Pinterest Inspiration

I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to get sucked into Pinterest because I knew how much time I could waste with it. However, I did end up signing up and it has become one of my favorite writing tools. I do still end up wasting time sometimes, but the inspiration to discover is endless.

Now here’s a question. Have you ever wondered what celebrities an author might have in mind while they are writing a character? I have, and many of my own characters have been inspired by photos I come across or celebrities I see on TV. I never really considered sharing much of my inspiration before, but Pinterest presents a fun way to do that. So, whether or not you have Pinterest, if you’d like to see a some of my inspiration for characters and settings, you’ll find boards for all of my latest books. And here’s something exciting, that even includes my new fantasy books I’m currently working on. I will continue adding to it as I go through the series. With my inspiration board, you can get little bits and pieces of what it’s going to be like. Just follow the link to check it out.

http://pinterest.com/authormollye/

The Secret New Project

So, after a long absence, I thought it only fitting to fill you in on what has kept me busy, at least in the last couple weeks. I call it secret project just because I’m still not giving away too many details. I mentioned this new project briefly at the beginning of this year. After the worst bout of writer’s block or whatever it was that kept me from writing anything the last couple months, I finally had a breakthrough a week and a half ago and have been writing like crazy. I’ve basically accomplished writing 9 chapters in 10 days. That’s a big thing for me. It’s made me really excited, and I hope to finish book 1 within the next couple months, but then who knows what might come up in the meantime. A release date is still a long, long way off, but, considering this is now my main project, I wanted to share a little bit about it, so I decided to compile a list of fun facts about the series that don’t give too much of the plot or details away. Here it is:

1. So far, I still have the series planned for seven books total. It should stay at that number, however, with this series, I’m not ruling out any major changes.
2. It is another fantasy series. To describe the world in one sentence, I'd say it's ancient Rome set in a medieval world with some somewhat modern society twists.
3. I cover a few modern day issues, which has been and will be quite interesting.
4. This new fantasy world has five races of peoples (one more than I originally had planned), each one very different from the others.
5. The entire series covers a three year period of time.
6. I have my two primary main characters, a girl and a guy, as well as two secondary main characters, both guys.
7. The characters are some of the most flawed and troubled characters I've ever written about, but I love them dearly.
8. This whole monster of a project started with one small spark of an idea for a character who is now the main guy. Everything else has just exploded and grown around him.
9. I'm barely half finished with book one, but I probably have more notes for this series than all of my other books combined.
10. As frustrated as I get and as hard as I've tried at times to write something else, this story keeps pulling me back to it.
11. And lastly, inspiration for this series has come from a huge array of places. That’s part of what makes it so much fun. I never know when something else might come along and add even more to it. Here are just a few of the completely random things that have sparked my imagination and given me inspiration for characters, plots, scenes, or just random little details: DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul, The Mentalist, a commercial for Unforgettable, The Hunger Games, Thor, Non-Stop Music, Future World Music, The Eagle, Unearthing Ancient Secrets: True Gladiator (Science Channel), The Errant King by Wayne Thomas Batson, and Robin Hood.

I very much look forward to sharing this series one day in the future. It’s seriously unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It is stretching my writing abilities in every way possible, which is good, yet can be very frustrating and trying. But I am completely in love with the story. I’ve never followed so many lives and plotlines before. I’ve barely begun and it already feels like I’ve been on a journey with these people. It certainly has the largest cast of characters I’ve ever worked with, each character bringing a unique aspect and view on things. And the craziest thing is, even though I have a general plot to follow, things are constantly changing and growing, and I’m just going with the flow. It’s quite an adventure. Sometimes I look at it and think, what in the world have I gotten myself into? After all, with seven books planned, this is a project that will span the next few years at least. That is a huge undertaking and a little overwhelming. But, when I think of the end result, there is no way I can turn my back on this thing. I’ve come way too far and the characters have way too tight a grip on me to step away from it now. So, whether it takes the next couple years or the next ten, I look forward to someday being able to let others share in the adventure. And don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated along the way. ;)

On to 2012

So, I’ve decided to go into the new year with a fresh new blog theme. It’s been a while since I had anything different. It’s always fun to start a new year with a change.

2011 was an interesting year. It was certainly my best as far as book sales. I was incredibly blessed with the number of eBook sales I had, particularly last month. I’m very thankful and encouraged by it. I guess you could say it was a good year for writing, though a lot went on that distracted me from focusing on my books. Writing Trust in the spring and publishing Truth were my biggest accomplishments of 2011. I think 2011 was the year I really figured out who I am as an indie author/publisher and settled into what I am doing.

Now, what is in store for 2012? Well, I still have quite a bit of work to do to publish Courage. We’re going through the final edits now. I’m still in the process of putting together the costume for the cover. It’s MUCH more involved than the last one. By involved, I mean sewing a vest and skirt, making vambraces, and putting together some chain-mail. It’s a very big project for sure. I was always in a hurry to publish Courage before now, but I decided to slow down and really take my time with it to make sure everything is perfect, and that’s been really nice. But I’m definitely excited to publish. I think this book might be my favorite of the trilogy…maybe. I also have a LOT of editing to do on Trust, the final book. I’ve been working on it slowly, but my focus has been Courage. Once that is finished, fixing up Trust will definitely be one of my main projects of 2012.

So what am I actually going to be writing this year? Seems like I always have this type of announcement for the new year, but here it is -- I have actually been working on a brand new fantasy series. I haven’t said anything about it until now, and am not going to share too much, but I’ve been working on it since June last year and am nearing the halfway point in book one. It’s definitely going to be the biggest project I’ve ever undertaken. At the moment, it looks like there will be 7 books total. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a series where I’ve had such an abundant flow of ideas. I’m terribly excited about it. I’ve completely fallen in love with the characters and their stories and struggles, and hope future readers will as well. The whole story centers around corrupt government, persecution, and rebellion, so it’s very action packed. At times, it’s also the most tragic story I’ve written so far, and the characters are wonderfully flawed. It sets the stage for some excellent character growth. I especially love the family dynamics in this story. There are some very interesting relationships. The world building has been a blast. For this fantasy, I have four intelligent races besides humans. Figuring out their characteristics and histories is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in writing. Hopefully the last half of book one will go quickly so I can move on to book two, and maybe start sharing more information over the next year. Not sure when an estimate publishing date on the first book will be. I think I’ll have to have at least three of the books written first, so it will probably be a while, but we’ll see.

Besides that, we’ll see where God leads me. I’m hoping and praying for a great year in my writing. With this new series, it’s certainly starting out exciting.

On to 2011

Another writing year gone by. 2010 was probably my best year so far. I finished publishing Pirates & Faith, had wonderful feedback, and learned a lot. I feel my writing greatly improved over the last half a year thanks to some of the resources I found, particularly K.M. Weiland's blog. For a while I felt kind of discouraged and lost as to which direction I should take with my writing, but I believe I have figured it out. We shall see in the next few months.

 

As for my projects for 2011, I am still working on Courage, book 2 of my fantasy trilogy, Makilien. It stands right now at 41 chapters, the most I've ever written, with only a couple more to go. It has continued to be a tough book to write, but I know in the end I will be pleased. I adore so many of the characters and love where some of their stories have so unexpectedly gone. I look forward to continuing their journeys in book three. I hope to be into that book within the next month or two. I also intend to begin the publishing process for Truth within the year. I just finished a very in depth round of editing on it so it's one more step closer to publication.

 

Besides Makilien I have begun work on a new book that I'd describe as historical fantasy. It takes place sometime around 1200 A.D., but I have created my own country and culture to work with. I am not going to give away too much info just yet, but it is a story of redemption and God's total forgiveness of even the worst sins. The idea came to me the night of Thanksgiving and within three days, I was already writing the first chapter. I've never felt so compelled to write a story as I am this one. I am completely in love with the characters and their journeys. This will be the first book of a two book series. Both books are extensively planned and I've started chapter five in the first one.

 

And, within the last week, I had another bit of inspiration that led to a new story idea. This one is actually contemporary and may turn into a novella instead of a full length book. I've been considering doing that with several of my story ideas since I have so many I want so badly to write.

 

So we will see what my writing future holds in 2011.

 

* * *

For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' - Jeremiah 29:11 NASB

What's New

I've been really bad about writing new posts this summer, it's been so busy.  I really haven't been writing much for the same reason, but I wanted to write this post to catch up on what is new with my writing. I'm still working on Makilien. I'm very close to finishing and want to get it done to focus on my other projects.

 

Mom is nearly finished reading through A Captain's Heart, but we still have quite a bit to do so I'm not sure if I'll make my early September deadline for its release. I want to make sure I feel it's completely ready so we may have to work on it a little longer.

 

Now, as I mentioned about a month ago in a Twitter update, I've started working on a new book, my first Western novel. I've wanted to write one for years, but never got a start on one. Right now I'm going back and forth working on it and Makilien. I have the prologue nearly finished. It's about five teenage to adult siblings who are left to run the family ranch after their parents die. Mainly it will be told from the viewpoint of the oldest daughter, Casey. I'm not entirely sure where it will all end up yet, but I'm looking forward to getting deeper into the story. I know I'm really going to enjoy writing the relationships between the siblings. It's something I've wanted to have in a story for a long time now. And I'm a huge fan of Bonanza and love the relationships between Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe so that's definitely inspiring me as I write this new book.

 

A few years ago, I also started writing short Western stories all about the same family, kind of like episodes of Bonanza. I finished two and started a third one. I had a lot of great ideas so I'm really interested in getting back into that and hope to write a bunch and put them all into a book sometime soon.

What I'm Working On

As I said in my Twitter update, I have three projects going on now.  For the last week or so I've been working steadily on Makilien and am anxious to finish it.  I'm really happy with it so far.  I think I may go back and add even more to it when I'm done though.  It might seem a little short for a fantasy novel so I want to add a little more depth to it.  Writing the spiritual aspect of it has been very challenging, but well worth it.  And today I figured out how to make it a trilogy.  I wasn't happy with it only being a two book series.  In all the other series I've written, I've ended each book nicely with no unanswered questions and more or less began from scratch in the next book, but the second book of Makilien will be different.  It will end with something big that will not be resolved until the third book.  I'm still working out the details of that last book, but I'm sure in a few days I'll have a pretty clear idea where I'll go with it . . . now I just need to finish the first and second books first.  This third book idea is extra incentive for me to keep working hard on them because I'm so anxious to write it.

 

As for the new project I started working on, I have decided to write a prequel to my pirate series.  For those who have read The Pirate Daughter's Promise, the prequel is going to be the story of Daniel and Grace.  I am very excited about writing their story, and in researching that time period I have found some very interesting historical events to incorporate into the book that will make it even more than I thought it would be.

A New Look and A New Book

Wow, it's been a long time, and I have quite a bit to write about. I've been wanting to change the look of my blog for a long time, and this morning I finally found this new template. Mom just helped me change it, and I really love it.

 

Great news. Mom and I are just about finished with our final edit of Every Tear so probably within the next month I am going to be submitting the manuscript to a Christian publishing company called OakTara. I heard about it from a fellow author, and I feel like this is where God wants me to go with this book so I'm praying it will be accepted. If it is, I'm really looking forward to starting the publishing process again.

 

I have not finished Facing the Waves (I'm still working on a permanent title), but I've been working hard on it the last couple of weeks and am about 3 or 4 chapters away from finishing. I will be very glad to finish. The main character is so unlike myself that I've been finding it a difficult book to write, but one I really need to write in order to properly end my pirate series.

 

In the middle of all that, I started writing yet another book in mid November. It's my first contemporary novel! With my ever growing love for music, I started thinking how interesting and fun it would be to write a book centering on music. At first, I thought it would be impossible to think of a good modern day book plot so I started asking my family for ideas, and in around 30 seconds, my brother, Jake, came up with a great plot. I didn't like it at first, but when I started thinking about it and adding in all my own details, I quickly changed my mind. This new book is about a young woman named Kaitlin from North Carolina who plays in a Christian rock band with some of her friends who are working on trying to get signed with a record company. In the midst of that, a secular band who was just signed comes to record at a studio that Kaitlin's uncle owns. The bass player from the band likes Kaitlin the moment he sees her and asks her out, but since he doesn't share her faith, she won't even consider it. Not to give too much away, he ends up attending her church and the rest of the book is about how Kaitlin's faith begins to change his life. I've reached chapter 15 in the book (which has no title yet). There will probably be around 20-25 chapters, and I'm going to finish it as soon as I finish Facing the Waves.

Another New Book

I've been putting off writing an entry about this because I wanted to be sure I was really going to do it and now I am.  I have started a new book for my pirate series so it's no longer just a trilogy.    It happened on July 4th.  That morning I finished my first edit of A Captain's Heart and realized how much I was going to miss my characters and writing about that time period.  I was writing in my journal about it and then the ideas slowly started coming to me.  This new book takes place eleven years after Every Tear and is about one of the girls from that book.  I just began writing chapter three last night and have the whole story pretty much planned out.  I think I might call it "Facing the Waves" which comes from a conversation between two of my characters later in the book.

God Has Different Plans

It seems that God wants me to put off writing my western for a while.  I'm not at all disappointed because I'm really enjoying His new plans.  This is what happened.  For a couple of days now I've been praying for a good story plan for a western novel, but instead all the ideas that kept coming to me were for an entirely different story.  Years ago when I was writing my fantasy stories, I was working on a series of five books (I completed three).  They were the typical "modern day girl ends up in a world like Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings."  They were completely for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of my cousins who loved them and they were always very special to me because they were the first books I ever completely finished writing.  I always wished I could do something with them, but since I used everything from The Lord of the Rings, I couldn't and, I admit, they weren't that well written anyway.

 

God actually started giving me some ideas for this a month or two ago.  One morning I was thinking about my fantasy books for some reason and wondered if I could rewrite them completely using my own imagination and give them a Christian message.  It sounded fun, but at that time I was right in the middle of A Captain's Heart so I wasn't thinking about starting any other stories and I honestly thought it would be way too hard to rewrite my fantasies.  So, for the last few days, I've really been struggling to start writing again.  I hate when I don't have a book I'm working on.  Like I said, I was praying for a good western story plot, but all I kept thinking about were my fantasies and how I could change them.  Then, yesterday morning just before I got out of bed the whole thing came together for how I could rewrite them and give them a Christian message.  What I'm doing is combining my first two books into one and my last two into one so there will be two when I'm finished.  They are kind of a cross between my original stories, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Pilgrim's Progress.  I'm already half done with the first chapter and it's going very well.  I think I'll be able to write it pretty quickly since I know almost exactly what is going to happen throughout the book because I'm mostly following my original storyline with a few changes.  This two book (and perhaps more, we'll see) series of mine is called Makilien, the name of the book's heroine.

Finished

I did it.  I finished my third book last night.  Now my trilogy is complete.  It's always so satisfying to finish a book.  I've finally decided on a title, A Captain's Heart.  It fits the story and I think it sounds interesting.  So now the trilogy altogether is The Pirate Daughter's Promise, Every Tear, and A Captain's Heart.

 

I'm already making plans for a new book.  I'm pretty sure it will be a western like I was thinking.  I do have a tiny little idea already for some characters, now I just have to build on it to get a whole book.  I even found a very inspirational picture on iStockphoto that makes me want to write that kind of book.  Perhaps, someday, it will end up being the cover photo.

Stories of My Books

Since I don't have much information on this blog about how I started writing my books, I thought I should write down the stories behind them. 

 

I actually first started writing The Pirate Daughter's Promise in 2003.  Before that I had never written a book with a Christian message.  I was really into the fantasy writing because I loved The Lord of the Rings.  TPDP also became my very first "romantic story."  Being the tomboy I was at the time, it took me a while to want to write a story like that.

 

I can't remember now how I decided to make TPDP a Christian story because it just started out as the usual pirate adventure story.  I remember feeling a lot of opposition when I changed it to be a Christian book, that might be why I quit.  I got to about chapter five and then I just stopped writing it for some reason and returned to my fantasy writing.  I hardly thought about it until May 2006 when I started writing it again.  Unfortunately, I can't even remember what made me start again, but once I started I couldn't stop.  At one point I managed to write a whole chapter everyday for a week!  Now I can usually only manage a half a chapter on a really good day!  In all it took about two and a half to three weeks to completely finish all seventeen chapters.

 

It was during early spring last year that I started thinking of publishing it and in March I found the WinePress website and looked into self-publishing with Pleasant Word.  After that came the work of getting the book ready (which meant hours of editing for me and Mom) and finding a way to pay for it.  Almost as soon as I began praying for God to provide the money I got hired for my first job and after a few months had what I needed.

 

After I finished writing TPDP I immediately began trying to think of a sequel.  I'm the kind of writer who loves writing sequels.  I can never seem to give up my characters that I've come to love so much after just one book.  :)  Trying to come up with a story for a sequel was not an easy task.  Finally, almost a month later, I had the beginning of an idea, but it was only a very vague idea that I would have to really build on so I continued planning. 

 

A couple weeks later I started the prologue and first chapter.  I still didn't have a complete plan, but I thought I could figure it out once I got far enough.  That was also around the same time I came up with the book's title, Every Tear.  The story of how I came up with that is one of my favorite memories of writing the book.  We were driving home from shopping one afternoon and I was specifically trying to think of a title because I like to have the title as soon as possible.  I had one or two ideas written down, but nothing I really liked.  As I was doing this a certain song just happened to be playing on the radio.  Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns.  I'd heard the song so many times, my brother even had the CD, but I was very NOT into music at that time and hadn't listened to the lyrics before.  However, that afternoon I heard the lyrics, ". . . every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand."  They fit my story perfectly and immediately I wrote "Every Tear" in my notebook.  The title stuck.  It reminded me of a verse that became the main one for my book.

 

You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in Your bottle! You have recorded every one in Your book. - Psalms 56:8

 

It was only after that that I listened to all of Praise You in This Storm and realized how the whole song reminded me of my book.  It was a huge inspiration as I got further into the story.  To me it was such a wonderful and amazing sign that God was guiding me in writing it.

 

Still, it wasn't easy.  For the longest time I couldn't think of a good ending for the book and I couldn't really get into it without knowing where my characters were going to end up.  Finally, in August 2006 I figured out my ending and really started writing.  I had more difficulty along the way, but eventually I got it finished in May 2007 the very day before I started my job to pay for publishing The Pirate Daughter's Promise.  It was another small sign of God's help because after I started my job I lost much of my writing time and it would have probably been another couple of months until I could have finished.

 

When Every Tear was finished I already had some thoughts for another sequel, this one about the grandchildren of my original characters, but I just could never get into it and work out the story plan.  For months I wasn't writing much because of work and because I didn't have a good idea for a story.  It was sad for me because for as long as I can remember I've had a story I was working on.  Finally, in December 2007, after I switched jobs and had more time, I was working on my laptop thinking about what to write about and the image of a young sea captain came into my mind and I thought about how fun it would be to write about a character like that.  In just a couple hours I had the whole skeleton of the book planned out.  I started the first chapter the next day and I've been working on it steadily ever since then.  I am now only a half a chapter away from finishing.  Sadly, I still don't have a title for it . . . it's really irritating me.  lol  That's one of my things.  I want to have titles as soon as possible. 

 

My first two books were focused on trusting in God even when everything is going wrong around you and you're put through things you never thought you could handle.  This book I'd say is focused a lot on patience and watching God gradually work on things in your life that you want changed.  I'd also say this one is more a romance than an action/adventure book like the first two.  Oh, there's still action and adventure just not as much.

 

The interesting thing about this book is it takes place about a year after Every Tear and is about completely different characters, but some of my old characters still show up here and there.  Getting to show their lives after the struggles they went through and how they effect these new characters has been very fun to write.

 

So what's next for me?  I haven't quite decided yet.  I think I might write a western.  I have always loved the 1850s to 1860s.  I'm very surprised I've never written that kind of book yet.  I also really want to write a medieval book.  I love castles, knights, ladies with beautiful medieval dresses . . . all that great stuff.  I'm actually slowly working on a book like that along with my others.  It's called Andrian.  I can't really call it a fantasy book, but all of the places and names are made up.  It's a storyline that I've played around with for years and I'm quite pleased so far so we'll have to see what happens with it.

New Book

Last night I thought of a new book to write!  And I have the whole thing planned out.  I'm very excited about it.  It takes place about a year after Every Tear, which is my second book.  It's about completely new characters, but some of my old characters will show up once in a while.  I'm really excited.  It's been a long time since I had a fresh idea for a book.