Character Perspective
A beta who is helping me with my editing- Cherra- brought this to my attention. I thought I’d give some insight into the way I write. Writing a series when it is the same lead character is easier on the reader and the writer. I, however, love the twisted world of writing each book as a new character. This leads to some confusion for the reader. I want readers to reread my work. I want them to get their money’s worth out of me. I pepper my writing with clues and Easter eggs. Those who know my voice can pick some of it up clearly. Other times it’s so subtle that on the reread you will yell, “AH-HA!” That is what I want from my readers. I want to surprise them and shock them. I want to leave them hungry for more. I want them to reread my story.
This is an issue for the reader though, especially in the beginning of a series. I started this series thinking I would write a fun, flirty novella. It turned into a dark and twisted novel with a punch of humor to lighten the premise. As I wrote Unleashed an opportunity presented its self for me to write each additional book from a different character’s perspective. I chose Dexter as the nexus to all the characters. We knew him and his book helps us stay connected to all the characters we fell in love with during Katya’s books. I follow Dexter up with Dalton. I chose him because he is the nexus to the rest of the cast of characters. I feel that Dexter didn’t get a full length book because I used him to keep us in connection with the side characters and introduce a few more. He is perfect for this though since we know him so well from Book 1&2. This is where Cherra’s statements come into play.
Dexter seems stronger in 1&2 than he did in his own book. Perspective. This was Katya’s view on Dexter before she knew him. Also, we don’t walk around and think internal thoughts about ourselves- “I’m a badass sadist- run!”
Her next statement was that Ezra also seems weaker in his Masterdom. When Katya met Ezra she didn’t know him. She was slightly afraid of him. As she fell hard for him we heard her thoughts on him. Now we are on Dexter and Dalton- obviously they do not LOVE Ezra so their thoughts are different. It’s all about the perspective of the characters.
This presents another challenge. The Point of View Character can only know what he knows. He only sees things as he sees them. He can only interact with the characters in his circle. Dexter has strong ties to the “gang” from the Katya Waters books, so expect a lot of face time with these characters. Dalton doesn’t know them. He brings forth a different view with different characters.
Another issue is that people lie to each other and lie to themselves. Cherra questioned a few of the character’s motives. My only response to this is simply: we can’t know what we don’t see. My character’s aren’t one dimensional nor are they omnificent. But this does offer an opportunity to see things from everyone’s point of view. This is why a reread is important. I want my readers to know that I did not jump the shark. Your characters’ personalities are set in stone. I know them better than anyone else- I created them. They live in my imagination. So from say, Dexter’s prospective he hears or sees something you have to have faith in me. Know your characters. Know that I wrote them the way they should be. & when you finally delve into their thoughts it will become clear. A story is about mystery, suspense, love and lust. I want surprises. I want to be shocked. I do not want to be predictable. Have faith in me and reread when it’s complete. I am their puppet master and it’s a heady feeling.
I thank Cherra for asking me questions and making statements. It allows me to explore my reasoning and express it.
I want readers to know a bit about my characters. Here is some of their core personality traits and they NEVER will deviate from these.
Katya: Strong willed, fun, and compassionate.
Ezra: Controlled and never controlled by others. Have faith.
Cortez: Jealous, snarky, and loyal.
Marcus: Needs to control. Domineering. Family comes first.
A glimpse into our new Masters:
Dexter: Sees his sadism as a gift for a true masochist. Romantic and longs for a family.
Dalton: Dark, tortured, emo who is coming to terms with his true self.
Wicked Insanity
These past few months have been a wicked ride. In the past 8 weeks I have published two books and written two more that will be released on July 13th. To say I feel stressed would be an understatement.
The past week in the life of Erica Chilson: Brought to you by: AMP energy drinks.
In the past week alone I thought I’d lost my mind. I have nearly written a book in one week- it will be Thursday. & hopefully the book will be completed by then. In one week’s time I have fixed errors to both Restraint & Unleashed and loaded the revised editions on Amazon and B&N. I finished writing Dexter, edits, sent it to the betas, collected edits and made revisions. In this time I also wrote Dalton and helped create two book covers with my sister’s expertise. I revamped the Written Word blog. Held a Bloghop on two different blogs and already have the prizes sent to the winners. I revamped my personal Facebook page and created a new Facebook page specifically for fans of my writing. I loaded the information for both books on Goodreads. I also posted several blog posts. I maintained my connections on all the sites I frequent. I’m sure I am forgetting something. Oh, yeah…sleep. If I could turn the voices off in my head I could take a break, but they demand to have a voice. No one can accuse me of being lazy ever again. I broke two records for myself: Wrote a book in a week with all that stuff going on at the same time & breached the 14,000 word mark for words written in a day.
I was asked earlier if pushing out a book is a good idea- like with most things it creates an inferior product. That isn’t the case for me. It is about getting the first draft completed to get the information out of my head before I go crazy. It compounds on top of more and more info. I wrote a serialize storyline writer’s insanity in a previous blog. The first draft is just the first step. You write it. Edited it. Send it to betas and wait, while waiting I do promotions for the book and create covers. Then I write something else. As beta feedback trickles in I edit the mistakes. And go back to writing the new book. When the new book is finished I go back and do scene edits to the first book. And this is the vicious cycle of my life. Would I change it? NO. Would I slow down? Yes, if they voices in my head would shut up for a damn minute!
News:
Restraint will be free July 13-15 in celebration of the release of Dexter and Dalton. Also in celebration of my 34th birthday on July 11th. If you’d like to give me well wishes I would appreciate some word of mouth as presents. Just share or recommend my book- it will be free after all. I thank you in advance 😉
The reason I am releasing two books simultaneously was apparent when this evening I received two emails just minutes apart. Here they are. They made me giggle, so I have to share them.
I promise the word CUNT is a term of endearment. Just kidding. It’s an inside joke on authors who leave us wanting more in a bad way… It hurt so good.
I have some more stuff to say, but it would be better in its own posting.
Happy Wicked Reading
Summer BlogHop Giveaway Winners!
Summer Bloghop Winners!
First I would love to say thanks for participating in the Bloghop. I hope you all had a good time visiting all the various blogs and finding new authors to read and blogs to follow. I hope we fed your addiction of Wicked Reads!
The Winner of the Digital Gift Basket is RAE from Lyric James’ Blog.
Congratulations Rae
Her comment was: I would love to read Something Wet! Thanks for the chance to win it!
The Winner of the $100 Eden’s Fantasy gift card is Andieleah from Donya Lynne’s blog
Congratulations Andieleah
Her comment was: I would want to be taken anywhere we would have a chance to be caught!
I decided to give TWO winners from each of my blogs!
The Winners of an ebook copy of Restraint & Unleashed from Wicked Reads Blog:
Krissys Bookshelf
isnt it fabulous that we can all discover each other and take part of something so fabulous!? i just love it! not only do you get to discover a great blog which im now following you have the chance to win tons of great prizes while youre at it! happy blog hop!
&
A Bi-Submissive’s Journey in the Vanilla World
I will have to pick up one of your books, my addiction can always use a fix
The Winners of an ebook copy of Restraint & Unleashed from Erica Chilson’s Written Word Blog:
OH! I just saw your book from a friend – I love Bookie Nookie. I have added your book to my TBR list on GR. I’m so glad you are on this blog hop. Please add me to the giveaway.
&
Carin W.
Thank you for the chance to win, I am following by email and twitter and I added your books to my TBR in goodreads. Thanks
Thank you to everyone who participated and I hope to see you on our next Hop this winter. Happy Wicked Reading!
Hot Summer Nights Erotica BlogHop
Hot Summer Nights Erotica Bloghop begins June 20- June 24th. Please click the above photo for a list of links of the participating blogs. 112 Blogs are participating, each giving away their own prizes. Each comment also enters you into the two HUGE giveaways. A digital gift basket of over 40 books to fill your Kindle & a $100 gift card from Eden’s Fantasy. I am also giving away a copy of my books Restraint & Unleashed. Please just leave a comment and sign up to Follow Erica Chilson’s Written Word via Email. For additional entries follow me on Twitter and add my books on Goodreads. Please add in your comment that you did so for the additional entries. Please check out Wicked Reads for more chances to enter the HUGE giveaway as well as my books with additional chances to win by following via email and on Facebook. Here are the amazing prizes!!!
I would like to thank Skye Warren for organizing this event. Please give her your thanks as well!
A serialized storyline writer’s insanity!
I’m feeling a lil insane at the moment. I am two chapters away from finishing Dexter’s book. He is satisfied with his book and so quiet inside my head I am having trouble finishing his story to my satisfaction. Meanwhile, my mind is a circus. I have at least ten people screaming at me wanting their voices heard. It’s maddening!
Katya is calmly sitting next to Dexter and Monica chatting about the weather. She knows she is last on the list and is patiently waiting her turn. Marcus and Cort are in the center of the room locking horns, and I don’t mean that in the sexual sense. The are having a fight of dominance to see who is top dog. They are so annoying that they aren’t even fighting over who gets the next book, they know it’s not them. They are just fighting because that is what they are best at. Ava is twirling her hair around her pinkie with a satisfied smirk on her face. Diane is standing in the balcony looking down at us all watching the chaos she created.
The next character is awfully quiet. He was bothering me two days ago and has since shut the hell up when everyone else raised their voices. He better start chirping again in a few days or I am screwed.
I am going insane because I cannot write what they want fast enough. I have threads all over the place that wants to be woven into the story, but it has to wait until its character is voiced. My mind is whirling as I figure out who best to speak the events that are unfolding. Whose perspective is appropriate for what situation. The next book is solidified, he knows he’s next so he is eerily quiet.
This is what I am living with, sleeping through, and thinking endlessly about. There is no peace. And the more I write the worse it gets because the story evolves into something more complex. Had I known two and a half months ago, that fine Thursday morning, when I woke up to the idea of Katya Waters that it would turn into such chaos would I have fostered the idea? Yes, I would have. It’s rewarding in its madness.
All I can say is that these books will be my life until their completion. The fact that I will finish the next book in the series 7 days after the last’s release tells you how demanding the muse is being. The next character was screaming so loudly that I interrupted my 2 day hiatus to write again so I could get to his book faster.
M&M of Restraint is a twisted series that is playing out inside my imagination. It keeps evolving into a larger creation. I have to get their words out to save my sanity.
I will say that Dexter and the following book will be released in conjunction together. I do this because otherwise I would risk the readers’ wrath. Dexter ends with an explosive conclusion and it would piss off the readers if I left them hanging. Never fear- my character will not let me slack for a damn minute. You will get their books as fast as I can type them.
BTW, I thought I have a smudge of something on my space bar. I scrubbed away at it until I noticed that it wasn’t budging. I looked closely and noticed the white mark was an indent. I have worn the finish off my space bar with my left thumb. It is a large gouge. I’ve typed 400,000 words in less than a year. Combine that with blog postings, book reviews, and chatting on Facebook and emails I know I’ve hit the half a million mark. No one can doubt my status as a writer at this point.
Both Wicked Reads the blog and the Facebook page is going to hell. I don’t have the time to read, let alone write up a review. I am thankful that Amber is at least paying attention to the fans of Wicked Reads. I am lucky if I get a short story read. I waited an entire year to read LKH’s Kiss The Dead and I’ve read 5 pages of it before “the unknown character” started screaming at me. “Hey, it’s my turn next, dammit. Get to typing, you lazy bitch.” Yes, the next character is an asshole. My NookColor is weeping next to me. His charger cord was smashed two weeks ago and I’ve yet to replace it. That tells you how much reading I’ve accomplished. I’ve used the Nook app on my laptop and all the while Dexter winks at me from the tool bar. Yeah, he gets my attention first and foremost. Trueblood season 5 starts on Sunday and I should be going nuts with anticipation. I’m not. I haven’t even bothered to buy the newly released season 4 dvds- eventually. Maybe I will tomorrow- who knows?
So please forgive my absence as I write. I promise I am not being lazy. My Mother is having a fit because my help has diminished the more my muse screams in my head. I apologize.
In the end I will have created an entire world where people live and breathe. I will bring life to my imagination. I hope I am sane when it’s completed!!
Erica Chilson: The Wicked Writer 