Kaige Hunter | A Character Profile

Kaige (pronounced Cage) Hunter…or should I say manwhore, man-slut, pimp dick…well, you get the picture. Just to give an idea of Kaige, here are some of Tora’s thoughts about him:

Kaige and I had gotten to know each other over the past year. He’d tried getting me to go out with him but I’d always refused. I had no interest in dating someone who had a different girl hanging off his arm every time I saw him.

He’d once asked me why he should stop at one girlfriend when he could have two, three, four or more, all at the same time.

My response? Obviously, he was a manwhore if that’s what he did.

So, the guy who couldn’t get pinned down by any girl, who’d never committed to any girl, who’d never had his heart broken by any girl (he was always the heartbreaker), somehow, at some point, managed to get his heart stolen by Tora. How did that happen? Not even Kaige knows.

One new emotion he has to deal with is jealousy. Oh, yes. You see, Kaige has never had competition before; that’s not simply his ego talking, even though his ego is the size of Texas. He’s always been the alpha male, always had girls flaunt themselves at him and practically drop at his feet. However, Tora doesn’t drop at anyone’s feet and tends to rebuff him, which intrigues him.

Unfortunately, Kaige isn’t the only one intrigued; hence, the jealousy Kaige now needs to learn how to deal with.

Blood Promise is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Inkterra, Kobo, and Thalia.

Tora Hayden: A Character Profile

Tora, Tora, Tora -shaking my head in exasperation.  Tora had a hard time as a young kid and had to fight to get to where she is now. She stands up for the little guy, has enough attitude to fill a football field, and can be one snarky little bitch. She’s also forgiving, empathatic, and compassionate–traits that are her Achille’s heel. I explain here how empathy and compassion can be her weaknesses. She can also be a little impulsive at times and, as a result, tends to get herself into sticky situations.

Her motto might be, “I’m small but mighty.” She has fighting skills along with a strong will to survive.

For the most part, she doesn’t have self-esteem issues, though events that deal with loss and pain tend to send her back to being an insecure, 10-year-old kid again. Sometimes she’ll lash out in anger when she’s feeling anxious or insecure rather than explore why she feels that way. It’s a coping mechanism and a hard habit to break, but she’d better get her act together by book 2!

Blood Promise is available in ebook at Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Inkterra, and Thalia.  You can also get it in paperback here.

Today Is The Last Day! Enter To WIN!

All right folks…today is the absolute last day to enter to win a copy of Blood in the Past signed by the author herself, Jordanna East! After this…the chance is gone.

Don’t you want to read a good book involving a psychotic sociopathic serial killer who just happens to be a resident doctor?

 

Enter to win a signed copy of Blood in the Past by Jordanna East! This is the last day to enter as the contest ends tonight at midnight. I’ll be putting the entrants’ names in a jar and picking out the lucky winner.

Remember to FOLLOW JORDANNA, FOLLOW ME, and LEAVE A COMMENT so I know you’re interested in entering the contest.

Good luck!

 

 

Mmm…what’s sexier than a guy in jeans and a tight T?

Lana Del Rey’s Blue Jeans reminds me of a character in my book, Kaige (prounounced Cage) Hunter. The name alone sounds sexy doesn’t it?  Here’s a passage to give you an idea:

In one fluid move he stood, shook his head, and raked his fingers through his hair. He wore old, torn, faded jeans that looked soft to the touch and sexy as hell, leather biker boots, and a black, tight t-shirt, showing off his muscled biceps but unfortunately hiding his pecs and abs. Gauging by the biceps, I bet he was ripped.

Kaige slid his sunglasses on the top of his head and stalked to me with a devilish grin.

As he stood in front of me, my eyes trailed up from his chest, to his full lips and finally his sparkling eyes. I had to crane my neck up to see him; he was so tall. Though I’d never date him, that didn’t mean I couldn’t be titillated with his physique and the male hotness and sex pheromones he exuded.  Damn. ©

Now, with that in mind, watch the video:

 

Also, don’t forget to enter the contest to WIN a copy of Blood in the Past by Jordanna East!

Another Teaser

This is just a little snippet to get you salivating…

“And you’ll need the proper undergarments…” He opened another door and dove in. Soon he came out with his hands full and his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Here you go,” he said and dumped the contents into my hands. “Now, for the rest,” he said and opened yet another door.

I looked down at what was in my hands. Proper undergarments? He’d handed me a siren red, sheer lace bra, what I assumed to be underwear though they looked way too small to cover anything, black thigh-highs and a garter belt? What in the hell did he think I did at work? Strip tease? ©

Nothing But Time

All the kiddos are gone until next Thursday.  Things 1 and 2 are at grandma and grandpa’s. Thing 3 is spending the week at her aunt’s. 

I have nothing but time on my hands and  have absolutely no excuse to not finish edits on my book.

What? I’m editing again? Yes. You see, Tora is a grudge-heroine. I call her that because she really doesn’t want to be a hero. She doesn’t want to be a leader. And she most definitely does not want to be a queen. Yet she does those things–grudgingly I might add–because she knows people are expecting and counting on her to be those things. And…she’s also really fucked up in the head, so I need to show that more. She has issues with abandonment, low self-esteem, and trust.

At some point (not in this book, unfortunately), you will get to see her go all-out psycho bitch. Trust me when I say she will have a very good reason for doing so, but I need to set the stage in this book so when she does turn into psycho bitch, you’re not shocked and surprised. Instead, you’ll be like “Yeah, you go beatch! Beat his ass into the ground!”

So, my goal for this week is to show Tora in all her fuckedupededness glory.

Why Isn’t The Story Selling?

Okay, yesterday I posted on how to craft a story. Today, I’m gleaning from what I learned at Susan Meier’s workshop, “Can This Manuscript Be Saved?” If you ever get the chance to attend one of her workshops (I think she does them online as well), do it.

She lists the reasons of why a book gets rejected.

1. It doesn’t fit the publisher’s line. This is something that Scott Eagen pounded into our brains as well. Before sending a MS off to a publisher, make sure the publisher accepts that type of work. Even then, often times the editors will say they accept your genre, but you really won’t know for sure what kind of “feel” they have unless you actually read books edited by those specific editors so you can actually get a feel for what they sell. If your heart is set on a specific editor and house, do your homework. Learn everything you can about that publisher and about that editor so you know what they want. That way, when it lands in front of them, they can’t resist it.

2. Not enough emotion or romance, or too much emotion or romance. Again, this goes back to doing your homework about the publisher and about the genre you’re writing in. If you’re writing a mystery, there isn’t going to be a lot of romance. If you’re writing a romance, there isn’t going to be a lot of mystery (maybe surrounding your characters themselves, but that’s about it). If you’re writing fantasy, again there isn’t going to be a lot of romance. If you’re writing erotica, there’s going to be more sex and so on. Also, check out the publisher. For example, Samhain publishes urban fantasy with a strong romantic emphasis.  If I was to send in my MS to them, it probably would get rejected because I don’t have a strong romantic emphasis. Yes, I have romantic elements but the romance doesn’t drive the story. So, again, do your homework.

3. The pacing is bad. Is your story too slow? Is it way too fast? Does the opening scene show your protagonist being thrown into a lake of crocodiles? If so, you’re probably moving a bit too fast. Is your entire first chapter nothing but description and an info dump about the world you created? Your pacing might be too slow.

4. The characters are wrong. Do you find you really don’t like your protagonist? Is your protagonist too whiny, too harsh, too soft, etc? Is your bad guy just not bad enough? Is your alpha a beta when he should be an alpha? Do you have characters who just don’t quite fit yet? I’ve cut out characters in my MS because it just wasn’t the right time to introduce them yet. It’s okay to not put in every single character you’ve thought up into your book. Maybe they’ll show up later on in a different book.

5. The story is weak. What is the point of the story? Are you getting that point across or waffling around it?  One of Susan’s suggestions is to write out a  short paragraph of what your story is about,  cutting out all the other riffraff, and then compare that to the actual story you’ve written. If the paragraph is awesome and sounds like a great story, but yet the actual MS isn’t stellar then you’ve got a problem.

6. Going on number 5 above, if your story is weak then maybe the story is wrong, the scenes are wrong, or the words are wrong or a combination of all three.

When going over your story to figure out what’s wrong, first off you need to know what kind of genre it is coupled with the GMC (goal, motivation, conflict). Is it interesting? Credible? Consistent (flows smoothly)? Compelling–or maybe it’s interesting but not compelling where it avoids a sense of urgency.

So, how do you fix it?

1. First off, save a copy of your manuscript and then read a printed copy of your manuscript. Write down a summary going by what you’ve written, and compare that to the summary of what you want it to be. Are they different? How? Once you can see where the weaknesses are in your story, brainstorm and write down 20 things that can replace what you have that will make your story better. Does the plot need replaced? The conflict?

2. Write out a new summary.

3. Replace what needs replaced in your story.

If it’s a scene problem, create a storyboard. You can buy those really big desk calendars and write each scene in for each date, numbering them where the date goes. Does it flow? Make sense? Does your character grow from beginning to end? Every scene must have a reason to be there, it must be a step in the journey; action, reaction, decision.

That’s all I have for today. Like I said, if you get a chance to attend one of her workshops, do it. Tomorrow, I’ll post about the synopsis.

Chicago Spring Fling Writer’s Conference

This year I’m attending the writer’s conference in Chicago. In just two more days I’ll be taking off and staying until Sunday. I can’t wait to go and learn all sorts of new things! I have my business cards made up, my book is finished, and I’m ready and raring to go. I’ll take lots of notes and let you know the great ideas I come back with.

Thing 1 and a friend of his are coming as well, only because Thing 1 thinks that if I’m going to Chicago, then he should be able to go too. I told him he had to find a friend to come along because I’m not letting him walk around Chicago by himself. I think I’ll also take his pictures around the city for senior pics.

Play Hard Then Sleep

 My cat is so funny, and he sleeps in the oddest ways. Most cats curl up and sleep, but not Leo. He stretches out or twists his body. Sometimes he even sleeps with his eyes open, which is really freaky to watch. He had been playing with the paper, got tuckered out and fell asleep where he was. I have another, Frankie (or as we call him, Fat Frank).

I’ve put both my cats in my book for a little feline humor. They keep Tora company and let her know when they don’t like someone. And, yes, I’ve even put Leo’s sleeping positions and Frankie’s aversion to exercise in the books as well.

Texas Hold-‘Em, Strip Style

Just got done editing chapter 24. Tora had a belated Labor Day/housewarming party and after most of the guests left, the night was still young. Eight guests were still there, so what to do? Why, play poker of course, except up the ante and make it strip poker! That was a fun chapter to write, but also a bit confusing to write as well. I had to make a diagram of where everyone was sitting, and then mark them off as they played. Plus I had to remember the game–blinds, checks, bets, burn a card, turn a card, lay down the river, have people strip, eat, drink, talk, etc. It was exhausting to write.

I’ve been making major changes to the book now. I took out chapter 23. It wasn’t that long, and honestly there were only about two pages of needed info. I ended up putting that into chapter 24 and split that chapter in two chapters since it was so freaking long. Now I’m taking out chapter 25 and redoing that completely, but first I have to do some thinking about it. I won’t start writing it tonight. This chapter is a reaction to chapter 19, that really important chapter. Something happened to Tora then, making it so now someone else is looking for her. He doesn’t know who she is or even what she looks like, but he can sense her. Now I have to figure out how.

I think I’ll go take a nice, long, relaxing bath with a glass of wine and let my mind wander…