Hope Never Dies and Real Person Fan Fiction

First of all, I'd like to wish my husband, Eugene, a very happy birthday today! You'll always be my knight in shining armor.

If you loved all the Obama-Biden memes (particularly the ones after the 2016 election such as this one), then you might like Hope Never Dies: An Obama-Biden Mystery, by Andrew Shaffer. I read about this book a few weeks ago and immediately put it on hold at my library. I finally had a chance to read it last week. Basically, after an Amtrak conductor dies in what everyone else assumes to be a suicide or accident, Obama and Biden team up to discover the truth. Biden is the first-person narrator. I've never gotten closer to either man than through the voting machines, so I don't know how accurately they're portrayed. Certainly some of their escapades seem a bit unreal, and other reviews I've read say Obama comes across as more remote than he actually is. Still, the pair do make a fun Holmes-Watson couple.

Since I used to write Beatles fan fiction, I was interested in the real-person fan fiction aspect of this book. In the New York Times article I read about Hope Never Dies, the author relates how he met Biden but didn't tell him about this project. The standard disclaimer at the beginning of the book says that "All characters--including those based on real people, living or dead...are used fictitiously." Celebrities do give up some of their rights to privacy, and we live in an age where YouTube can make someone a celebrity (notorious or not) overnight. I still don't think I'd be too comfortable using a living person as a character. Even if I was inspired by a certain aspect of their personality, I'd rather remix with other traits and disguise them. While I may have been able to get away with using John Lennon as a character in Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes, he might have drawn attention from the main characters. If I ever get past the block I have with the next installments of the Catalyst Chronicles, then the story will go in a different direction anyway.

How do you feel about using real people in fiction? Does it matter if they're contemporary or historical? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Science of the Week--12/8/17

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Diet success may depend on your DNA

Study finds reading information aloud to yourself improves memory

"Poop pill" capsule research paves the way for simpler C. difficile treatment

Why do we see similarities across languages? Human brain may be responsible

Bird evolves virtually overnight to keep up with invasive prey

A random blog post

Reading on electronic devices may interfere with science reading comprehension
(Given that I read that on my laptop, I probably didn't understand it properly)

Engineers 3-D print a "living tattoo"

The varieties of aging in nature

Rarity can be key to survival, not just extinction

Finally, this is the anniversary of John Lennon's death, I have to share one of his songs. This year, it's an obscure song called "Hey Bulldog," off the Yellow Submarine soundtrack:



Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!

Season Avatars Series--Releases and a Sale!

There's so much exciting publishing news for the fantasy Season Avatars series today that I feel I ought to do something special to celebrate. I had considered taking today off work (I still have weeks left of vacation), but since I was out Thursday afternoon and Friday with a cold, I need to catch up. As long as I get to do something with my family, that's celebration enough for me.

Anyway, time for all of the announcements:

Summon the Seasons officially went live this morning to conclude the series.

Kay might be the youngest, smallest, and least confident Season Avatar, but her weather magic makes her the most powerful of her group. Now that she also can contact the souls of dead Avatars, her quartet has a chance to end Chaos Season permanently. All Kay and her sister Avatars need are three more bones.

To obtain them, Kay’s quartet must travel across Challen, evading the King’s Watch and Selathens who want to protect their demigoddess, Salth, creator of Chaos Season. Kay’s deepest beliefs about her God and her longtime rival, Dorian, will be challenged during the trip. If she loses her faith and newfound courage, she will fail, and the rest of the Season Avatars with her.

I don't have an extensive blog tour planned, but I have a guest post up on Catherine Lundoff's blog about making a Victorian-like setting more feminist. An additional posts is pending for Alex J. Cavanaugh, but I missed the date for Pat Dilloway's post. Sorry again, Pat! That was completely my fault.

Young Seasons: A Season Avatars Short Story Collection is out of Kindle Select and headed for wide distribution. It's already live on Apple and Kobo and should be headed to Barnes and Noble very soon.

The country of Challen depends on its Season Avatars to tame a recurring storm that mixes up the seasons. A quartet of magic-users, each with a different type of magic, reincarnate with skills and memories from previous lives but face new challenges whenever they’re reborn. Now, a child faces a healing task that would daunt someone much older. A fourteen-year-old is pursued by enemies in her sleep. An animal lover must protect her kitten from her disapproving family. An impatient farm girl tries to get the attention of her true love, only to have the wrong person respond. Before Gwen, Kay, Ysabel, and Jenna can come together as Season Avatars, first they must survive independently as Young Seasons.

A short story collection set between Seasons' Beginnings and Scattered Seasons. Includes an excerpt from Scattered Seasons.

Speaking of Scattered Seasons, it's on sale through next Monday for $0.99. (It's on sale at other sellers besides Amazon, though it may take a couple of days for the price change to become effective.)

Lady Gwendolyn lo Havil is an Ava Spring, born to heal others and lead the Season Avatars of her generation. Season Avatars with divine magic must work in groups of four to save the country of Challen from Chaos Season, times when all of the seasons appear at once. When the current Ava Spring dies in a riding accident, Gwen must find the other three Season Avatars she will link with. But two of them are missing, and with Gwen's own magic crippled by a cursed pottery shard, she will have to use all of her skills to find the Avatars scattered across the country of Challen. During her journey, she meets a stranger who claims to know the shard's origin. Is he truly an ally of the Season Avatars, or is he trying to stop them from uniting?

 Part of the reason I chose today to release Summon the Seasons is that it's John Lennon's birthday. I consider John my "patron muse," and the Beatles inspired the "Fem Four" of the Season Avatars series. So there's only one way to go out, and that's with a Twist and Shout!

 

Tentative Release Date for Summon the Seasons

Although I'm writing a new book, I haven't been able to leave the publisher hat hanging. In the last week, I contacted Maria Zannini about cover art for Summon the Seasons (she's already drafted a gorgeous cover), revised the blurb I posted last week, assigned ISBNs to the paper and eBook versions, and added it to Goodreads. For Goodreads, I had to pick a tentative release date. After some thought, I chose October 9th in honor of John Lennon, my "patron muse." I've released two other books (Lyon's Legacy and Seasons' Beginnings) in October, and I thought at first releasing the latest book on one of their anniversaries. October 6th felt a little early, and October 21st is getting close to Halloween. John Lennon's birthday is still a bit early, but I should be able to prepare the paper edition on Createspace and proof it in that that time. Probably the hardest part of this release is deciding what kind of promotion to do, particularly since it's the series finale. A sale on the other books in the series? A blog tour? Giveaway? Facebook party? Or do I just go out to dinner with my family? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and keep coming back for updates.

Science of the Week, 10/9/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

New fossils intensify mystery of short-lived toothy oddball
(odd enough to make a good fantasy creature)

Ancient rocks record first evidence for photosynthesis that made oxygen
(from UW-Madison scientists!)

Many atolls may be uninhabitable within decades due to climate change

Flame retardant breakthrough is naturally derived and non-toxic


Long-term contraception in a single shot

Researchers discover clues on how giraffe neck evolved

Bio-inspired robotic finger looks, feels, and works like the real thing

Lab-grown 3-D intestine regenerates gut lining in dogs

room temp skyrmions, a new type of digital memory?

Today would have been John Lennon's 75th birthday. I doubt I'll be able to do much to commemorate the occasion, but here's a video of one of my favorite songs of his:



Also, tomorrow is Star Wars Reads Day. When my son was first learning to read on his own, it was difficult finding books at his reading level that he liked. Fortunately, he was just getting into Star Wars at that time, and there are a lot of Star Wars books for young readers out there. So check out your local bookstore or library and see if they have some activities planned for your favorite Younglings. After all, every Jawa knows books are the biggest "utinni," or treasure. 

Remembering John Lennon

It's hard to believe it's been thirty-four years since he was taken from us so violently. Here are a few videos to help keep his memory alive:

Just Because....

It's John Lennon's birthday again, so I simply must celebrate with a couple of songs.

"Julia" shows the softer side of John. His mother's name was Julia, and it's no coincidence that there's a character in Twinned Universes who's also named Julia. Julia Kee will get a starring role in the next Catalyst Chronicles story.



And because this one is always fun, let's watch John play the keyboard with his elbows on "I'm Down":



Don't forget to scroll down for Indie Life!

The Next Big Thing Meme

I have so many prescheduled blogging topics--BRoP Mondays, science links Fridays, and Blog Chain alternate Tuesdays--that some weeks I don't even come up with my own idea for a post. This is why I tend to avoid participating in blogging memes. However, I've been approached three times now for this meme by Dean Rich, Sandy Appleyard, and Heidi Garrett. Since three is a magic number, I figure I should go ahead and do it, even if that means adding an extra post to my schedule. (No one minds that, right? Um, don't answer if you disagree.)

What is the [working] title of your next book?
Twinned Universes (Catalyst Chronicles, Book Two)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Twinned Universes is a sequel to Lyon's Legacy, which is about a scientist forced on a mission to clone her hated rock star ancestor. The clone himself takes center stage here; he insisted on meeting the man he was cloned from. ;)

What genre does your book fall under?
Science fiction involving time travel and alternate universes.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I have no time to watch TV or movies (other than what my son watches over and over and over), so I'm unable to answer this question. However, I have a Pinterest board with images of how I picture some of the characters, so please check that out.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
To solve one murder and stop another, the clone of a TwenCen (20th century) rock star must use a talent he never knew he had.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I plan to self-publish it as a paperback and e-book in 2013. I'm not sure of exactly when it will be published, as I'm still working with the cover artist and editor.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I wrote it well over a decade ago; the original draft was published on a friend's website as To Thine Own Self Be True. I don't remember how long the first draft took, but it was probably less than a year. I've come back to it between other projects.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Tough question. I would say Glimpses and Summer of Love for the time travel and music connection.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The Beatles, particularly John Lennon. I also owe thanks to Aviva Rothschild and Susan Ryan for introducing me to Beatles fan fiction. In fact, a scene from one of Susan's stories inspired Lyon's Legacy, which in turn demanded the sequel.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
The rock star ancestor, Sean Lyon, is similar to John Lennon in some respects. There are several parallels to Hamlet. Most of the story is told from the POV of Paul Harrison, Sean's clone, and his friends, all of whom have grown up on board a spaceship and have limited experience with Earth, let alone the TwenCen. They may not always get along, but they care deeply for each other.


As a rebel, I'm not tagging anyone; I know many bloggers have already participated in this meme anyway. But if you haven't and want to, feel free to consider yourself tagged.

And So, Happy Christmas....

However you celebrate, whatever you celebrate, may you enjoy the day.

Hey, Hey, Johnny....

Because the world should never forget John Lennon or his music:

Watching the Rankings....

Since I'll take any excuse to listen to a good song:

Indie authors are often advised not to check their sales rankings every day but to focus on getting their next book out. Since building a career is a long-term project, this makes sense. After all, very few of us are going to make a living from one book, and it takes time to develop a fanbase. So why is it so tempting to visit Amazon and Smashwords and ACX every day, sometimes more frequently?

I think perhaps it is the intermittent nature of sales that makes checking rankings so addicting, at least in the beginning. In fact, the random frequency of receiving rewards or sales makes it harder to break the habit of checking sales. Does that mean you're in trouble if you've already established this habit? I think it depends on how much it interferes with your writing. If you can manage to make the checks quick and do them at a time when you're not able to write, then it shouldn't be a problem. However, if you do it during your writing time or let yourself dwell on it, then checking sales is a distraction. Perhaps then it's time to find another way to motivate yourself either to write more or check less. For example, you can only check sales after meeting your daily quota, or only allow yourself to check sales when you're trying a new marketing technique.

Are you a ranking addict? How much are your emotions affected by your rankings? How often do you think an author should track sales?

For John

I can never let December 8th go by without thinking about John Lennon. Here are a couple videos of his songs:


"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" to tie into my next post (about entangled diamonds)


I'm dedicating "Power to the People" to all the indie writers out there.

Back on the Blog Chain: Getting Better All the Time

Since getting my Kindle last year, I tend to base my book buying on the beginning of the book instead of the blurb or cover as I did with paper books. That means if the beginning is poorly written or doesn't hook me in some way, I probably won't buy the book, let alone finish reading it. So when Sean asked,

What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?

I had to think about it for a while. After I came up with a couple of examples (which I'll name in a minute), I realized they had something in common. They were books that were highly regarded or got good reviews, but they were written in unusual voices that were difficult for me to get into at first. But since I trusted the reviews enough to keep reading instead of moving on to something else, I was eventually able to get the feel of the voice and follow the book better. Sometimes characters or plot twists that came later in the story also helped raise my interest in the book. So, here are my three books, plus an Honorable Mention:

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. --Set in a nineteenth century England where magic used to work (and still does for the two gentlemen named in the title), this book is written in a dense, old-fashioned style, complete with lots of footnotes. The paperback was about a thousand pages long, making the book even more intimidating. It takes a while to get the dry British humor, even for an Anglophile like me. I have to admit I liked some of the secondary characters better than the two main ones, so I enjoyed the story more when they were featured.

2. The Sound and the Fury--I actually chose to read this book for my AP English class in high school because it was challenging. (Well, what do you expect from Faulkner?) When my teachers asked me about it, I quoted Shakespeare at them: "It is a tale told by an idiot." This is literally true for the first section; I found the other parts easier to follow. One of these days I would like to go back and reread this book to see if I can understand it better now.

3. In His Own Write--I couldn't resist including one of John Lennon's books. John loved wordplay and nonsense, so his writing can be surreal. I like to say that I have to tilt my mind sideways in order to understand what he's saying. But everyone should have their minds tilted from time to time, shouldn't they?

The Kappa Child--I'm including this one as an Honorable Mention because I can't remember if I disliked the beginning or was just disappointed in one of the later plot elements. The voice, though quirky, wasn't as hard to follow as in some of the other books I've mentioned. The end tied things together in a way that still make me think about this book.


As a final point, I read all these books in paper, not e-book form. I'm more invested in paper books I've paid for than e-book samples that I can easily delete. Then again, life's too short to waste reading books you don't enjoy, especially when I know I'll never clear my "To Read" lists. I have over 180 book samples in my "To Read" collection on my Kindle now, plus another twenty or so paper books. Are you sure I can't take my Kindle with me? ;)


Please follow Amparo backward and Matt forward to see what books the rest of the blog chain recommends.

A-Z: John Lennon

I've blogged before about what makes John Lennon a compelling person, but I don't think I've discussed why he's my favorite Beatle.

I think I first bonded with John when I learned he was a writer. He wrote poems and short stories which were gathered into collections (In His Own Write, A Spaniard in the Works, and the posthumous Skywriting By Word of Mouth.) He often illustrated them with his own doodles. I have to admit that sometimes the only way I can follow his surreal puns is by tilting my mind sideways. Still, even if I can't always understand what John said, the fact that he wanted to write his ideas down too gives me common ground with him.

While my own childhood wasn't anything like John's, he felt different from anyone else around him--something I felt too. As I discussed in the post linked above, John had a complex, at times contradictory personality, which makes him a fascinating character study. John was also quite outspoken; I don't agree with everything he says, but often his words inspire further thought on a subject.

One of the things I've noticed during my years as a Beatle fan is that fans who have the same favorite Beatle often have similar traits in common. While I have friends who admire Paul and George (my husband says Ringo is his favorite), many of my fellow Beatle friends are also John fans. You can actually find Beatles personality tests online like this one, though results can vary.

Of course, I must post a video. This is "Dear Prudence," one of John's most beautiful songs:

Imagine

Continuing with the inspirational theme, I thought I'd post this video today:

Thinking of John Lennon Today....

and I wanted to share Christine Lavin's "The Dakota" with you:



as she sings, "Well, it's something that we shouldn't dwell upon, but it's something we shouldn't ignore. Too many good men have been cut down, let's pray there won't be any more...."

Back On the Blog Chain: Where Do Characters Come From?

This round, Abby wants to learn about our characters:

Where do your characters come from? And once they've been introduced to you, how do you get to know them?

Kate posted before me, and Eric will post tomorrow.

Unfortunately for me, if there's such a thing as a Characters'R'Us store, I have yet to find it. I would say for me, characters tend to start with the original idea I get for a story. For example, when I came up with the idea for my novella "Move Over Ms. L.," I wanted to write about someone listening to the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club before they hit it big. I wanted a SF twist, so I came up with a time traveler from the future. I then started asking myself questions, such as "Why was this person go then and there?" and "Why was she in particular chosen for this mission?" Gradually, as I turned the idea over in my mind, the character of Joanna Lennon, the great-granddaughter of John Lennon who preferred science to rock'n'roll, came to mind. I don't often develop a character through directed questions the way I did for this particular story; more often, I look for people who might be involved in the particular story idea I have in mind and go from there, pre-writing in my thoughts as I think about characters and possible scenes for a story.

Another important source of characters for me is other characters. I've mentioned before in a previous blog chain post how my story ideas turn into family sagas. So after my first set of characters have their adventures, fall in love, and start families, I have to find something to do with their kids. My current projects, Across Two Universes and the sequel Catalyst in the Crucible, involve children of characters in "Move Over Ms. L." (I've de-Lennonized these books, so they're not direct sequels at this point. If I ever publish my novella, I'll have to decide if I want to use the original version or alter it to fit the other stories.)

I don't have a formal process for getting to know my characters. I don't normally write character sheets (I keep all that information in my head, though I did prepare a few character sheets as part of NaNoWriMo prep) or interview them. I get to know them as I play with them in my head, then as I write and revise. Sometimes they change considerably from draft to draft. I do feel part of me has to go into each character for me to make him or her authentic.

The phrasing of this question reminded me of the song "Getting to Know You," so I'll end this post by sharing this YouTube video from The King and I:

It's Johnny's Birthday....

and it would be remiss of me to ignore it. So here's a little tribute for John Lennon:

The Great Blogging Experiment: Creating Compelling Characters

A couple of weeks ago, Elana Johnson (along with Jennifer Daiker and Alex Cavanaugh) proposed a blogging experiment. They challenged readers of their blogs to post today on the same subject: creating compelling characters. The idea was to show how each participant (there are over 150) would have a unique take on the subject. I figured that in order to create a compelling character in fiction, it would help to look at a real-life compelling person. Those of you who know me are probably not surprised at my choice: John Lennon. Here's a short list of the traits that make John Lennon a compelling figure, at least to me. All of these traits can be given to fictional characters as well.

A Dramatic Backstory: John Lennon was born during World War II (some sources say there was an air raid in progress at the time), and his childhood and adolescence weren't peaceful times either. Abandoned by both his father and his mother (when John was five, his father forced him to choose between them), John was mostly raised by his aunt and uncle. He started seeing his mother again when he was a teenager but lost her for good when she was killed in an accident. He also lost both his uncle and his best friend. All this happened before the Beatles became famous. Perhaps it's no wonder John had what I'll call...

A Complex Personality: John presented a brash, rebellious face to the world to cover up his inner insecurities. His wit could be quite cruel, especially if he sensed vulnerability. But he could be kind to fans, signing autographs for them when they waited outside his house. John's personality was large enough to contain other contradictions, as if he was a "sweet bird of paradox" himself. He sang about peace yet had a temper. An intelligent man, he could still be taken advantage of by unscrupulous people. He described himself as the laziest man in England, but he had the ambition and drive to travel across Liverpool to learn a single guitar chord, play for hours on end in Hamburg--in short, to do whatever it took to make the Beatles the best. Throughout his life, John continued to grow, seemingly conquering his inner demons. Although he wasn't much of a father to Julian, he was much more nurturing with Sean.


Leadership: John was the one who started the Beatles, but he inspired countless other people to do things, whether it was playing guitar or giving peace a chance. He was even one of three Men of the Decade (the 1960s, of course).

So to summarize, compelling characters have unique backgrounds that affect their personalities and actions in the story. They aren't one-sided, but have multiple aspects to their personalities. They have both strengths and flaws. And to make them compelling to readers, show how other characters in the story find your main characters worth watching and listening to.

I'm sure there's more I could say, but I'd rather watch this:



For a full list of the people participating in this blogging experiment, please check out the link to Elana's blog at the beginning of this post. And if you're here because of the experiment, hello! Please leave a comment so I can check out your blog too.

For John....