Authors galore, guest posts and book giveaways almost every day!
Gemma Halliday, Cindy M. Hogan, Elizabeth Spann Craig, Nova Ren Suma, Elisa Ludwig, and Anne R. Allen….Just to name a few!
And here’s why she’s celebrating!

A SPY LIKE ME is available!

Stripping your date down to his underwear has never been so dangerous.
After dodging bullets on a first date, Savvy must sneak, deceive and spy to save her family and friends and figure out if Malcolm is one of the bad guys before she completely falls for him.

Buy it here: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Smashwords
Head on over to Laura’s blog for the start of the Spies, Murder and Mystery Marathon. You won’t want to miss this sizzling series as we head into summer. Stock up on some great thrilling reads! If you dare…

Jumping the Shark.  We all love this phrase don’t we?  It’s a hilarious example of how a TV show can get the story wrong. I mean seriously The Fonz water skiing?  In his jacket? Okay I get the jacket, The Fonz did everything in his jacket.  But water skiing?  I think it was an excuse to the send the cast and crew to the beach for a few days.  Here ya go, take  a moment, I’ll wait. Enjoy. Youtube link to the actual event on Happy Days.

In all seriousness, Jumping the Shark is a real problem in storytelling. We may not experience it that often in novel writing because we don’t usually use an episodic story structure. You Jump the Shark when you’ve run out of everything you could possibly say or do with your characters, run out of every possible combination of plots.  You resort to the unthinkable. Jumping the Shark.

What if you wanted to write episodic fiction?

The episodic story structure works brilliantly when done well.  It produces the never ending series.  Any writer who loves the world they’ve built, or who has readers who love the world you’ve built, could benefit from using an episodic story structure.

Young children also enjoy the predictability of the episodic structure.  Children love the familiarity of the characters and the predictability of the plot.  Think of The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.

It’s that same predictability and familiarity that can cause you to jump the shark. I think the episodic style probably works best for writers who plot (but pantsers, let me know your thoughts). When you plot an episodic series, there are a few things I’ve learned that we need to keep in mind that can help avoid the dreaded loss of potential ideas.

The main character of the story needs to have depth. So do all the characters but the main character needs to be able to pull this episodic thing off. He or she needs to be a stand out among characters, we’re going to want to follow him or her on this journey, no matter where it goes.  The key to keeping readers reading without having to resort to extraordinary shark jumping, is to make sure that your character, this awesome personality, GROWS along a character arc.  Even if you’re planning 50 episodes in your series your protagonist is going to have grow across those 50 novels.  If he/she doesn’t your reader will get bored.  And so will you.

Another important aspect of writing the episodic story is the plot. Becoming the master of tension is important here. Keeping the reader turning the page, caring about what happens.  Not only does the main character have to evolve so does the plot and linking the two will create the best backdrop.

What I’ve just stumbled through in this blog post, Chris over at King of Elfland’s 2nd Cousin, *giggle* has done a brilliant job on breaking down the episodic series into an understandable and useful 3 part blog post. If you want to avoid jumping the shark keep these things in mind:

1. Main Character – must be interesting and have something going on that forces them repeatedly into adventures.

2. Main character must emotionally grow over the course of the series. the emotional arc must exist

3. Plot and pacing – Action and a mystery to solve, with a sense of escalation. As Chris mentions, you can’t save the world in book 1.

4. Tension – keep the pages turning. Donald Maass does a great job in his book The Fire in Fiction about the importance of tension in each scene.

5. Leave the reader wanting more on both the story conflict and the emotional conflict.

So are you planning an episodic series?  Do you have a favorite series you love to read?

ZERO TIME: Those jaw-breaking names

By T.W. Fendley

Finding the right names for fictional characters is seldom an easy task. When I started writing my historical fantasy novel, ZERO TIME, it was obvious that popular names like Mason or Emma wouldn’t work for characters who came from another planet to ancient America. I didn’t have a clue what names would be appropriate, so I used placeholders for several years. Then I attended the 2003 Pre-Columbian Society of Washington D.C. annual conference . Finally, I found a place to start.

It would be an understatement to say the names I chose don’t sit easily on modern American tongues–as one reader said, they are jaw-breaking. So why did I choose them? I felt only names from Andean and Mesoamerican history, religion and mythology worked for this story.

In ZERO TIME, sixteen travelers came from the planet Omeyocan. Translated as “Two Place,” Omeyocan was the thirteenth level of Aztec heaven, a place of “duality.” Duality was a key concept in the ancient Americas, representing the spiritual made manifest on Earth. My Omeyocan characters Oxomoco and Cipactonal were named after the Aztec deities of astrology and the calendar (and counterparts to the Quiche Maya gods Xmucane and Xpiyacoc). Mama Killa was the young moon goddess or Mother Moon of Inca mythology and religion.

Xmucane, the leader of the expedition from Omeyocan to Earth in ZERO TIME, and Xpiyacoc, her mate, were named for the “divine grandparents” of Maya mythology, the daykeepers (diviners of calendrical cycles) in the POPUL VUH. That sixteenth-century text provides one of the only surviving written translations of ancient Maya history/mythology.

The feathered serpent was known in various Maya languages as Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan, and was the Aztec patron god of rulership, priests and merchants. Huitzilopochtli–the Aztec god of war–was their supreme deity.

Here’s where I got names for Xmucane’s sisters in ZERO TIME:

• Xchicchan–(Maya) She of the Serpent
• Xhuncouen–(Maya) One Artisan
• Cihuacolte–(Aztec) Woman Serpent, the consort of Quetzalcoatl

And Xmucane’s daughters:

• Coyolxauhqui–(Aztec) Bells on Her Cheeks (in one of my reference books, a glyph showed her as “She of the Serpent Skirts”)
  
• Evening Star–(Maya) Blood Woman
  
• White Heron–(Maya) Zak Bak, the Moon Mother
• Quilla–(Inca) same as Mama Killa, the young moon goddess

Here’s where I got the names of Xpiyacoc’s brothers:

• Tezcatlipoca (Aztec) Smoking Mirror–Quetzalcoatl’s rival–was an ominpotent god of “warriors, night, death, discord, conflict, temptation and change.” Scholars describe him as “the embodiment of change through conflict.”
  
• Xbalanque and Hun Ahpu–(Maya) the Hero Twins, were cosmic ballplayers.

All Xpiyacoc’s cloned sons have Maya names. In the POPOL VUH::

• One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu were sons of Hun Ahpu and Blood Woman
• One Blowgunner (Hunahpu translated)
• Jaguar Sun (Xbalanque is sometimes translated as Little Jaguar Sun)

I found the name Keihla on a “baby name/meaning” website (which has since disappeared) as the modernized version of Quilla.

To give you a little historical perspective, the term “Mesoamerica” refers to a geographical area occupied by a variety of ancient cultures that shared religious beliefs, art, architecture, and technology that made them unique in the Americas for three thousand years – from about 1500 B.C. [Olmec] to A.D. 1519 [Aztec] – the time of European contact, according to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI). The rise of Maya culture began about the same time as the Roman Empire’s decline, peaking around 700 C.E. As the Toltec civilization’s influence declined in Mexico, the Aztecs came to power in the fourteenth century near what is now Mexico City. Check out FAMSI’s timeline and chronology maps for a more accurate explanation.

In the thirteenth century (medieval times in Europe), the Inca began expansion from the Peruvian highlands to create the last great Andean civilization. It covered most of modern South America by the time of the Spanish conquest. Pyramids north of Lima were built around 2500 B.C.E., near the same time as those in Egypt, with recent discoveries pointing to others built thousands of years earlier.

I hope this explains some of the logic behind the names. And thanks, Ansha, for being a Party Host in my Virtual Book Tour Party!

The ZERO TIME 2012 Virtual Book Tour Party is here!

You can find ZERO TIME at:

Ebook $4.99

• Amazon Kindle,
• AllRomance/OmniLit
• Fictionwise (multiformat)
• Nook
  

Paperback $16.95

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble,
• Main Street Books (St. Charles, Mo.)
• Garden District Book Shop (New Orleans)
  
• Octavia Books (New Orleans)

RELAX

• take a deep breath, breathe deep into your belly.  Let it out slow and steady until you’ve exhaled entirely.
• take another deep breath.  Exhale.
• One more time.
• Drop your hands to your sides. Yep. Away from the keyboard.  Relax your shoulders away from your ears.  Breathe out.

Finish reading this, then close your eyes and breathe again.

Sometimes serenity is just a breath away.

Enjoy your day!

I’m a little late with my post. We don’t have any power here in Massachusetts.  Twelve inches of wet, heavy snow on trees that still have their leaves causes a bit of havoc with the power lines. We’re on day 3 without power and hotel hopping until it comes back on.  The power company says it could be another few days.  But we’re all safe and that’s what matters.

Now onto something much more fun!

OPEN MINDS!  I was lucky enough to get an early copy to review.  I have to say, I’m very happy to write this review for Susan, her book was brilliant.  OPEN MINDS reminded me of a Scott Westerfeld book, Uglies came to mind when I started reading.  Kira’s world is wonderfully detailed and her story pulls you in without even trying.  I couldn’t put the book down.  Every chapter pulled me deeper into the conflict of having a secret in a world where secrets are the hardest things to keep.  I had to force myself to put the book down to get some sleep each night.  When I got to the last page I was so upset that there wasn’t a link to book #2 so I could buy it that night and continue living Kira’s story!

Great job Susan, you wrote a book that has made me a fan and I’m sure you’ll have a following after today’s release.  I know I’m not the only one anxiously awaiting your next Mindjack novel!

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PRIZES!

Susan Kaye Quinn is giving away an Open Books/Open Minds t-shirt, mug, and some fun wristbands to celebrate the Virtual Launch Party of Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)! (Check out the prizes here.)

Three ways to enter (you can have multiple entries):

1)      Leave a comment here or at the Virtual Launch Party post

2)      Tweet (with tag #keepingOPENMINDS)

Example: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. #keepingOPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

Example: Celebrate the launch of OPEN MINDS by @susankayequinn #keepingOPENMINDS #SciFi #paranormal #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

3) Facebook (tag @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn)

Example: Celebrate the launch of paranormal/SF novel OPEN MINDS by @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn for a chance to win Open Books/Open Minds prizes! http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

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When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available in e-book (Amazon US (also UK, France and Germany), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and print (Amazon, Createspace, also autographed copies available from the author).

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