Reading as an Editor

I am doomed. I can’t seem to finish reading most of the books I pick up. I can’t do it. And I used to read between fifty and one hundred books a year. Last year, I started thirty and completed four.

I get shit sometimes for reading multiple books at once. But I’ve always had the belief that all books require a certain attitude or mood. So, I’ll start something that speaks to me, and if I can’t struggle past the first few chapters, I’ll put it down for another time.  Once, I finished a book four years later, sporadically struggling through a few chapters at a time. As it turns out, the book developed into quite the story by the end. The last seventy-five pages flew by, and I was glad to stick it out.

The majority aren’t so lucky, and I often wonder what’s wrong with me. Why can’t I read?

Then, those books come along that sucker punch you right in the kidneys. The Hunger Games was one. Divergent was another. The Testing, Cinder, The Clockwork Scarab, and Feed, etc. They have a rather distinct theme—young adult, satirical, dystopian fiction. This is my brightest of geek buttons, and if I ever decide to go for my PhD, this is what my dissertation will focus on. Ask me for a book to read, and most of them will be in this niche. Just saying.

Anyways, the reason for the massive DNF pile is my equally large list of pet peeves: dialogue tags and adverbs—especially together—passive voice, vague words, and missing Oxford commas. Believe me, the list is rather extensive.

Instead of wallowing on this inability to read, I need to learn to focus on those moments when a writer can capture me despite the faults I might find in their style or grammar—ones that remind me that my voice is not the only voice—ones that make me throw away my editing pencil for the cats to play with and feel the adrenaline of being surprised by a story.

I had two of those moments this year, and I’m concerned that it’s already June…maybe the two-day train ride without my laptop will help.

Anyways, the first was Red Queen, which I’m almost finished with and will review soon. Man, this had character and a world I’m not used to seeing. A mix of mutants, future dystopia, and a medieval system. Plus that snarky, quick-witted, and rebellious female lead that I love all too much. *Coughs* Ria*Coughs.* Since I first wrote about this in my March newsletter, I’m still almost done with the novel. I ran out of steam again, and I don’t know why, but I’ll get there.

The second book that gripped me probably harder than a book has in the last few years was Like Clockwork, and I had the privilege of publishing this novella. Before you know it, this story has its nails in you, and it drags you, stumbling behind, until the very last word. And by the way, I read the story at least seven times, and the layers Ali needed to deliver the blow that he does grew more and more complex with each read. He truly did a brilliant job.

So, tell me, do you read more than one book at a time? How do you overcome reader’s block?

The Past Life Paradigm

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atlantis, Broken World, Ever After, goddess, past lives, Pride and Prejudice, reincarnation, Sale, thirteen

Hello, lovelies.

I wanted to talk about Ria. Oh, Ria. That poor girl had no chance at a normal life. Between her abnormal birth, sharing a soul with her mother, and being the reincarnation of the Atlantean goddess, Meleia, it’s no wonder Ria’s got a shit storm to work through.

With that in mind, I wanted to give y’all a peek at Ria’s past lives as they are a major part of her story. So here is the quick list:

Meleia—goddess of chaos (8100 BCE)

Isura—Mesopotamia (5512 BCE)

Bianca—Italy (4027 BCE)

Niabi—Japan (1377BCE)

Colista—Greece (184 CE)

Sura—Germany (481 CE)

Benny—Spanish (714 CE)

Valarie—French (933 CE)

Zyanya—China (1212 CE)

Sophia—Ireland (1416 CE)

Layla—Scotland (1632 CE)

Dashay—Jamaica (1799 CE)

Tatiana—America (1969 CE)

It’s a long list. Thirteen past lives in all, which is linked to the chaos from her original form, or maybe because thirteen is an unlucky number. Either way, it’s my favorite. (I’m a serious lover of Friday the thirteenth—the day, not the movies. Although…)

Now, the author honesty. I don’t know much more about these women than I’ve created them in the books. Well, with a few exceptions. Ria’s mother, Tatiana, is forming herself in my fire story, featuring Ria’s father. I know a bit more about Bianca and Colista and Layla than I’ve let y’all in on.

I feel as though Layla is my most interesting of the women—the most independent and vulnerable. Maybe it’s because she reminds me a bit of Cinderella—of Drew Barrymore’s version in Ever After—and of Lizzie from Pride & Prejudice. She takes on her role as the eldest-daughter-turned-mother when her parents died in the Great Plague of Edinburgh along with two of her siblings.

At thirteen, she had to navigate a devastated city to feed her three remaining brothers and sisters. And for the next four years, she struggles to do so every day, until she meets a man who eventually takes care of her…but he vanishes a decade later.

If you haven’t guessed it, and maybe you haven’t because you don’t know Ria’s story, but that man was Gene (whom I like to think of as my Mr. Darcy), and Layla is the spitfire that pops up when the two of them are fighting.

This is because of the fire in Layla from the life she was dealt and her ability to adapt. Ria has a lot of the same characteristics but could learn a lot from Layla still.

Before I turn this into some twisted circle of babbling, let me wrap this up.

Want to know more about these past life connections? Feel free to ask me questions!

And check out the first novel in my series, it’s on sale for 99 cents to celebrate my upcoming installment in the series on May 9^th.

Did You Know…About Imprinting?

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blood phoenix: imprinted, book trailer, Freud, Honan and Delsa, Laurell K. Hamilton, mormon, necromancer, paranormal romance, Stephenie Meyer, vampires

Imprints seem to span further than the notable reference to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga. First, they imply a biological connection between the sex of a parent and the gene passed down, which results in learning and development.  If you want to know more of the science, check this out, but I’m no expert. I merely gleam some reference to Ria and her past, especially her connections with her mother.

Second, we have the psychological imprint. The two types of psychological imprints refer to bonding with one’s parents or parent-like figures. The sexual imprinting suggests the stage of our development commented on by Freud, that we favor our opposite-sex parent and often create a template for future partners based off of them. Whereas, bonding imprints take place in new born creatures that bond to the types of animals they’re surrounded by at birth, thus they pattern their behaviors in a similar fashion.

I once again find connections between Ria and Boden’s relationship and what the term imprint implies. When her powers were budding, Boden used his influential magick on her—beginning their imprint. A few hours later, he drank his blood, deepening their connection, and shit got crazy from there.

Third, the newly famous theories from the paranormal romance world focuses on shifters, or werewolves, and their strong bonds with humans. Stephenie Meyer’s books popularized this involuntary lifetime attachment with her werewolves. Their imprints mean the werewolves protect and please their mates for the remainder of their lives. But she wasn’t the first to use this type of connection. Laurell K. Hamilton used this in her Anita Blake series between both the shifter characters and the main human female, and a link between this woman, a necromancer, and newly risen vampires. Sherrilyn Kenyon also creates a bond between her shifter characters in her Dark Hunter and Were Hunter series, where shifters mate for life, literally marking them for their mate and their mate only. The men cannot cheat, and the women cannot reproduce without their mate. Their bond is ultimate and complete.  Even further back, the story of Honan and Delsa created this type of bond as the characters transverse the before, the life, and the afterlife together, fated to find each other again and again. In fact, this is theorized to be Meyer’s inspiration as a Mormon story. This guy writes about it more in depth. Interesting stuff.

Fourth, paranormal investigators theorize that because we are made of energy and leave almost undetectable traces everywhere we go, we thusly leave an energy stamp, like a fingerprint, in places we spend a great deal of time or energy.

This is the final nail, so to speak, is their transfer of powers—when both the imprint and her newly acquired glamour explode in a coffee shop. It takes an elemental to sort it out, but traces are left. Too much of their energy swapped.

Ultimately, I called it an imprint for a lack of a better word. Boden and Ria formed this bond without my intent and not really with theirs either. Unless you take Boden’s cackling as any sort of sign.

In book three of Ria’s story, Blood Phoenix: Imprinted, we explore their bond more deeply, but the name refers not only—just majoritively—to Ria and Boden. It also refers to her past selves, and thus, her connections to her parents, her soul, James, and Gene.

 

Want a free look into the Broken World and access to more super secret book stuff? Download “Maiden of the Underworld” here.

 

BONUS CONTENT: The Official Blood Phoenix: Imprinted book trailer is live. ❤

Daydreaming in Ink

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addiction, bujo, bullet journal, daydreaming, do it yourself, ink, inspiration, planners, project planning, tracker, washitape, writing

I may be a wee bit addicted to planning and notebooks…and pens…and paper…and markers…okay, I’m just a big kid who likes to daydream in ink.

But I’ve finally found a way to make it work in my favor.

See, the internet has blown up with this new planning market in the last few years—for real, go check out YouTube or Pinterest or Instagram and drown in the bombardment of it. I love every bit of it, too, and probably consume more of it than I should, but that’s not really the point…is it?

No, seriously, it’s not. Step off my walnut.

So, I’ve been planning for the last year, mixing a multitude of formats and systems to make sure I break down my big plans and don’t forget any of those small steps…you know, the ones that come back and bite you in the ass at the last second.

Without any further side-tracking, hopefully, let me show you.

Here are three examples of my main project tracker, the one that shows me the entire project from start to finish in one page. It reminds me of my important tasks and allows me to track my progress and mark things out.

The simple ability to fill in my word count or how many chapters I’ve edited in a manuscript helps me feel like I’m accomplishing something even though I know I have a long way to go.

And these babies are new to me this year, after months of struggling to balance my tracking, so I’m excited to finally complete one of these. (Hint: the green one, Blood Phoenix: Imprinted should by full by the end of next quarter, to include publishing and promotion and giveaways and a whole lot of jazz. Squee.) You can see I have a whole lot sitting there in one place.

Here’s another way I help track from month to month to be sure I’m completing the tasks from my project list.

This I took from Lisa Jacobs. I bought her workbook, Your Best Year 2017, and this allows me to take the chunking from my project plans—in conjunction with my marketing and publishing outlines—and implement them into each week of the month so I know when I need that little shit done by to stay on target.

Let me be honest, I don’t always stick to this. Life happens, shit gets shifted around, but now, I know when I’ve missed stuff and can figure out how to finish those things and keep moving forward.

It also lets me know when I have to let some tasks go. I have big dreams and big plans, and I pile a lot onto my own plate. So when I miss something consistently, I know it’s not meant to happen for a particular project. And that’s fine. I’ll try it next time.

Well, that’s it. That’s how I’ve made my tendency to goof off and doodle and journal into a productive and rewarding practice. Best of all, I really love doing it.

What do you do to plan out your creative projects? Do you have creative energy that you channel in your favor? Tell me about it.

After Happily Ever After: Editrix and Author Alisha Costanzo Talks Secret Agents and Creative Impulses

claudia quint

After Happily Ever Cover by Dean Samed, banner by Rohit Sawant

If you haven’t heard about the After Happily Ever After anthology, this interview series is a front row seat into the creative minds of the authors who have re-envisioned the fairy tale world beyond the final credits. However, as we reach the close of the series, we now have the opportunity to turn our attention to the guiding forces behind the anthology — the editors themselves!

Welcome author and editrix Alisha Costanzo to the blog!

Editrix and author, Alisha Costanzo

How did you begin your writing journey?

Honestly, I always have a hard time pin-pointing a beginning, and I wonder if other authors feel the same way. I’ll start here. I had sixty-seven imaginary friends before I started public school. My mother made me a cocoon in the far corner of the living room to hide and read Goosebumps

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Closing Circles: My ultimate project timeline

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2017, bullet journal, closing circles, editing tips, plan, project tracker, Timeline, writing tips

This last week, sick with some extra ick had its grubby grip on my faculties. Luckily, I had a blessed four-day weekend and spent some much-needed time writing in a personal project.

I’m pretty much the example of why writers shouldn’t have multiple projects going at once. I jump back and forth across multiple works, add to that the editing and the teaching, it may make a bit of sense as to why I operate like plate spinner.

I will say that I typically only write one project at a time—at least, one book. Short stories, sure, I can juggle a few. This is also the product of my master’s degree in creative writing. Deadlines are deadlines after all.

So why the hell am I talking about it? Because too often, we writers and editors spout advice and our own stories with a great deal of confidence and certainty. I don’t want to come off like my way is the right way or the only way. It’s simply the way I do things, and my process changes depending on my project.

But in all of them, planning has come in handy—even though I consider myself a punster.

Ultimately, I wanted to share the new way I track my projects for the year.

 

This is my yearly projects at a glance, so I know when I should be doing what. This includes the planning, writing, editing, pre- and post-marketing, when to ask for help, and when to launch. This baby has all of the basics.

You’ll notice I limit myself to four projects on any given month. They’re in varying places of production to keep me from trying to create too much at once or edit too much at once, etc.

I will also be tracking the realities of my work ethic and ability to keep to deadlines. So far, I’m pretty close.

But it is just January.

How are you staying on track for your 2017 closing circles goals?

The Almost-Death of an Over-Zealous Editor: the After the Happily Ever After official release

Tags

#fracturedfairytales, ahea, Author Feature, closing circles, new release, Transmundane Press

It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here!

<Collapses on the floor from exhaustion. Mumbles to self and takes a nap.>

I’ve been taking a lot of those lately as I’ve neared the end of the semester and the completion of this gigantically massive anthology. If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen this cover and heard me talk about this project and its size.

Well, it’s finally here, and I damn-near killed myself doing it…Anthony, too…

But, I am so, so proud of this beast. I’m proud of the cover art, of the interior art, of each and every story, and that I finally completed my submission…four days before publication. Yeah.

My authors have especially made me proud. They’ve joined together to create a community, and the genuine appreciation that they’ve shown Anthony and me for the work it took to wrangle this beautiful thing together…it truly was a pleasure to get to know them and watch so many grow.

And one last thing before I flee to the sleepy languor that is a completed project and a closed circle. Thank you to those who supported the Kickstarter. Thank you to those who bought the first twenty signed, Limited-Edition Hardbacks. And as a thank you, we’re selling the e-book at a discount until New Years.

Here it is: Limited-Edition Hardback  |  Paperback  |  Kindle

As a thank you to Claudia Quint, who has been holding interviews with the other contributors on her blog, here, we’ve created our first-ever special author feature in our Transmundane Press Newsletters. It’s coming out tomorrow, so sign up now.

Hugs & Kisses, lovelies.

Did You Know…About Atlantis (Part Two)

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Ancient Mysteries, anthology, atlantean, atlantis, avebury, Broken World, carnac, Crete, did you know, Egypt, fantasy, folklore, geology, K.T. Frost, Lost City, Minoan, myth, paranormal, plato, Spyridon Marinatos, stonehenge, Thera, tsunami, volcanic explosion, writing

So if we believe Plato’s notes on Atlantis, the continent should lie somewhere off the coast-lines of the Atlantic Ocean. However, several hypotheses have tried to connect Eastern Atlantic structures as megalithic buildings, such as chambered tombs or stone monuments. These megalithic builders were characteristic of prehistoric Europe, and the claims of matching buildings in the Atlantic Americas do not uphold under close inspection. Essentially, “there are no America equivalents of the chambered tombs of the stone rings at Stonehenge, Avebury, and Carnac” (James and Thorpe).

The various geologic claims of Atlantis as a lost continent, in short, are unfounded. The continental drift, in which the world’s one landmass fractured apart—now known as the tectonic plate theory, does not allow room for the Atlantean continent. Recent theories suggest Altantis may have relocated to Antartica, but no evidence exists to support this other than a literal reading of Plato.

Although Plato’s depiction of the lost city was debunked, K.T. Frost, a young Belfast University scholar, suggested that Atlanteans echo the once-flourishing Minoan civilization in Crete: “Egyptian tomb paintings depicting visitors in Minoan-style costume showed that the Egyptians were aware of this civilization, while its sudden disappearance about 1400 B.C., Frost suggested might have given them the impression that ‘the whole kingdom had sunk in the sea’” (James and Thrope). The only drawback was the lack of a big enough catastrophe.

Greek archeologist Spyridon Marinatos theorized that the crater left by the explosion of Thera, a Bronze Age volcanic explosion turned tsunami, left a crater and gave rise to the tale of Altantis’ destruction. His 1967 excavation uncovered streets, houses, and beautiful pottery. This discovery prompted several books in 1969 that argued Thera as the real Atlantis. However, many of the comparisons between the Minoan and Atlantean civilizations were too weak, the explosion of Knossos a decade and a half earlier, and the lack of communication breakdown between Egypt and the Aegean world was not significant to indicate a “sinking” of an island.

My source:

James, Peter and Nick Thorpe. Ancient Mysteries. Ballantine Books: New York, 1999. Print.

Want to know more?

Andrew Collins on Atlantis as Crete or Thera

The UnMuseum on Atlantis

The Shadowlands, Atlantis the Lost Continent

Want to read about my version of Atlantis?

Read “Maiden of the Underworld” in my DISTORTED anthology.

 

Writing Tip: How to write a strong-female protagonist.

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Arya Stark, blood phoenix, bossy, Broken World, character, complex, contradiction, fantasy, feminine, Game of Thrones, gender roles, Gwendoline, horror, kaia, Katniss, kick ass, love-triangle, Loving Red, Maleficent, mocking jay, motherly, nurture, paranormal, Peeta, protagonist, rebellion, renegade, Ria, strong, strong-female, The Hunger Games, trend, urban fantasy, vampire, warrior, water boarding, writing, writing tips

Writing Tip: How to write a strong-female protagonist.

First, I am not advocating that there is a single, right way to write a strong-female lead; however, I have noticed a rather disturbing trend in the practice, and that’s to make the female strong by inhabiting male characteristics, as deemed by society: i.e. to be physically strong, good with weapons, and to be a good leader (otherwise known as bossy), and the list continues.

However, you might imagine a male as strong, yes, a female can be strong in these ways as well. But why can’t a female character be strong and still be feminine—a woman who uses her emotions to carry her through a taxing adventure, who has mercy, who is smart and resourceful, who can nurture at the same time she kicks ass. Why not? Why do these gender roles have to be mutually exclusive?

Granted, we are starting to see these types of characters. The ever-popular Katniss from The Hunger Games series embodies a nice mixture of so-called male and female traits. She’s motherly. Her strong moments come when she is a woman, emotional, compassionate, bossy, resourceful. They even highlight these in the last installment when a group of leaders try to decide how to transform her into the mocking jay for the rebellion.

She even lacks a certain silliness that many female characters have (especially when a love-triangle is present, although some of my friends disagree with my interpretation). She doesn’t seem focused on her love life, rather she seems at a loss of why who she chooses matters when the world has larger problems.

For heaven’s sake, why can’t we all just get along! I imagine her screaming as the boys compete for and try to woo her. She seems disinterested in being some boy’s prize, rather using her public romance with Peeta as a political move. (This one is strangely genderless).

Okay, I like examples, let me give some of my own.

In my first series, based on a renegade vampire’s introduction to the paranormal world, my main character is a brat. She’s strong-headed, strong-willed, and she can fight (having a background in kick-boxing/martial arts). She can take care of herself and has for years, with the help of her bestie. She’s also emotional, breaking down several times as the monstrosity of her new world rains down on her. She feels compassion for the people she kills, worries over the others she leaves alive, and cares for a child meant to be her dinner. Is all of this strictly male or female? No. Ria’s complex, like a character should be, because people are complex.

In another novel, my female character is strong in other ways. Although she goes through some physical trials, like being water boarded, she isn’t physically strong. She’s got the mental fortitude of a warrior, however. She’s brave, she stands up for what’s right, she uses what she knows to survive. She’s allowed to be both smart and beautiful, allowed to cry and joke, allowed to be stern and unsure of herself. Kaia is allowed to be a contradiction.

Again, we’re all complex. We’re all contradictions of ourselves given the different situations we’re challenged with.

So, what I’m saying is that not all strong women need to be warriors, like that blonde Amazon in Game of Thrones, Gwendoline; they don’t all need to be wicked like Maleficent or out for revenge like Arya Stark. They don’t all need to be Katniss.

We need variation because we all have the propensity to be strong in our own ways if we have strength in our character and our beliefs (even if that makes us the bad guy). And we need to showcase these differences for the same reasons we need different personalities for different story plots.

Oh, and the same goes for men. But that’s a different post.

 

Want to meet my strong-female protagonists? Click here.

I’m back with Cheap Reads!

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alisha costanzo, beta readers, blood phoenix, blood phoenix: imprinted, book boyfriend, Broken World, Celampresians, cheap reads, did you know, editing, fantasy, folklore, giveaway, humor, insta-love, Loving Red, myth, mythology, novel, paranormal, paranormal romance guild, readers, review, romance, Sale, Shapeshifter, Transmundane Press, urban fantasy, vampires, weres, werewolves, writing, YA novel

Hey, lovely readers!

I’ve been slacking. I know it, but this month has been CRAZY! Personal stuff, business stuff, writing stuff, teaching stuff. You don’t need the details, just know that I’m back, and I have new blog posts about the editing process, about BLOOD PHOENIX: IMPRINTED and beta reader opportunities, new giveaways, a new YA novel, and some new Did You Know posts. I’m also working on another newsletter and short stories.

But for now, my latest novel, LOVING RED, is on half off (on sale for $1.99) until June 6th.

Here’s the latest review:

“When I first started reading this story, I was afraid it was going to be one of those insta-love stories. However, although the book only spans about a week’s time, it doesn’t feel like insta-love.

Severins is a wolf shifter on leave from the army. His impeccable sense of smell picks up Kaia’s scent during a bus ride, and he knows he has to have her but not just for a one-night stand. He goes to her job and pretends to be a client to con her into going on a date with him. He is unaware that Kaia, a human, knows of his world, and that she is in danger.

It isn’t specifically stated, but I feel like Sev immediately thought she was destined to be his. He instantly has a drive to protect her and to claim her as his but, like the romantic he is, he wants her to be the one to decide about their relationship. Swoon.

The two have an immediate attraction, but Kaia is leery because of a past relationship with a shifter. As the danger gets closer and closer to Kaia, the two must go on the run from the Celampresians who follow them.

Sev is 100% book boyfriend material. I loved his character. He is so caring and protects Kaia and Shawna with every part of his being.

I’m not completely sure how I feel about Kaia. I originally thought she would be portrayed as a weak human who needed saving, but the only time she comes across as weak is when she is, for lack of a better word, possessed. Many times she shows mental and emotional strength, but she never becomes an active participant in physical fights.

This was a great read that I would recommend to my closest friends. I really enjoyed the story and most of all Severins!”

Review by Tina, Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team