Making Something Old Something Better

I run into a lot of conversations among authors about tropes, archetypes and cliches. "How can I write without using the cliches?" "Anyone who writes about Elves is stealing from Tolkien." "There's no way to write something new."

I usually end up in arguments about this. As a classical mythologist, I am convinced that archetypal themes and characters aren't the anathema so many writers think they are. Sure, you don't necessarily want to write abouta farmboy-turned-savior with a magical sword, an ancient mentor skilled in the ways of magic and the stock secondary characters of the D & D world. However, that doesn't mean you have to avoid them either. The hero's journey, as identified by Joseph Campbell, is a route that all good adventures follow. There is a certain path a writer must follow in order to create a hero. And while you don't have to hit every earmark that Campbell identified, you need to hit at least some of them.

So I have an example, not from writing but from popular music. Michael Jackson's song "Smooth Criminal" is not among my favorites. (okay, I hate it) But look what happens when another group takes that song, the archetypal actions of the original artist, and makes them their own.

God love Alien Ant farm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cJB2Z_aTEQ

Sure, all the familiar elements are there. But the music has been changed, the atmosphere is different, the characters are on a different path. The song is recognizable, but it's been changed from the original into something almost completely alien to the original. We, as writers, can do the same. So don't worry about how Tokienesque your Elves are! Don't sweat over your magical sword/book/ring/necklace/kitten. Just write a good story, tell a good tale, supersede the tropes and make them your own and it will work for you too.

And you won't even need to borrow a baby chimpanzee to do it. You can leave Bubbles at home. What we, as writers, need to be worried about is our narrative voice, the credibility of our characters, the complexity of our plot arcs--telling a damn good story. The rest? It will take care of itself. Oh, and just to top that off, check out Nathan Bransford's blog entry for today. Although he's not saying what I am, this advice from a top and incredibly helpful agent might help you to see the bright side of life. My recommendation: listen to Alien Ant Farm's version of Smooth Criminal while you read it. It makes for an almost orgasmic episode of optimism.

You can take something old and create something entirely new and completely original out of it. So instead of worrying yourself into cold sweats about it, sit your butt in the chair and just write.

Annie, are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?

A Great Day

So, I've been working hard on my paranormal romance/urban fantasy theater novel Carnival, now renamed Deception Enters Stage Left, getting it ready to query. Since the month of February is cursed in my household--a superstition my husband created and now has me believing in--I decided that I wouldn't query until March 1. Keeping that goal firmly fixed in my mind, I started to send out queries after midnight.

Then this morning, I found a request in my mailbox. That's always exciting. Before I'd quite gotten the SQUEEEEEE! out of my mouth, I hit refresh and found another. This time, I bypassed the SQUEEEEE! and went straight for the valium. I'm an old-fashioned kind of girl in that way. Then I went and took a hot bath--with bubbles naturally--before I returned to my computer.

And lo and behold, there was a third request in my email.

Three. In one day. Dang. I'm not the mass-query kind of writer. I send out only a few at a time, mostly because I had a nightmare once of sending out a hundred queries and getting all the responses screwed up as a result. So I send out small numbers--like ten. I usually pick them with an eye to their response times too. So while I might send out a couple with quick turnaround times on query letters, I compensate by sending out some that have longer response times and then some that are the ones who say on their website "if we aren't interested, we won't reply." That way, I figure that when the inevitable rejections come, they'll stagger in instead of swarming. Then I send out one query to replace the rejection so that I never have more than ten out at once.

That's my theory anyway. I like to try to keep my stress levels down as much as possible.

So anyway, now I had three submission packages to get out today. I always--always--double check my submissions before they go out just to make sure that something wonky hasn't happened and I knew that was going to take up a bit of time. Problem was, I already was fully booked for the day. I had to get four more chapters edited for a project I'm working on for another writer, I had a brainstorming session with Rob for our vampire project, I had a doctor's appointment, a book trailer to make, edits to get done for my short story collection (Metamorphosis) coming out in a couple of weeks plus my daily writing hours--and I even had hopes of getting the house in order.

Yes, yes...the house is still messy. But, here I am at four am the next morning with everything else on my list done. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. Now for the fun part--I have to get up at eight.

A writer's life is grand, isn't it? Hectic, stressful and bizarre, but grand. I figure as long as I don't turn the news on for a while, my mood might remain cheerful for a couple of more hours at least. Here's hoping!

Wow. I just realized something. I even got a blog post into the mix. Wonders never cease.

The Vampire Covenants Book One: Breaking the Covenants

Oh, I know you guys have been waiting for this! The book trailer is out for Breaking the Covenants, the first book of The Vampire Covenants trilogy that Rob Graham and I are writing together-coming from Aspen Mountain Press in April, 2009.

Here's the blurb:

The German vampire Gunther von Wittersheim has a problem: he’s fallen in love with a mortal woman, the English beauty Lady Marguerite Giffard, and his greatest immortal enemy, the French Comte Alphonse de Brunel, knows about it. When de Brunel captures Marguerite and turns her into a vampire, Gunther must put aside his desire for revenge and help his beloved through the painful transition to immortality.

Vampires are bound by the Covenants, a code of law enforced by the mysterious Conclave of Elders. The couple is ordered by the powerful Elder of Paris to bring de Brunel to the Conclave to answer for trial. The lovers pursue their foe to St. Petersburg, where they are caught in a power struggle between factions of warring vampires. Can they find a way to capture Alphonse de Brunel before the factions go to war? Or will their love fall prey to the breaking of the Covenants?

And here's the trailer. Enjoy!

New Review For Temptation of Asphodel

Love Romances and More has always been good to me and my books, but the review they released today for The Asphodel Cycle 3:Temptation of Asphodel blew me away.

...If you enjoy a wonderful Fantasy series that will captivate you with the sheer
volume of world building & captivating characters that fairly leap off the
pages and into your hearts, then grab the third installment of the Asphodel
Cycle series, TEMPTATION OF ASPHODEL. All this reviewer wants to know is this:
Can we get more please, Ms. Summers?

Wow. Just wow. You can check out the rest of the review here. The reviewer gave Temptation a perfect five out of five hearts. *tries not to smirk, fails utterly*

The final book, Apostle of Asphodel, is coming out in May. Hopefully, it will meet up to expectations.

My short story collection Metamorphosis is coming out at the end of March, but right now I'm focusing on the first book of The Vampire Covenants trilogy I'm co-writing with fellow AMP author Rob Graham. Breaking the Covenants is due out in April and we're going through edits on it while completing the second book in the series Warding The Covenants, which should come out this summer. So I've been incredibly busy and look to get busier. After suffering through a full week of the stomach flu, I'm back on my game and working my wazoo off.

Hopefully, I'll work another ten pounds or so of it away if I keep at it.

Have to get back to work. When I hit the point that a reviewer is asking for more of my work, I guess it's in my best interests to give them what they want.

I'm so excited.

I'm so silly.

Oooh...shiny!

Look at what I've got! Two brand new shinies to share with you.

First:

The Asphodel Cycle 3:Temptation of Asphodel Top Ten Finalist for Best Novel of 2008 in the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers' Poll.

The Asphodel Cycle 2: The Gift of Redemption--Top Ten Finalist for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008 from the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers' Poll:

Can I just say...wow?!?!?!?!

Thank you to everyone who voted for my work and your continued support of my writing career and fragile ego. All three of the Asphodel novels have received a prestigious P&E award which, at least for a moment, makes me think I'm doing something right.

Which sets me up for this little tidbit. The Asphodel Cycle 4:Apostle of Asphodel will be released in May of 2009. It's the final installment in the Asphodel series, so if you haven't read the first three award winning novels now's the time to pick them up! That way you'll be ready for the final chapters in the story of Tamsen and Brial.

Once again, thanks for your votes and your love of my work.

When I Grow Up...

...I want to be Katharine Hepburn.

Still. I've had a crush on Katharine Hepburn since I was a teenager. There was always just something about her--that voice, that vital face, the cheekbones, the defiance--the glitter of brilliance so nimbly hidden by that overwhleming persona--that awed me. My first movie poster was of "The Philadelphia Story." My favorite performance of hers is "The Lion in Winter." My favorite scene with her is from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." I thought she was at her most beautiful in "Woman of the Year" when she met and fell in love with Spencer Tracy. She made me cry in "The Trojan Women" playing a bereft but defiant Queen of Troy. I think she was most like herself in "The Desk Set."

Yes, I own all of her movies--even some of the later, not quite as much fun ones. If I don't have them on DVD, I have them TiVoed. I adore her. I only wish I could have seen her on the stage.

I have biographies of her, an autobiography which is written just as she speaks--in short, jerky sentences, and am right now watching a fascinating interview Dick Cavett did with her in the seventies--a practice run. She absolutely did not want to do a television interview and Cavett persuaded her to do a trial run just to see if she'd like it. Unbeknowst to her, they taped it. So they did the show without an audience, and I was spellbound. Here it was, 1973, and she had to have been already in her late sixties and she was unleashed in all of her skittish glory upon the hapless Dick Cavett.

When I was younger, I cherished dreams of being an actress like her. Why not? I shared a lot of traits with her. The one trait I didn't share? That sparkle of vitality that shines through every nuance of her voice and glimmer of her eyes.

Now, my ambition is a bit different. I see something of myself in her now, a similarity that wouldn't have appealed to me as an actress but certainly does as a writer. She possessed a voice that was unique. Not just that smoky, Bryn Mawr through the teeth accent--that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a narrative voice. She had a way to tell a story whether she was performing or not that was absolutely unique. You can see it in the unconventional way that she moves in her earlier movies, with her complete contempt for the glamour of Hollywood, with the certainty of her conviction in every word she uttered.

Her narrative voice wasn't lovely, but it was distinct. She narrowed the focus of her life to the simplest common denominator possible. Her wardrobe when offstage was the same--turtleneck, button down shirt (switching back and forth, one was always black and the other white) and khaki pants. She wore her hair the same way. She never bought a Hollywood mansion; she preferred to rent furnished flats so she could remain unimpeded. She spat in the eye of conventional wisdom from the time she first appeared opposite John Barrymore in "Bill of Divorcement" until the day she finally passed away--and through it all, she was the only Katharine Hepburn--she played herself daily and excelled at it. Now that she's dead, I can look back at her through her movies and her story and watch the development of that narrative voice.

She started out by striving to shock. At the age of six, she shaved her head and changed her name to Jimmy. She moved from that to defiance--like when the studio stole her pants from her dressing room to force her to dress like a lady and she walked across the studio lot in her underwear to get them back. From defiance, she transcended into power--like when she worked the deal for "Woman of the Year" which included blacklisted writers and creative control. From power, she waltzed into legend, all the while maintaining the only kept secret in Hollywood with her affair with Spencer Tracy. By the time she died, she was an icon--a stubbornly matter of fact icon who drove to the grocery store for ice cream every day and lived in the old family home with her brothers and sisters. And through all of this, she remained grounded--a Hollywood multiple Oscar winner who sent her money to her father and received an allowance from him for living expenses until the day he died in 1962.

I have to stop and ask myself: how was this amazing creature developed? What was it about her that so fascinated--and continues to fascinate--even to this day? It was only just this morning, watching this faux interview that was never aired and that she never realized was filmed, that I finally understood. Everything Katharine Hepburn did told a story--no matter what the situation, her unique and distinct narrative voice colors it to the point where you are compelled to pay attention.

So when I grow up, I want to be Katharine Hepburn. If I can just find a way to capture that effervescent individuality in my writing, then perhaps one day I can be Katharine Hepburn too.

My Name Is Celina Summers...

...and I am a writerholic. I have been a writerholic for three years. I am not currently undergoing treatment for my writerholism because I have editing to do and revisions due soon. My problem is that I always want to be writing.

Not editing.

Not rewriting.

Writing.

Normally, this is not a problem. After all, I've still got lots of space on my hard drive. But in a co-writing project, it becomes a problem. While I still had Deception in process, it wasn't so bad. I could balance my writing time between the two projects and keep my impulses under control.

But now? Now it's a horror! The muses have taken over. I sat down to write a little scene and discovered I'd written three new subplots (without discussing them with my partner) and FOUR full length chapters. FOUR. I thought I'd only been writing for an hour.

I'd been writing for eight.

Obviously, I can't use any of what I wrote. I have to work with Rob, and we've been very good about making sure that we pace our way through our plot step by step. I mean, when we were writing Breaking the Covenants, it worked perfectly. But that's because I was BUSY. I was overwhelmed with work. I could control my obsessive compulsive creative impulses. But now I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do. I have to be fair to Rob so--

--I deleted everything I wrote today. It was only fair. Now in order to make things right, I need to come up with an entirely new project to start on and start on quickly! I need to have another writing project to focus on so that the energy of my hyperactive Muses can be channeled into another story.

I just need to think of one.

Who ever heard of a writer whose problem was writing TOO much? I've got to be the craziest person on the planet. Oh well. Time to dig through my character files and the worlds I've built and see if I can't put together something to keep me occupied. Should be interesting to see what I come up with if nothing else.

My name is Celina Summers, and I am a writerholic. So sue me.

When Nature Writes Poetry

There is poetry in nature. Today is one of those days that the nature deities of the ancient religions return to earth to leave their mark. They take something ordinary, and they create something preternatural with it. No matter how you look at it, there is poetry in nature.

But then, something within nature goes beyond poetry. It strives for something more--a paean, perhaps, to the glories of what the world can occasionally offer within its grasp. There is a glimpse of divinity, the song of the sublime, and the whole world is still and silent while under its spell.

Yes, sometimes nature writes poetry.



It only pisses me off when the poetry falls on the power lines.

Things To Think About When Naming a Book

You know, every once in a while, I out-stupid myself. Stick around for this story: you'll love it.

As you all know, the title of the second book in The Asphodel Cycle is The Gift of Redemption. Naturally, I have "The Gift of Redemption" on my Google alerts because I like to know when my books pop up on the web. (For all of you aspiring writers out there, ALWAYS set up a Google alert for your stories--that way you can find out if someone is selling it illegally. This is especially important for e-pubbed stories.)

At any rate, the title stems from the theme of the book--the gift of redemption occurs when the Virgin Huntress accepts the only sacrifice that can redeem the race of Elves. It was a natural title for the book; that's what the book was about.

What I didn't think about was what else would pop up on Google alerts with the phrase "the gift of redemption."

Do you know how many church blogs I find out about every day talking about the gift of redemption? How many priest's personal blogs, how many printed sermons, how many religious sites use that phrase every single day? Whenever I get a Google Alert for The Gift of Redemption, I usually discover that *this is all made up* Father Stanley Bingo of St. Jehosephat Parish in Kansas City has delivered an entire sermon about the gift of redemption and, just in case you missed it on Sunday, printed it in its entirety on the parish blog on Monday.

This is particularly bad around Easter and Christmas, as I discovered much to my chagrin this past year.

Every Monday, my Google alert for "The Gift of Redemption" is usually fifteen to twenty posts long. Hidden amidst all the church blogs are a couple of ebook sales distributors and maybe a review or a post from this blog. So let's get something straight here:

The Gift of Redemption by Celina Summers is about Elves, a fictional race of beings that are an archetype of the fantasy genre.

When you're naming your stories, future and present writers, take a moment to think of what you're getting into in the wonderful world of Google. The final installment of the Asphodel series was originally going to be called simply "The Apostle."

Ummm...we're not going that route. Hopefully, The Apostle of Asphodel will protect me from the influx of church blogs that I'm quite certain will be just as relieved not to have "Elf Killing and Other Hobbies" showing up on their Google Alerts in the future.

See? I'm doing it all for religion. That's okay though; the Pope can thank me later.

So I Finished Another Book Today

That's three--count 'em...three before February. My goal for 2009 is seven completed novels. I'm not doing too shabby if you look at it that way.

So anyway, after tiptoeing around my denouement for a couple of days, I finally figured out how to do the reveal, set up the climax and finish the book. I was so excited! And get this--I was shooting for a 90k paranormal romance--good industry length yada yada--and I only went over by *mumblemumble* thousand words! Yay! By the time I add in the subplot I forgot I'll be right back to *epic* if I'm not careful. Oh well, I'm giving it a day and then the real work starts. I can't wait.

I'll be querying this baby in a month. Just you wait.

Now it's snowing out and the only writing project I have on my desk is the second Covenants book. I kind of have to take a break on it; the Muse was driving me on the storyline and I kind of got ahead of Rob. I need to let him catch up. So, it's a perfect time to...

...start a new book. Hmmm...let me see. Should I go for the new fantasy world that's been bubbling around in my head, give a Regency romance a whirl, or maybe pick up on something completely new? I bet you I'll figure it out by the morning. After all, I won't have anything else to do.

Yippee!

The Denouement

So, I'm at the denouement of Deception and I'm tiptoeing around it like it's got the chicken pox. I write a little bit of it, then shake my head and say "nah" and go back and tinker with it. This is not how I usually write. It's just that this is my first stab at a book that's not set in a world I made up and I keep forgetting that we people who live down here on Earth have rules and prejudices and systems that prevent me from my usual technique.

My usual technique is to just blurt it out and the rest of the characters look at each other, shrug, pick up their weapons and get ready to go fight.

That won't work this time.

So I'm sculpting it bit by bit, waiting for the spark of inspiration to tell me how in the hell I'm going to convince my main character that things like time travel and psychic bondage are not only real, but occurring all around her without her knowledge.

I have to admit, it's making me sweat a bit.

In other news, my good friends at AuthorScoop posted an interview with me today in their new section "Five Minutes With..." I was rather flustered to be asked to do the interview, but it's up. You should check out AuthorScoop anyway--it's the place to go for literary news and there's a backlog of great articles there. It's a good way to waste away an afternoon, and come out of it with new knowledge. Go check it out.

I'll be busy slithering around this denouement and trying to make it work.

A Quiet Patriot

A quiet patriot passed from this world last night, his wife and sons at his side. He'd been battling brain cancer for a long time. Refusing to go to the hospital, he remained at home--never complaining, never defeated.

He'd served his country in war. After that, he served his country in peace time. He'd taught in the local high school and managed their JROTC unit. He'd raised two sons to become upstanding members of society. He loved his wife and she was everything in the world to him. He loved his family, even his extended family of nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews. He looked upon the world with a crystalline glare--one that saw truth and dismissed bullshit. When he walked, he walked upright, with a stride that was hard to keep up with. He was tall and he stayed tall until the very end.

He was quietly proud of his life, his family--even more proud of their accomplishments than his own. His own accomplishments were considerable, but he rarely spoke of them. Instead, he spoke of what others did, how they thought, how remarkable they were and how unusual. He was unconscious of everything he'd contributed to society, counting it as doing just what he was supposed to do and nothing more. Everyone else was extraordinary in his eyes. He was just himself, and for him that was the greatest thing in the world to be.

Now I can only hope that for a moment, just one moment some time in the coming present, I can discover his quiet secret for myself. Maybe that is the gift he left for me: the quest for unassuming extraordinariness.

Requiescat in pacem.

Say That Again? A Winter Storm What?

No way.

The gods couldn't be that cruel.

There's no way that we've been issued a winter storm warning here. This is Ohio. We don't get our winter storms for another month or so. We just get pissy little snows that are gone from the roads before I even think of bestirring myself from my writer's crypt and venture out to Walmart to get cat litter.

Last night, when I was alert enough to think about the future, I thought, "You know...I need to go to the store in the morning and get cat litter." I even checked the weather--and laughed, laughed, I tell you!--at the poor slobs who live in Northern Ohio and who were going to get half a foot of snow tomorrow while we were content with our normal measly inch.

How in the hell was I to know that the storm would shift south? So now here it is, after four in the morning, when I've been on a writing jag for about twelve hours straight and I've got to leave my nice warm writing nook, get in the car and drive to the store to pick up fucking cat litter and cigarettes so I won't have to leave the house for the three days it will take for the snow plows to hit our country road. Simply ducky. I'm not going now--that would be suicidal. I'm having to close one eye just to type. Noooooooooooooooo... I have to time this between the first glimmer of dawn and the first flake of snow to insure I get there safely.

Which means I have to stay up all night.

Which means I might as well keep writing.

Which means that tomorrow, which is the last day of voting in the P&E Readers' Poll, I'll be begging my husband to drag out the ladder and scrape snow off the satellite dish so that I can shamelessly plug my books for last minute votes.

(did you like the way I snuck that shameless plug in? Go vote...go vote now! you can see the links--just scroll down)

Hell, I probably won't even have television. I won't be able to do anything but write and change the cat boxes and take the snowblower up and down the driveway every hour or so. Snow may accumulate at rate of over an inch per hour--damn you weather gods! I need my internet tomorrow! This isn't fair! It's a conspiracy, I tell you--a damned conspiracy.

Oh well. Less internet means more writing and since I'm nearing the end of this book, it may mean I might just get it finished by the end of the week. That will make it the second completed novel of 2009 if you count Breaking the Covenants with Rob Graham. Since my goal for the year is seven completed novels, it will put me well on my way.

So let it snow. Just let me get the damn cat litter first. Then snow all you want to.