Even Villains Fall in Love - Guest post by Liana Brooks

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am excited. Liana Brooks has written a book called: Even Villains Fall in Love. Who wouldn't want to read this?

Seriously.

Let me tell you the story of a little boy whose parents loved him very much. He grew up, went to school, graduated, had a job, and died. The end!

Not exciting enough? Let me try again.

Once there was a little boy whose parents loved him very much, but then they were attacked by a wicked villain bent on on world domination and the loving parents died defending their only son. The boy lived. As he grew up the same wicked man tried to destroy him, but the boy survived, went to school, made friends, and eventually saved the world before settling down to raise a family.

It's amazing what a difference a villain makes!

Every book you've ever loved would be nothing without the villain. Harry Potter would be just another boy at school. Lord Of The Rings would have been about some Hobbits in a village talking for three books. Hunger Games wouldn't exist at all.

A hero can't exist in vacuum. Without a villain a hero can't exist at all. A hero is someone who distinguishes themself from everyone else by doing what no one else is willing (or capable) or doing.

A reader needs a villain too. Many books have multiple protagonists (consider the split narrative of Lord Of The Rings), but the Big Bad Villain unites readers against a common foe. You might be torn over whether you like Legolas or Aragorn better, but you can be united in your hatred of Sauron.

And I think it's time to show the villains a little love.

The best antagonists are well-rounded characters with motives, feelings, desires, and fears. A well written villain is an individual that could almost be a hero, but at some point in life they decided to go the other way. A well written villain is someone we can almost sympathize with.

As the Harry Potter story unfolds the reader learns the back story of Snape, an on-again-off-again antagonist in the series (although not the Big Bad Himself), and who doesn't feel a little bit of sympathy for Snape? He was bullied, he was abused, he was rejected by the woman he loved, is it any wonder that he's now a grumpy middle aged man?

In the end, Snape becomes a hero. He makes the one choice that tips him from the side of evil to the side of good. Some days, the only difference between a hero and a villain is that one choice made at a crucial moment.

In EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE super villain Doctor Charm is just that kind of villain, one with a choice. He can pursue his plans for world domination, or save the woman he loves who just happens to be a a superhero.

Every story needs a villain, and even villains fall in love, so whose side are you on? Are you a villain or a hero?

I met Liana on Twitter and her tweets never disappoint. She was born in San Diego, California. Years later she was disappointed to learn that The Shire was not some place she could move to, nor was Rider of Rohan an acceptable career choice. Studying marine biology so she could play with sharks seemed to be the only alternative. After college Liana settled down to work as a full-time author and mother because logical career progression is something that happens to other people. When she grows up, Liana wants to be an Evil Overlord and take over the world.

In the meantime, she writes sci-fi and SFR in between trips to the beach. She can be found wearing colorful socks on the Emerald Coast, or online at www.lianabrooks.com.

Follow the rest of her blog tour for Even Villains Fall in Love.

Take Your Proper English with You (Blog Tour)

I wrote a guest post for C.L. Roth's blog today. In it, I talk about a very personal experience I had when I was a kid. My sister read the post and asked, "Did that really happen?" Sadly, it did.

Everyone knows they’re smart when they’re little. Mommy says it all the time. Then you go to school and you realize you don’t know everything. Still, I knew I was smart. I always understood what the teacher was saying and I was usually the first kid in the class to finish my work. School was fun, and I thought that was a good thing.

Well, it is. But not everybody sees it that way.

In fifth grade, I had a group of girlfriends—neighborhood kids that went to my school. We went to each other’s houses, played outside all the time, went shopping together (as tweens are wont to do) and maybe even had a sleepover or two.

Somehow, out of the blue, I became the odd one out. As an adult, I realize this happens and that girls change a lot around this age. They can be mean and petty, and all-too-often, they turn cruel.


Read more >>

Breaking Fairy Tales (Blog Tour)

Amy Laurens is a Twitter friend who needs some maternity leave. So today call for a guest post. If you've ever wanted the full story about how I started breaking fairy tales, this is the post.

My main character, Ivy Thorn, was born on my blog. I was suffering from pregnancy brain at the time and didn’t feel like I could write long fiction, so I let Ivy tear apart a few fairy tales.

Of course, Ivy had to put her own spin on things. She’s not the type to sit back and let the fairy tale run its course. The thing I’m most proud of was when (in an early blog draft, not The Fairy Tale Trap) Ivy found herself stuck in the story: Snow White. She suggested that instead of going to all that trouble to kill Snow White, the queen should just use a spell to make Snow White ugly. It just made more sense!

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Chocolate Makes Fairy Tales Better (Blog Tour #18)

This seemed like a no-brainer to me...

Death by Chocolate is hosting today's guest post, which I lovingly call:

Why Fairy Tales Need More Chocolate

Most of us grew up with fairy tales, but there’s something missing from most of them. Chocolate.

Of course, if you’re reading this then you probably already know that chocolate makes everything better. If Cinderella had made her stepsisters a chocolate cake every now and then, maybe they would have been nicer to her. If Beauty had asked her father to bring back a piece of chocolate (instead of a rose), he could have easily just plucked a bonbon from the platter of food and avoided the whole death threat thing. And maybe if the evil queen had used poisoned chocolate instead of a poisoned apple, they could have avoided that long scene where the queen tries to convince Snow White to take a bite, because who’s going to say no to free chocolate?

Read more>>



And here's some more information on Suz and the anthology, Death by Chocolate:

Death by Chocolate. The paranormal young adult anthology with a cocoa twist.

Back in Time by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Nothing in Aurelia Lemon's life is turning out how she'd planned. She's unemployed, unattached, and her family bakery is on the verge of closing. To make matters worse, the guy she dumped in high school is doing well and getting rich off of one of her departed mother's recipes. It would take a miracle to right everything she's done wrong. Or maybe just a phone call and the chance to go Back in Time.

Sweet Witchery by Cheryl J. Carvajal

Catalena is only one of many dreamers in a small medieval town in Romania. When the witch Ramnusia opens her chocolate shoppe, suddenly dreams turn into reality. The chocolates are divine, but their power is greater than their sweetness. Miracles abound, dreams come true, and Ramnusia's magic confections become the talk of the town. But if these chocolates can make dreams come true, will they win for Catalena the deepest dream of her heart?

Spellbound by Nikki Jefford

Two months after dying, Graylee Perez wakes up in her identical twin sister, Charlene’s body.

As the daughter of a witch, can anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her back to life? Only now Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in 24 hour shifts.

 The race is on for Gray to find a way back into her body before Charlene purges her from existence.

Warlock Raj McKenna is rumored to meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save Gray from fading away forever.

Bloody Valentine by Lucy Swing

 One by one the girls of Hollow High disappear and when Bailey receives a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates she might be next.

 Sweet Torture by Kira Saito

 Sixteen year old Claudia Bernstein is obsessed with two things: chocolate and Dante Torres. However, being an invisible minion to Upper East Side princess Beatrice Wildenbert isn't helping her get anywhere with her dream guy.

Everything changes over Christmas break when Dante actually starts noticing her.

But are Dante's intentions as pure as they seem? When Claudia finds herself in the middle of a cruel prank, she decides to take revenge. But is revenge enough? Or will she finally realize that her own worst enemy is herself?

The Girl with Three Heads by Suz Korb

 Kate wakes up on the morning of the Death by Chocolate fundraiser event to discover she has two extra heads resting upon each of her shoulders. She is not pleased about this. She's even more displeased when she discovers the head on her right shoulder (which looks like Santa Claus, complete with fluffy white beard) is actually Zeus, lord of lightning, or something like that. The head on her left shoulder? Yeah, it's the head of Hera; goddess-of-looking-like-a-blonde-bombshell and getting on Kate's nerves by shouting in her ear all the time.

Will Kate ever rid herself of these two extra heads? Will she ever get to experience an actual kiss from a boy without extra-head-situation interruptions? Join Kate as she struggles to survive being flung into the Underworld, as well as eventually landing upon Mount Olympus.

Just because she's got two extra craniums doesn't mean either head is an extra set of useful brains.

Be sure to check out the Death by Chocolate blog for info on all the Valentine tour stops! http://dbcanthology.blogspot.com

Fairy Tales and Chocolate Cake (Blog Tour #15)

Tia Nevitt is a fellow author, who wrote The Sevenfold Spell, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. She is kindly hosting a guest post on her blog today. My post is on Fairy Tales and Chocolate Cake (and why the magic in fairy tales makes them fun).

Here's a sample:

A beautiful girl is hated by her mother. A prince is cursed with an ugly appearance. A poor boy takes a risk to seek his fortune. A princess waits for true love.

We all love the magic in fairy tales. There’s something about the perfectly white skin and red lips of a princess, the single rose that brings fortune in disguise, and the deal-with-the-devil motif that makes us hungry for more.

But is it the magic that makes fairy tales magical? Look at the first paragraph. Each sentence describes a fairy tale, but couldn’t you tell each of those stories without magic?

Read more>>

Ivy's Heart (Blog Tour #14)

Danyelle is a rock star. When someone cancelled last minute for this tour, she stepped up and filled a spot that was way earlier than we had originally planned. Her blog features guest posts by characters. Ivy is offering today's guest post on Danyelle's Blog. Here's a sample:

       Like most girls my age, I have a special connection with my dad. Unfortunately, he’s in the military, so he spends a lot of time overseas. I worry about him when he’s away because, you know, anything could happen.

That’s when I bring out my favorite photo. It’s a picture of him when he finished his first-ever marathon. He’s kind of a small guy, and he’s really skinny. We used to joke that just the sight of him would give the Kenyans second thoughts. His clothes are dusty, but he’s got this big goofy grin on his face. Whenever I look at that picture, I imagine that, wherever he is, my dad is happy, with the same goofy grin.

[...]

My story starts with me looking for the picture. It’s gone missing. I don’t know it at the time, but the picture was stolen. Someone took it because they knew how much it meant to me. If I had known the picture held so much power, I would have guarded it more closely.

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The Road to Publication (Blog Tour #12)

Carmen Ferreiro Esteban let me do a guest post on her blog today. Head over there to read about my road to publication.

I Wish I Were as Cool as my Characters (Blog Tour #4)

Okay, when I found out I was going to be on Julie A. Lindsey's blog, I was ecstatic. Julie is hilarious and always has something to say on twitter to make me smile. Her blog is refreshing, and her book Death by Chocolate is about to come out (if I'm not mistaken).

Julie let me do a guest post that I lovingly call: I’m Not a Cool Person, but I Write About them in Books (or: I Wish I Were as Cool as my Characters).

A lot of people think that authors write characters based on what the author wishes they could be. Well let me clear things up a bit: That’s completely true.

At least, it’s true for me. Sure, Ivy has her faults. She’s stubborn and impulsive. She gets herself into all kinds of trouble and tends to be a loner. But Ivy is cool. So my guest post today will be all about why Ivy is cooler than I am.

First, I’m the nerdy type. Not the shy, awkward kind of nerdy. The goofy, foot-in-the-mouth type of nerdy. I say things without thinking, then an hour later I realize that what I said wasn’t as funny as I thought. In fact, it could have been flat-out offensive.

Ivy, on the other hand, says offensive things on purpose and wishes she had written them down to use again later.

Read the rest of this post at Julie Lindsey's blog, and enter for a chance to win a free copy of The Fairy Tale Trap.

How to Make a Book Trailer (for free) - Blog Tour Stop #3

The lovely Kat Anthony is hosting the Tour de Fairy Tale today. This one is more for writers, basically anyone interested in making a book trailer. Here's a bit from my guest post on Kat Anthony's blog on how I made my book trailer (for free):

Being an independent self-publisher is hard work. It’s even harder to do it for cheap. A lot of authors try to cut costs where they can, and a lot don’t even consider making a book trailer. I think this is a mistake. A book trailer lets you show readers how great your book is in 90 seconds. Plus, it’s fun to make.

Which blogs are first?

Okay folks, here it is. Blog Tour 2012. By the time this is over, you're going to be sick of me.

I'm hopping from blog to blog EVERY DAY starting January 15 and ending Feb 10 or maybe later. There are going to be book reviews, interviews, and I'm doing several guest posts. Some on writing, some on characters, some on The Fairy Tale Trap. There's even going to be an interview with Ivy herself!

I'll post each stop here, on this blog, so you'll know where to go. I'll also post a teaser so you can see if it's something you think you'll want to read.

Here are the first few stops on my blog tour:

Jan 15 - Suzanne Meik - author interview
Jan 16 - Liana Brooks - guest post: Why Writers are Off Their Rockers
Jan 17 - Kat Anthony - guest post: How to Make a Book Trailer (for free)
Jan 18 - Julie A. Lindsay - guest post: Why I Wish I Were as Cool as Ivy
Jan 19 - Danica Page - book review
Jan 20 - Jacqueline (The Nerdette) - book review

to be continued... :)

Cyn Balog Guest Post: What Career Novelist Know

I’m so psyched about this guest post. The lovely Cyn Balog has agreed to tell us a bit about what writing is like after the first sale. I’ve always been curious about this. Thank you Cyn!

Cyn's new YA fantasy Starstruck just came out (and her books never disappoint)

And now... here's Cyn Balog with insider information!

I’ve said before that writing is like eating my favorite flavor of ice cream. Writing on deadline is like eating that same ice cream while having someone hanging on your back, screaming, “EAT!” Yes, it still tastes good. I still love it. But there’s also a lot of nagging pressure. You can’t stop when you’re full. You can’t take the time to experiment, to, for instance, see if caramel syrup would make it taste better. You just have to dig in and keep going until you are done.

I’ve written four books under deadlines now, and sometimes it’s scary and frustrating. But it’s one of those problems I’m lucky to have. I’ll never wallow and say “poor me” because I love what I do, and I’m happy and grateful to be paid for it. But creativity is not one of those animals that does well in captivity; sometimes it needs time to breathe, to stretch its legs. And with a deadline, that freedom simply isn’t there. Considering the optimum schedule for a career novelist is one book a year, how does a writer get her creative well to abide by that timetable?

When you write your first book, it can take you three months or three years. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have a schedule. You can wait for inspiration to strike, for the well of creativity to be full. You can pore over every sentence, make sure every word chosen is perfect. But suddenly, when that book sells, you realize you don’t have that luxury. You’ll have agents, editors, fans clamoring for your next book well before your first book releases. Creativity isn’t one of those things easily forced, which is why, once the initial celebration of selling your first book is over, your immediate next concern will be if you can make it a career. There are plenty of one-book wonders out there, and you will wonder if you will be one of them. You will think that a hundred monkeys working in a room for a hundred days could probably write a publishable book, but well, writing two publishable books, that takes talent. How will you be able to recreate the same magic of your first book?

This is perfectly normal. I don’t think any writer out there thinks that everything he writes is amazing and will be published. There are always fears in this business, whether you are embarking on the first chapter of your first novel or penning the last word of your hundredth. Always. And you’re likely to have setbacks along the way, such as a book your editor hates, bad reviews, poor sales . . . there are a million things that might make you want to close up your laptop for good and go find a career that you don’t suck so badly at. But you’ll go back to it, partly because you’re a glutton for punishment, but mostly because you love it so much.

Every writer who has made the attempt to sell their work knows that writing is hard work. Most people dream of writing a book, talk about it, but never attempt it. Because they know that if they did put in the work, they’d likely fail. And actually publishing it? Well, that’s damn near impossible. And that’s the thing. If you do sell your book, you’ve done the damn near impossible, the thing that 99.9% of the world will never, ever do. Be proud. And when the time comes to write the second one, remember that you have already accomplished what can’t be done. You’re already a superstar.

And no matter what fear you’re hit with on the journey, the answer to overcoming it is always the same: Keep writing, no matter what. That is what career novelists do.

My Guest Post, complete with Ivy

I just did a guest post on Liana Brooks' blog. It includes an except from Ivy's novel, Roses and Mirrors.