Author Spotlight - Kathryn White

Today, my author’s spotlight falls on Kathryn White!

I have enjoyed Kathryn White’s books, and like me, she writes in different genres, with a little bit of different things, to create a collection that I really enjoyed. I would say that my favorite out of her books is Being Abigail, but I have enjoyed her other books. She has a style of writing that I really enjoy, with a nice mix of serious and humor, both applied at appropriate moments within her books. She just released a new book, Everybody Hates Abigail, , and will be releasing another book, Poison Ivy, which I am more than eager to read. Give this author a try – you will not be disappointed!

Kathryn has a blog where she reviews books http://kathrynwhiteauthor.blogspot.com/
Her FB page https://www.facebook.com/kathrynwhiteauthor
Her Amazon, where you can find her books in paperback and e-book http://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-White/e/B00BZQMN26/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Her Goodreads page http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5208758.Kathryn_White

Some book recommendations

Being a huge fan of Hades and Persephone, and having written my own trilogy based off this enthralling myth and with plans to write more stories based off mythology, it is only inevitable that I take interest in other author's takes on myth. I would like to showcase two authors, who each have told their own versions of much-loved myths.

First off is Elly Green.and her Erato's Musings series. I have read the entire series so far, and really enjoy them. So far she has written a book of 4 collected stories, and two separate short stories. All of them can be found on Amazon.

I do need to warn, that these stories are written as erotica, and definitely not recommended for children... but I still highly recommend them!!! Ms. Green obviously has done her research here, and touches on lesser-known Greek myths in her collection. The backstories are interesting, and the sex scenes are rich and varied, so you don't feel like you're reading the same story over and over when you move from one story to another. If you enjoy an adult take on Greek mythology, you will not be disappointed! 

Second is Kaitlin Bevis, author of the Daughters of Zeus trilogy. Unlike Elly Green, Ms. Bevis' own trilogy is geared at the YA audience, with a very different, but just as thoughtful, and well-researched take on Greek mythology. This is a very creative retelling of the Hades and Persephone tale, and is now one of my favorite versions out of the various retellings I've read. Her books can also be found on Amazon.

I am happy to do cross-promotions, just contact me at ememkin at gmail dot com!

An Open Letter To My Readers

I have received a wide variety of feedback on my trilogy. Most of it was positive, a few were negative, and some offered valuable bits of constructive criticism (including one complaint several people made) which I have applied to while editing Seeds this last month. I’ve also noted a few observations, and now that Seeds has been out for a while, I’d like to address these observations and criticisms.

A few readers took issue with some of the dialogue in Seeds, saying it was too contemporary. I honestly never intended this. It was obvious to me to not use modern-day slang so I wasn’t going to have the gods call each other ‘bro’ or anything like that, but other words were a bit of a gray area. When I used the word ‘okay’, I was trying to use it as a way to signify a more casual form of speech, since some people may speak differently in a more formal situation, such as at work, and use a few different words at home when around family and friends. Of course this varies from person to person, and I was trying to convey a certain mood when I used the word ‘okay’ or a couple of other more casual/slang words such as ‘sure’. Ultimately, I decided to delete the several ‘okay’ in Seeds and replace them with more appropriate words, and ended up replacing a few other words throughout the trilogy as well.

I wanted to make Seeds a rich story, instead of merely focusing on the romance. I’ve read other novels about Hades and Persephone that focused on the romance and left out or minimalized other aspects of the tale. I’m not saying that this in itself is bad – some people like romance books, and there is nothing wrong with a Harlequin-esque story (I enjoy them myself sometimes!)

I could have cut out certain parts of the trilogy, like Demeter’s time in Eleusis, or the backstory that was set up in Book 1. This might even have made Seeds easier for me to write, if I had chosen to neglect these parts. However, I didn’t want to. The writer in me rebelled against that, and I am the kind of person who likes the whole story. Not each book needs to be written like this, mind you, and I am just fine with short stories, but for Seeds, I had to do what felt right to me, and Seeds would have felt incomplete without these parts that I mentioned, among others.

What about the erotic scenes? I will admit that this was partly in response to 50 Shades of Gray. I will be honest – I did not like that book and found it the opposite of sexy, and the characters to be totally unappealing. I always intended for Seeds to be a mature book, not a YA book, and I did my best to make the steamy scenes varied and fun to read.

I put each scene into Seeds for a reason – romance, action, drama, erotic, and so on. I thought long and hard about each scene and edited Seeds about five times, several scenes were deleted and others added since the first draft of this tale. Not everyone is going to like my books or the way I write them, and I accept that, and I will not change my voice. I wanted to make Seeds different from all the other novelizations and retellings of the Hades and Persephone myth, and I am rather pleased with the result.

Seeds 3, and some writing tips

The final book in the Seeds trilogy is now out, and I still feel all tingly and disbelieving about the fact that I've managed to get three books published! It's almost surreal.

Amazon (print and Kindle) Barnes and Noble (Nook)

So I thought I would take the time to share some writing tips, because unfortunately, through my voracious reading habits I have come across some terrible books along with good ones. Putting all the tips in one entry would be so long, so I've decided to just share what I feel are a couple of really important ones.

--- Research is key. This tip is absolutely non-negotiable if you want a quality book. If you're writing a book that requires a lot of technical information or background, such as a detective/police novel or a novel about a doctor and/or hospital, you absolutely need to research what procedures the characters in your book use. This includes bureaucracy, paperwork, standard operating procedures, and all that. Of course, each novel will vary in how much of these details are actually outlined within the book, this is up to the writer how technical they might want to be. This depends on the target audience, if you're writing a light romance novel where one of the characters is a doctor, this won't require as much technicality as say, a medical thriller, as the audiences for these genres do not often overlap. And of course, it's not just police and medical work that need research, each career field has its own rules and procedures, so even if you're writing a book about a model, research the modeling/fashion industry! Not only will your story be more well-defined, but you'll learn a few new things! Knowledge is power!

Even if you're writing in fantasy or science fiction, two genres which give the author much more leeway in what they can do in their worlds, some research is still necessary. Say you're writing a fantasy novel where one of your characters is a knight or paladin or some such. You want to research the types of armors and weapons and their strengths and weaknesses. For science fiction, depending on what your story is about, you want to do research in technology that we currently use, so you have a good background for whatever things you might invent for your science fiction world. And that leads into the second tip...

--- Avoid handwavium. (Wikipedia article) This can appear in any genre of work, but often appears in fantasy and science fiction, as well as post-apocalyptic or dystopian fiction. It can appear in various forms such as a deus ex machina, or a piece of magic or technology that can solve any problems presented in the story. While fantasy and science fiction gives the author a lot of creative power that can not be wielded in most other genres, it can also lead to sloppily-done conclusions or logical fallacies. Some authors might use handwavium without meaning to, so this is something that needs to be watched out for, because you want to be known for an intriguing story, not some lazy plot device.

---- World-building is not easy as it seems. Well, at least quality world-building is not as easy as it seems. If you're writing a novel set in a historical or current setting, refer to Tip 1, so the place you're writing about feels real to your readers and they can learn a thing or two about a place that already exists.

If you are making up a city or place that exists within our world, such as a small town in the South or a village in medieval times, again refer to Tip 1, and research what it is like near the area you're making up. Make sure the name of the place fits in, as well as the mores and rules of that place. What was appropriate at that time/place? Language, gender roles, laws, and so on and so forth. If someone from your fictitious place traveled to a nearby place that actually existed at that time, would he or she fit in? If your fictitious setting is different (such as it is controlled by a cult, for example) there are still things and historical accuracy to consider.

Fantasy and science fiction world-building can be easier, yet at the same time more difficult. You don't have to worry about the things I mentioned in the preceding chapter because you can make your own world from scratch. However, this in itself can be daunting because you do not have the framework of our world to start with. Of course, you can still use real-life for inspiration, especially if the book is set in the future/is post-apocalyptic/dystopian. But you still need to be consistent, so you want to imagine and make notes about your world before you start a novel. Points to consider are...
-Social strata. Some strata are determined by wealth, others by ability or birth, or education, or gender, and so on. Sometimes there can be multiple forms of strata in one society.
-Technology (or magic) level. Keep in mind that this can vary from one social strata to another.
-Value of various items, such as metals, stones, food, magic, technology, or dry goods. Even sex can be used as a form of bartering/trade.
-Gender roles
-Government structure
-Treatment of weaker members (children, disabled, elderly)
-How does this world-structure and technology or magic level affect the conflict in the plot (i.e. war, terrorism, famine, slavery, subjugation of one gender)
-There are many other things to consider such as the education system, fashion, food choices, and so on and so forth.

Depending on your story and what it is about, you can focus more on some things than others, and some things can even be barely mentioned or bypassed. Again, it depends on what kind of story it is, as each story requires a different combination of ingredients to be successful.

Another thing to consider when world-building is to avoid the info-dump. This is where the writer fills up pages with information about the world, without any interaction from the characters. The author may think that by explaining his or her world to the readers, they're making it more accessible to the reader. While understandable, a info-dump can scare off some readers and present too much information all at once.

The best way to present a world is through the interaction of the characters, and if explanations are needed, it is best to break them up into smaller parts that are more relevant to what the characters are doing at that time. This can be done via the character's thoughts and perceptions, or via other devices such as journal entries, news stories, or quotes from background or deceased characters, as is appropriate for the story. In this way, you can build the world through the book, which I find to be more successful than one big info-dump at the beginning.

My books are now out!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog, eh? Last year, I was so busy on looking for agents and publishers for my book, and after a long and sometimes frustrating journey, I have finally published not just one, but two books!

Originally, the first version of Seeds was written as one book. I just kept writing, not keeping track of word count as I felt that would constrain the flow of the story. However, when I finally finished it, it came to over 300,000 words. Printed in book form using the mass market paperback size, this would come between 1,200 and 1,500 pages. Of course, there was no way I could print Seeds as just one book, so I cut it up into three parts. Volumes 1 and 2 are now available, and Volume 3 comes out September 21 of this year (less than three weeks away! Yikes!)

Here is where you can find the books, and where Book 3 will become available as it comes out... (all links open in new windows)

Createspace (print) Book 1 and Book 2

Amazon (print and Kindle) here

Barnes and Noble (Nook) here

My Goodreads profile here

I will try to update this blog a little more often, but you can also find me at Facebook. If you're interested in being friends, just send me a request.

Seeds is not going to be my only work. I have other works planned, including an collection of short stories based off various myths from around the world, and Hades and Persephone will be making a guest appearance!

Quality over quantity

I have been an avid reader ever since I was little, and there are authors who I enjoy and admire. When I was in elementary school, R.L. Stine was the most prolific author I was aware of, and I had read some of his books. It amazed me that he could spin out so many books. Same with Francine Pascal (I had never heard of ghostwriting back then except for that one PBS kids' show, but that was a totally different kind of ghostwriter...)

Later on, I would read books from other prolific authors. It certainly didn't mean that I read all of their books. I've read Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, James Patterson, Stephen King, and other authors who have a long list of books under their belt. Since I read so much, I came to notice that there was a downside to being a prolific author, especially as I got older and read more novels geared towards adults.

After a while, the books tend to get repetitive. Point in being, I received about ten Cassie Edwards books from a co-worker who knew I was an avid reader. Not being one to turn away a free book, I kept these books at work to read during my break times. The first one was Savage Obsession, or something like that. It had a redhead as the heroine, I think her name was Brenda? I forget the name of the Indian chief who abducts her. It was typical bodice-ripping to me. After that I read a few more and noticed a definite pattern. The beautiful, young white woman is kidnapped/coerced by the handsome, tall Indian, who is invariably the chief of his tribe, or next in line to be leader of the tribe. She may hate him at first and struggle with him, but in the end she always gave in. Sometimes they even had sex within a few days or even that very night of meeting one another. After ten books, there was no mistake in finding the pattern. She just repeated the same plot with just a change in names, and the color of the woman's hair and eyes. I Googled her and found out that she's written over a hundred books. Damn, that's a lot. That's over 3 books a year. That averages to less than 4 months spent per book. No wonder they're so repetitive, she doesn't spend enough time on them. That's not to mention the whole plagiarism thing... but that's a whole different matter, so you can read about that in this link (opens in a new window) or we can move on...

Another author who made it to 100 novels is Andrew Neiderman. He is the who wrote the book that the movie 'Devil's Advocate' is based off. (The movie is way better than the book, though) and he is also the ghostwriter of V.C. Andrews (d.1986) he has actually written more books under VCA's name than his own. I love V.C. Andrews (the real one) and her books were brilliant. However, Neiderman recycles plots, names, and phrases, and you can see that the quality of writing has dropped since she died. He's written about 40 books under his name and almost twice that many ghostwriting, and his writing is the same across the board, the same complaints that can be found for his ghostwritten books also plague the ones under his name, his plots recycled, endings predictable and/or cliché, poor characterization, etc. Despite these complaints he ignores his fans and continues to churn out the same old shit over and over. He's actually been reduced to writing reviews for himself (opens in a new window) but stopped once he was called out and one of his reviews deleted (but it can be seen when you look up 'most recent comments' in his profile.

I've read several books by James Patterson and Fern Michaels. Patterson's writing style really bothers me. I read 'Maximum Ride' and was left with a sour taste in my mouth. It was just so bad and I felt especially ripped off because I bought it for new and paid full price. Later on, I got a hand me down of 'Where the Wind Blows', the book that Maximum Ride was supposed to be a rewrite of. 'Where the Wind Blows', while not the best book in itself, was far better than Maximum Ride. The other three books I read by Patterson were all more recent, and they were so lackluster that I don't even remember them that well. There was one with a woman who kept killing her fiances, one with a woman who had jury duty and lost her son in an explosion, and the other one I think was about some sort of drug. Fern Michaels had the same impression on me. Again, all her books were hand-me-downs. It is the only reason I read more than one book from her. I read one of the Sisterhood books, as well as 'Hey Good-Looking' (the worst of the lot), the Marriage Game (a close rival to the preceding book for the worst of the lot) and then one more Sisterhood book (the one about Yoko) It was obvious she didn't research, and she just keeps churning them out despite getting bad reviews for doing so.

Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts are two more authors I had problems with. I read two DS books and hated both of them. One was 'Miracle' and the other one was 'the House'. She repeats herself. A lot. I mean, seriously, a LOT. And the plotlines and dialogue are just so badly written. I never read one of her earlier books so maybe she was good once, but these two books were more recent and just terrible.

Nora Roberts is someone I do like. I've read about ten books of hers, including the trilogy that started with 'Jewels of the Sun'. She has some great writing here and there and some brilliant scenes, but I found many parts repetitive, especially after getting through about five books of hers. The female characters are almost always the same personality, and I see the same fight between her and the male lead in various forms through the books. I especially disliked 'McGregor Brides' because I found the three stories within it and their respective lead characters basically copies of one another. The last book I read was 'The Villa'. I loved the backdrop and the mystery. However, as soon as I heard of the deals that the family was being forced to go through because of Tereza's will, I immediately saw what was going to happen with Sophie and her contentious relationship with the man she is supposed to share her duties with. Some of the scenes were really well-written, but the book ended up wrapping too quickly and was somewhat cliched. And guess what? Nora Roberts has written over 200 novels. Holy shit. Well, with that many romance novels, things are bound to repeat themselves...

That is why I will consider myself successful if I give my fans and the world just ten astounding stories. At this point, I have already accomplished one story – 'Seeds', and if I can put out just nine more awesome stories in my lifetime, I will have considered myself successful. I care more about the quality of my works than how many books I can churn out. For some people, it might be easy to spin out a hundred novels, but I just couldn't live with myself if I was writing the same thing over and over. I'm serious. The thought of basically using the same schtick over and over and changing just a bit here and there is just mind-numbing.

There is so much I want to write and say, yes. That's why 'Seeds' is three books rather than one, but I want what I am saying to be worthwhile. I don't want people thinking, 'didn't I read this story before...?' I notice that those hailed in history as great writers had considerably fewer novels under their name (not including short stories) While the authors I mentioned above publish more than one book on average per year, even sometimes as many as 4 or 5, authors like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Jane Austen published less than one per year. I do not attribute this to just the fact that they didn't have computers, but the fact that they had to think more about what they wrote, that the publishing world was not back then what it is today. Many authors back then didn't get truly appreciated until after their deaths, so these people were not getting instant fame. They knew that they had to stand out and hone their abilities and that is what they did. I don't see much of that from many people today, including some authors.

I am not casting all prolific authors in a bad light. Some just pull it off better than others. Even with her flaws, I find Nora Roberts a decent author and did enjoy some of her books, such as 'Blue Smoke', but like with other things, not taking enough time on something is going to make the quality suffer. You can't change that.

'Seeds' took me two years to write, and another half a year to edit, which I did four times, going through each time and finding little things to tweak, even in my very final edit I did find a few itty bitty things to fix. I believe in taking the time to hone and refine a work to make a truly memorable story rather than just churn out a handful of books per year. Maybe this won't mean as many books for my readers, but at least these books will be damn good.

Derpmuffins

My first post, my first blog! Here's to 2012!

Mmm... muffins...