Photo by Jan Messersmith

A character just said: “[This Creature] doesn’t exist.”

Blink. Gasp.

[This Creature] could be demons or ghosts or leprechaun. I’ll refuse to believe. Okay, I’ll believe leprechaun don’t exist, but anything else is fair game.

The author doesn’t make a character say this to build the tension. Oh no, demons can’t possibly exist — except they do and we have to come to grips with it in time to save everyone. Or a demon can’t possibly do that — except it is doing that right now and it’s killing everyone and can we go and kill it now because it is happening and people are dying.

Nope, the author is drawing the line to build their world. Vampires exist, incubi exist, but demons? Nope. That’s just human superstition.

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photo by earl13

If you had turn to black magic at the cost of your soul to save lives, would you?

That’s one of the themes in Kim Harrison’s Pale Demon (Affiliate Link). Mind you, I’ve only read the one book in the series, and it’s not the first.Add that to actually finishing Laurell K. Hamilton’s Kiss of Shadows (Affiliate Link), and… well, there was a connection, and it’s not just these two books.

It’s a common theme. Why not? It’s such an easy source of conflict for main characters. They’re supposed to be strong — but are they becoming too strong? The protagonist can worry that she’s becoming a psychopath (she is), but she finds herself forced to take evil actions to defeat the bad guys.

She has to use black magic or the demons will win. She has to kill people to save others. She has to do naughty things to save the world.

That “has to” keeps her warm at night. She worries but always has this justification on hand. She has to be dead inside, or evil win. She can’t possibly do anything else, unless she wants everyone to be tortured, raped and killed.

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Photo by Alvimann

Authors need author platforms. That’s how they sell books, especially for self-published, and that’s how they network and stay motivated and talk to other writers… well, the main benefit is to sell books.

But is it really necessary? Is that the best approach?

I haven’t been especially motivated to blog lately, mostly because I’ve been working on actual writing (and now have the Buffy and Angel series, but that’s neither here nor there). Then I start to worry – if I don’t work on my blog, I won’t get readers which means I can’t sell my first book when it’s finished.

Keep that in mind as you read the arguments going through my head.

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So I tried to think up a new character, starting with their species. I didn’t want to go with anything too standard… like kitsune. Kitsune has become my standard first-thought creature, even before vampire and catboy. You know me, I always want to try something new.

And I couldn’t think of a darn one. My mind utterly blanked.

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First Draft Revision on God Cursed

In 2011, I resolved to write at least 30 minutes every day. I hoped, by the end, I’d have… well, something. A proposal-ready book, a rough draft, pounds upon pounds of short stories. Okay, mostly a proposal-ready book.

Technically, I failed on that resolution. I didn’t write every day. I did, however, accomplish my goal in spirit!

See, I know I’d have a whole stack of rough draft or better novels if I’d just write continually. In the past, I’d go on a writing spree, lose interest, and quit for months on end. I didn’t improve because I didn’t practice and I had nothing to show for myself because I didn’t write. I felt terrible because I wasn’t a naturally brilliant writer. I had all these dreams — but where was the action? Where was the getting it done?

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