Today I want to share the fantasies that keep my publishing dream alive, and also find out what you do to keep the faith while you wait. Because as we know, it's all about waiting in this biz.
(And no matter what you hear from Kalen, he SO did not think of this post first. Rookstar can attest that I emailed her with this idea the night before he posted on a similar subject. All I have to say to that is: collective consciousness.) Hee ;-)
When the writing well runs dry and the patience runs thin, I have to find an escape. But because I live and breathe my characters / stories, even my fantasies revolve around them.
I have a wonderful program called Adobe Fireworks that allows me to blend and doctor photos to fit any motif I choose. I used it to make the pictures for my Splintered Book Trailer, as well as my Writing is Like trailer.
And I also use it to make mock-up book covers.
This is for one of my early dark fantasies. Inspired in part by the movie, “Memoirs of a Geisha”, Nocturnus introduces a powerful clan of female halfling vampires who dress as geishas and hold galas to entrance men and siphon small amounts of blood, curbing their thirst without resorting to murder.
And this is the imagined cover for my YA Alice in Wonderland spin off about Alyssa Gardner, the great-great-great granddaughter of Alice Liddell (real life inspiration for the heroine of the famed Lewis Carroll novel). This is what Alyssa looks like after she stumbles into Wonderland. And everything in the above mock-up plays a part in the actual storyline: the bloody roses, the sparkles in the distance, even the mutilated teddy bear. But you'll have to read the story to understand. :)
Your turn! What do you do to feed your writing dream and keep it alive while you wait? Do you think up character questionnaires or interviews? Maybe you sketch your characters, or the settings they inhabit, even draw maps. Could be you're one of the lucky few who actually gets to travel to the locale of your story. Daydreaming of your characters also counts! I even met a writer once who made "movie posters" for her novels.
I shared my secret playground. If you're willing, share yours. I'd love to hear about it!
