Category Archives: Updates

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“Throne of Glass”: A FictionPress Success Story

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

A couple days ago, I finished reading Sarah Maas’ novel Throne of Glass. Imagine how startled I was when I picked up the book in Barnes & Noble, and saw that the dedication was addressed to FictionPress readers! Not only that, but the author had published several ebooks. I even recognized some of the titles from somebody’s profile I visited awhile back. It was incredibly encouraging to behold her 10-year progression from editing to FictionPress to ebooks on Amazon, and finally to the published, bound paperback in my hands—the first book of at least two.

As a writer myself, I recognize that to an author, their book can feel like their firstborn child. It makes them extremely sensitive toward criticism. But I also believe that criticism can be constructive, whether or not everyone agrees. So with that in mind, this is my opinion of the book, having never read it on FictionPress prior to its publication.

For those of you who haven’t read the book, the story progresses from Chronicles of Riddick, to a gentle interlude of travel (during which the prisoner/assassin is both superstitious and scheming), and then becomes a lot like a medieval Hunger Games (a game of elimination, minus the expectation of senseless killing). The suspense of the games, and the fact that the assassin is the only female contestant, is overlaid by having to conceal her identity and act like a court lady as she moves about a glass castle, trying to understand the forbidden magic therein. There is a classic Cinderella scene (which I applaud), though quite a bit tamer than I expected with all the suspense, but the aftermath is what will keep you smiling and intrigued.

The book’s front cover is rather frightening, the back cover haunting, and from the summary on the back one would think that the assassin is on the front and her princess friend is on the back. That is not the case. In fact, after reading the novel, it is my belief that the women on the front and back are actually the same person. Rather misleading.

Another way I felt misled was regarding the assassin herself. In the beginning, the assassin is presented as a hardened criminal who somehow used to attend court, and has mysteriously survived thus far in a prison (concentration) camp. I was reminded strongly in this of The Chronicles of Riddick. However, as soon as she was led out, that was where the similarities ended. Before I knew it, she was a fragile girl with an assassin pretense, attached to her occupation only as a means to an end, and the womanizing crown prince who shrewdly employed her to fight (possibly to her death) was falling in love with her sorrow. I had quite a few “Huh?” moments.

I was excited about WAFF, but when it got there I rejected it and nearly put the book down, because it seemed so disconnected from the previous line of thinking. Why would this hardened assassin who had lost everything and didn’t trust anybody and would rather cut out her own heart than love one of the royal family, suddenly disclose her lost lovelife to the crown prince when he’s infringing on her space? There is a good amount of character depth, but the character development was such that I had to mentally change gears a lot to keep up with the flow of the story.

The weird part to me, I think, was the feeling that the assassin was actually trying to cover up the fact that she was always trying to prove her own worth. Maybe this is a hidden psychological nugget, or maybe this is unintentional; I don’t know. And I expected the crown prince to be stronger somehow, after his bravado in sneakily defying his cruel father’s wishes, but maybe that was the point of his character, and why choosing the assassin was a significant event for him.

It turned out quite a bit lighter than I expected, for how dark its beginning was. I think this is unusual for the first book in a series, as most fantasy novels get progressively darker as they go on (not lighter). I’m still kind of in limbo about this dark-to-light progression, preference-wise…I think I would have liked it better if it picked a tone and stuck with it.

Despite my criticism, I enjoyed the book, and I’m glad I kept reading. But it did enlighten me as to some things to be careful of in my own writing. The whole reason for my rewrite, after all, was to beware of jumps in character development. Still, I applaud Maas for her successful transition to the tangible book world, and I can only hope that my own FictionPress readers will be so supportive if and when I take that leap.

Go read Throne of Glass, or its sister stories, and see what you think! 🙂

Let the Story Begin

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

So here’s what I’m thinking:

When is romance/sex most poignant in a novel: when it’s just another nail in the coffin, or when it comes like a thief in the night, sneakily riding the wave of the plot until the perfect time?

I’m going to create another version of the story. I know I’ve been talking about it, but I’m actually going to do it, instead of just moving a few things around, adding in here or there. To me, it’ll still just look like moving things around. But to you, it will probably look like a full story makeover. I’m doing this for the sake of the story. There is a time for Rome and Labriella’s relationship to be hot and heavy. But I rushed it–not because I introduced attraction too early, but because I made attraction the main event. Yes, that attraction is vital, but I don’t have to singularly focus on it for it to come to pass.

I wanted to find out if I could write abruptly instead of detailed.
I could.

I wanted to see if I could write sex scenes.
I can.

I wanted to see if I can get away with detail and gore.
I did.

Now it’s time to write a story.

Write What’s Not There

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

It’s been really encouraging to see people reading, following, and favoriting me as an author. As I’ve been hunting for stories online to read lately, I’ve been reminded of why I began writing my story in the first place. Sure, I was bored and didn’t have a book with me to read. But I also had devoured so many online stories that there were few left in my genre that appealed to me at the time. Exasperated, I realized that I had subconsciously developed an ideal male character in my mind’s eye, somewhere between a fantasy and a character I would want to read about…but he existed nowhere except in my mind.

And so I created him. And somehow, I ended up writing the kind of story that I wanted to read—the kind of story there are so few of. It’s a darker genre, traditional in its culture of men placed over women, but unconventional in its opportunities to flip things on their heads, and in its determination to get inside the characters’ heads.

And really, that’s what I wanted: An angsty fantasy story with graphic romance as both the problem and the solution. I wanted to see two strong main characters fight against themselves, each other, and the world to become one. I wanted to see the woman use her “lower” position in society to become valuable. I wanted to see the strong man have an identity crisis. I wanted to see a beautiful beast who remained beastly. I wanted to see up become down and down become sideways. I wanted to take the “known” (a well-known fairy tale in this case) and turn it into Wonderland (which is illogical/mind-boggling). If I saw one more Superwoman or girly-girl, I thought I would scream…or vomit. If I read one more “let’s get pregnant and have a family,” I was going to throw something. I don’t want to read about a kid; I want to read about the love bunnies. Everybody else can go take a hike. And why do I have to wait until next chapter for a POV change?! What if I want to know what they think now, when it’s most important and fresh in my mind?

And so Beauty and the Beast was born—renamed The BeastKing Chronicles now. A series, but really all one story. A story that could continue on and on for an eternity, because it follows an immortal. A story whose romance doesn’t end in a single volume to trade for another minor-character couple, or end in a family and a happily-ever-after. A story that’s full of trials, just like life—but extraordinary trials, such as you could never actually live. A story full of characters who would be phenomenal or terrible to meet in person—the kind that could make you lust or scream, murder or sex up.

Don’t you want to read that kind of story?

What kind of story do you want to read?
And why aren’t you writing it?

Gu Family Book

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

I’m newly hooked on the Korean TV drama series Gu Family Book!

For those of you who haven’t watched any Korean dramas, they are in actual Korean, available with English subtitles. One of the things I have come to appreciate about Korean dramas is their level of expression. In theater (i.e. live plays and shows, with actors on stage), actors are often over-expressive compared to TV shows and movies, in an effort to engage their audience and make them feel like participants in the show. Korean dramas carry this over-expressive element, even though they are filmed. Sadly, some viewers may view this as bad acting (particularly those of us who are more accustomed to Hollywood acting).

For those of you who are anime fans, in some ways Gu Family Book is reminiscent of the manga/anime Naruto, but also of Inuyasha. The storyline follows a boy who is half human and half nine-tailed fox. The first two episodes of Gu Family Book follow the boy’s parents: the human daughter of a framed Korean lord, and the thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox forest guardian. The rest of the series (so far, and I’m on episode 10 out of 24) follows their son, Choe Kangchi, who was sent down the river like Moses (aka baby in a basket) and taken in by a struggling merchant. Kangchi grew up with no knowledge of his origins, other than being found on the river, so when he comes into his power, it’s a big surprise—and one his adopted family doesn’t know or understand.

Part of what makes Gu Family Book so interesting, is that you and the monk watch history repeat itself…only to question whether it will actually turn out exactly the same this time around. Another interesting thing is that Gu Family Book is very unlike any of the other Korean dramas I have watched, and a friend of mine who recommended it said the same thing. It’s not as lighthearted. There is plenty to laugh at past the first couple episodes. But there are also depressing themes, like watching the fall of a wealthy house twice over—the father framed and murdered as a traitor, the older brother tortured, the beautiful daughter sold to a courtesan house (which is like a cross between a geisha house and a brothel), and the rest of the household sold into slavery.

So if you’re one for historic cultural legends, two-sided characters (with one side being a beast nature), and female characters that refuse to go quietly into the night, I recommend giving Gu Family Book a try.

I admit, Kangchi’s father Wol-Ryung is my favorite; he wins the charming award when he’s normal, and the sexy award when he goes dark. Here are some video clips of his romance.

Flowcharts are Useful

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

Flow charts are really useful. No, really, they are. You don’t even have to draw all the little boxes (though I suppose you can, if you really like shapes; who knows, maybe drawing will stimulate the creative side of your brain!). Or maybe it’s technically called a “web” if you just have ideas and lines. But I don’t like the spider insinuations, so I’m going with “flow chart.”

“But WHY should I care about flow charts?” you’re probably asking. “What does this have to do with actual story progress?”

Everything. It has EVERYTHING to do with story progress.

See, sometimes I’ll just see things–almost like a vision. Whole scenarios will play out in my head, like I’m watching a real-life video. And when I write, I just write what I see. If I can’t describe it accurately enough, I draw a picture or create a diagram or make a list of possible alternate words to record the idea until I find the words to describe it.

But sometimes, a story can get bogged down by ideas. If you have too many ideas, and no clue how to organize them, you can hit just as much of a block as if you had no ideas. I might know exactly where I want to go, and what I want to happen before I get there, but how do I actually get there?

And that, my friends, is where Mr. Flow Chart comes in

Writing Style Change

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

I realized after working on finishing chapter 2, and then jumping back to work on chapter 10, that my writing style has changed again. … Drat. This is a problem. I went from uber broad, to social-centered, and now to super detailed.

Given that the prologue isn’t supposed to fit style-wise with anything…except maybe some future “interludes” to give dramatic insight (foreshadowing) into some not-so-closely-followed characters. Or maybe ultimately I’ll just end up making the prologue read like the rest of the novel. I don’t know at this point.

But the problem I’m having that chapters 1 & 2 don’t read like 4 & 5, and 6 & 7 stand out above the rest like a monument–which is finally being overshadowed by the not-so-eventful chapter 10. And somewhere roundabout the scourge on my writing abilities/conscience that is chapter 8, my writing style tried to mutate once again. So I went back and added more detail to chapters 1 & 2…only to discover that my writing style has mutated AGAIN, and this time it’s so detail-oriented that I either have to scrap what I’ve rewritten and go back to the original, or revert the whole thing (all 10 chapters) to detail.

And, well, sorry to those of you that like a simple or easygoing read, but…I think detail is gonna win out on this one. The story just…READS better with the details; the emotion comes across more vividly. And really, the emotion is what this story is all about. If this story reads in monotone for you, you have every reason to call it trash. So at the risk of sensory overload (which is how my dad reacted when I read him the first couple lines of the dream sequence in chapters 1&2), I will be converting the story.

No worries. Basic plotline stays the same. No new plotline “events,” I think; just more social interactions (aka dialogues), and loads more description where there isn’t dialogue. …We’ll see about how much description ends up framing the dialogue.