Fantasy/Paranormal/New Adult Romance
Date Published: 11/15/2013
Cassie Scot, still stinging from her parents’ betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn’t letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.
To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness.
~Excerpt~
“I smell
trouble.“
Evan Blackwood had been staring
blankly at a news report about a hunt for a man who had robbed a local bank
earlier in the week. Now, he stared blankly at his best friend and cousin,
Scott Lee. Evan had hoped Scott would help take his mind off the woman he loved
– the woman who had flatly rejected him. Instead, Scott was making things worse
with dire predictions… predictions Evan had no choice but to take seriously.
Scott was, after all, a powerful intuitive, whose gift had only seemed to
improve after his unfortunate run-in with a werewolf ten years earlier.
“What do you expect me to do?“ Evan asked. “Hit her over the head with a club and drag her
by the hair back to my cave?“
Scott snorted. “You never had
to do any of that. You had her right here, in your cave, and you let her walk
out. You could order her back, but you won’t.“
Evan didn’t dignify the comment
with a response. Scott’s instincts had always served him better when it came to
physical threats rather than emotional ones, and Scott didn’t want to hear that
Cassie would hate Evan for forcing her to stay with him. In Scott’s world,
after she was safe, gratitude would soften her heart. Or if not that, then at
least time. If Evan had ever thought anything of the sort, her reaction to his
saving her life, and the life debt she now owed him, set him straight.
He had to admit, his initial
marriage proposal hadn’t been at all well done. Nerves he barely acknowledged
had fumbled the question into a near-command, Marry me, and she had freaked out. Still, he had hoped she would want to
marry him. Now, he wasn’t even sure how he could try to convince her without
inadvertently coercing her. The life debt made it difficult for her to refuse
anything she knew he wanted, and impossible for her to refuse anything he
directly commanded.
Scott wasn’t the first one to
suggest he just claim her, either. Evan’s father, Victor Blackwood, had said
much the same thing, adding: I want to see you steal that girl right out from under her
father’s nose. At least Scott’s motives were
better.
“I spotted one of the Travises in town today,“ Scott said.
Evan nearly growled. “One of
these days, we really need to run that family out of town.“
“Hey, you know I’d help you with that if it came to it, but it
isn’t going to happen anytime soon.“
“They wouldn’t go after Cassie.“
“I wouldn’t put anything past them.“
He had a point, Evan grudgingly
admitted. The Travises had always lived just outside of civilized behavior, and
they seemed to make their own rules.
“And I told you about the Blairs asking questions,“ Scott added.
“You also said they were probably just trying to stir up trouble.“ The Blairs were mind
mages, adept at manipulating people’s behaviors with a few well-chosen,
well-timed words.
“They may be succeeding.“
“Or they may be hoping to goad me into acting too soon, pushing her
away.“
Scott didn’t have an answer to
that. Perhaps it was just as well that he didn’t understand matters of the
heart, since he was too dangerous by half, the beast within him prone to violence.
Scott was, perhaps, the only man in town Evan didn’t know if he could beat in a
fight. He only hoped he never had to find out for sure.
“Come on.“ Evan shut off the TV with a flicker of will, not even
bothering with the remote, resting within easy arm’s reach on the end table
next to him. “I can’t stay here anymore tonight. We’ll find her, make sure
she’s safe, and if not, send a message to anyone stupid enough to try anything.“
* * *
The Jewels of Critique (how to handle negative criticism)
If you are
serious about becoming a writer then at some point you will need to show others
your work and ask them what they think. When your pet project comes back,
scarred beyond recognition in red ink, you have three choices: You can quit
writing. You can decide to be a poor, misunderstood artist and never learn or
grow. Finally, you can use the feedback to become an even better writer.
The truth is, everyone has
room for improvement, but even after you realize this you may not know what to
do with those red marks. Do you always make changes where suggested? What if
two people contradict one another? What if someone clearly did not “get it?” Do
you compromise integrity to make others happy? This workshop addresses all
these questions and more as we seek to make sense of constructive (and even
destructive) criticism.
I.
Good Critique
Before I get into how to interpret other’s critique, I wanted to
briefly discuss good criticism. While you will not always receive great
criticism, you should always give it. Also, understanding what makes criticism
good will help you to interpret it.
A.
Critique the story, not the author: This should be self
explanatory but basically, never make any assumptions about what the author
thinks, feels, or is trying to do. You are reporting your feelings about a
piece of literature, not performing psychoanalysis.
B.
Make it an opinion: “I thought Frank was a jerk.” is an
absolutely true statement. “Frank is a jerk.” is up for debate. Authors tend to
receive criticism better when it is written as an opinion rather than as fact,
because it is less confrontational and controversial. If you are the author
receiving the feedback, you should always interpret comments as an opinion even
if the person giving the feedback was less than sensitive.
C.
Look for problems, not solutions: It is usually more useful for an
author to gauge your reaction to a piece rather than to hear how you would
rewrite it. When you start prescribing solutions rather than diagnosing
problems, you may not be in tune with the author’s vision and therefore may not
be giving useful information. If you do decide to give suggestions for
rewriting, you should always pinpoint the problem (as you see it) first. That
way, the author can take the information and use it in a way that best serves
the story.
D.
Be a wise reader: A strategy I picked up from Orson Scott Card
(see his books on writing) that works very well for me is the wise reader
critique. Anyone who reads can be trained to be a wise reader, and the
information they give is golden. When you read a book, you naturally ask
certain questions about it. A wise reader notices when they ask the questions
and they write it down for the benefit of the author.
i. Oh Yeah? (I don’t
believe this.)
ii. So What? (I don’t
care.)
iii. Huh? (I don’t get it.)
II.
Getting to the heart of the problem
Whether you receive good criticism or not, you need to attempt to
understand what the reader felt was the problem with the story. If your car
engine stalled you would not start randomly replacing parts before you understood
what was wrong. The same thing is true with writing.
A.
Diagnosis: If your reader gave you diagnostic information such as
a wise reader critique, then your task is much easier. You know the problem and
can move on to what (if anything) to do about it.
B.
Prescription: If someone gave you suggestions for change without
telling you the problem, you are going to have to work backwards. Ask yourself
why they would think the change was necessary. Try to look at it through a
reader’s eyes and realize that they may not have been reading the story you
thought you wrote. (See ‘C’ below)
C.
They didn’t seem to “get it”: They very well may not have. I am
often amazed to find out what story people actually read when I send something
out for feedback. They aren’t wrong. Keep in mind that the story in your head
is a separate entity from the story on the paper. Likewise, the story on the
paper takes on a life of its own when read by someone else. They bring into it
their own biases and personal experiences. They may think Frank is a jerk
because they dated this guy in college named Frank who really hurt them. You
cannot always control for that but you need to be prepared for it.
III.
Should I make a change?
A.
There are exactly two times when you should consider making a
change.
i. Resonance: If a
comment resonates with you, if it just makes sense based on what you are trying
to accomplish with your work (be it a short story, novel, or article) then you
should, of course, make a change.
ii. Agreement: If many
people agree on a problem or weak spot, you should also seriously consider
making a change. You may not agree on the solution that any or all of them
offered, but it is typically no coincidence when several people all spot the
same issue. It can be hard to decide to make a change in this case, if there is
no resonance to go along with it, but here are some things you can do.
1. Put it aside for a
period of time and re-read it with a fresh eye.
2. Look for creative
solutions to a problem. For example, if many people tell you a section is too
long you may decide, instead, to make it longer. I often find that the boredom
that causes people to suggest cutting can also be remedied by going into more
depth, drawing the reader in further, and really highlighting the importance of
a certain portion of a story or novel.
B.
Contradictions: It can be frustrating when people disagree on an
aspect of a story. When one person loves Frank and another thinks he is a jerk,
you may find yourself unsure what to do. Let me start by making some
observations that may help you put this into perspective.
i. No one’s work will be
universally loved.
ii. The very things that
make one person fall in love with your work will make someone else hate it.
This is true in all aspects of life. I don’t like raspberries, but I bet most
of you do. If you were hosting a large dinner party, would you choose a different
dessert to accommodate my dislike of raspberries? Perhaps a yummy apple crumble
or a turtle cheesecake? Now I like your dessert option but Brian hates
cheesecake and Beth isn’t into apples.
In the end, whether the feedback is contradictory or not, you need
to consider the same two questions: “Did it resonate? Do many people agree?” If
one naysayer contradicts a group, it is probably safe to listen to the majority
opinion. If a group seems split down the middle you will simply have to be the
tiebreaker.
C.
Compromising Integrity: I bring this up only because many
beginning writers ask this question. Should I compromise my integrity to please
others? Well, that depends upon what you mean by integrity. Obviously, it is
your story to tell and in the end you are the person who will tell it. If
making a change to please people will make you hate the story or in some way go
against your values, then of course you should not make the change. But don’t
be the poor, misunderstood artist, either. If you want to be a great writer
then you need to understand that the creative process is fluid and that
sometimes you need to let the story decide what it wants to be, rather than
forcing it to be what you want it to be.
IV.
Responding to Feedback
A.
Thank you: This is the only appropriate response to someone who
has offered to help you by reading your work. Even if you disagree with
everything they wrote, even if they were downright mean in their comments, you
thank them and do not argue. Your story has to stand alone when it goes out
into the world – you won’t be there to hold its hand and back it up with your
own answers to people’s comments. If someone asks a question in their feedback,
it is rhetorical. You answer it in the rewrite, if at all.
B.
Destructive criticism: It happens. Someone may give you back some
feedback that says, “You suck as a writer. Don’t quit your day job.” If a
person gives you criticism that is downright mean, you simply ignore it and do
not ask for their help again. Throw it away.
C.
The follow-up question: While it is not okay to try to explain
yourself, your story, or argue with someone who has given you advice, it may be
acceptable to ask an occasional follow-up question for the sake of clarity.
When I sent an early chapter of Touch of Fate out for criticism, I
learned that someone felt Marianne, the protagonist, was unsympathetic. I wrote
back to him and asked if he could tell me what had given him that impression.
He was kind enough to highlight some careless turns of phrase that made her
seem uncaring towards her daughter. I was then able to make the changes that
helped me sell the book.
V.
Re-critique
A.
From the same group: This is usually a bad idea, in my opinion.
Personally, I usually refuse to look at the same story or part of a novel more
than one time. Either you followed my advice in the first place or you did not.
If you did take my advice, I will be inclined to like it whether or not it
works and if you did not take my advice I will be disinclined to like it
whether or not your chosen solution was appropriate. Moreover, I know how it
ends – or ended, which might even be worse. I cannot give you a fresh, unbiased
opinion on a second read-through.
B.
From a different person/people: This can work, but I caution you
to remember that your story will never be perfect. As many times as you send
your work out, you will receive that many suggestions. You cannot please
everyone and that is not your goal – it may be your dream but it is not your
goal. So go ahead and get a few different opinions, but try not to lose sight
of your own intentions as you make change after change and at some point,
decide that you are done.
C. When is it done? At some point, you have to decide to stop. It will never be done, but you can stope writing and send it to a publisher. Don't forget that there will always be other stories, other articles, and even other novels. Growing as a writer happens over multiple pieces, not just multiples rewrites of the same piece. Try new things. Be adventurous. Be done.
Christine Amsden
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1 comment:
Thanks so much for sharing my book and the jewels of critique with your readers! I'll try to check back in for questions if anyone has them -- about the books or about critique. :)
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