Category: Writing Hacks

How to write faster, time-saving hacks for authors, and how to free up time to write.

How to Create an Immortal Hero: The Writing Process Tour #amwriting

Updated on 09/06/2024 by Kayelle Allen

Pietas Before the Tribunal (Beta)

This blog tour is different from most. A writer is tagged for the position, and she or he then tags three others to take part as well. Each shares some aspect of the writing process. . I don’t often write about writing on this blog. I reserve it for story-oriented posts. But this was a chance to show a “behind the scenes” look at what I do, and I couldn’t resist it. My post will be on creating an immortal hero.

My sponsor for this leg of the tour was Denys? Bridger. You can find her at this spot. http://fantasy-pages.blogspot.com

We’re supposed to answer these four questions about our writing processes.

1) What am I working on?

I’m creating a science fiction book about the king of my immortals, the Sempervians. The full title is Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas. The character is known as the “bad boy king” and he is an anti-hero. While he is the protagonist of this story, he is not a good guy at all. I wanted the book to give background into his character, because in an upcoming book, Surrender Trust, I want readers to understand his motives. He will definitely be the villain in that story, but he is not all bad. I have a soft spot for him, much as I hate to admit it. No one is all bad, including Pietas.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It will be illustrated. This is not a comic book or manga, but a book with an image for each chapter. I’ve included a sample for you. The art is by my son, Jamin Allen. You can find his work at Nimajination Studios. What you see here is a beta version – a rough draft for me to approve placement of characters and design. It has a great deal more work to be done, but I am excited to share this much.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I’ve loved science fiction since I was a little girl. My parents always had these types of books and I would pick them up and read them. I remember the cover of one in particular. It showed people looking up at the sky, which had been peeled back to reveal the world was nothing more than a cage. The concept fascinated me. My books all have a hint that the world as we know it is not what we assume it to be. The Sempervians have molded human society to fit their needs. Because they never die, they manage to sway political power in the direction they want to go by using influence over long periods of time. They have made alliances with humans (the Chosen) who assist them, in return for protection, power, and wealth. In my Tales of the Chosen series, one Chosen — Wulf — discovers what it is that he is being protected from. The discovery shocks him — and he will have to decide in future books whether he wants to continue assisting the Sempervians, or whether he will take a stand against them. How do you stand against immortals who secretly run the government? That’s what Wulf will have to find out.

4) How does your writing process work?

Bringer of Chaos

I can get an idea for a scene or a book from anything. My imagination has never been lacking. I carry a notepad and pen with me everywhere. My computer has an ideas file that’s chock full of things. Once I have an idea, I work on jotting down notes and making it coherent. It must have a beginning, middle, and end. I don’t start writing until I have a synopsis. Otherwise, for me, it’s just writing, not producing. I prefer to write when I know where I’m going. I will jot down enough to understand what I wanted to say when I look at it later, but I learned long ago not to start writing as if it were a real book. Ideas are ideas. They are not books. It saved me a lot of time once I realized the difference. I keep extensive notes for my scifi series, so an idea for that goes in my system. Currently, I use a mixture of MS Word and Excel. However, I pin images to boards on Pinterest too.

Whatever I write, I try to keep my readers in mind. I want them to understand the aspects of the story, and to enjoy the characters.

For another take on this tour, check out Mona Karel.

Posted in Fallen Empires, Science Fiction Books, Writing Hacks | Tagged Bringer of Chaos, Immortal Heroes, Pietas, Sempervians, Writing |

Easily search your computer for character mentions #MFRWhooks #SciFi

Updated on 09/06/2024 by Kayelle Allen

Welcome to Book Hooks! This is a blog hop with Marketing for Romance Writers authors. Click links at the end to visit the other hops. Today’s post is on character mentions. How to find any mention of a character in any of your books. It’s easier than you think.

If you’re writing a series, it’s easy to casually slip in a mention about a character from one book into another book. But what if you also mentioned that he is left handed? Or that he was born in Chicago. Or some other detail? When you’re writing yet another book, how do you go back and find all those places? Here’s a snippet from my book the Tarthian Empire Companion, to show you how.

Find character mentions on your computer

Here’s a cool trick if you have several books and you want to find out which book mentions a character. Create a separate folder and into it copy each of your books. Don’t put your originals in there. MAKE COPIES. Take out any bit at the end of the book that mentions upcoming stories (such as sneak peeks) that might contain the character’s name. You want only the actual story in these documents. Keep this folder. You’ll be surprised how handy it is for searching details when you write a series.

Now that everything is together, look at your folder menu. You’ll see something like “Tools” at the top. Your computer might call it “Organize”. Click that, and open Folder Options. Click the Search tab. Under “What to search” there are two choices. Pick the one that says “Always search file names and contents.”

When you click in the search box and type a name, the program will show you which book has the character’s name.

NOTE: It warns that this might take several minutes, but since you’ll mainly use it for searching this folder, that’s fine. I use it routinely on all folders, and it’s a great way to find info I’ve lost or a document for which I can’t remember the title. I have a 2 TB hard drive and to me, it’s not that long — maybe a few seconds. Click OK to save the option. Don’t worry. If it does prove to be too long for everyday use for you, you can easily change it back.

Think about the name before you assume the person is mentioned. For example, if you have a guy named Van Smith, both those words have other meanings. Does one character drive a van? Does the other have a Smith and Wesson? Does someone who is a smith live in Van Nuys? Be sure you know how the word was used within the document if it has shades of meaning or uses. If you aren’t sure, open the document, use CTRL+F (or CMD+F for Mac) and type the name. Then you’ll know for sure. But rather than open each document for each character, it’s super quick to type it once and search all the books at the same time.

Because I have two different versions of the same book from two different publishers, I wanted to know what/who was used in each. When deleting or adding material, it’s easy to remove a mention. So I added a copy of each version and changed the document name to include the publisher’s initials. To quickly change the name, select the document and press F2. Once the name is highlighted, make any changes needed.

I used this method when writing the Tarthian Empire Companion. The book has a listing of all my characters and place names, a history, and much more. I intended it as a companion book for fans of my various series. It quickly became my own go-to for details. Had I spelled homeworld as home world or home-world? This book is my definitive answer (It’s homeworld, btw).

Where to find the Tarthian Empire Companion

Universal Buy Link https://books2read.com/guide-tec

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS

Posted in Writing Hacks | Tagged Blog Hop, Book Hooks, Kayelle Allen, MFRW, Tarthian Empire Companion, Tips and Tools, Writing |

100-Word Flash Fiction Bits from Peace to Flashionation #FlashFiction #MFRWhooks #AmEditing

Posted on 03/27/2024 by Kayelle Allen

Peace

Jon took a breather. The other guy wasn't firing. Jon imagined him doing what he was doing. Sitting back, Jon listened for more gunfire. More sounds of war. What if neither of them fired again? What if they sat here, neither of them moving, and didn't fight? Was that what peace was all about? Not shooting at one another? Wasn't peace more than not having to fight for the right to exist, to simply be? Wasn't that what Jon was out here to do? Provide his people freedom from tyranny? Shooting began again. He scrambled to his knees and fired.

Waiting

Just a little more... don't stop. Don't stop! Need this so bad. Need this. Please don't stop. A little bit more. Come on. Come on. That's it. Let it go. So close. Almost there. Hungry for it. So hungry for it.
He blew out the breath he'd been holding and took another one, hands shaking.
Been waiting for this. Been wanting it, so, so damn bad. He licked his lips. I should've started so much earlier, taken more time, gotten all of it ready. Oh! Yes. Yes... Here it comes!
The last little bit of ketchup landed on his fries.

Helping

He spread his thighs wider and slid down a little. "There. Can you get it in now?"
"No. Not yet." He hooched over to the right, grunting a bit as he pushed harder. "Hold still."
"Hurry up, baby."
"I'm trying!" He shifted his shoulders, angled one foot against the ground for better leverage. "It's almost in the hole. Just a little..."
"Do it harder! I can't keep this up."
"Hold on, baby. Hold on." He wiped sweat from his brow. The heat rose. Fingertips slick with lubricant, he rubbed the opening. With a click, the car's axle slid into place.

Red

So much for avoiding embarrassing myself. She's wearing red. Again.
I needed her to wear one more red dress to haunt my memories. This one was sleeveless, baring perfectly formed arms, strong and feminine. Strapless too, revealing skin the color of mahogany cream.
A man doesn't stand a chance with her in that dress. Long, slinky, shiny, scarlet. Oh, God. It looks-- wet. Perfect. Slick and smooth.
Her mouth is the same red, her lips plump, like she's just been kissed. Like she ran her tongue across them. Like she wants me. Is she wet anywhere else?
Damn, damn, damn.

Senses

He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus in the dimness. Dawn's grey light filtered through curtains billowing at the open window. A soft shriek of autumn wind whistled outside, and a gust of wind tossed the curtains apart, letting in a chill that pebbled his skin. Tossing back the silken sheets, he padded across the cold wooden floor and reached up to shut the window.
The sound of the wind silenced, leaving an utter calm. "Ahh." Shivering, he hurried back to bed.
"You cold?" His lover reached out one powerful arm and dragged him closer, up against his radiant heat.

Replacing Her

"If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." The words to the old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song kept running through this head as he walked up the sidewalk. Friends assured him he'd get over her loss by starting over. But though his feet carried him forward, his heart wanted to run back.
Nothing could substitute for her. She'd been his first. Had taught him so much. Sure, she'd had her flaws, but they'd been together so many years... How could ever just buy another motorcycle now that his baby had been totaled?

Taste

"Almost like blueberry." He licked. "With a little licorice."
"Is not! Stop that." His lover tried to sit up, but was pushed back against the bed.
"Lie still. It's my turn." Licking again, he trailed his tongue all the way up along the entire length. The tip was different. A nice, interesting mixture of the blueberry and licorice. He circled his tongue all the way around it, lapping the tip. Why didn't I ever try this before? It's really good. I could get used to this.
"You've had enough." He managed to sit up this time. "Give me the popsicle."

Revenge

"Guys! Check out this gun. It shoots around corners." Jase waited for the hysterical laughter to die down so he could continue. "Look, I'm not faking this. It really works."
Guffaws filled the barracks. His sergeant slapped him on the back. "Rookie, you got taken."
"Okay. Stand in front of it then." Jase flipped out the supports for the gun, set it down and turned its nose 90 degrees to the left, then sighted along the special scope.
Snickering, elbowing each other, whispering, his bullies clustered in front of the weapon.
Jase pulled the trigger. When it worked, nobody laughed.

One-sided Conversation

(imagine you can only hear one side of a conversation)

"Hey, Mom. It's me. I tried that recipe you sent me. It sucked."
"No, not the roast. Those cookies."
"No. Not Aunt Matilda's. The cookies with mashed potatoes."
"Yes you did so give me a cookie recipe with mashed potatoes in it! You said to use leftovers."
"Oh, now you remember. Well, it sucked. I threw mine out."
"Cause nobody'd eat 'em!"
"I didn't do anything wrong, Mom. Why do you jump to conclusions about my cooking?"
"Substituted one thing. I didn't have mashed potatoes. Not everybody's got cooked taters laying around."
"Three cans of Pringles."
"What's so damn funny?"

Jailhouse Singer

Stones were belting out another tune as I pulled in and parked. I sat there, motor running, singing along, mumbling parts I didn't know. Jailhouse singer, that's me. Behind a few bars and can't find the key, but I love to sing.
A car door across and down opened, and out popped the prettiest thing I'd ever saw. Big brown eyes, sweet mouth, not a day over twenty. Heart raced like a bucking stallion at the thought of that tight ass inside tighter jeans. That lusty gaze of his met mine. He smiled. Just like that, I fell in love.

Flashionation, the Art of Clarityness and Succinctation

This flash was an exercise with a group of author friends, and was done as a joke on one of the other regulars. He was the only one who didn't know we were going to make up crazy words and use them as often as possible. Here's the explanation, which did not go toward the word count.
"Today we're talking about clarityness and succinctation. This is what flashion is all about. The ability to shortspress yourself. Tell us in 100 words or less what could have taken multinormously more words to do. The topic is speed. Anything to do with being fast, quick, or a blend of the two -- fuick. Use 100 words or less." Here's mine.

Flashification

The conceptation of flash sites is to further accenticate good grammarage. Using too many words is called overwriting, or as some call it, desimplification. Doublespeak, the government version of desimplification, is also known as govspeak, govbabble, and politalk. Plague-avoid this. It's deadlious.
Flashion is the heightest form of trusimplification, or the art of unmystifying meaning. Like the hero called Flash himself, be the quickifest version possible. Use your smoothliest expressifications. Hammer home meaningnails.
Trash frillinormous adverbs and unconnect from ginormous nounwords. Present the smoothliest cream of meaning possible -- a banana smoothie of wordage. Blendification of understanding is the goal.

Overwritten Hunk

(Like "Flashionation" for this flash we were supposed to over-write a description for a simple thing.)
The meatiness of it thrilled her from her tiny, itty bitty little feet to her abundantly flowing cascade of rich streaming hair. She flounced said locks, running a manicured hand through the generous quantity of golden curls that bounced around her shoulders. Her fingertips, painted white by the French manicure process, which was not truly paint but a type of pencil painstakingly etched underneath her long, oval shaped nails, tapped the edge of the meat delicately.
Too much pressure on such a tender hunk might cause everything to slip, spreading juices over the white tablecloth as she cut the steak.

Any of my characters mentioned on this page might be found in multiple books in my story universe. Download a printable book list and check them off as you read.

~ Copyright ©2024 Kayelle Allen. All rights reserved ~ Kayelle Allen participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program which provides the means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com. If you purchase an item listed on the site from Amazon.com, Kayelle will earn a small commission. Other sites might be affiliate links as well. These will not result in higher prices for you. Thank you for your support!

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Posted in Humorous Stories, Writing Hacks | Tagged Fun Stuff to Do, MFRW, Tips and Tools, Writing |