Fascinated with ancient civilizations, seventeen-year-old Mia Crawford dreams of becoming an archaeologist. She also dreams of wings—soft and silent like snow—and somebody trying to steal them.
When a horrible creature appears out of thin air and attacks her, she knows Michael Fontaine is involved. Secretive and aloof, Michael evokes feelings in Mia that she doesn’t understand. Images of another time and place haunt her. She recognizes them—but
not from any textbook.
In search of the truth, Mia discovers a past life of forbidden love, jealousy and revenge that tore an angel from Heaven and sent her to an early grave. Now that her soul has returned, does she have a chance at loving that angel again? Or will an age-old nemesis destroy them both?
Ancient history is only the beginning.
See? Doesn't that sound so cool?
In any case, she was so lovely to invite me as the next gal on her chain of blogging about my Writing Process. So, read on, dear reader, if you're interested in that sort of thing (come on, you totally are).
What am I working on?
What am I supposed to be working on? Razia Book 2. What am I working on actually? Well, I am working on Razia Book 2, but I've also got a couple of other fantasy-type books in the works. I jump around a lot.Razia Book 2 (Have title, will tell later) is going to be more fast-paced, as it's a big mystery to be unraveled. Our favorite snarky pirate/scientist gets roped into helping a female government investigator who is looking into insurance fraud. As the two girls dig deeper, they begin to uncover a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of the universal government - reaching back to the most painful episode of Lyssa's past.
Oh yeah - surprise kids! There's the synopsis.
(For more on Book 1, check out Double Life)
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The biggest difference, I think, is that the Razia series is less a science fiction, and more about a young woman struggling with self-worth and learning how to trust others. While the bounty hunting and the sassy one-liners are fun, Lyssa has some pretty severe inner demons and abandonment issues. And, here's the kicker - she's the one who saves herself.Not to get all preachy, but I think what separates this series from others is that I see so many stories where a girl needs a man to "fix" her (romantically). I think that's a dangerous message, because it makes people dependent on their Prince(ss) Charming to make them whole. Personally, it took a lot of therapy and work on myself to get to a point where I wasn't depending on someone else for my happiness. There's great power in not fearing solitude - because then you don't allow yourself to be treated like crap because you're afraid of the alternative.
For Lyssa, she's obviously surrounded by men, as the only female pirate. Three of these men (Vel, Harms, and Sage) try very, very hard to keep her out of her own way, not because they think she's weak, but so she can succeed. They all believe she can be an amazing bounty hunter, but they also know that sometimes her ego gets her in over her head. She can only see that Sage, in particular, is meddling because he think she's weak, and so that's why she reacts so violently to his overtures. If you read what he says versus how she reacts, you'll see he's only trying to help (as poorly as it comes across to her).
That's one of the best and most frustrating aspects of writing this series - because it's told from Lyssa's perspective, there are many MANY details that she doesn't notice. I love it because I can add in little snarky narration comments here and there and tap into Lyssa's inner monologue to discuss her intentions. The flip side is that it's hard for a character that is so emotionally unobservant to understand the motivations of other characters, so it's a balance between being truthful to her character and telling the others' motivations.
Why do I write what I do?
I write the stories that I do because that's what comes out. When I first wrote these books, I was a sucker for an underdog and a girl showing everyone what she's made of. Nothing against romance, but like I said above - I wanted to write a story where "romantic love" was not the healing process. People need to deal with their issues and then they can be ready to love - or at least, that's how it will be with Lyssa.How does my writing process work?
Writing begins with daydreaming.I daydream everywhere all the time, even when I'm supposed to be working. Writing those daydreams down is a bit harder. I know what it is that I need to write, but I'm easily distracted by the internet, twitter, dogs, hunger, all of that. I write better at night because there's less distraction, but sometimes if I shut off the internet and all other distractions, put on the Pandora classical station and some headphones, I can write anywhere.
The nice thing is, most of my books have been written for years in the bowels of my computer. What I tend to do is dust them off and give them a second look, trying to turn them from some thirteen year old's random thoughts into a more mature, complex piece of art. Now that I'm older and more experienced in the world and life, I find myself taking the same situations and basic story and adding more depth to the characters.
[Double Life spoilers ahead]
In the first draft of Double Life, Lyssa always went back to Leveman's Vortex, but it was never about reconciling these two halves of her. When I decided to publish the book, I was in the midst of coming to terms with my own crazies, and so I took the concept of Leveman's being this "come-to-Jesus" place and used it as the therapy that Lyssa so desperately needed. In order to deal with her issues, I needed to put her in a position where she could not escape them - or else she never would have been able to grow as a character.
Now that I'm working on Book 2, Lyssa's growth centers on her ability to open up and trust other people. The interesting thing is that although she's allowed Vel into her life - she does not trust him, or at least, doesn't trust him not to hurt her. You can see at the end of Double Life where she won't tell him everything that happens in Leveman's Vortex, because she doesn't trust him.
There's a blog post coming tomorrow evening that will deal more with this concept.
Who's Next?
Next in the pipe is my ABFF Renee Meland and my other ABFF J. Leigh Bralick!You all saw my squealing about Renee's book in our last author interview, and I'm happy to report that some of you have even gone out and bought her book because that's how awesome you guys are. Now you all need to go buy Jen's book too (here!)
Their posts will go live in 1 week, so stay tuned!
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