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Table
of Contents
Samhellion
Editors
J.C.
Wilder, Managing Editor
Anne
Cain
Ciar
Cullen
Lauren
Dane
Bianca D'Arc
Gia
Dawn
Carolan
Ivey
Lorelei
James
Isabo
Kelly
J.L.
Langley, Wrangler
Lionel
LaVergne
Lindsey
McGurk
TJ
Michaels
Bethany
Morgan
Melissa
Schroeder
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Letter From The Editor
Greetings Samhellion
readers! - This issue is all about the facts, ma'am. Well,
research at least. We have a selection of great articles from
some of the editors of this newsletter and guest correspondants such
as Sara Saint John, Karen Weisner and Emily Veinglory.
We
also have two articles on vampires and the counterpoint to last
month's Point Of View column. I hope you enjoy the newsletter and if
you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
J.C. Wilder, Managing
Editor
The heart of any
good historical novel is the research the writer puts into it.
Writing a historical is not a decision to be made lightly. There are
so many things you need to consider. Of course, the characters and
the plot are important, I mean where would the story be without
those elements?
But it’s the
details of the time period that can either make or break the
reader’s love for the story. Let me give you a “for example”. It’s
no secret that I love westerns. I bought an e-book from another
publisher, a western that was spicy like mine. I was getting into
the story, loving the interaction between the hero and heroine and
BAM! She used a term that didn’t even exist in the 1870s. It threw
me out of the story completely. I did finish it, but it soured my
experience. (More!)
I Have To Verify WHAT? Why? It’s
Fiction! - Lorelei
James
Psst. Wanna know a
secret? Doing research is NOT my favorite part of being a
writer.
There I said it.
Out loud. In public. I do NOT get that look of glee in my eye when
faced with the prospect of spending hours tracking down stats, or
obscure spellings, or pertinent legal/social/economic parameters for
characters, plot and settings. I am NOT one of those crazy writers
who waxes poetic about all the nuggets and potential story lines I
might find if I spend hours (HOURS!) digging for a single fact. I do
NOT enjoy pouring over multiple maps to make sure I haven’t created
a geographical impossibility. ( Did
she say...maps?)
As a
librarian, research is a topic near and dear to my nerdy little
heart. As a writer, I know that all kinds of books need research.
You never know who will be reading your book, so my goal as a writer
is to have as many of my facts as straight as possible. Whether it’s
some scientific theory I’m elaborating on or a historical fact that
I’m borrowing for my novel, I want to know what the reality is
before I go off on my artistic tangent.
It might be
obvious that writers of historical books need to do research and
check their facts, but not so obvious is the need for research in
other genres – fantasy, science fiction, crime drama, etc. Readers
can be knowledgeable about many different facts that the writer may
not be as familiar with, but need to have in their
story. (More,
please)
The ebook winners
are: nannettehawkins, lemunyan, Valerie.McClintock,
candy.ready, kittenss1606
And
the winner of the eBookwise eReader is... linda_bass for
being the 1000th subscriber to The Samhellion!
When
to Research
Research
is necessary for any writer. For some, it’s a necessary evil.
I’m not telling you anything new here, but it’s because of my
dislike of research that I developed a system to make it much more
palatable for each project. Incidentally, it’s also much more
efficient in the scheme of my career. Most writers know why
they have to research and how
to do it. It’s really the when
of it that’s a stumbling block.
In this article,
we’re going to talk about when to research for your books and how to
approach research while keeping your outline in mind. I’ll also talk
a little about how to use the research you do in the writing of your
book. Finally, I’ll provide tips to help maximize your productivity
throughout this process. (Help!)
For me, there is
nothing more intimidating than a blank computer screen. If I could,
I would pay someone to start my novels for me. Since that isn’t
going to happen, I’d better start from the
beginning–literally.
For many
writers, the first thing that happens in the creative process is
characters suddenly intrude into your daily life. Fully formed,
walking and talking–you see and hear them as plain as day.
Excited over their arrival, you listen to the story of their
lives before sitting down to write and…nothing happens. Or what you
end up writing is nothing like you’d imagined. (Thank
you sir, may I have another?)
I don’t write
historicals, but that doesn’t mean I get to play completely fast and
loose with “the rules”.
The vampires in my Vampire Council of Ethics series are quite
unlike most. Why? ’Cause they’re not the undead, they don’t fry to a
crisp if a ray of sun touches their skin, they don’t lose their mind
and jump on a person with a paper cut to suck them dry.
Nope, my guys are a
mix of vampire myth and…*trumpet blowing*…biotechnology and
genetics. The question that I get most is this one—“Well, TJ, if
your vampires are based on science, but there is no such thing as a
vampire, how do you reconcile the two?” And the answer is taking the
science that we have now mixed with a bit of Sci-Fi type
probability. In other words, I take what I do at the day job and mix
it in with a bit of fiction. ( Bite
Me!)
The Web Definition of Urban Fantasy is: A subgenre of
Fantasy; the action takes place in this world (at this time), with
no change in Earth’s history, but rather in its dynamics (i.e.,
physics: usually magic is possible). ( Bring
it!)
An
e-book is, of course, a story, a narrative, a novel or whatever kind
of prose it is intended to be. But an e-book is a “book” much in the
way a television is a movie or an MP3 is a CD (a CD is a cassette or
a cassette is an LP). The word book
to most ears currently implies an artifact made of paper just as
much as it implies a long string or words conveying a narrative.
(I
need some
ebooks!) |
