Day 3

It's day 3 of November and I still haven't talked about what exactly I'm doing with my currently published stories. I know I've talked about releasing a 3 pack for the first 3 novellas of Millersburg and I haven't done anything since. My plan is to go back through the first two novellas and fluff them out, fix little inconsistencies, and overall add to the stories.

The reason why I haven't done that is because I can't decide if I should re-publish them or have a major update sent out. But if I re-publish them they will no longer be 99 cents. I am hoping to have made my decision and be able to bring all of you Millersburg Volume 1, containing the first 3 novellas of Millersburg.

So far it looks like the year of 2018 will be really busy for me and very fruitful for all of you. I'm hoping that with my new schedule I can still squeeze in a few hours of writing. (I know, I'm wasting precious time writing blog posts for you and I should be writing.) I'm going to spending my time tomorrow working on my projects tomorrow.

I hope all of you stay safe in the coming hectic holiday months. See ya!

Quick Question

Welcome to the month of gratitude! The month of the turkey! The month of NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is the one month a year that writers pledge to write 50,000 words in a month. 

In previous years I participated and brought several stories to life but never finished them. I have been thinking about those stories and how I would like to finish them. I have bulging file folders for these stories that sit and gather dust by my desk. They are unlike what I publish. They could be categorized as YA Fantasy. But if I reworked them would all of you be willing to read them? They won't be my primary projects but more of a secondary project. 

If some of you have been lurking about since before I change over to my pen name and reworked my blog then you might recognize what my secondary projects are. Once I have Worked on them for a little bit I will have an excerpt for all of you to read.

November Update

Sorry about the long absence. My life has been crazy. I am still working on my current project. I haven't been able to work on it as much as I'd like. I changed jobs at my place of employment and it has been hectic. Unfortunately, I won't be able to finish my current project until next year. I am hoping that I can get you a few unedited previews and maybe even a possible release date. Once again I am sorry for the long absence.

As to what I am working on. That is going to be a tough question to answer. I have several projects I am currently working on but my main project is the next book in the Millersburg series. I know several of you have been waiting on the next installment of the Trinity Mates series. I am currently working on the outline of the next book but I won't be starting on the writing process for a bit.

I am hoping that all of you hardcore followers continue to follow me as I continue on my journey through the writing world. I know I have been bad about updating anywhere and I thank you for sticking by me.

Alice Frost on Writing

First off, to those of you here in the USA, Happy 4th of July! I hope your day is fun and filled with family, fireworks, and parades!  I'm hoping my day will be too. To everyone else, if you aren't celebrating a holiday then I hope you are just having an awesome filled day!

I can tell you that as a single mother with a full time job and a passion to become an established author that it isn't easy. Sometimes there just isn't time to write much less think. But as a new author myself the biggest piece of advice I can give any budding author out there is: Make time. Even if it is just a few minutes while the kid is in the bath and dinner is in the oven cooking. Just jot down the idea you had and slowly expand on this. I have QuickMemo on my phone and Nooote Free on my tablet, which come in handy when I'm at work. Having a voice recorder also works.

Another thing that as a new author that takes time and unfortunately money is finding a cover that fits your story, especially if you are self-publishing. Most readers, myself included, are cover shoppers. If the cover looks good then they will buy it. If you have the money to buy a professional cover then you can move forward a little faster in publishing. If you don't have the money you can save up for the one you have your eye on but you risk the chance of someone else buying before you. Or you can find a temporary cover that kind of fits your story but then you risk the chances of no one buying your book. Now there are several sites where you can get premade covers and I suggest looking through those sites like you were buying a new house. Yes, that one is what you WANT but does it fit the story? Does it have everything you NEED to express? Will it draw your potential buyer it?

Yes yes I know I am a new author myself how do I know what I'm talking about. I do a lot of research. I read a lot of reviews, about writing, and different types of writing. Do I know everything? No. But I know what steps I have taken to get my book self-published. Trial and error is ok. If you make a mistake learn from it and move on. Just don't let that mistake get you down and stop writing, editing, or publishing. Don't let anyone or anything stop you from obtaining your goals. (Unless you are a murderer/serial killer then just don't do it.)

AF out! I'm thinkin' bout doing AAF = Awesome As Fuck

I don't know what do ya'll think?

Writing Fantasy

I love writing fantasy and science fiction stories. But the one thing that I hate doing is research. Why would I need to research anything for a fantasy story? A lot of stuff. It may not be apparent when you write your story but later on you might see that things don't quite connect. Some authors are ok with things not quite connecting but not everyone is. I am one such person.

1. What Is Your Story About?

This is normally called the plot but I'm a little different. So what is happening in this story? Is your characters going on an epic quest or are we just going to see a small snippet of your fantasy world? Is this a big enough story to have a map and even languages?

J.R.R. Tolkien had not only maps of his world but even created a language for the Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit. You may not think these things matter but you may have a reader that wants these things.

2. Types of Fantasy

You may think that this should have been first but as I've stated before I do things a little bit different. There is a WIDE variety of fantasy out there and you can mix them as much as you want as long as you make it sound plausible. So you could have androids with unicorns as long as it is plausible then have fun with it.

Cyborg leprechauns, FYI.

They can be a thing. Anyway once you have decided what your story is about then you can decide just how fantastical you want to be. But what about my characters? Just hang on we are getting there.

3. Characters

I already have a blog post about making believable characters. So basically you just have to do the normal routine on your character and if you find something new to add into your fantasy world then go ahead and do it. You may even find out that your plot/story line whatever changes, even expands. Yea, yea whatever. But sometimes a change in the plot line is fine.

4. Writing The Story

Now the hard part begins, writing the story. Don't stop writing until you have finished. Just remember to let yourself be creative (it's part of writing). Yes I know this is a short redundant tutorial but hey I like writing these.

What are you still doing reading this? Go. Go write your story. It's never going to be read if you never write it.

NOTE: I originally wrote this on my Wordpress blog. I have decided to copy the posts over to here cuz you guys need some lovin' too.

Character Development

Coming up with characters is as easy as pie, but coming up with BELIEVABLE characters is a whole different piece of pie. I know each writer has a different process of how they write their characters. Now I will be giving you a tour of how I do this process.

1. Motivation - I start with what motivates my character. Is my character doing this because of x, y, or z? This brings me a clear view of how their personality will be. So if my character had to rob a bank then I want to know WHY he had to.

Example: Joe Bob needed to rob the bank to pay off the mafia boss that he had borrowed money from so they don't take their payment out of his flesh.

Once you have figured out the WHY then we can move onto the next step.

2. Background - I have had some writers tell me that they don't do a background on their characters but I feel that having one makes my characters a little more believable and relatable (at least to me). When we have our motives then we need to know why our character feels they need to go about it that particular way.

Example: Joe Bob grew up in a bad part of town, raised by a single mom who worked as a prostitute for the mafia. He wasn't a good student and never graduated from high school and the only job he has ever had was with the mafia. He slowly developed a drug habit and began borrowing more and more money to supply his habit.

Ok so now we know that Joe Bob hasn't had a great life. He might have had small moments of happiness but that all depends on how much background you want to put into your characters.

3. Personality - Personality is a tough one for me. I have a tendency to give my characters snarky personalities in the beginning. But not all characters stay that way. As with each person, each character has a unique personality and quirks.

Example: Joe Bob has a Napoleon complex. He is very domineering and aggressive which was only made worse by his drug habit.

4. Description - Describing a character can be really easy or it can be extremely hard. I always look at my characters background and their motivations before I start putting their description together. To make your character more believable their physical description needs to 'fit' their personality.

Example: Joe Bob is very short and underweight. His hair is unwashed and a dull brown color. His eyes are a bloodshot brown color. He has track marks covering his arms.

5. Naming Your Character - Obviously Joe Bob was given a name but lets give him an official name. Now poor Joe Bob has a bad history and isn't the greatest looking guy.

Honestly, he is completely forgettable but that's how I want him to be. Now if we look at my poor character we know he didn't grow up in a great neighborhood and has ties to the mafia. Joe Bob is not what his name should be. Why? Because it doesn't fit him.

What would be a good name for my unimpressive character? A name that is equally unimpressive. I think I will call him Keith. Now that we have a name for him it is time to write his story. Either way the end for Keith is always the same, death.

If he succeeds in robbing the bank the cops shoot and kill him before he gets away. If he doesn't succeed then the mafia makes him an example. He newspaper article never makes it to the front page, he's relegated to page 8.

Yes poor Keith's story is a dark path of misery but that is how I wrote him. When writing characters every piece influences the character you create. Now Keith could have had to steal the money to get his mother off the streets as a prostitute. His story all depends on you and what you make it to be.

NOTE: This was originally written on my Wordpress. I am slowly copying posts from there to here cuz you all need lovin' too.