Confessions of a NaNoWriMo Newbie

By Leslie D. Soule

This November went by so fast. Usually it tends to be the kind of month that drags on tediously, until Thanksgiving. But this year, things have been a bit different. This year, I signed up to participate in the annual phenomenon that is NaNoWriMo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. This free event poses the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in a single month. Now, you published authors out there know that 60,000 words is standard novel length, but I think the point of this event is not to have your manuscript entirely sparkling by the end. Rather, the challenge is posed in order to get you to do most of the writing involved in the allotted timeframe. I find that in the editing period after you clean up a rough draft, 10,000 words comes fairly easily anyway, to flesh things out.

So here’s how it went for me. Well, it was mid-month by the time I decided that I wanted to participate, which meant that I would be really behind. I signed up on the website (www.nanowrimo.org) on the 13^th. By this time, I should have been at 21,658 words in word count, like everyone else. Fortunately, I did have a partial novel that I could dust off and build from. It was at 17k in word count, which meant that I was 4,000 words behind – it was still a lot, but not nearly the colossal challenge that nearly 22k would have been.

Every day of the challenge, the goal is to write 1,666 words in order to finish your manuscript on time. I saw one blog writer refer to the number as “the devil’s vintage” and that seems to help me remember. I caught up gradually to where I needed to be, exceeding the 1,666 word count goal for a couple of days, and by day 15 of the challenge, I was right where I needed to be.

Anyway, I got through NaNoWriMo this year, and it was a lot of work, but I survived, gaining access to the winner screen, and the whole thing was a blast. One thing that helped was that I’d seen others posting inspirational images for the topics they’d write on in a given day, on Pinterest. For example, one day I scoured Pinterest for an image of a dragon, posted it to my NaNoWriMo board, and wrote about dragon hunting that day. I carried a notebook with me wherever I went. I researched things and asked myself questions. How hard is it to forage in the woods in winter? Traditionally, what are the differences between dragons and wyverns? What were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon like? Research should be fun, and so should the writing be, so that you avoid burnout.

I fully intend on participating next year. I’m already planning out what I’ll put in my NaNoWriMo 2014 survival kit: a coffee mug, hot chocolate, tea, coffee, notebooks, the rollerball pens from the dollar store that are my weakness, cough syrup, slippers and fingerless gloves. At any rate, I hope you’ll consider participating. I certainly found it to be a memorable experience. 

My Favorite Monster Movies

By Leslie D. Soule

Who doesn’t love a good monster movie? Monsters have been a staple of literature and also the visual equivalent of literature – film, since the beginning of both forms of entertainment, and I’d like to think that it’s because there’s something in the concept of the monster that touches the depths of the human psyche. I’m rather personally fond of a quote by Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide books. In his novel The Restaurant At The End of the Universe, he writes of princes who “[…] take tea with weird gods and rescue beautiful monsters from ravening princesses…” I found myself intrigued with it, because I guess who the monsters really are is all about your perspective.

That being said, here’s a list of my five favorite monster movies and the reasons why. Here we go:

5. The Lost Boys

Are you tired of sparkly vampires? Ready for the kind of vampires that don’t sparkle, the kind that make you want to destroy them? In the words of Seth Grahame-Smith, “It’s time we stopped kissing vampires and got back to killing them.” This movie stars Keifer Sutherland in a role he shines in. Be sure to catch The Lost Boys: The Tribe as well, if only to check out how much Angus Sutherland looks like his daddy.

4. Lady Frankenstein

This one’s a Frankenstein story with an erotic twist. The lady in the movie is trying to create the perfect lover – the guy who’s interested in her doesn’t have the body she wants, but she likes his brain well enough. Meanwhile, there’s a guy who’s not so bright, but has the right body. So she thinks it’s time for a little experimentation. This one’s a fun flick to watch with friends over for a movie night.

3. Mad Monster Party

I love this claymation film. It was created by Rankin-Bass, the same people who brought us those iconic Christmas & Rudolph claymation movies. This one is much less well known, but also has a lot of charm.

2. Blood And Chocolate

This is easily my favorite shifter film. It stars werewolf shifters and a young woman who is falling in love with a human who’s not a shifter. This film is full of eye-candy and features a gripping, harrowing plot and a burgeoning romance that tugs on your heartstrings.

3. The Tingler

This movie’s not too well known either, but it’s one of Vincent Price’s best. The movie’s about a creature that comes out when you’re scared, called The Tingler. What is the Tingler, exactly? And what happens when a woman is unable to scream in order to stop the Tingler? You’ll just have to watch and find out!!!

Bonus Time: Worst Monster Movie I can think of – Vampire’s Kiss, starring Nicholas Cage. However, it’s a fun one to watch because it’s so awesomely bad.

Anyway, hope you all have a great Halloween!!!!

The Purpose of Art

By Leslie D. Soule

So what is “art”, exactly? Some would argue that it is the product of a person’s creativity and self-expression, shown in a visual format of some kind. Good art, it is said, is controversial. Art is meant to challenge you on a personal level. Recently in Sacramento, there has been a series of paintings that has created quite a stir in the local news. The artist, Maren Conrad, has created a series of paintings in a show called “Politically Vulnerable”. The paintings feature ex-wives and ex-lovers of politicians. A local lobbyist, Donne Brownsey, demanded that the paintings be taken down immediately, and the owner of the local nightclub did just that.

One cannot help but wonder what Brownsey’s motivation was. It is as though she believes, perhaps subconsciously, that when an artist sets about to create a piece of work, the subject matter is highly revered – in this case, infidelity. I can certainly see where she may have come to this conclusion. However, following the same train of thought, one would conclude that Picasso must have seen the bombing of the town of Guernica with reverence. However, this was most definitely not the case.

“Guernica” is arguably Picasso’s greatest work, and according to Wikipedia, “It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, a Basque Country village in northern Spain by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.” It portrays images of people screaming in agony, falling over themselves and broken, with light diffused into shards. Picasso uses art to show the horror of warfare, and the tragedy of the bombing. This is a great example of a controversial piece of work, and the moral that we can draw from it, which is, “Art (except, of course, as used in advertisements) does not equal endorsement”.

If one looks at a painting merely as endorsing the image it portrays, this is not altogether wrong, but it is certainly a shallow interpretation of a piece of work which is probably worthy of a deeper interpretation. An example of when an artist pokes fun at this idea is with the painting titled “The Treachery of Images” by French artist Rene’ Magritte. I am a fan of Magritte’s surrealistic work, which features scenes of altered realities. In this particular painting, we see a pipe, and underneath the pipe, in French, the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”. Translated into English, this phrase reads, “This is not a pipe.” Taken altogether, the painting suggests that there is more to its existence than what meets the eye.

Henry David Thoreau wrote that, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” So when you look at an artistic piece, what is it that you’re really seeing? Is it only the subject matter or the surface material, or something more? 

Buy Leslie Soule's books at Decadent Publishing!

Where’s My Mojo?

By Leslie D. Soule

So lately I’ve been wanting to write, and yet I’ve been thwarted by the evil twin of Writer’s Block – lack of motivation, and it’s left me feeling like Austin Powers, saying, “Dr. Evil has stolen my mojo!” I’ve found ways around Writer’s Block, but a total lack of motivation is uncharted territory for yours truly. I typed in “lack of motivation in writing” into a Google search, and many of the sites that came up suggested that a lack of motivation is due to a “lack of faith in one’s abilities”, and maybe that’s a piece of the puzzle – we can’t all be Stephen King, and negative reviews are enough to damage anyone’s faith in themselves – but I don’t feel like that’s the whole truth of it.

So how do I gain my mojo back, when I’ve lost the desire to go searching for it at all? There’s the rub that leaves me feeling like the mythical “fisher king” (think King Theoden from Lord of the Rings), a king who cannot and will not save his (or in this case, “her”) kingdom, which has been reduced to a barren Wasteland. The king is injured, and can only fish. According to the myth, only an outside source can come and heal the fisher king and bring prosperity back to the land. The fisher king originates in the King Arthur legends and he is the one charged with keeping the holy grail.

So the answer may lie in the hero Perceval’s quest to heal the fisher king – a selfless act in itself in which he asks the fisher king, “Sir, why do you suffer so?” Perhaps in order to heal the Wasteland, I must become Perceval and ask of others, “Sir, why do you suffer so?”

I believe that writing can be a noble thing and an aid in helping us to understand truths.

Feel free to use and distribute the above image, by the way. I created it myself. Anyway, it being Memorial Day at the time of writing this, my local newspaper had an article about Memorial Day’s origins in the Civil War. The article’s writer suggested reading up on the struggle of a Civil War soldier in order to bring their story to life. Will this help my writing, or help me recover my lost mojo? Who knows? But it might be worth a shot… 

Mixing The Genres

By Leslie D. Soule

      So about a year ago, I began rewriting an old novel-length story I’d originally written in junior high. The problem was that it was written as a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid, as an experiment. I knew that rewriting this particular story would prove challenging, because I’d originally written medieval fantasy-genre weaponry into a sci-fi universe, and films like Star Wars led me to believe that I needed lasers or blasters or…light sabers!

      I talked about this dilemma with a friend of mine, who assured me that everything would be alright. Then, he loaned me Firefly.

      Firefly is a sci-fi work that includes, in one episode, a sword fight. Whaaaa….?  But not only is Firefly an amazing work of sci-fi that manages to incorporate older weaponry, it is also an excellent example of how to blend genres. In particular, it blends the genres of Sci-Fi and Western, and does so brilliantly.

      In my own writing, I often refer to a book by Orson Scott Card for the “rules” of things. This book is called How To Write Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Despite its rather unassuming cover, I believe it to be THE book on writing in these genres. However, the author states on page 22, “You must inform your reader as quickly as possible after the beginning of your story whether it’s going to be fantasy or science fiction.” Thus, he sets up a dichotomy and implies that a story cannot be both. Thus, we have an argument against hybridization. However, if no one ever mixed genres, we wouldn’t have Firefly. Did I mention how fantastic Firefly is? It’s a must-watch.

      So in closing, maybe there’s hope for my little hybrid after all. Watch for my current Work-In-Progress, a sci-fi/fantasy cross-breed featuring human/animal hybrids, called Hybrid Space. 

Books by Leslie:

Let's Get This Party STARTED!

 

Hello there everyone! This is Leslie Soule, author of the fantasy YA (Young Adult) novel, Fallenwood. I’m honored to be kicking off Decadent Publishing’s Worldwide YA Blog Stomp.

  At each blog on the tour, a lucky commenter will be entered to win a free ebook copy of one of Decadent’s fantastic YA titles.

  Each comment throughout the month counts as an entry for the Grand Prizes, so make sure to stop by as many of the blogs as possible and comment, in order to get the maximum number of entries for the Grand Prizes.

  Decadent is offering up some excellent prizes for the YA Blog Stomp. 1^st prize is a Kindle, pre-loaded with Decadent’s YA titles. 2^nd prize is a whole year’s worth of Decadent ebooks, one per month for 12 months, and you get to choose which books you get. This could save you a lot of money if you’re a voracious reader, like I am.

  For example, if you got 12 copies of Fallenwood (wishful thinking on my part, tee hee hee) at $4.99 per ebook, that would ordinarily cost $59.88!

  3^rd prize is a half-year’s supply of ebooks, one per month for six months – and you get to choose the titles!

  In other news, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is coming out in theaters on July 15^th – July 14^th if you’re going to the midnight showing like my friends and I are. Is anyone else going? If so, are you dressing up like anyone from the series?

Leave a comment! You’ll be entered to win a copy of my novel Fallenwood and you’ll be entered into the contest for the Grand Prizes!

  And remember, the next stop on the blog tour is on July 5^th – it’s the blog of Julie Particka, author of Pretty Souls. Her blog can be found at http://www.julieparticka.com/blog

  Happy YA Blog Stomping!!!

1  .       Does travel play in the writing of your books?

So far it’s been all travel via horseback or walking, since Fallenwood is a medieval-ish world. I’m planning on having travel be a much bigger part of the sequel, which will take place in both Fallenwood and the “Other Realm” – it will most likely include lots of travel via portal, San Francisco, travel via car, and such.

2.      Do you believe in ghosts?

I would be more apt to believe in them if I saw one. Also, if I knew exactly how those devices on Ghost Hunters and those sorts of shows worked. So far, I haven’t had any ghostly encounters to speak of…

3.      What is your favorite color?

That is one of my favorite questions from “Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail”. My favorite color is…green! No, not like money – like leaves and grass – a dark, forest green is my favorite.

4.      If you could be an animal, what would it be?

I would be a cat. What a life! Food is provided, along with toys and attention. I’d get to lie around all day and not have to go to work or pay bills or anything.

5.      If you could spend the night anywhere, where would it be?

I think it would want to spend the night at the Hotel Del Coronado and try to see the ghost of Marilyn Monroe.

6.      Do you play games? What kind?

I love the Final Fantasy video games. The first one I ever played was the original game on regular Nintendo. When I got FF 7, I was like fourteen years old and completely addicted to it.

7.      If you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?

Well, I’m planning on making Fallenwood into a series, because there’s so much that I want to write about the characters. Fallenwood does mimic some of the events of my life, though, so the series would be to some extent a fictional chronicling of real life for me. Lately though, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of writing a Steampunk series of some kind.

8.     What group did you hang out with in high school?

I actually still hang out with the same group of friends I had in high school. We’re all older now and have more responsibilities, but we were tight then and we’re even tighter now. J

9.      Morning Person? Or Night Person? How do you know?

I am NOT a morning person. I wake up and look like the Bride of Frankenstein, my hair in a semi-afro as I walk around like a zombie until about noon-ish.

10.  When's the last time you played that musical instrument?

My guitar is staring at me. It is clearly time to play Estudio…

Thankful, Thoughtful, Thirsty Leslie Soule

By Leslie Soule

            Thankful: I’d like to thank the person who dressed up as a werewolf at the RT Convention. Whoever you are, please know that you made my RT experience more enjoyable. I’d like to think it was one of the Mr. Romance contestants hidden under all that fur. I first saw you in the hallway in front of Club RT, and though I tried to act casual, well…you were a werewolf standing there in the hallway of the Westin Bonaventure. And you growled at me, and I growled back. Rawr, you big sexy beast!

            Thoughtful: So I got to meet Robert Roman in person at RT, and he got me thinking about the idea of world-building in my stories. With Fallenwood, my characters are a group of misfits. Now, I love those old claymation Christmas movies, and especially the part where our heroes journey to the Island of Misfit Toys. However, the moment Robert mentioned the word “archmage”, it sent my thoughts in a million directions as I considered the interactions of people in the training of someone to be an archmage. I realized that what was missing from Fallenwood and from my stories was group interaction and history. Well, it’s tough building an imaginary world from nothing! But I’m going to be working on a sequel and there’s always time for expansion on old ideas. 

 

            Thirsty: I love tea. I love it so much that I’ve hooked up an electric burner in my bedroom and have a kettle on it, so I can have tea going whenever I want. I love tea so much that I wanted to create a special kind for Fallenwood – rakeih (pronounced raka). I wrote it as a “frothy berry drink”, though it is really more like a berry tisane. Anything tea-like that does not actually include the tea leaves of the camellia sinensis plant, is actually a tisane. Thus, mint teas and chamomile teas are not “tea” technically – they are tisanes. I am always thirsty to try new teas! So if anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way! 

Playlist Monday - FALLENWOOD

 Hey there everyone! Today I'd like to share the Fallenwood playlist I've created.
  This playlist is not made up of songs I listened to while writing. Rather, it is a list of songs that I feel should go with certain scenes of the novel.

1. "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva. My novel starts off on a dreary note, with Ash locked in grief over her stepfather's death. This song makes me think of the depth of depression and sorrow.

2. "Beyond Beautiful" by Aerosmith. This song makes me think of the scene where Ash starts running down the dirt path. The intro of the song makes me think of someone running through the woods, over rocks and puddles, as fast as their feet can take them.

3. "Into The Trees Alone" by The White Horses Project. This song's mystical sound and evocative lyrics are perfect for when Ash passes through the portal and finds herself in the woods of Fallenwood.

4. "Fire on High" by Electric Light Orchestra. This song has a really creepy sound to it. It seems perfect for the scene where Ash goes into the strange dream-world of the Pan-Experiential.

5. "When It's Love by Van Halen - and - "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. With upbeat lyrics and truth seeping from lyrics that at first seem simple before revealing hidden depths, these two songs perfectly embody the budding romance between Ash and Prince Edward.

6. "Life" by Our Lady Peace. This song seems to perfectly portray the atmosphere of a gypsy camp and the idea that while life isn't perfect, it can still be beautiful.

7. "Goodnight Moon" by Shivaree. This song has an edge to it, and it fits with the scene where Akaji invades Ash's dreams.

8. "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon 5. I hear this song in the background when I think about the scene where Ash is on the Field of Death, with the black unicorn charging her. I even mentioned in the story that "...it got harder to breathe."

9. A Gregorian chant. I would have one of these playing in the scene where Ash descends the stairway into the heart of the Wolf King's cave.

10. "I Will Remember" by Jody Marie Gnant. This is a beautiful song and makes for a great ending.

Hope you've enjoyed the Fallenwood playlist!!!

-Leslie Soule
www.lesliesoule.com

If FALLENWOOD were made into a movie...

 by Leslie Soule

Hello everyone! For my Show & Tell piece, I want to explore the idea of who I would cast if Fallenwood were ever to be made into a movie.

“And if you are groovy, then get in my movie!” ~ Jack Black from Tenacious D

Ash: I was looking for a young woman with brown hair and hazel eyes. Then I came across photos of Ashley Greene, from the Twilight movies (she plays Alice) and I thought, “Eureka!” Not only would she fit the part perfectly, but her name can be shortened to Ash.

Will Everett: My sorcerer. I came upon a photo of Gem Jean Marc Danois and instantly said to myself, “There you are, Will!”

Greymalkin: I took this photo from a list of adoptable cats on the ASPCA website. This little guy’s name is Hendrix.

Terces: Oh, my jester. I had the hardest time finding someone who could play Terces. Then I remembered an actor from Throne of Blood at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and I knew I’d found my Terces.

Prince Edward: Last but not least, I had to find a Prince Edward. And I must say, there is a deplorable lack of cute blond guys in Hollywood! Most shameful! But I finally settled on Hayden Christensen as Prince Edward.

My, How We've Grown! (Some of ) The Decadent Team

Heather Bennett (owner) ~ 2nd Grade

Colleen Beilke ~ Review Coordinator

Lisa Omstead (owner)

Kathleen Gallagher

Why don't they leave me alone? I have no time for photo shoots. There are more important things on my mind. 

Shiela Stewart:

This is back when I was sweet and innocent. And then I grew up! Muhahahahahaha!!

                               Valerie Mann 

First time in the snow... BEFORE

 

                                                                                           ...and AFTER

and what's up with the Bozo the Clown boots? I have big feet, but really??

Mahalia Levey

 

Leanne Dyck (The Sweater Curse):  "My huge head full of words waiting to put pen to paper." (Picture taken in 1962 by my Dad)

Ellen Keener ~ 

First, I always liked cars better than Barbie.  Second, can you tell that Mom always cut my hair, and I hated it? When we lived in Winchester, the neighbors actually had to explain to friends once that the screaming coming from our backyard wasn't because I was dying  - it was just Rich (my mom) cutting Vanessa's hair.

Wendy Burke

From a very young age, Wendy Burke was destined to be full of hot air.

 

Ashlynn Monroe

 Silke Juppenlatz

This was umm... 1965 or so.

Looks like I managed to water everything -- except the dilapidated plant which is crying out for some... water!
That’s what I call precision splashing, it takes a lot of practice!

Leslie Soule

Three Way Thursday with Leslie Soule

What am I thankful for?

  When I began to think about the things I’m thankful for, my friends immediately came to mind. I have a close-knit group of friends that I “run with”, both literally and figuratively (we’re working up to a 5k). We’re an alliance, seven-people strong and most of us have known each other since high school. If any one of us has a problem or a crisis, the other six have their back, unquestionably. We are so close that we’re pretty much family, really. So this is one of the huge blessings in my life and something that I am truly thankful for.

What have I been thinking about?

  Well, I’ve been thinking about writing a sequel to my fantasy novel Fallenwood. I’ve been thinking a lot about the theme of this new novel. The ultimate theme of Fallenwood is death and how it’s handled. With the sequel, I want to tackle a new theme – the idea of losing yourself and the implications of that. Stephen King says that writing is a kind of therapy for him, and that’s how I see it as well. Writing is a way for me to explore some of the difficult things I’ve gone through in life, so that’s why I’ve chosen that particular theme for the sequel. I also want to be able to handle a more adult subject matter, but keep the story YA, which is something that YA novels traditionally do not handle very well if they even attempt to handle it at all. The idea that I want to send is that literature impacts how we live and view the world. I want to put something out there that’s different than the messages that people typically get from media sources. I realize that’s a lofty goal, but I have high aspirations for my novels.

What am I thirsty for?

I am thirsty for something good and pure and kind. The other day, in meditation, I came to a realization about myself. I was angry about an event that happened in my past and I’d been reading a lot of self-help books (it’s become an addiction I think) and this one in particular explained emotions with the analogy of an iceberg. What you see on the surface is only a very small part of things. So I delved deeper and began free-writing about the “connected emotions” that the book listed and surprised myself with the revelation that my anger stemmed from a very curious place. I wrote the following sentence and have been repeating it back to myself like a mantra: I am deathly afraid of a heartless world. So anyway, connecting that to literature, what I’m thirsty for is a story that’s not cheesy or full of fluff, but something with some heart to it.