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We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Thursday 18 November 2010

Magic Thursday: Hell Hath No Fury....

Hi y'all,

Welcome to this week's MAGIC THURSDAY GIVEAWAY!

You know that saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."?

Well, as an author who can't seem to write anything without adding a paranormal element, my take on it was slightly different: "Hell hath no fury like a Felinoid demon scorned." Or to be even more precise, "Hell hath no fury like those secondary characters who want their own darn story!"

You see, when I started writing my first published novella, Even Demons Get The Blues, I had the hero, Rez, and the heroine, Leisa, firmly fixed in my head. I knew exactly where their story was going, and how they'd finally get their Happy Ever After -- despite interference from Lucifer, Sentinels, Destroyer demons and pesky little things like Destiny-with-a-capital-D.

Here's my thumbnail of Leisa:

She sure looks like an angel but she’s on a slippery slope straight to Hell. Under the influence of a Destroyer demon, she was provoked into committing a terrible crime. She’s lost everyone she loves and she’s filling the empty space in her soul with alcohol and casual sex. And those morning afters, when she wakes up next to some guy and can’t even remember his name, sure ain’t pretty.

Rezon is the sole surviving Drakon demon, and the most badass demon in Hell. He spent the last 4000 years as his king’s enforcer. And no one kicked demon butt better than Rez. But he got fed up with all the gory bickering and back-stabbing, and much to King Asmodeus’s disgust, Rez opted out and took up Beguiling. When he can be bothered fulfilling his quotas, Rez is the quintessential poster-boy of the Beguiler Unit… until he cops a glimpse of Leisa.

So I'd envisioned the characters, I knew where the story was going, and I wrote it. No problem. Easy peasy, right?

Um, not exactly.

What I didn't know was that I'd end up with such vivid secondary characters. In fact, they were so vivid -- not to mention mouthy and sarcastic and just plain fascinating -- that I had real trouble scaling them back and letting Rez and Leisa, take centre-stage.

Heck, this aforementioned Felinoid demon, Naamah, even tried to take over the entire first chapter! She was the hero's sometime lover. She'd had a crush on him for centuries, ever since he'd saved her from being eaten when she was a mewling wee demonling. Her talent was Beguiling, and by crikey, she was gonna continue to beguile Rez -- whether he liked it or not! She was sooo not impressed when I was forced to inform her that this story was not all about her. The shrieks and tantrums when I cut her scenes were enough to make even my dead-straight hair curl.

And don't even get me started on Asmodeus, the Demon King. That amoral, sarcastic, painfully handsome devil could quite easily take up 100 pages or so, just on his own. He was so much fun to write. Little wonder that one of my editors would go on to comment that my novellas were novels trying to break free, LOL.

I got there in the end and managed to keep to the word-count and make my secondary characters toe the line. Go me!

But although Even Demons Get The Blues was most definitely Rez and Leisa's story, I kept dwelling on poor Naamah. She'd lost Rez to Leisa. She'd managed to, excuse my language, royally piss Asmodeus off. She had all the self-esteem of a flea and didn't believe herself worthy of being loved. And it broke my heart to leave her that way.

So what's a broken-hearted writer to do?

Well, folks, that's what my Blubber.doc file is for. Every time I cut a scene I really love, it gets pasted into the Blubber file. My theory is that the characters you're forced to scale back in your current work-in-process won't hate you and haunt you quite so much if you don't consign their scenes to the trash. They'll just lurk and prey on your mind for a while instead. And then, KAPOW! They'll pounce on your unsuspecting muse.

Hence, when it came time to write Let Sleeping Demons Lie, the second novella, I had a few really great scenes for Naamah already good to go. Not to mention a few spotlight scenes to keep Asmodeus happy till I get around to writing his HEA. But that's a whole 'nother story ;-)

Well, that's it from me.... except for the giveaway of course!

So to thank you all for being patient while I rambled on, I'd like to offer a giveaway to a commenter who can tell me:

1) what kind of demon Rez is, and
2) what kind of demon Naamah is.

From those who 've answered correctly I'll choose one commenter at random.

And the prize?

A choice of either an electronic copy of Even Demons Get The Blues or Let Sleeping Demons Lie -- feel free to note your preference when you leave a comment.

BTW: Both these novellas are standalones, although there are recurring characters. And if you can't decide which one to choose, you can read the blurbs for both books (plus there are links to excerpts) on the My Books page of my website.

I'll draw a winning commenter next Wednesday (24th November), so check back then.

Cheers!
Maree

19 comments:

  1. Hi Maree :)
    REZ is the last Drakon demon.
    NAAMAH is a Felinoid demon.
    If I am lucky enough to win, I'd pick:
    Even Demons Get The Blues
    :)
    Thank you for the post & the opportunity,
    All the best,
    RKCharron

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  2. wow, I don't know what kind of demons they are (even though RK gave the answer up above ) But, damn! They sound sexy. I have been on a demon kick lately and these books sound yummy!

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  3. REZ is the sole surviving DRAKON demon
    and NAAMAH is a FELINOID demon
    these books sound AWESOME, thanks for the contest:)
    If I win I'd like...'Even Demons Get The Blues'
    thanks
    Cth
    cbcowley@gmail.com

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  4. Hi RK -- great to see you here, dude! And you are totally correct about Rez and Naamah, of course *VBG*

    Sharon -- we're all very casual, here. So I'll just plug in the answer for you: Rez is a Drakon (aka dragon demon) and Naamah is Felinoid (aka cat demon). In her Felinoid form she's got THE most gorgeous glossy fur, but she's terribly ashamed of her animal side, so she prefers to appear human. Silly girl. Sigh.

    Cath, LOL! Looks like you need another coffee like me? The other day I spelled my surname wrong when I registered for a website newsletter. So now they all start off with, "Hello, Maree Andreson"... How embarassing o_0.

    Thanks for visiting, everyone. And you're all in the draw. Good luck!

    M

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  5. Fabulous post, Maree. Yeah, it's a kicker when those secondary characters just won't say secondary. The good thing is - you've got the next thing to write already lined up :)

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  6. I adore a good secondary character getting their own story. So if Rez is a drakon demon and Naamah is a felinoid demon and I'm lucky enough to be picked I'd love a copy of Let Sleeping Demons Lie!

    H! :)

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  7. Nicole -- Hoh boy. Do they ever get cranky and cause me sleepless nights until I give in and write them a story, LOL.

    Maree -- Good luck with the draw! And if you win, please let me know whether you thought Naamah deserved her own story. Awesome name, BTW. I see someone else's mother liked the double 'e' version ;-) Do you ever get your name pronounced MAAHree instead of mahREE?

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  8. I enjoyed your post, Maree! I also love it when secondary characters explode from the page and demand their own stories! It's a cause for celebration. :)

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  9. Aw, thanks heaps for popping in, Nicole and I'm thrilled you enjoyed the post. I do sometimes worry that people will think I'm certifiable when I talk about characters demanding their very own HEA, so it's a relief to have fellow author friends who "get" it.

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  10. Maree - those tricky secondary characters wanting to hog the limelight. I don't know - why don't characters just behave? :D I suppose it would be boring if they did.

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  11. Eleni, I think they misbehave purely because they can! And they know we'll eventually give them the HEA they deserve, even if we're forced to put them through the ringer a bit first ;-)

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  12. REZ is the last surviving Drakon demon.
    NAAMAH is a Felinoid demon.

    Haven't read the book but it does sound interesting. I do love finding new authors to read. :D

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  13. Hi Maree-
    I loved your ramble, and have added both books to my TBR list. Personally, I love it when series feature secondary characters from previous books and they get a HEA - it's like finding out what happened to old friends.

    For the contest:
    REZ is the last Drakon (dragon) demon.
    NAAMAH is a Felinoid (cat) demon.
    If I am lucky enough to win, I'd pick:
    Even Demons Get The Blues

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  14. @shanghi65 -- Gold star for you *VBG*. Thanks heaps for visiting the Dark Side. And good luck with the draw!

    Devon -- I feel the same way when I read books featuring much-loved secondary characters. It's so satisfying finding out what's happened to them. And hey, thanks for checking out the From The Ashes excerpt on my website and taking time to leave a comment. Thrilled you liked it!

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  15. Wow, how come I haven't read these?
    They both sound great!
    And heee, they must be beyond awesome to demand their own novella! :P

    I'd love to enter the contest! :)

    Rez is sole surviving Drakon demon and Naamah is a Felinoid demon!

    yvantis[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  16. Kelly -- thank you! I loved writing these characters. They were a heap of fun and really kept me on my toes, LOL. Good luck with the draw!

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  17. Rez is a Drakon Demon
    Naamah is a Felinoid Demon

    If I am lucky enough to win I would pick 'Let Sleeping Demons Lie'

    I like to read the stories about secondary characters, because they usually have a great history of their own that is not always looked at in books.

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  18. Skye -- good point! I gotta admit, I often end up reading a standalone book in a series and then going back and buying all the earlier ones because I'm dying to know the history of certain characters. Thanks for stopping by the Dark Side and good luck for the draw!

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