Shelley Martin Fiction

  Today I woke to two kids with a fever, one of them throwing up with the other dripping yellow goo. And the third has mono (who now also has this mystery crud on top of that!).  Then it occurred to me; Can my paranormal hero get sick?  The answer?  Why not?  Illness mutates.  It’s a living growing thing that can cross species.  This we know from swine flu and avian flu.  So, why not vampires, werewolves, or witches? 

  But what if you’re not writing about a vulnerable creature?  What if it’s a ghost?  Or an angel?  The general consensus is that these are temporal creatures, so maybe you can give them symptoms that are a direct reaction to an event unseen.  Like a tear in space, a black hole forming, or two planes of existence crossing.    You can have their reaction cancel out any number of their cool abilities, or just knock them out all together.

  Throwing in another hurdle for your hero/heroine to overcome is always a fun thing to work with.  And it drives us readers crazy, which we love.  The mystery of an illness and how they’ll overcome it is something we can all relate to.  So break out that medical encyclopedia of strange and rare illnesses and have fun inflicting your protagonist!

  Author Bonnie Paulson recently introduced something amazingly effective to me- the writer’s sprint.  When she first invited me to one I was praying it didn’t involve running shoes (because mine are all old and dingy).  But she explained we, and a few other writer’s, would get together (away from our houses)  and write for a solid hour, aiming for a high word count.  I told her she was going to crush me because her fingers are like lightning across the keyboard.  Then she further explained that it wasn’t a race.

  I had never made so much progress so quickly.  Usually when I go to the coffee-house to write I stare off into space, nibble on my pumpkin bread, or sip my herbal tea.  But I suddenly didn’t have time for that.  I had to put up respectable numbers with my friends sitting there.  So I dove in, not turning back for mis-spells, or any other editing.  I won’t tell you how many words I usually do during these one-hour sprints (because you probably type faster than me, too). But, I will tell you that my numbers were comparable to my acquaintances. Except for Bonnie.  Hers were double. 

  This is an excellent way to spur yourself to work through those difficult scenes you just don’t want to linger on.  If you don’t know what to write, sometimes this method is great to get the words on the paper. I’ve often heard “stories write themselves.” However, I highly recommend you have a general idea of what you’re working toward, or in your haste you might start veering of course just for a high word count.  Also, this is always best done with a friend.  If you can’t get out, then call a friend and ask them to do it with you.  Then call them back after an hour and share with each other how you did.  It really is fun, and if you are the competitive type this  just might be the thing to keep you pushing on toward that finish line.  Happy writing!

  A dear friend of mine read one of my works in progress and had only one comment that stood out.  “I want to smell your hero.”  Then it hit me, I’d forgotten to describe his scent.  I’ve always been told by other authors, agents and publishers you have to get all five senses in a scene to make it really great.  Describing a smell is the most difficult of all the senses, but a scent is more memorable to our mind than the others.

  When describing your protagonist, or their lover, you should be mindful of your adjectives.  The word “oder” evokes a more unpleasant smell as opposed to “scent.”  The word “wafted” should be reserved to describe food, unless the leading love is wearing their dinner.  “Drifted” or “swirled around the air” would work better in place of wafted.  And, for a person, don’t just say; “he smelled of spices.”  (Guilty of this)  Try using two or three specific spices.  Far a male try cinnamon, sage and current.  For a female something lighter.  Any flower will do.  Honey and milk are two of my favorites as well.

  Check the back of your favorite cologne or perfume bottle to see individual ingredients.  Even wine bottles work.  You could also go to http://thesaurus.com/ and enter “spices.”  It should give you plenty yummy scents to dig through until you find the perfect one you’re looking for.

  About a year ago publishers were asking for books with an angel theme; fallen or otherwise. It’s no surprise really.  A good fallen angel read can be just as smokey hot as any vampire with a heart-of-gold story.  

  Back in 2009 Publisher Weekly’s Karen Springen posted this article on “An Angelic Autum”-  “Move over, Edward Cullen. Bad-boy angels are the new hotties. Like modern vampires, they can be gorgeous, immortal and otherworldly heartthrobs, unlike, say, zombies. “With all that rotting-off, they’re not very sexy,” said Justin Chanda, v-p and publisher of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, who calls angels “safe gothic” and “romantic.” 

  And now, publishers are already saying “Stop! No more angels.” But why?  There aren’t floods of books gracing feathery wings the likes of the vampiric market, yet.  Remember, the market runs slow.  While the smaller publishing houses are turning out Angel books already, the larger houses are delayed by years sometimes.  And many of them are working off of cut-backs, which makes them run slower.

  So, if you’ve been working on an other worldly tale about angels, submit it now! It might look like the market is just heating up, but waiting in line are many halo-toting hero’s waiting to win our hearts.