Bouncing Back Better

It took a rejection to teach me about worldbuilding. Well, that wasn’t the only thing this particular rejection taught me, but it was one major thing. I thought that because my books take place in present day and in my home state, what did I need to build? Um, I learned the hard way I was wrong. Yeah, I said it. The good news is that I learned an important lesson: Every story requires worldbuilding. Yes, I said EVERY story. Even a little short about present day. Why? Because the world of characters is different from your world or mine. 

The Rejection took place several years ago, and involved a different twist on vampires. The problem I ran into was that there are certain expectations about vampires that have to be met, no matter how unusual or cool my new twist was. I didn’t fulfill those expectations. No, vampires don’t have to turn to dust in the sun, but they do need a creep factor that I neglected to show my readers. I’d done a lot of research on vampires, then went my own way. I thought I’d nailed the story, but I missed the tangible bits and pieces that grab the reader and make her (or him) feel part of the story. This, my friends, is worldbuilding. It isn’t just making up a new government system, or devising a new set of rules for vampires. It’s figuring out the home where your characters live, the area where they work, the deep areas of their emotions they would never show the world. How creepy—or sweet—your characters are. These are in every work of fiction, and they are important building blocks.

For instance, I am horrible about descriptions. I can write them just fine, I just don’t. Why? I don’t like reading a lot of description. And there’s the make-or-break phrase: “A lot of “. My readers don’t need pages and pages of description either, but they do need enough to ground them in the story. My mistake was not giving them that grounding. I learned the hard way that a writer has to give her readers strong details to allow them to picture of the characters, the surroundings, and even the emotions the characters feel—and not the few crumbs I threw out. Ack! What an eye-opener! 

I went on to learn about advanced writing craft. I found some great teachers and great books and spent a couple of years learning and practicing writing. Has it been worth the effort? I think so. A friend says I write 1,000 times better than I used to. I don’t see how that’s possible. The most anything can improve is 100%, after all. But yeah, sometimes we just have to take the time to learn and grow—and then, hopefully, take the world by storm.

Have you ever taken time out to learn and grow? Is there a time when you should have? Would you like to take time out, but it isn’t feasible? 

Have a great week!

Cheryel

www.cheryelhutton.com

Dragons in Love/In Love with Dragons

Greetings, Kittens!


This has been a lovely month of monsters and mayhem and it’s my turn to talk about the creatures that move me the most. Turns out, it’s all of them!


For eight consecutive childhood Halloweens, I dressed as a vampire. I loved everything about the vampire concept, from immortality to inhuman fascination. As a product of the Anne Rice Generation, I didn’t see them as monsters, but simply as people who were capable of monstrous things—just like everyone else. The paranormal romance trend couldn’t have come too soon for my taste. In fact, I would have liked to see it spread at least a decade sooner, to fill that ever growing cavern of how I regarded supernatural creatures vs. how they were portrayed in horror.


Fast forward twentyish years after reading, Interview with the Vampire, and I’m surrounded by exactly what I longed to see—preternaturals as the heroes rather than automatically the villains. That change was the first step in broadening my supernatural palate. It’s not that I didn’t feel for werewolves, the classic cursed just seemed too painful and sad to really be drawn to it. That element disappeared on the paranormal romance front and I was able to see them in the light that they always deserved.


Roleplaying games and fantasy novels moved the idea of werewolves to shape-shifters and an entire world of possibilities opened up. Feline shifters were an immediate favorite, but dragon shifters became a complete fascination. Fantasy rpgs and novels are filled with intelligent dragons that like to walk around among humankind and leave behind half-dragons, dragonkin, dragoons and pseudodragons to name a few variants. This predilection led to all sorts of ideas and opportunities to play with the dragon mythos, and the idea of sexy dragons plays into everything I wanted from every other creature.


They were ancient like vampires, could alter their shape like werewolves, were clever like fae/faries, and had layered emotions and complexities like humans, but with the wisdom of nature itself. They were people in the truest sense of the word, but a people that could be anything and everything else as well. What’s not to love?


Although I grew up on high fantasy that spawned my love of dragons, I’m not suited to write it. I’m more geared towards urban fantasy and romantic fantasy. Instead of high fantasy’s epic battles, I’d prefer dealing with the battles of the sexes and the battles of the heart. Yep, I have no classic sword and sorcery in my future to be sure. What I do have, is a paranormal romance with dragon shifters. It’s in the immediate future, Halloween Day in fact. And it won’t be the only one!


A Way To A Dragon’s Heart is the first introduction of dragons into my Therian World. The reception has led to many more ideas, one of which may be the closet fantasy/kingdoms/king’s honor type stories I’ve ever written or will write, and I’m excited. But that particular idea is a tale for another time, let me introduce you to A Way To A Dragon’s Heart.

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.


Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.


Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.