Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

The Writing's On The Hand

I’m in the middle of writing a book. Not the next, long awaited, oft asked for sequel to Savage Retribution (sorry bout that to everyone who has sent me emails) but another book that has become bigger than Ben Hur. I’ve become obsessed with it. It’s consuming me. My husband is getting sick of hearing me chew over dialogue aloud while I’m preparing dinner, driving the car, changing my youngest daughter’s nappy…well, just about any time grin This blog entry today isn’t about that book however. This blog entry is about my hand. Of more to the point, what I did to it today.

I Wrote A Book Once

It was a pretty good book, I think. A different book. Irish werewolf finds himself in, of all places, Australia. Trapped in a cage by his most hated enemy. The readers seemed to like it. I had so much fun writing it, I knew immediately I wanted to go back there. There were characters whose stories begged to be told. Minor characters who weren’t in the slightest bit satisfied with being backseat drivers. Those characters DEMANDED I write about them. They all but leaped out of my laptop and smacked me on the head. And then…
…I fluffed about.

Help! I Can't See My Plot For The Fog!

I think I’ve bought just about every writer’s guide on the market. If there’s a book out there about writing, I’ve bought it. I read every one. At the end of every one I feel inspired, determined… and then I begin the first step each of these wonderful guides strongly suggest and I falter. Actually, that’s probably an understatement. I freeze up, my fingers refuse to move and my muse catches a bus to Splitsville (a lonely, isolated and depressing little berg just south of Dumpsville and down the road from Whoop-Whoop).

What is this hideous technique so thoroughly and comprehensively endorsed by so many writers guides that brings all my dreams and creative aspirations to a screaming halt? Pre-plotting. Knowing everything that is going to happen chapter-by-chapter – and, in one particular guide, page-by-page! (Boy, did that How To book make me feel like a failure!) According to just about every guide I’ve read, pre-plotting is vital to writing a book. No, not just vital… vital! With italics. And double exclamation marks!(!) I’ve tried pre-plotting, I truly have, but when it comes to writing, me and pre-plotting don’t mix.

I get bored with the story, or so bogged down in the details of each scene that I lose focus of the story (a writer’s equivalent of not seeing the forest for the trees, I guess). Or, worse still, the excitement of the idea is lost by the time I’ve finished planning and what I write is dry, lifeless and stale.

So, what is the alternative? What other dangerous, rebellious, reckless option is there?

Procrastination or Seeking The Muse?

Or Rather, Calling Out To The Muse and Begging Her To Behave.

I received the Samhain Blog reminder the day before yesterday and immediately my stomach clenched into knots. God! I have to blog! What am I going to say?? As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not an overly deep or profound person. I’m not altogether insightful either. I can babble on about all sorts of inconsequential fluff for hours (example – did you know mosquitoes prefer children to adults, and blonds to brunets? Or there is a recurring motif of food in Shakespeare’s Macbeth? Or if a color-blind woman marries a man with normal vision, all of their sons will be color-blind, and all of their daughters will have normal vision?) but when it comes to writing something that will make people think, my muse – the cantankerous she-devil – freezes and stares into the metaphorical headlights like a small animal on a busy freeway.

Savage Retribution - Available Today!

Wow! It’s really today! My first Samhain Publishing release AND first full-length novel is finally available. Can you guess how excited I am?

Savage Retribution tells the story of Regan, an animal physiotherapist who spends her nights rescuing animals from testing labs. When she discovers a wolf caged in the lab of Australia’s most mysterious scientist… well, let’s just say werewolves aren’t native to Australia and Regan gets a lesson in animal anatomy she’ll never forget.

I’d really like to thank my wonderful and extremely tolerant editor, Heidi Moore (yay!) and Samhain Publishing for giving me the chance to bring Savage Retribution to the world. I really hope the world is ready for Savage Retribution!

Here’s an excerpt. Irish werewolf, Declan has just met his savior, Regan, in human form for the first time. Suffice to say, it doesn’t go smoothly. Enjoy!

Introductions, Delusions and Animals

My first blog. The pressure. The pressure. I want to be witty and thought provoking. I want to be memorable. I want to be profound… oh hell, who am I kidding? I have a three and a half year old and an eight week old – affectionately known as Peanut and Chickpea respectively – I’m sleep deprived. There’s no way I can be witty, thought provoking, memorable… um, what was the last one again?

So, seeing as this is my first blog and my brain stopped working somewhere around mid-2004, I’m resorting to introducing myself.