AKA Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference 2007 day FOUR:

Today’s session with Alexis Morgan (aka Pat Pritchard) was the best of the whole conference. She spoke in detail about world building and the process she used in developing her Paladin series. I rushed to the bookstore after the session to buy the three books, only to be thwarted by closing time. Alexis/Pat has written two contemporaries, ten westerns, and three paranormal romances. Whoot! She said the number one failing in world building is lacking originality. She started off developing her new paranormal series by picking out her favorite three characters from paranormals she’s read, then analyzing them to see why they work. Her favorite three are the hero from Barbara Hanley’s Those Who Hunt the Night, Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Eric Northham from Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Series. No, I haven’t read/seen any of these. She likes that these characters are dark, violent, and unrepentant about it. Through their journeys they meet women who bring light to their darkness and resurrect their honor. Big themes: redemption, honor, true-love-wins-out, protection of the weak, and good-wins-out.

Alexis’ reference suggestions:

The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines by Cowden et al.
Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman
West of Everything by Jane Tompkins
“Fantasy World Building Questions” (web) by Patricia C. Wrede (my favorite author of Dealing with Dragons!)

Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference 2007 day THREE session four:

Wo-manning a forum about the Nuts & Bolts of Romance Writing were some great local romance authors: Pat Pritchard aka Alexis Morgan, Pat White, Ann Roth, Kate Austin, and agent-to-the-stars Michelle Grajkowski. The ladies talked about their work, explained the differences between category and single-title romances and between magical realism and paranormal genres, urged new writers to set up a website and blog now to start building a fan base for when it comes time to publish, and gave tips on reference books.

Suggested titles:

English Through the Ages by William Brohough
Goal, Motivation, and Conflict: the Building Blocks of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon
On Writing by Stephen King
Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham
The Synonym Finder by J. I. Rodale and Nancy LaRoche

Or Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference 2007 day THREE, sessions two and three:

The next two sessions were about the same thing, fantasy world building, so I lumped them together in one post.

Incorporating Paranormal & Science Fiction Elements: Making it Believable, Not a Barrier

Author James F. David was an excellent speaker, possibly, though not necessarily, from practice at his day job as dean and professor of Psychology at George Fox University. He had lots of great advice about making readers accept the paranormal elements in your novel. Most of his comments covered sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and horror, as his experience is in crossing these genres in his books. That said, he doesn’t recommend cross-genre because his novels get dispersed separate genre sections in the bookstore; there is no “James F. David” shelf. I mostly took notes on the fantasy genre part of his presentation, which deals with complex alternate worlds, quests, rites and rituals, magic, and magical creatures. (Paranormal Romance is a cross between the Fantasy and Romance genres- what I am writing.)

Authors, he argued, must know their readers’ tolerance for ambiguity. Fortunately for me, fantasy readers have a high tolerance for ambiguity and accept the novel world as it is. They don’t need an explanation of why the world became or is this way, unlike sci-fi readers. Secondly, authors must establish internal rules and logic to govern the fantasy world and, most importantly, not violate those rules, ever. Readers will accept anything as long as the rules are consistent.

James’ gem of knowledge was “Finish the one you’re working on.”

The Werewolf Next Door: Urban Fantasy in the Real World

The speakers at this session were two new, young authors by the names of Richelle Mead and Caitlin Kittredge. It was really exciting to meet authors around my age, writing things I want to write about, and making it in the big bad world of publishing. They basically said the same things about world building as James did, namely create rules for your world and do not break them under pain of death. They also shared some of their microsoft word documents with their notes on character and bestiary; it was interesting to see how other authors organize themselves and think.

Recommended Urban Fantasy Authors and Research Websites:

Kim Harrison – novels about demons and the undead
Kelly Armstrong – The Otherworld, paranormal suspense novels
Jim Butcher – The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera series, his website seems to be down, but here is his live journal
“American Gods” by Neil Gaiman – came up in three panels today, so it must be good!
Fangs, Fur, Fey – an Urban Fantasy author community message board
The Encyclopedia Mythica – for online myth research

Richelle and Caitlin also recommended the following agents who represent Urban Fantasy:

Rachel Vader – Caitlin’s agent who works for Folio and has a livejoural
Jim McCarthy – works for Dystel & Goderich Literary Agency that has its own blog!
Kate McKean – a brief google search suggests she also works for D & G
Jennifer Jackson - Jim Butcher’s agent

I am too sleepy to write up my last session right now, and I have to get up early for a last fun-filled day of writer’s camp. Adieu, adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow, that I would say good night till it be…. oh wait, it already is.

Pacific Northwest Writers’ Conference 2007 day THREE session one:

Today’s sessions were great, evidenced by the ton of notes I took, which, lucky you, I will share. I awoke bright and early this morning to attend a session by Alice Orr with the above title, and it was well worth it. Four men even came to learn about the do’s and don’ts of writing about sex. It isn’t just for the romance genre; human sexuality is an important subject for every novel about and for an adult audience. Since most readers of novels are Female, it’s important to know what women want. In Alice’s words, most female readers are not hooked by slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am lust-filled sex; they want giving, sharing, passionate, loving, liberating sex. Love scenes must touch the heart, not just tweak the libido.

Alice stressed that sex in novels must be added thoughtfully to advance the characters and the plot, not thrown in to titillate. Love scenes must be justified through the storytelling. Love scenes are inherently full of struggle, both in sexual tension and internal self-awareness. Each lover is individually thinking “Why am I here? I already have enough going on in this story. Should I expand energy on love and sex right now? All I need is another complication! Should I even be with this person?” The answer to these questions plays out in the emotional intensity of the scene, with feelings so intense that they overcome all logical and rational arguments against it. After the scene the characters’ circumstances are irrevocably altered by their decision to act.

Alice had an explicit list of things to avoid when writing these scenes: AVOID false casualness, too much banter, or verbal posturing; AVOID too much or too detailed physical descriptions; AVOID overly clinical scenes; AVOID cliche romance novel prose, such as heaving bosoms, exploding stars, lightning, and shivers down the spine; AVOID cut-to-the-trees; AVOID aimlessness, meandering, and dragging it on and on; AVOID pretentious, hackneyed language; AVOID coming across as uncomfortable.

“Create the Perfect Male Lover,” she argued. This paragon appreciates a woman who enjoys sex; He encourages her to be herself and express her own sexuality; He sees women as equals and likes women. He takes his time and lets her take all the time she needs. He is a woman’s man, not a ladies man.

Her recommendations for researching love scene lexicon and treatment:

“Natural History of the Senses” by Diane Ackerman
“Little Birds” and “Delta of Venus” by Anais Nin
“Exit to Eden” by Ann Rampling/Ann Rice

And finally the bit of wisdom that I took away from it all: “All writers talk to themselves.” It’s such a relief to know I’m normal!