First off, I want to say a huge
Merci Beaucoup to Lady Leann for having me today. I will try to leash my habit
of insane rambling and attempt to stay focused. This may or may not be
possible. I’m only one cup of coffee into my day so it’s anyone’s guess!
Before I sat down to write my first
book, Timeless Night, I had document upon document of all I thought I needed. I
knew X would fall in love with Y and Z would die a gruesomely, brutal death.
Perfect formula for cookbook romance.
Wrong.
Every time I sat down to work on it,
invariably I ran into boredom and disinterest. It was frustrating and ego
destroying. I mean, why weren’t “they” doing what I envisioned? I had a map,
damn it! Why weren’t they following it? This was great fodder for the mind.
Nothing was going to plan and it
took me almost an entire month to realize that despite my meticulous planning
and research, despite my straightlaced confining characteristics and thorough
detailing of both plot and person, this book was on a Highway to Hell. Or
worse...the trashcan.
I’m a control freak. Anyone who has
known me more than an hour, I’m sure they can confirm that. But see, the funny
thing is that the Blessed Muse is spontaneous, bold, almost reckless and
impulsive. The Muse doesn’t work well with rules and boundaries. So I did
something I thought I’d regret later and I stepped out of my own “controlled”
way and took a big risk for someone such as myself.
I gave up control of my own musings
and mind.
One of my best decisions to date.
The characters you read about in
Timeless Night? Yeah, I so didn’t plan or plot any of what you see there. The
original draft was as different from the final manuscript as plaid is to
purple. It has far more depth and passion because I stopped MY voice and let
them have “theirs.” And yes, its odd and bizarre to discover some of my
charries have likes and dislikes opposite of my own! For instance, my male
protagonist in Timeless Night, Alexander Lakeland, loves Celine Dion. I have
nothing against her but I can assure you she’s not on my playlist...*scratches
head* Well, she wasn’t at any rate. Shut
up.
As challenging as Timeless Night was
for me, Timeless Desire, my next New Camelot offering, was that and more.
Timeless Night was about the unending loyalty of true friendship, love and
magic. Its successor it about the lengths we all go to FOR love. The pain and
the heartbreak. How we can make mistakes and lose ourselves so much, even we
don’t know who we are. I thought it’d be easier to write since I well enough to
stay out of my own way and let my characters speak.
Wrong again.
Nimue, my lead female in Timeless
Desire, was a stubborn minx who shied away from really “reaching” out to me. I
almost didn’t get this book written because of it. I found myself, at one
point, “forcing” her voice and it was horrible, leaving me full of doubt again.
But once I realized it wasn’t her trying to directly oppose me, that she,
Nimue, was scared and broken so badly that couldn’t trust herself let alone
anyone else! Even me! Once I understood that, I stopped pushing her and little
by little, she came clean and allowed me to tell her story. I healed her and
she helped me.
Sure, I might have pulled a Dr.
Frankenstein and stitched together my babies from the miasma of my fertile
mind, culled them from my dreams, my hopes, my nightmares. Yes, I threw the
switch and screamed at my laptop....”LIVE! LIVE!” Sounds dramatic and cool.
But the truth is, while I may have
brought them to life...they most certainly showed me what it meant to live.
Excerpt from Timeless Desire, Book
Two of New Camelot: (Release Date March 21, 2014 by Breathless Press)
Why did his touch still burn through
her, make her heart skip a beat? "Trust you? Trust you? I'd rather take a
running leap onto the face of the sun, Gawain. I trusted you once and you
ruined my life. I trusted you once more and you helped kill what I loved.
Excuse me if I find your use of that particular word ironic." She shoved
hard against him, hard enough he stumbled back a bit, allowing her to slip from
his hold.
"If Lancelot knew, he'd hate
you as much as I do. They all would! The only reason he remains unaware, is he
is at peace again with his heart. I won't disturb it for the world. So your
dirty little secret is safe with me, husband." The last word spit out with
derision, she gave him a cold smile. "Let me go, Gawain. It's easy. As for
the blood link, simple solution. We can continue to provide each other with
what's needed without being together. As black as your blood is, it does
provide me with the necessary sustenance. But that's all you are to me, now. A
food source. There is no happy ending for us. You botched that up proper. I
have stayed my voice the last few months for Bri. For Alex. But I owe you
nothing. So let me go my way!" She moved as wind, reaching down to snatch
off one of her stiletto'd heels, her free hand shoving him back into the wall,
mortar crumbling around them. Animosity spurred her on as she angled the heel
over his heart. "Or I will kill you. I swear it. I will kill you and in
killing you, I kill myself. That's how desperate I am to be free of you."
Thank you so much again for having
me today! You rock!
Care to keep up with my shenanigans?
You can find me at:
Blog and Website:http://torienjames.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Writergurl216
Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CTBYH0M
Breathless Press Website:http://www.breathlesspress.com/
Leanne! Thank you so much for hosting me today honey! Rock on!
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