified.

A bonus line from a book that's currently cooking in a draw while I finish Fey Touched...

Stolen, Book One of the Stolen Stories

"Stella, I'm sorry... I didn't... fuck..." his hands landed against her upper arms, and despite the thick fabric of her tunic Reilly could feel that she was chilled through, morphing his apologetic grimace into a deep frown of concern, "Darling, you're like ice... how long have you been out here?"

[author-a-holmes]

What is the biggest lesson you've learned about writing?

WRITE. FOR. YOURSELF. FIRST.

In my opinion, there is really no other lesson that comes close. Write for yourself. Write what you want to read. Write what you enjoy reading about.

Not only because if you love it, then it's nearly impossible that you're the only person on the planet who will like that thing, but also because if you love it, it will show in the writing.

Readers will be able to sense the passion behind the words, and if you're unsure of your skill in writing, sensing the passion in a work can carry a reader through a rougher story. I've read books that weren't particularly well executed, but had passion behind every word and loved them.

If you love it, your readers will love it. If you are bored, frustrated, or hating what you're producing, that will come through too.

[author-a-holmes]

Happy National 'I love to write' day

Do you binge write, or get consistent word counts?

I'm actually a binge writer.

I'll go several months slamming out several thousand words a day, and then nothing for several months.

I wish I could write consistently, but I struggle with depression and anxiety.

Some days it takes all my energy to function on a basic level, and I have nothing left for writing. It's something I have to be patient with, and ride out.

Even on my worst days though, I still create scenes for my stories in my head. Even if I don't have the energy to write them down or type them up, they exist, and are ready for the next time I can put fingers to keyboard.

[author-a-holmes]

How do you Draft?

I draft my novels chronologically, which can be very frustrating. Unfortunately, if I try writing out of order, I get very lost in my plot, and it becomes a mess.

The first step for me is figuring out how my story ends. Since storytelling is a series of events based on cause and effect, I have to know where I want to end up before I can figure out how to start.

Then I work backwards. I plot the story from the end to the beginning, usually following the 3 Act Story Structure from Abbie Emmons on Youtube.

Once I have something between a sentence and a paragraph for each plot point, I start writing from the hook, to the inciting incident, through to the end of the book... chronologically.

That's my first draft.

[author-a-holmes]

Favourite Scene

What's your favourite scene in your book?

My favourite scene is near the beginning of Chapter 11.

It's a small scene between Lizzy and Booker, but it really shows how close they are, and how well they know one another.

It wasn't until Booker slung an arm around her shoulder and placed a mug of coffee in front of her as he slid into the seat beside her that Lizzy started to come awake and realise that she'd quietly followed her new room mate into what looked like a large dining room.

"Drink," Booker insisted beside her, and the amusement in his voice had her jabbing his side with an elbow instinctively, even as her hands curled around the mug, dragging it across the long wooden table she was sitting at to gulp down the warm drink in half a dozen mouthfuls.

"If you're planning on dragging her to breakfast without giving her at least an hour to wake up, you're going to need to provide coffee," she could hear Booker saying, "milk with two teaspoons of honey... or some other kind of sweetener."

"Why are you such an insufferable morning person?" Lizzy grumbled and Booker laughed.

"It's not morning, Lizzy, it's late afternoon at best."

"We just woke up, that makes it morning."

"Why does the school run at night?" he asked, and Lizzy glanced up to find his attention focussed on Cara, the young woman sitting opposite them and watching them both with a blush on her cheeks and an expression of surprise on her soft features.

"Cara," she blurted out, "I'm Cara."

"Booker."

Lizzy watched her friend introduce himself, and when his features curled into a slow smile she rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs again.

"Is there any more coffee?" she interrupted, and he calmly pushed over a second mug from it's position in front of him.