R.F. Gammon Author

KNOW THE NOVEL PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

by R.F. Gammon - October 23, 2019

WATCHING//A Flash Fiction Piece by Moi

by R.F. Gammon - October 16, 2019

Hello, everyone! Another week is here, and today I wanted to bless you all with a flash fiction story by me! I submitted it to Havok last month, but it wasn't accepted, so since I still really liked it I'm going to publish it here on The Writer's Song!

Note: This story IS based on a song from the 1980s! If you can guess the song, I don't have a prize for you, haha, but I will give you a virtual high-five and some virtual pizza xD So here it is!

~~~~

Outside the window, a bomb exploded.

This was the only way it could possibly have ended, but at the same time, I found myself wishing for something more. Something better. Something that would have made the effort worthy. An end to justify the means.

We’d burned the planet down, but with time, I could have helped it heal.

“Sir, we don’t have much time.”

The walls of the fortress trembled. My legs rocked beneath me as I turned to see my councilor. He looked at the floor, his military uniform adorned with a dozen medals for his service. Meaningless now.

The window shattered and glass rained down on us. People in the back of the room screamed and ran; I stood motionless.

Rain, one of the women in the room, sank to her knees in despair. I let her. I might be a dictator, and this world might have been formed under my perfect hand, but this was a bit of an emergency.

The rebels, weary of our constant surveillance, had finally gathered enough of a force to attack us. My army fought back, but there was little we could do against the massive weapons of the neighboring nations.

I’d once thought that if I were to be faced with the destruction of everything I’d tried to build, especially so close to the goal, I would mourn. But I didn’t. A strange sense of peace settled over me.

“Rain,” I said, my voice gentle. “I am different from the other men who have seized power, and I would thank you to remember why.”

She looked up at me and sniffled. Another explosion rocked the walls of the building. “Hitler, Napoleon, Julius Caesar…think, what do they have in common? They had a vision. They had a goal. But they made a fatal error, and that was to believe they would rule forever. No man can rule forever.”

I turned away from the window, back towards the other side of the control room, lit by dim electric light. Urban legend said I was a vampire, but I preferred darkness simply because it was easier on the eyes.

“The surveillance machines have been operational for years now. They operate with no maintenance; surely you all know this. We can sleep and they will still keep going. The question…” Something boomed below us, down on the first floor of the building. Behind me, someone screamed, and Rain covered her face with her hands.

I stopped talking. None of them were prepared to listen. Not that it truly mattered; I knew from the beginning this could not last.

That was why the emergency switch existed.

Leaving them to scramble around on the computers, I walked into the backroom, letting the heavy door fall shut behind me. The thundering bombs, falling on the capital, muffled the sound.

In the middle of this room—so dark, lit only by the pale green light from the windows—stood the largest mainframe in my arsenal. The one built specially by my engineers, allowing our surveillance to be all-powerful.

I walked to it, letting my fingers skim over the controls. If only the world had been able to understand. This could all have been avoided if only they’d allowed themselves to see that I was helping. People needed to know the truth about each other and those they trusted. To show them that—it was all I ever meant to do.

Fear was just an unfortunate tool. Not one I wanted to employ, but a tool nonetheless. A gun clicked behind me. I chuckled but didn’t turn.

“What is that thing?” Rain’s voice was suddenly strong. “What are you going to do with it? You were about to explain.”

“Yes, but you weren’t interested, my dear.” I sighed. This wasn’t something I could deal with right now. I simply had to put my DNA into the mainframe and the last-ditch effort would be realized. My safety net.

I could die, but my memory never would.

“Tell me the truth!”

I turned around to see her pale face glowing in the sickly green light, her fingers tight around the pistol. She trembled as she pointed the gun, and yet...there was resolve in that face. I could admire that.

“You have such courage.” I sighed. “But then, the videos have already told us that.” I turned to the mainframe again, letting my hand slip once again down the controls.

“I might just arrest you and let you stand trial,” she said, her voice shaking. “You don’t have to die.”

“Yes, darling, I do.”

My finger slid into the only important slot, the one that only my touch could activate. The mainframe booted up and began to hum, flashing a single word across its one interface:

Uploading.

They would never forget me, even if I did not survive.

“What’s that?” Rain’s gun moved from the mainframe to me and back again.

“It contains every bit of data we’ve ever collected. Every cry of a baby. Every death. Every moment of intimacy. Every little thing that no one ever knew we were watching. And I’ve just released it to the public so all it will take is a quick search to find out everything there is to know about anyone.” I smiled. “Many have tried. But no one will be remembered as long as me. Because there are no more secrets.”

Rain cried out and shot me in the chest.

Pain spread through me, but as I fell, calm washed through me, along with true peace for the first time in years.

No one need ever regret this but me, and I had done what the people needed. After all, what was a world without trust?

If only I’d had longer. After all…I’d almost made it.

7 comments

How To Win NaNoWriMo: MY GAME PLAN (may include satire, be warned)

by R.F. Gammon - October 09, 2019

THAT TIME OF YEAR IS UPON US. NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, the time of year when writers lose their minds and hundreds of thousands of words are written in a single month across the globe. It's an amazing event, and one I always look forward to.

This will be my fifth time participating in the November event (I've done a number of Camps but I'm not counting those), and my third time going for the full 50k (the first two times, I was a kid so I used the kids' program and got a smaller goal. 25k the first year, 30k the second year.) I'm actually going to attempt a double NaNo, 100k, which is probably insane and I'll probably die.

I don't want to die, and I don't want you to die either, if you're attempting NaNo, so...Here is a list from a veteran of WAYS TO SURVIVE NaNO!!!!!!!!!!

Don't: GIVE UP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FOR WRITING

This is a mistake that a lot of us fall into. We want to write, so we decide to throw everything else we're doing to the wind. Nothing matters besides typing, clacking, slamming out those 50,000 words. Everything is amazing.

That's not how it works.

Things like keeping up with the laundry, doing the dishes after every meal, and going out to get dinner every week are the sort of thing you can allow to slide off the priority list. Taking a blogging hiatus? Do it if you think it'll help! (More on that later.) But throwing off all relationships, priorities, and everything else is a BAD idea. You still have a life, even if you're a writer on a deadline. This reminder goes to me, too. So we all need to remember that.

Hack: SET APART A COUPLE OF DAYS WITH BIG GOALS!

There's this thing called #10k1Day (also comes in the slightly less daunting flavor of #5k1day), where you set apart one day to write as much as you possibly can, with a goal of getting 5,000 or 10,000 words in one go. These can be really helpful for upping your word count quickly.

My plan is to pick a couple of days when I won't have to work or go to church, get all my schoolwork done on the day before, and write as much as is physically possible for me. I'm thinking one of those days, I might even attempt a 20k1day, which is probably the last thing I'll ever do, but we'll see.

It's always a good idea to schedule these in advance, as soon as you've got a schedule that you know for a fact will exist. One tip I'd extend is: try to stagger them out a bit. Do a couple of big ones at the BEGINNING of November, when you're still excited about this project and the writing is exciting and doesn't feel like drudgery. However, it's not a bad idea to schedule a couple of big writing days toward the end of the month, so you get that big writing push to finish strong.

Hack: DECIDE AHEAD OF TIME HOW YOU PLAN TO HANDLE BLOGGING. MAKE A PLAN!

I'm a blogger as well as an author. I know a lot of y'all are, too. So obviously figuring out how to fit blogging into this crazy writing month can be a bit of a struggle.

I'd say there are three options when it comes to blogging over NaNoWriMo, which are:

>Take a hiatus and don't post at all. (Definitely the easiest way to do it, and not a bad idea at all.)

>Schedule out your posts in advance so they're written and still posting, but you don't have to make time to write them. (Probably what I'm going to do this year.)

>Or, pull a Christine and put out insane update posts every week that could probably add 25k to your total word count by the end of the month. (This is definitely a cool way to keep your readers in the loop, but honestly I'm not sure how Christine is still alive.)

My plan is to do a combination of the last two options this year. I'm going to write some "regularly scheduled" posts, but only two of them, and the other two November posts will be writing updates shrieking about my novel and my progress. There will likely be a handful of snippets! There will be aesthetics! It'll be a nice break!

Whatever method you choose, the most important thing about blogging in November is this: make a plan, and stick to it.

Hack: PICK A PROJECT YOU'RE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT

This isn't the time for exploration writing. This isn't the time to pick a vague back of your mind idea and go with that. You need something that burns you with passion, a project where the characters and premise intrigue you and keep you up at night, a story you love and having a burning need to tell the world about.

My project for NaNoWriMo this year is....*deep breath* *screams* PENTEGREENS BOOK 4!!!!! (title under wraps because #Spoilers). I've been slaving away at this series for years now, and I'm finally, finally, FINALLY going to be writing the last book. That's surreal, you guys. It's not even possible. How am I finally wrapping up this epic? How am I supposed to put the last book of the story of my heart out on the page? I don't know, but I see no better time to do it than this November.

So choose a story that pricks you with fascination, one that you love and know you can keep loving even when it gets tedious and you don't know how to keep on. Pick a story that reminds you of why you write.

Hack: HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS

On Goodreads, there's a group called Year-Long NaNo where the members can keep each other updated on their word counts, goals, and other such things. This is a really great idea and it definitely helps to have someone to yell at you if you're getting behind on your goal.

My best friend Nicki Chapelway and I, for the months of September and October, have been trying to duel to write the third books in our series. We're holding each other accountable for getting them written, but we're also forcing ourselves to write faster, write more, and stay on track. I also have one of my lovely alpha readers, Lila Kims, reading my book in sections, and ensuring that I keep ahead of where she's reading and have new sections to send her is also helping me write fast so I can finish my goal.

Whether it's a group, a single accountability partner, or daily updates on your Instagram stories, find a way to get people to encourage you in your journey. You CAN write on your own, but where's the fun in that? Get your friends to help you out--and help them, too!

Don't: SPEND ALL YOUR TIME MAKING AESTHETICS/PLAYLISTS

My plan for the month of November is to ban myself entirely from Pinterest. I spend far too much time over there, and I need to be focused. If I'm not spending time on Pinterest, I'll have more writing time.

However, I also plan to use October to make a healthy serving of aesthetics for my book, my characters, and my storyworld, and then save those to my computer so that if I need inspiration, I can scroll through and remember why I love this series. I've also made all my playlists in advance, and I'm going to spend October padding them out and making them longer so that I don't have to spend all my time looking for new music when I get bored.

Aesthetics are helpful tools, but they're also time wasters. Plan accordingly and give yourself the tools you need to succeed, without giving yourself the chance to get sucked into the infinite black hole of Pinterest or Spotify.

Don't: IDOLIZE YOUR GOAL

This is so important. Sometimes, we can't win. Things pop up in life that we weren't planning on. The story is a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. The story ends 45k in and we don't know what to do after that. Your school piles up. Work suddenly puts you on overtime. You get sick.

If you CAN keep writing, do. Don't just give up. But if you CAN'T write anymore, if you CANNOT do it, do not let your goals make you a miserable human. You're still a beautiful, worthy writer, and the words you've gotten out are still valuable and precious. It's okay if you can't win. I've had to quit a number of Camps, and I barely thought I was going to finish my goal in November 2018.

Your worth is not tied to hitting 50k. Have fun, do your best, but don't despair if you don't win NaNo. Hitting 50k is not the only way to win. You still wrote words. And I know that feels empty at first, but as someone who's had to quit four separate times, I understand. And I'm telling you right now: It's okay. It's tough. But it's gonna be okay.

Your words still matter. And you wrote them.

And there you have it: Faith's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in NaNoWriMo! I hope this was helpful and you'll have something to take away from it xD

Are you doing NaNo this year? What's your best survival tip, if you've done it before? Chat with me in the comments! I want to hear allll about your November plans!

32 comments

ANOTHER Havok Publication: The Quintessential Assassin Story

by R.F. Gammon - October 03, 2019

13 comments

On Villains: How I Create Bad Guys (featuring way too many Inkheart references can you tell that I'm obsessed)

by R.F. Gammon - September 27, 2019

Happy Friday, everyone! Today I'm back with another post on writing, this time one about my personal philosophy as regards villains. I touched on this a bit a while back in my "Faith's Favorite Tropes" post, but this time, we're going ALL in and talking about my favorite villains and how I write them.

Types of Villains

In my books, I typically have villains who fall into one of three categories:

I. The anti-hero leaning villainous

II. The flawed human who turned dark

III. The sort-of-caricature who really doesn't even try to be human. He is just Evil.

This is, of course, only true for my novels that have actual villains. Looking at my list of six main works (Pentegreens, Watched, Sweat and Gold, the Super Secret Project, and two other stories that have not yet come into being as full ideas and are still brainstorms), I have found that two of them have some sort of impersonal villain (the government, in both cases). Sweat and Gold and the Pentegreens will be my main points of reference within this post xD Also, if you've read the Inkheart Trilogy, I'll be mentioning which of the villains from that trilogy I believe fall under each category.

(I may or may not think that the villains of the Inkworld are some of the all-time best, but that's beside the point. Heh.)

I. The villainous anti-hero

There's three of these in the Pentegreen series. Basically, I define this as anyone who is out for their own goals entirely and stands in the protagonists' way. Dustfinger in the first Inkheart book is an example that comes to mind.

Dustfinger, credit to Inkheart Wiki

My favorite thing about this sort of villain is that you can do so much with their character arcs. For example, much of the plot of The King's Daughter is driven by the character arc of that novel's antihero. Book 2, The General's Children, is slightly less influenced by the second antihero, but the climax takes a lot of its twists from that character's decisions.

The character arcs add another layer to the story, and also helps me to really experiment with my characters' personalities. There's a fundamental difference between Esma's realization that she will do whatever it takes to fight for and free her people, and a different character's big moment of revelation where she realizes that she doesn't care who dies as long as SHE gets to live. Antiheroes can be good in either direction (good antiheroes or bad antiheroes), but as villains, they're particularly fun.

In Inkheart, an example of this would be Violante, or Her Ugliness. She works toward her own ends and cares only about particular individuals, but her decisions vastly contribute to the plot and she's just plain awesome.

II. The flawed human who turned dark

This is what most of my main villains end up being. Lord Dauthang falls under this category when he begins to grace the page with his presence. But the main villain of mine I can think of for this category would be Aaliyah from my sort-of-a-Snow-White retelling, Sweat and Gold.

Aaliyah is a girl in a massive predicament. She's a girl who was once wealthy, but whose life has taken a turn that sends her down dark paths. But her pride is her fatal flaw. And she does dark, dark things to try and get out of it. (I'm way overdescribing this, but...yeah. xD)

In Inkheart, this would be a little harder to find, too. I might, maybe, put Mortola under this category, and probably even Orpheus, the fanfiction author whose writings kind of ruin everything. Better examples from popular fiction might include Darth Vader or Saruman.

Mortola (I kinda hate her more than anyone else in this series, but Orpheus wasn't in the movie so I don't have a pic of him), from Inkheart Wiki

These are probably my least favorite villains to write. I don't like having to make my characters human, but still entirely evil without wiffle-waffling. It's annoying. But it's what happens. Because unfortunately, not all my villains can be...

III. The sort-of caricature who doesn't even try to be human. He is just Evil.

Look, I've tried, okay? I have tried and tried and tried to humanize my main two villains, Burashna Woods and Elensha Rinaldi. But...I CAN'T. I've given them sob stories, I've given them backstories, I've given them weaknesses, I've given them wants. And yet they insist on just being BAD.

I'm actually really refreshed by this sort of baddie. I mean, having a good villain with MOTIVATION is amazing, but I enjoy the villain who's just plain bad.

Because there's real evil out there! And when you love the light/dark contrast the way I do, you want to frame both of them as starkly as possible. I make flawed heroes and antiheroes, which means I have to make my villains the worst of the worst in contrast.

This is actually one of the main reasons I love the Inkheart series so very much--MOST of its villains fall under this category. Capricorn in book 1, the main villain; Basta, Capricorn's trigger-happy second-in-command; and the Adderhead, the BIG BAD in the Inkworld itself who wants the secret to immortality. I love these guys, okay. They're so deliciously evil. Funke never even attempts to make them human; she just makes them BAD and lets them revel in their badness. And WHAT a contrast it sets to characters like Mo, Meggie, Resa, and the Black Prince.

Capricorn, credit to Inkheart Wiki

How to Use These Categories

You usually want to pick what sort of villain you're writing at the beginning of your story, because we all know it's important to give even bad guys an arc. Honestly, I haven't tried to give Burashna any sort of an arc, nor my BIG bad, Dauthang. However, my two main antiheroes and two of my supporting villains have arcs of some nature. (I mean, I guess Burashna gets the arc of spiraling into complete and utter insanity? But hey that doesn't count xD)

I love all three sorts of villains, and I always want to see as much variance in villains as I possibly can. I'm sharing these categories as a possible tool to help you think through your villains as you write them. After all, a hero is easy enough to write, and a caricatured hero, even if boring, doesn't ruin a story.

But if your villain is memorable? Your book will be too.

Who are some of your favorite bookish villains? Do you have a favorite sort of villain from this list? Chat with me in the comments!

30 comments

A Bruised Reed

by R.F. Gammon - September 20, 2019

18 comments

THE DIMENSION TAKEOVER: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Faith's Characters

by R.F. Gammon - September 13, 2019

Hello, everybody!! Today I come to you with the last day of the massive DIMENSION TAKEOVER collab, featuring my friends roasting me for being mean to my characters! Hopefully this post will be 1) fun 2) true and 3) won't make me cry. Anyway. Let's get STARTED!

THE ROAST OF THE CENTURY

On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly do I need to be arrested for the abuse of my smol child characters?

Brooke: Um, 100?! First of all, she’s hurting our resident cinnamon roll with how she hurts her characters. Poor Lila. Second, Esma! Okay, just ESMA. Just let that sink in right now.

Gray: I second Brooke, Faith is basically a child abuser and her characters need to be taken away from her. LEAVE THE CINNAMON ROLLS AND SMOL BEANS ALONE.

Lisa: Should I trust my friends who a) get married without telling me and b) tell me I have tea when I don’t because SOMEONE LEFT ME OUT OF THE “FAITH’S BOOKS” FANDOM AND I CANNOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE.

Lila: VERY, VERY, VERY BADLY. 10/10. I've warned her that I'm fragile, but she has NO concern for the well-being of my heart. *runs away sobbing*

How much remorse do you think I feel for my characters when I injure them? XD

Brooke: I actually feel remorse for the likes of Rishatta, okay? (I’ve read the first half of book one, so I don’t know all about Rish’s character arc at the moment. So I don’t know how I will feel about him later. For now, though…) I feel so bad. I cringe each time. AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON POOR DEREK.

Gray: You’re so cruel about it that I can’t help but feel bad for your poor, poor characters.

Lisa: If the amount you brag about your EVILNESS is anything to go by, your soul is black, and you don’t have the word REMORSE in your vocabulary.

Lila: Oh, she feels remorse. Sometimes, at least. I can tell. XD ... Other times I think she thrives on the tears of her readers and has no regrets. In fact, most of the time she’s just like BE WARNED, YOU’RE GOING TO HATE ME WHEN YOU READ THIS << as if she’s actually concerned and not cackling maniacally in a corner somewhere. *whispers* Lila, hon, you know me too well...

Which of my characters am I the meanest to?

Brooke: Esma for sure. And Kariana and Derek. And Nellie. AND ALL OF THEM!

Gray: ALL OF THEM. No exceptions, you evil queen.

Lisa: Who knows?? Probably some poor miserable FUTURE MAIN CHARACTER WHOM SHE’S CURRENTLY KEEPING LOCKED IN A DUNGEON. Or someone from her Top Secret Project which is awesome but too brilliant to be shown to the world yet.

Lila: Either Esma or Rishatta. ONE OR THE OTHER. Faith juggles different kinds of pain between the two of them so she can cause overall injury in every possible way. Physical pain? BEHOLD, Rishatta's POV (especially in book 2 - yikes). Emotional and mental pain? BEHOLD, Esma's chapters (especially in book 2 - again, YIKES). She's the definition of cunning. But those are just the main ones. Every character experiences some kind of trauma. The only exception is maybe Elensha - and she’s a VILLAIN for crying out loud!! *cries very loud*

Now just tell me your exact opinion of how mean I am to my characters and roast me out in general xD AND BE CRUEL IF YOU WANT OKAY

Brooke: *cracks knuckles and rubs hands together* She says she’s a character driven author. I get that, I am too. I feel that, all right? That’s fine. But her characters are out of control. For one, Derek and Kariana… they BELONG together and she says they are preventing it from happening, but she is the author. It could happen. She could write it against their wills. It could be a thing. SHE WANTS IT AS MUCH AS I DO.

She seems okay with the Eshatta ship, WHICH IS NOT REAL. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, FIGHT ME ON THIS! Claresma is where the real ship is, okay, peeps. So just… just calm down on Rishatta and Esma. Are they even close in age? Why are we shipping them when we don’t know a lot about Rishatta? Like, I feel for him, I do, but what do we truly know about him.

Faith is the owner of the Evil Writers Group on Goodreads. DO I NEED TO SAY MORE ABOUT HER ABUSIVE WAYS TO HER CHARACTERS.

I could go on and on, but let’s focus on some things besides her writing. Let’s focus on her obsession with Jude from The Cruel Prince, and The Cruel Prince in general. She gets mad every time I say that I feel for Taryn. But Jude is not okay. She bugs me. She has issues. She’s ruthless and mean and… oh. I’m starting to see why she likes Jude. BECAUSE THAT’S HOW FAITH IS TO HER ~~PRECIOUS CHILDREN~~ CHARACTERS.

Gray: Have you ever read a book that made you wonder what emotionless cyborg of a writer could do that to her precious children? That’s Faith’s writing in a nutshell and yes, I am bitter. Very, very bitter.

It makes it 10x worse that Faith isn’t the type that you can see being evil, she comes off as so sweet and harmless, but then you read her writing and it’s downright tRYANNICAL, LIKE, wHaT iN tHe WoRlD?!?!????

We all need to start a petition for Faith to give her characters a nice vacation or at least a coffee break.

Lisa: All I can say is, maybe I’ll decide to NOT READ FAITH’S BOOKS due to this very bad report I get from those who did ^^ I’m having second thoughts on my offer to beta read. Or, on the other hand, I could read the books and then FRY HER ON THE SAME PAN SHE USED FOR HER CHARACTERS afterwards. What do you all think - GIVE ME ADVICE IN THE COMMENTS, ok. Do I trust this Cruel Princess??

Lila: I’m not sure what to say except she is a BRUTAL AUTHORESS - and so elegant in her brutality. XD Those poor characters rarely know the full extent of what's coming and even when I know what's coming I CAN’T WARN THEM. Which just adds more pain. The worst part is that she tries to put the blame on the very characters she abuses. Whenever I yell at her about her evil author-ness she's just like, BUT IT WASN'T ME. Uh, huh. Yep. Totally not your fault, hon. *glares*

Final consensus? Faith has TALENT. If a writer can vividly paint the trials and struggles of her characters on the page, weaving trauma into the story in a realistic and tasteful way, they know their stuff. Faith knows her stuff, okay?? *drops mic* (P.S. Whether I'll forgive her for some of the AWFUL things she's done is another story. Just wanted to make that clear. *pointed look*)

*coughs* Well, that was fun, ladies. Thank you so much for those opinions. *eye roll* What do you think of my gals' assessments of me? Do I need my characters to be taken away by CPS (Character Protection Services)? Comment below, and be sure to check out the PREVIOUS posts in the Dimension Takeover collab ;)

36 comments

Havok Publication the Second: Sci-Fi retelling of a favorite 70s song

by R.F. Gammon - September 03, 2019

24 comments

The Language of Worlds: I'M WRITING PENTEGREENS 3 AGAIN

by R.F. Gammon - August 30, 2019

It is time, everyone, for another Language of Worlds! And I am SCRAPING in, almost on the last day, because on Sunday, I will start a new WIP. An awesome and epic one. One that...I've already written once?

That's right, frens, I am rewriting Pentegreens Book 3, once known as The Winter's Chill, now known as The Soldier's Gamble.

I have an outline! I have a plan! I have a villain, and some semblance of a plot, and an entirely NEW under-villain (a girl one! Y'all ain't ready for this), and lots of crying and weeping and fun stuff like that. Since I haven't shared it in a while, here's a blurb:

"I hear my army has taken to calling her 'the girl no one can catch...'"

Esma Pentegreen has known loss, but nothing like this. She has felt pain, but never has she been lashed so deeply. Alone but for two companions, she flees deep into the wilderness of Venaria in a desperate attempt to escape the assassins hunting her blood. But Dauthang isn't the only one looking for her, and a Venarian government out for victory at whatever cost might just find her first.

Derek Ternarnthien didn't mean for any of this to happen--but here he is. Desperate to save his nation, his city, and his family, he makes a choice that throws him right into the wolves' den, where his every move will determine whether or not he lives or dies.

Lord Dauthang stands poised on the edge of Misue--but the city has never fallen and does not mean to start now.

The players are in position. The board is locked. And this may be the most deadly game of all…

Huge thanks to Liv K. FIsher for providing the questions for this post!!!!

[note: all pictures are from Pinterest; rights to the owners. I own nothing.]

The Language of Worlds: The Soldier's Gamble

1. How long have you been writing this story?

Technically? Since May 2018.

This draft? Just starting it.

2. Who’s your favorite character? Why?

In this book, it would hands-down be my favoritest boi who is also my soulmate, Derek. He kind of becomes the protagonist of the book because my actual protagonist is kinda depressed in this one *sobs* so. Yeah. xD Derek it is! My sweet, crazy optimist boi.

3. Which character do you consider the “goodest of the good”?

Esma Pentegreen, my heroine and my sweet little baby girl. She's so soft and sad and broken, and yet she pushes on in a world that tells everyone to hide their real hearts. She's been lied to. She's been betrayed. She's lost people who matter and she's nearly died several times now. But she soldiers on with nothing but her hope, her faith in the Mighty One, and her love for the people who matter to her. She's my strong girl, and even if she falls, she gets back up.

4. Which character is the “baddest of the bad”?

Let's just go with the man himself, Lord *mutters incoherently* Dauthang. His Lordship finally shows up on the scene in this book, and oh my. He's not loud, blustering, snarky, or trigger-happy the way my other villains are, and he doesn't monologue for hours (thank heaven). He's a very quiet, soft-spoken man, but that mask he wears hides more than his face--it also conceals one of the most dangerous, powerful minds in the entire world of Sildalone.

5. If you were to have tea (or coffee!) with one character, which one would you pick? Why?

Hmmm...who could I possibly pick to have tea with? *quirks eyebrow*

We're going to go with Miss Kariana Winslet, my spy girl. She loves tea in the canon of the story and she'd be a riot to talk to. I love her just a wee bit.

6. Describe your storyworld.

Just some fast and furious facts:

>It's called Sildalone, and has four nations: Lascogine, where Esma is from; Venaria, where Rishatta is from; Southlands, home of Errol Redow (and no one else, lol); and Brue, where Queen Bernathel once lived.

>Lascogine's capital is Misue, and they have the quarries and mines of the four nations, as well as farmland to the North and a densely populated sector to the south with lots of cities.

>Venaria has a capital city that still does not have a name despite half this book being set there, and its people have an obsession with lies, clothing, appearances, and power. Their main export is lumber.

>Southlands is almost entirely comprised of farmland, although it does have a few larger cities. Its ruling family, the Redows, comprises the entire nobility.

>Brue is a nation that is under a stringent dictator, with walls surrounding its borders and citizens with barely enough to get by. All the people there are blond and blue-eyed.

>Every person in all four nations has some sort of special power.

>People's skin tones are based on region, not nation, so race is not an issue
>Venaria is the home to dozens of assassins and bounty hunters
>Venaria and Lascogine are currently at war

7. You’ve fallen into your book! Which place would you be happiest at?

I would most likely be happiest in Misue, home of most of my main characters, although not in this book. In this book...honestly, I don't think there IS a place I'd be happiest in xD Normally, though, it would be either Misue, the capital of Lascogine and home of Esma Pentegreen, Clarence Redow, their families, and most of my other main characters; or the Northern Sector of Lascogine, the rural, farming area that my husband Derek calls home.

8. Which place would you like to avoid at all costs? (Or, explore to know its secrets a little bit better?)

*coughs* Venaria. Too many assassins and secrets and treacherous games going on there.

9. Share an aesthetic!

*rubs hands together* Well, since you asked for it...

"Seu garoto Ã© um soldado E sua boca tem gosto de Medo e sangue, poeira, fogo Lar E campo de batalha".

100 Inspirational and Motivational Quotes of All Time! (16)

Assassin perching hidden amongst the shadows

between the light // photography // lighting // art // artistic // neon // aesthetic

10. Share a snippet!

This is from the old draft of book 3, but this scene will most likely stay xD It's from Chapter 1. So.

He’d been tied to a tree.

He braced his feet against the ground and strained, shoving forward against the rope. The air around him was darkening, as though twilight approached, and other than the towering wall of trees ahead he could see nothing. Only darkness and evil and an uncertainty as to who it was that held him prisoner.

“Who’s there?” he asked and pulled harder. These ropes had to give if he pulled hard enough. He could escape. Cold seeped through his shirt into his back, chilling him to the very core. “I know you’re out there. Who is it?”

His head slammed back against the tree. Such force shot into him that his head spun and the insides of his eyelids turned into a galaxy of stars and constellations of all different colors, but mostly green and pink. He groaned and shook his head. “Ow.”

When he was able to open his eyes again, a girl stood before him.

Do you have a book that's just really, really hard to write? Because I'm not gonna lie, this book is ready to kick my butt. Do you think I'll cry while writing it? What do you think of my snippet? xD Chat with me in the comments!

20 comments

BESTSELLERS 101: Or how NOT to write a fantasy novel!!!!!!!

by R.F. Gammon - August 23, 2019

(credit to my dear friend Nicole Dust for giving me the idea to write this post!!!!)

We all want to write good fantasy books. We all want to write something that sells. But sometimes, things get a little TOO tropey. I'm not talking about the infamous vampire stories, dystopian love triangles, or angsty drama that defined the aughties. Nope, I'm talking about the books of 2018-2019, the fantasy novels hitting our shelves right now and topping the NYT bestseller list and getting talked about.

And the fact that they're all the same.

Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy, #1)

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire, #1)

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of OrÃ¯sha, #1)

We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya, #1)

Let's talk YA, guys. And some of the tropes so prevalent in these modern releases--and how to do them better.

TROPE 1: PICKING AN EXOTIC SETTING FOR YOUR BOOK

Wicked Saints: Russia

Girls of Paper and Fire: sorta Asian

We Hunt the Flame: Kinda Middle East

Children of Blood and Bone: Nigeria

Look, there is absolutely no problem with setting your book somewhere non-European. Goodness knows we have a lot of those books. I don't have a problem with setting your book in medieval European-esque world either (that's more similar to mine, gosh) but the MANNER of doing it is what we need to talk about.

Throwing in a few words from either the real language of the region or the fictional language you based on the real language doesn't count as worldbuilding.

Making your characters non-white just for the sake of not being white doesn't count as worldbuilding, much though I know we all wish it did.

Having vaguely Asian sounding food doesn't count as worldbuilding.

Making character's names unpronounceable for the sake of "authenticity" doesn't count as worldbuilding.

If you're going to base your book's culture off a real place, be it Europe or somewhere else, do research. Make it genuinely important. Slip in aspects of the culture that people might not know about. The food, the fabric, the customs, the day-to-day life, the marriage ceremonies, the evening activities, the holidays, the courtship, the rituals, the RELIGIONS, the cursing, the dialect--ALL of it. Give me a world that feels so real I could imagine going there. Don't just put in a couple of things that make it feel DIFFERENT but in a weird way.

No matter what sort of world you have, let me go into it deeply.

TROPE 2: THE EVIL FATHER AND ANGSTY MURDER SON

We all know this one like the back of our hands, right? The villain of the book is the king who rules his country with an iron fist, sitting on a throne he usurped from the true ruler. The ruler was probably a magic user, and the king hates magic for some undisclosed reason. He tortures his people for no reason whatsoever--because who wants to read about politics, right?!--and has an evil second-in-command who does his bidding. (This person will probably die at some point in the first book, just FYI.)

Most importantly, though, he has a son. A son who he has groomed to submit to his every will, especially killing people. But that's okay, because we all know the son has a CONSCIENCE. Which becomes very important when he meets the snarky female protagonist and falls for her beauty...

I have to be careful around this trope and making fun of it tooooo heavily, because I actually have my own version of this in my novel (heh). But I think there are a few things that we need to observe here in our writing, and the main one is this:

GIVE THE VILLAIN A REASON.

He can be the evil murder king--I have no problem with that! One of my favorite villains ever is Capricorn from the Inkheart series. And oh my word, he is such a deliciously evil murder king. He kills people for fun. He has a mother he cares about--who's just as evil as he is, if not more. He does things just for the heck of it and laughs while he kills people. YA KNOW WHAT? I LOVE IT. He doesn't need a reason. But that's okay--because he is never, ever presented as human in any way.

If someone is a father--even if they're the worst father ever--they have to be at least a little bit human.

Give them a backstory. The king almost always has had magic eradicated--if that's the case, WHY? He hates women--WHY? He's cruel to his son--WHY? What does he have against the protagonist? Her family? Her people? Straight-up racism and sexism do not work, folks. You have to give them something personal. No one is just systematically anything. There is ALWAYS a reason.

Don't caricature your villains. Make them human.

And then in terms of the sons: Making someone good and morally grey takes WORK, people. A lot of work. I wrote my entire first book revolving around the arc of a morally grey villain boy. It can be done. BUT, please, I beg you, do not redeem your villain boy by having him fall in love with your protagonist. (I'll get to that next.) Love doesn't change people like that. At least not that kind of love. Put work into it. Put your back into it.

Give him a real, human, lasting, good reason. Basically, that's my point here: Don't just take the cheap, normal way out. Don't just have your villain hate magic because he does. Don't just give him an angsty son. (Also, remember this: if you're writing a guy like this, he is going to be cruel to his son. And that is abuse. So you're going to have to deal with psychological repercussions on that front. Don't discount that aspect. It can be a lot to add--even if the father isn't on the scene at the moment, the boy can't just act like a normal human. He's gonna be messed up, folks. He's gonna be broken. FIGURE THAT IN. Emotional abuse is a horrible and real thing.)

That was a really, really long rant xD But basically: You CAN do this well. But don't do it the way it's normally done. Don't take the cheap way out. Turn it on its head. GIVE REASONS AND MOTIVATION.

TROPE 3: THE BAD BOY AND THE SASSY (GOOD) GIRL

The heroine of your story is a too-big-for-her-britches little Miss who is the Chosen One (TM) who has to save her (ambiguously defined, mostly irrelevant to the story) land/people/tribe/race/ whatever. She probably has a sibling who she LoVeS mOrE tHaN aNyThInG eLsE. One of her parents died tragically. She's snarky and a Powerful Magic Wielder (whether she knows it or not) and she will probably go to head to head with authority and walk away with her best friend or sibling or somebody DEAD because of her impertinence.

And in the course of her quest, she'll find a different sort of magic--the magic of LOVE!!!!!!!

Are you rolling your eyes yet?

Don't start yet--we haven't talked about the object of her affections! She'll meet the horribly mean but devastatingly handsome son of the villain, who will probably fall in love with her at first sight. She's a bit stronger than he is and so she lasts a whole day hating him before, suddenly, she's caving and they're making out passionately in the middle of a dangerous situation. And then--he'll betray her. But then be forgiven. BUT THEN BETRAY HER AGAIN. DUN DUN DUN, the book ends! Cliffhangers! Stay tuned for the next installment!!!!!!!!!

*groans loudly* Please tell me I'm not the only person rolling my eyes right now.

Please, please, please don't force your bad boy and good girl to fall in love.

It's more powerful when they don't! I'm just gonna come right out and say it! And if they have to, if they're going to, make it a slow burn. You've got a trilogy--you don't have to let them start kissing and declaring their undying love on page 275 of the first book. Because we all know what that means--the dreaded angst and sobbing of the second book, complete with the crucial fake breakup and all that jazz. No one wants that. That was over back in 2007 (was that when New Moon came out? Maybe? We'll just say it was xD)

Let them become friends first. No one seems to understand how rare that is. Nobody actually likes or ships insta-love. Your girl and boy can LIKE each other without LIKING each other, if you know what I mean. They can get to know each other. They can spend time together. They can talk (gasp what is this travesty). They can hug each other and fight for each other and grow closer and become extremely important to each other--because that's how real life relationships, the healthy sort, work.

You don't even have to have one single kiss in book one.

Obviously if you're writing a standalone things work differently--but in standalones your timeline is different. You can even just hint at the romance and leave the ending open. It'll drive your readers crazy but it WORKS. xD

Like everything else, make the romance real. It helps, I promise.

TROPE 4: WHERE ARE YOU, MAGIC?

Once, there was a land full of good, perfect, beautiful magic users. But then--the wicked king came and eradicated it. And it's gone. And we must go on a quest to find it and return it through some cryptic ceremony where it's revealed that our main girl is the only surviving magic user.

I have one thing to say about this, basically: Please stop.

If you're gonna have magic (which at this point, is not just a given) then please don't do this. No quests for magic. No people groups that will die without it. Just stop this. Please. I beg thee. I can't tell you how to flip this one--just STOP *sobs*

If you can't do magic creatively, then consider not putting it in your book. DO YOU NEED IT? Will your story die without it?

Decide that and then figure out how to use it. And if you're gonna use it, for Pete's sake, let it be clearly defined. This is obviously something you're gonna have to work out in edits--I'm still not happy with the explanations of my book's magic system--but you can do it! Make sure all the rules are clear. Make sure they're in English (please. I beg thee. I don't care if you understand your fictional language--I do not. You have to explain the system to me in a way I understand, not through your fake fantasy language. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.)

TROPE 5: I SWITCHED POVs AND THAT MADE A CLIFFHANGER!!!

Dual POVs are cool if you do them right, but I would recommend, at this point, either have lots of POVs or have one. Obviously you need to make sure they're all necessary.

But the biggest thing I want to say is this: switching POVs to the villain's POV to give us a piece of information we already knew or to do something angsty from a side characters POV or something like that doesn't create a cliffhanger, darlin'.

Cliffhangers are hard to pull off. You can do it by switching to your villain's POV--but ONLY if that leads into the next book with an actual plot line. It's tough. But it's doable.

My dear readers, I know you're great writers, and I have more faith in your stories than I do in the current bestsellers, if I'm being quite honest. You can write amazing books. Much of this was a roast/rant, but I know for a fact that y'all can do better than this and I just needed to get this off my chest xD

Write the story of your heart. Write it REAL.

Make it beautiful.

40 comments

PENTEGREENS BOOK FOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRR

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

2. Share a blurb!

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects about the setting?

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

9. Name a few things that makes this story unique.

10. Share a fun “extra” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

Don't: GIVE UP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FOR WRITING

Hack: SET APART A COUPLE OF DAYS WITH BIG GOALS!

Hack: DECIDE AHEAD OF TIME HOW YOU PLAN TO HANDLE BLOGGING. MAKE A PLAN!

Hack: PICK A PROJECT YOU'RE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT

Hack: HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS

Don't: SPEND ALL YOUR TIME MAKING AESTHETICS/PLAYLISTS

Don't: IDOLIZE YOUR GOAL

Types of Villains

I. The villainous anti-hero

II. The flawed human who turned dark

III. The sort-of caricature who doesn't even try to be human. He is just Evil.

How to Use These Categories

THE ROAST OF THE CENTURY

On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly do I need to be arrested for the abuse of my smol child characters?

How much remorse do you think I feel for my characters when I injure them? XD

Which of my characters am I the meanest to?

Now just tell me your exact opinion of how mean I am to my characters and roast me out in general xD AND BE CRUEL IF YOU WANT OKAY

The Language of Worlds: The Soldier's Gamble

1. How long have you been writing this story?

2. Who’s your favorite character? Why?

3. Which character do you consider the “goodest of the good”?

4. Which character is the “baddest of the bad”?

5. If you were to have tea (or coffee!) with one character, which one would you pick? Why?

6. Describe your storyworld.

7. You’ve fallen into your book! Which place would you be happiest at?

8. Which place would you like to avoid at all costs? (Or, explore to know its secrets a little bit better?)

9. Share an aesthetic!

10. Share a snippet!

TROPE 1: PICKING AN EXOTIC SETTING FOR YOUR BOOK

TROPE 2: THE EVIL FATHER AND ANGSTY MURDER SON

TROPE 3: THE BAD BOY AND THE SASSY (GOOD) GIRL

TROPE 4: WHERE ARE YOU, MAGIC?

TROPE 5: I SWITCHED POVs AND THAT MADE A CLIFFHANGER!!!

About Me!

Follow Me!

STALK ME

Grab My Button

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Contact me!