Creative Characters: Writing Jessie & Tyra

CREATIVE CHARACTERS: WRITING JESSIE & TYRA

It always sneaks up me, the releases I mean. I've been having a reduced schedule the past few years so I've not yet gotten back into the groove of releasing books. Hopefully that will change next year, but my point is such that I didn't realise how close we were to release, and since I always planned to talk about the third Cramping Chronicles book around this time, it was a bit of a surprise when I came to writing my blog posts this morning and found it was already time!

So for those new to my blog, I generally, around the time of release, go into a bit more depth about what it was like writing the main characters of the story. For those who know nothing about the CRAMPING CHRONICLES series, lemme give you a little insight. It's a YA urban fantasy series that deals with Jessie, who's 15, and disabled with M.E and Fibromyalgia. She's also an empath. She has the ability to feel certain people's emotional and physical pain, and in the first two books, she was trying to get a handle on it, in book three, she's finally found a tutor in all things empath and is hoping to learn how to control her ability.

Only there's a problem, while learning, Jessie also has to deal with another new trigger, Tyra, and Tyra happens to be the school bully. While Jessie wouldn't want to leave anyone in pain if she could help it, the fact that Tyra has taken an instant dislike to Jessie doesn't help matters. So while dealing with Tyra's pain, Jessie also has to juggle some other issues, like whether or not she should tell her parents about her ability, and learning more and more about the empath life, and what it holds for her. This third book also launches us into finding out the background and lore of what being an empath means, and you're gonna be in for a ride!

So what was it like writing Jessie, a character I've grown close to, opposite the school bully who has her own secrets to hide? Lemme jump into it!

WRITING JESSIE

Jessie has been through a lot in the first two books, she found Meera, her girlfriend, but she also found a whole lot of pain to go along with it. While she knows a little about being an empath, it was really only dealing with Marcus' pain in book two that pushed her into getting a tutor, and bringing Lucas into the picture. Jessie has always been sure that she wants to deal with things on her own. She doesn't want to tell her parents about her ability, and now isn't any different. The problem is, that after what happened with Meera, and then again with Marcus, she knows she doesn't always have the tools to deal with problems that arise and even though she wants to be an adult about it, there are some things she's gonna need parental help with.

Bringing Lucas into the picture helped, but once things started to become clear that there was a whole lot more about Jessie, and her ability, that he wasn't going to be able to help her with, she's kinda stuck between making a choice that might backfire, or going it alone and hoping for the best. Enter Tyra, a bully who seems to think Jessie, and the world, owe her a favour and it's no wonder that Jessie is hesitant to help. Of course she wants to minimise Tyra's pain, but not at the expense of herself.

Jessie is always a delight to write. I love her wit, her way of dealing with things, and I really do feel like had I been at school with her, she'd have been a fast friend. Of course, there are complications, and Jessie is learning things about herself, her distant relatives, and her ability fast, and there doesn't seem to be any one around to lend a hand. She's in the deep end now, and she's gonna have to learn how to swim.

WRITING TYRA

Tyra was a character that I knew would show up eventually. Most schools have bullies and even if you're popular, you're bound to come across one in some form. Tyra Meadows is the kind of bully I grew up with. The one that seems to think everyone owes them something, and because they've not gotten it handed to them, they'll happily take it by force. Her story is a sad one though, and without giving spoilers, I will say that Tyra has her reasons for acting the way she does, though of course it doesn't excuse it.

Tyra was never going to be someone Jessie instantly got on with, and because of that, they were always going to be at cross-purposes, but the story behind her, the reason for her pain, was one that needed to be told. I did like getting to write Tyra, to bring the kind of person she was to life on the page, and I'm really happy with how she turned out.

Like I said, this book is the start of something huge in the CRAMPING CHRONICLES universe, and because of that there is little I can share about that stuff, but if you're wanting to dive into the series, and pre-order the third book, you can do so here!

I hope you enjoy them!

Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!

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Writing Characters: Jessie & Marcus

WRITING CHARACTERS: JESSIE & MARCUS

As we approach the release of Cramping Chronicles: The Second Pang, I thought that I would delve into writing some of the characters, as well as the dynamic between Jessie and her trigger, Marcus. Last week I talked about writing Jessie and Meera, which can be found here.

For those who don't know the story is a young adult urban fantasy series that deals with Jessie Oliver, who's fifteen, chronically ill, and a new empath. She has the ability to literally feel certain people's physical and mental pain. In the first book, she was getting used to having this ability and how it impacted her life, and in the second, Jessie is making roads into learning how to control it, or at least trying to.

So let's go into writing Marcus, who is the trigger in this book.

MARCUS
I always knew the arc of Marcus' character through this book. I knew things about him long before I sat down to write it, and I also knew that he would have ideas about what Jessie was before she even thought about disclosing things. Marcus is fifteen and in a whole world of hurt. An accident killed his family, and he's trying to work through that grief which has a bit of a personal impact on Jessie, but we'll get to that in a moment.

My editor said it best when she said that Marcus, as a character, does not like things. He's a delight to be around when he's doing okay, but he also has a hair trigger when it comes to certain things. He doesn't want to talk about the accident, understandably, and he doesn't want to even think about how to move past what happened to him, which is, again, understandable. He's in a world of hurt, and isolated and alone, he's really struggling to cope with everything, which is one of the reasons he reacts so badly when Jessie tries to help.

As a character, he was a lot of fun to write, a lot of fun to connect with, and a lot of fun to explore. His arc is so familiar to me, in some ways, and in others not so much, and while I will give trigger warnings for self harm and suicidal ideation, I also feel like his story needed to be told. As someone who had similar issues myself, it was a story that I wanted to do justice and also wanted to have out there for my readers.

WRITING THE DYNAMIC
One of the things that I didn't know going into the first draft was that there already was a connection between Jessie and Marcus that neither one of them was aware of. I won't go into detail here because I feel like it would spoil the book, but that connection really drives the dynamic between the two of them.

Jessie is getting to a point where she needs a tutor, she needs some kind of control over her ability and she doesn't have the first clue where to start. She is struggling with school, with her triggers and everything that goes with them, and while she wants, very much, to help Marcus, it's hard to balance all of that together. Marcus on the other hand doesn't want to be looked at or helped because of pity. He's clear in what he wants, he has his plan, and he'll stop at nothing to get it done, and that was something that I really wanted to make sure stayed obvious throughout their arc, and development.

Overall, I loved writing the two of them, and I adore the way this book has shaped up and has come together. Like I said, you can pre-order here, the book is coming November 15th 2022, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Any questions? Lemme know in the comments below!

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Writing Characters: Jessie & Meera

WRITING CHARACTERS: JESSIE & MEERA

I always try and do these pieces in the run up to release. I know that I did one on writing Jessie and Meera for the first book, Cramping Chronicles: The First Twinge, which can be found here. However, since they both have a change in relationship when it comes to book two, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit them both. You can pre-order Cramping Chronicles: The Second Pang here, it comes out on November 15th!

So, for those who don't know, the series revolves around Jessie, who's fifteen, chronically ill and disabled, and has also recently become an empath. She can literally feel certain people's physical and mental pain. She was thrown into the deep end in the first book, and the second is really no different. So what's it been like writing these characters with all the changes going on?

JESSIE
Let's start here because she's the main character, and one that I really do vibe with the most. Jessie is changing in this second book, she started off being newly disabled and struggling with everything going on with starting a new school, and having to make new friends. She has those friends now, and she even has a girlfriend, but she's still a little on edge with the empath ability. She knows some, thanks to a friend on the forum, but she doesn't really have a big grasp on what to do when she gets more triggers, and this book delivers a trigger in a massive way.

Writing Jessie has always been a delight. I feel like I empathise with her the most, because like me, she has M.E and Fibromylagia, though her symptoms differ from mine and are more severe in some ways. I love getting to bring her to life on the page and getting to see her shine through the words. She's struggling with a lot in the second book. She has to worry about telling Meera the truth about her empath ability, she has to deal with a complicated new trigger, and she still has to keep on top of the piles of homework that she can't focus on because of all the pain she's under. It a lot, and I just like the growth she goes through, and the way she comes out of the other side.

MEERA
Meera is a complicated girl. She went through hell in the first book, and while she's very happily in love with Jessie, she knows there are secrets and she wants to know them all. Of course Jessie is holding back for all the, right in her mind, reasons, but it's hard for Meera to really understand that. I loved developing the relationship between these two and loved the way she's grown and changed over the course of both the first book, and the second.

Writing Meera was a tad harder than writing Jessie. I very much adore her as a character, but I always worry that I'm not quite getting her voice right. My editor tells me differently, but it's been nice to revise and bring the book to the point it is at now.

So there we go, that's what writing those characters has been like, if you have any questions, lemme know in the comments, and don't forget to pre-order Cramping Chronicles: The Second Pang here!

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Revisitng Lock & Clara: The End

REVISITING LOCK & CLARA: THE END

It's been a long time since I first put pen to paper and started the first book in the Lights Out trilogy, a good six of seven years, maybe even longer than that and yet it feels like that time has sped forward and here we are, with only a month or so until the third and final book will be in readers hands. It's a strange feeling, but a good one, nice to be seeing the end of all that hard work come to fruition and also a chance to share with my readers where Lock, Clara and the others all end up.

So for those who want to pre-order, the link is here, and if you want some of the pre-order goodies, the form for that is here.

For those who don't know, the Lights Out world is one where ageing stops at twenty-five and all life ends at sixty. You get to live to see your sixtieth birthday and the day after you are called to an event where you are humanely euthanised. Lock has been there since the start, she was the one who noticed some discrepancies in the ages and then went on to start the revolution that was very much needed. I won't get into more detail here because spoilers.

Given that I have only ever finished a series to fully published once before, I kinda feel like some of the feelings that have come up, have been ones that I had when saying goodbye to Tara from the Dying Thoughts series, and I better get used to it because I have at least two other series completely written that will be slowly published over the next few years. I thought that I would go a little bit more into detail what it was like writing the end of this series, for these characters and all that goes with it.

WRITING LOCK
I feel like I know Lock so very well that she might as well have been sitting next to me while I wrote her story. I'd written other disabled characters, like Hope, but there was something very special about Lock. She wasn't like me in any way, and while I do believe that writers do put some parts of themselves in their characters, the only thing we have in common is that we both use wheelchairs, and even then it's for completely different reasons.

Writing her story was a lot different for me than any other book I'd written up until that point, I'd never done dystopian before, though I have always enjoyed reading it, and it was a chance to jump into a genre that I loved and see if I could do it justice. I had some idea of what I wanted the world to be like, but as the story grew, so did the world, and while I went on to write another dystopian quartet, I couldn't have done that without cutting my teeth on Lock and her story.

I have worked with Lock for so long, and this last round of editing to get the book into shape was a hard, arduous path, but I have made it to the finish line and I couldn't be happier to end Lock's story on a high note. I won't spoil anything because I hate spoilers myself, but I am so very happy with how it ends, and I hope my readers will be too.

WRITING CLARA
Clara was, for all intents and purposes, not created as Lock's love interest. When I first started the series, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a series, and also that Clara would just be a friend supporting her through it all. How wrong was I?? Clara was quick to point out the way things worked, and she and Lock fell in love on the page and I was very much along for the ride.

Clara does share some traits with me in that she's quick to adapt to change and make a plan, and writing her part of the story was hard as hell, because I didn't want to be doing it wrong, to not do her actions justice. Overall, I feel like I pulled it off with thanks to my editors, who were quick to point out where there were parts that needed a little more work, and now I can look at the last book, close that final chapter and be happy with where I left my characters.

So there we go, that's the end, almost, to the Lights Out trilogy, like I said, if you want to pre-order, you can do so here, and if you want to sign up to read an ARC, the form is here. I hope you all enjoy the book!

Any questions? Lemme know the comments down below!

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Cramping Chronicles: The First Twinge - Writing Gray, Craig & Rowena

WRITING GRAY, CRAIG AND ROWENA

With Cramping Chronicles: The First Twinge coming out on October 13th (pre-order here) I thought I would continue to share with you about what it was like writing three of the other characters since I already wrote about Jessie and Meera (found here). If you don't know, this book is a YA Urban Fantasy and the first in a series, with chronic illness rep and a bunch of other fun things.

The plot is simply that Jessie is fifteen, newly disabled with M.E and Fibromyalgia. She's a full-time wheelchair user and has to start a brand new school because of accessibility issues. A few months before the book starts, Jessie started to feel certain people's physical and emotional pain, she's an empath, and has no idea what lays ahead for her.

Let's start with Gray, he's Jessie's best friend.

WRITING GRAY
Gray had always been one character that I felt very in tune with. He gets Jessie on so many levels and he wants what's best for her, even if he struggles a little with adapting to the change of Jessie no longer being at school with him every day. Gray is aro/ace, lives down the road from Jessie, and is usually there at her place when school finishes.

Gray's the best friend that everyone wants, he grew up with Jessie in that they've been friends since primary school and from there, they've both grown close and gone through all those friendship ups and downs. Gray's the one who works out that Jessie is having some level of pain from him, as one of her triggers Gray wants to make sure that he minimises her pain, but at the same time, he is intrigued by it all. He wants to know more, wants to see where it'll take them, and he's the one that does most of the digging online and off to see if there's a name for what Jessie is experiencing, but also if she's the only one out there.

WRITING CRAIG
Craig was a loner, he knew people at the new school Jessie starts at, but he's always been happily on his own. People misjudge him and when Jessie ends up in his tutor group, he's happy to be the first to actually say hi, and then help her to her first class of the day. Craig's younger sister is disabled, so he's an expert at guiding a wheelchair which is a plus for Jessie since she's not yet got that strength to push herself all over the school.

Craig was a delight to write, I felt like he was another one that I was very much in tune with. He's witty and smart, but he sees things in a very black and white way. There are no shades of grey, you're either doing the right thing, or you're not, and he doesn't have time for people not doing the right thing. Overall, he's someone that should I be fifteen and back at school in my current condition, I'd want on my side.

WRITING ROWENA
Rowena is shy, timid, and another one of those loners. She's not the kind of person who'll call attention to herself and she's not likely to say hello or anything like that. The change comes when she's defending someone she cares about and when that happens, watch out because she will blow her top. Affectionately dubbed Roe by Gray, it's a name she embraces and she's there to both support and help Jessie through these tough times.

Rowena was someone I loved writing because she had that soft exterior but yet was ready to jump in and defend Jessie or any of her friends when the need arose, and she could be brittle, icy and stiff if the need arose. I loved exploring her character and as the series progresses I love writing Roe's character arc.

So there we go, that's some snippets about the other three characters in the first book, and don't forget to pre-order it here. Do you have any questions? Lemme know in the comments below!

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5 Facts About My Main Characters [CC]

Giving you 5 Facts about each of my current main characters! #Authortube

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Lock & Lana in the Future

LOCK AND LANA IN THE FUTURE

People have asked me where I got the idea for Lights Out from. I've talked about it before in passing, but never really gone into detail. This is the idea that sparked my series on telling the difference between standalones and series when plotting out an idea. I had the premise for Lights Out, but I thought, at the time, that it was a standalone. Turns out I was wrong, very very wrong.

However the idea itself came from a talk with a friend of mine. Kim and I were discussing a few premises for a show we both enjoy, and one of the things that came to mind was a society where everyone was, supposedly, equal, but that due to the lack of resource and such, they were humanely euthanasied when they turned sixty. The idea bloomed in my mind and that's what brought me to this point, with the trilogy finished and the first book releasing in a ten days or so.

But as usual, when I'm about to have a book released, I like to give you the basics of what it was like writing the main players as it were. With Lights Out, that's Lock and Lana. I'll go over them individually and if I have space and time, them as a couple as well. Strap in folks, we're going to the United English Cityships!

WRITING LOCK
Lock was pretty easy to get into the mind of. She was a staunch believer in the system, having benefited from it in the work she does, and also because her parents had raised her to trust the King and everything he stood for. Lock is 18, disabled and in a long-term relationship with Lana, who I'll get to in a moment. She's a person of colour, but so many people are these days. I wanted to write her story simply because I felt like she was the best person to tell it.

She'd come at it from a different view point than Lana and had grown up as a second child in a world where children were rationed the same as everything else. Lock had been, in some ways, afforded a privilege in that she had loving parents until her father went for his final sleep nine years before the book takes place. Her mother is kind and loving, and while Lock is at a disadvantage being disabled (she lost her right leg above the knee in an accident when she was a child) she's able to work in the security office at the base. She's also in charge of checking people in for their final sleep so she knows how these things work. While for other people that might have been horrifying, for Lock it all made sense. There wasn't enough to go around and people lived for a hell of a long time these days, better to have this law than anarchy.

WRITING LANA
Lana is, pretty much, on the opposite side of the spectrum to Lock. She hates the regime, she hates the sixty year law. And even though she came from a position of power, her parents are very influential and wealthy, she rejects that when she meets Lock at school while training to go into the working world. Lana ended up in the same job, bar a slightly different area, as Lock because of luck and a little help from her girlfriend. She will do whatever she can to get out of doing the side of her job that has her checking in people for their final sleep.

She will turn a blind eye to the protesters, will do whatever she can to make it so that she doesn't have to be a part of what she sees as an injustice, but yet she still willingly takes pay from the base, and she pushes Lock's buttons. It's not that she's a bad person, just that she and Lock don't agree on this, and things are getting dicey.

LOCK & LANA AS A COUPLE
When I first had the idea for the book, when it was still a standalone, I was pretty sure on what the ending would be. I was wrong, as it turned out, but part of that ending was focused on Lock and Lana as a couple. While I'm not going to tell you what it was, nor the ending now, I will say that their relationship changes a lot through the course of the book.

They're butting heads not just because of their different beliefs, but because of the way they both are as people. Lana is a jealous person by nature and isn't fond of the friendship between Lock and a nurse who works the events. Lock is pretty independent and is damn sure she's not about to change that. The dynamic between the two is one that fuelled a lot of those late night writing sessions and I can't wait for you all to read it.

So, if you're intrigued and want to pre-order you can do that here.

If you do pre-order, there is some cool pre-order SWAG in the shape of a bookmark, postcard and cool little sticker. The form for that is here.

And just as a reminder, release date is July 10th!

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Character Flaws - The Creative Process

CHARACTER FLAWS

Something you learn when writing is that no character is perfect. They can't be, because they're, generally, human, and no human is perfect. Part of creating a well-rounded character is giving them flaws that set them off from being the perfect person ever. It's something you notice if, like me, you've spent a lot of your time people watching and creating characters based on faces and actions from those around you. Everyone has flaws and every character has at least one distinct thing that they do wrong or differently to any one else. It's part of the creative process, but it's not something I've touched on before. So today, I'm going to tell you all about character flaws and why they matter in your story.

I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I usually have when creating a character is a name and an idea of what they look like. I know a lot of writers who struggle with the first but always have a good idea of the second. I've been known to troll baby name sites, but in actuality making up names comes pretty easy for me. So once I have that down, I'll start thinking about how they are. I don't always know much about them as a character until I start writing, start finding their voice and such, because I'm a hybrid and that's how I do things (pieces found here and here).

However, I can tell you a few bits and pieces about how I work out what flaws need to apply to each character and how they're not set in stone. Because I do a lot of my character discovery through writing, it's easier for me to pants the majority of it and then tighten things up in revision and edits. But I do have a five-step plan for working out what things they may or may not do and how I get that to translate into tangible flaws. So buckle up, we're going in!

#1 - ARE THEY A GOOD CHARACTER OR NOT?
By this I mean, are they helping the protag or are they actively working against them. Of course no character is one hundred percent bad or good, but asking myself this can give me a good idea as to whether or not they fit the mould for someone who will be helping, or someone who will do whatever they can to put roadblocks in the way of the main plot. Once I have that decided, I can work out the rest. That's not to say that characters don't change sides, because sometimes they do, and sometimes as I'm writing them I realise that I actually have it wrong and it works better if they switch from one side to the other, or even remain indifferent to the plot.

#2 - WHAT'S THEIR FUNDAMENTAL MAKE UP?
In other words, are they honest? Would they be the kind of person to self-sacrifice at whatever cost it may be? Are they going to stand by their words or are they wishy-washy and just wanting to please whoever is in front of them? Do they want to be well-liked or could they not care one iota who likes them or not? Do they find making friends easy? Do they have personal struggles that may not get mentioned in the story itself, but do play a part in their characterisation? Do you they want the same things as other characters and if not, why not? All of these are questions that can be asked and not all of them will have answers, but the idea is to have a general idea about who they are as a person.

#3 - HOW HARD ARE THEIR VALUES?
I'm asking myself this because if they're the kind of person who stands by what they say and do, is there anything that would cause them to change that stance? And if there is, what is it and does it come into the story at all? If it's something that can only be reached by high stakes, do I want to put them in that position and see exactly how they react. A lot of the time, this is stuff that won't come up in the story itself, but will give me hints to their flaws and make up. It'll give me a starting point and allow me to move onto the next step.

#4 - WHAT'S THEIR BACKSTORY?
Here's where you get to do a lot more creating. It depends from writer to writer just how much detail you go into here. Personally I have run the gamut of doing a whole load to barely anything. It really just depends on both the character and their role in the story. For example, a main character is going to get a bigger workup than someone who's only in one chapter and doesn't play a bit part. It's of course, dealer's choice, because for some people this is where they really feel like they get to know the character well, and that's okay. I will put a caveat here about not going completely tragic for every character. While yes, there should, may, will, be some that have a very tragic backstory, it's not the case for everyone and it needs to make sense for both the individual character and their part in your story. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

AND FINALLY, #5 - DO THEIR FLAWS MATCH?
There's something to be said for this final one. In all my years of making characters, I've come across some in my own work, and in other works of fiction where I've felt like the flaws don't match the character themselves. Yes, they are a creation of the author, but you have to have things balanced out and matching. You need to make sure that you don't just pile on the flaws for the bad guy and leave the good one without any, or some that barely seem to matter in the grand scheme of things. So this final checkpoint is a way for me to go back over the other four points and make sure that I've not skipped a step along the way. It's saved me from some big mistakes in my writing.

So those are my five ways of working out character flaws. As I said, all characters have them to some degree and if yours don't, then you might need to start thinking about why, and how to change that. No one is perfect, and no character should be either. Good luck!

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Hetti & Layla in the 2050s - Walk A Mile

HETTI & LAYLA IN THE 2050'S

I always have a lot of fun writing these pieces that pop up just before a release and this one is no different. Walk A Mile is out on June 27th, and you can pre-order it here. However, this is the part where I talk about writing the characters and their stories. Which is always fun for me. I got the idea for Walk A Mile from a random thought - what if people could actually be someone else for their version of a mile. I had been having a few bad pain days and it struck me as the perfect way to get out of your body for a bit, even if it was only a short-term thing. And boom, the idea was born. It went from there to the main plot which I'll gloss over since I don't want to spoil anyone.

That said, when I had the idea, I also had a very good picture of who Hetti, the protagonist, and Layla, her best friend and side character, were. I knew what they wanted, who they'd be loyal to. How the events of the book would affect them and all of that jazz. Even though I do a lot of pantsing when I write, I did find myself sticking to the plan with this book a lot more than I've done with others. Hetti came to life in my head and even though I had the idea while still in the middle of two other books, I had to do a lot of thought-dumping - which translates to lots of notepads with scribbles in them about the characters, the world and all of that jazz. If you follow me on Youtube you'll see that on Thursday, I'm giving you 44 facts about the WAM world and you won't want to miss out on that!

Normally when I do these pieces, I'll break them into two parts and focus on each character, and I'm not going to do it any differently now, so here we go:

HETTI
Hetti is your usual eighteen year old, but given the fact that the book is set in 2050, maybe not the usual for this time. She's finished her training and is about to jump into life as a police officer. I'd always wanted to write a more police procedural but also wanted to stay within the young adult section. I would say that WAM could be considered new adult, but for now I'm sticking with YA. Hetti has a lot of feelings about her family. Her sister is sick, her dad works hard and her mum, while overbearing, is doing the best she can. She comes from a working class family and with the changes to health care, they struggle to make ends meet.

That said, Hetti is pretty much delighted to be working. She was never sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she figured she'd work it out before the time came. And then she tested for a police officer and sort of fell into that as a career. Hetti is loyal to a fault. She will see an injustice and she will jump in without any thoughts of safety or danger to herself. She has grown up worrying and helping with her younger sister's care needs. She is very close to her dad, but also finds that being out in the world on her own a little freeing.

When thrown into the story, she takes a few moments to get her feet, but once she does, she goes barging head first to do what she can to make things right. I loved writing Hetti and with the book told in her voice, I felt like I really connected with her as a character She's strong, both physically and mentally. She will go to any lengths to protect the people she cares for. And for that, she will sometimes pay a hefty price.

LAYLA
Layla was a joy to write. She's also eighteen, but she comes from a completely different background than Hetti. Her family are loaded, and she could, had she wanted, deferred the need to work a profession and just stayed at home and done nothing. However, Layla wanted to do something with her life. She and Hetti met at training college, ending up as room-mates and they didn't hit it off right away, but after a few bumps in the road they became fast friends. Layla is also starting her new job at the same station Hetti was assigned to.

There's a big difference between Layla and Hetti. Layla will takes risks for no reason than she likes the adrenaline rush. She'll do things that she knows are skirting the law (and sometimes even crossing the line) and she pretty much doesn't care about what could happen to her. She sometimes manages to drag Hetti with her, but Hetti usually says no and stands her ground.

I loved writing Layla's quirks but also the friendship between the two. They've been friends for just over two years and yet they are both so very loyal to the other, even going to the point where it could end badly for them both.

So that's all about Hetti and Layla. As I said above, you can still pre-order Walk A Mile for the price of 99p until June 27th! After which it'll go up to full price, so grab it while you can!!

You got any questions about Walk A Mile, then hit me up in the comments!

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The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Crafting A Killer

THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: CRAFTING A KILLER

If there's one thing I've learnt since I started writing crime fiction back in the day it's that killers and criminals come in all different shapes and sizes. They can be pretty much any age and can have a wide variety of motives. When you sit down to plan out your crime novel, you're gonna be looking at ways to craft a killer that both leaves everyone guessing until the big reveal, and makes sense for your story. I thought I would do a piece on five tips to remember when you're plotting out your killer and their backstory and what have you.

#1. MOTIVE MATTERS
I know that it's the big thing that people talk about on crime shows, they want to know the "why" someone does something. Now while it's not always needed to prosecute, it is needed in a book. In my experience, if you can't give a good reason for why the killer does something, then you've missed a pretty important step. The other issue is that the motive needs to be believable. I know sometimes coming up with a convoluted motive can be fun, but it has to make sense. It can't just be "because they're evil". That's not a motive, it's an excuse and it doesn't really jive with how things work in the real world. While yes it can be a reason for some of the motive, it's not the whole motive.

#2. VICTIMS MATTER
If you're writing a serial killer, which y'know, happens in crime fiction, then who they kill is important. While serial killers are rare in the real world, there is still a lot known about them, and that knowledge can help you in the fictional world. Even if you're not writing a serial killer, who they choose to kill can be as important as their motive. If you're writing someone forced by circumstance to kill someone to save their family, that's going to be a different experience than say, someone who got into a fight with the intent to kill. Their victim is important and how you portray them is too.

#3. BACKSTORIES
This is where people go overboard sometimes. It's not always relevant to include every little detail about your killers childhood, including the time they were called mean names in primary school. Some details will be relevant and it's always good to have some idea about it all even if you never use it. However, I would warn to try and avoid the tragic backstory trope. Not all killers have a tragic backstory and even if they do, it doesn't explain or excuse the way they're behaving now. They are, after all, a killer. But this is also a place where you can have a little fun with your imagination. Because the majority of it won't make it onto the page you can go big and even if you're the only person who knows everything, it's still pretty cool for those snippets to share with your fanbase should the time arise.

#4. VIOLENCE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPLICIT
Now as someone who writes dark fiction, and is pretty damn unapologetic about it, I know that some of you will be looking at this and thinking: huh? My point isn't that you can't have dark scenes, but that the whole book doesn't have to be dark scene to dark scene and on and on it goes. There can be some light, and that is also true when it comes to crafting a killer. You don't have to depict every violent step they take, you can leave some things for the reader to imagine. In doing that you create different scenes depending on the reader. You also create darkness without having to describe it. When a killer is doing their thing, you can leave some of the grisly details for the reader to interpret.

AND FINALLY, #5. SOMETIMES ONE VICTIM IS ENOUGH
I know that sometimes it feels like you have to kill a ton of characters otherwise you'll lose the suspense and that's just not true. You can build the suspense by doing other things than dropping a new body. On top of that, considering point one, sometimes the motive is only going to apply to one person. Sometimes killers are driven by more than a body count, like jealously and rage and anger and fear. There are so many different reasons to cross that line, but just because they did it once, doesn't mean they'd do it again. That's a big point to remember. If your motive is one thing, you can't change it because you want to add a new victim and up the tension.

So those are my five tips for how to craft a killer. Usually when I post a piece like this, I get emails telling me that I shouldn't write on this subject because of the effects it has on the general public. And while I get it on some level, I just want to say: guys, it's fiction! I am not, and never would be, writing about my own murderous ways! So you have any tips or tricks on crafting a killer? Leave them in the comments below!

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Series & Standalone: Three Ways It's A Series & Three Ways It's Not.

SERIES & STANDALONE: 3 WAYS IT'S A SERIES & 3 WAYS IT'S NOT

Last week I did a piece about three ways a story is a standalone and three ways it's not. It therefore made sense to me to do one about how to tell a story is a series with the same kind of set up. It may seem like an obvious thing, that when planning you should be able to tell but as someone who's written almost twenty books, and has completed both a series, several standalones and has almost finished a trilogy, I have to say some times the lines get blurred. When starting my trilogy, I had outlined and planned a completely different ending to the one that came about while writing the book. It was only as I got to the fifty percent mark that I realised, this was not a standalone, but instead was a trilogy.

IS - #1 - THERE'S ROOM FOR MORE
If as you plan, or approach the end of writing you realise that there's more story to tell, then it's possible what you have is not a standalone, but a series. Usually this should be something that you work out in planning, but having been in the situation where it happens mid-book I know that it's not always possible to foresee. Especially if, like me, you're a hybrid or more of a pantser. If you're a planner than it really should be something you'll have spotted before putting pen to paper and such.

NOT - #1 - THE STORY IS DONE
On the other side, if as you plan and/or write, you realise that this story can be told properly in one book, then it's likely you have a standalone. Depending on your genre and what is considered the norm as far as word count and novel length goes, you may find that you're able to get it all done by just pushing out those boundaries a little more than you would usually. There's nothing worse than sticking to a "normal" length and then finding the second book in the series is actually better as a novella. It's better to increase the length of the book to encompass it all.

IS - #2 - THERE ARE THINGS LEFT UNSAID
As I spoke about in the piece last week, if you've gotten to the end and you realise that actually there are plot points and parts of the arc that haven't yet been realised, it might be that you have a series. While you may be one of those writers who doesn't tie up everything in a big bow, and that's okay, if there are questions the readers will have that should've been answered by the last page, then it's maybe time to consider writing a sequel.

NOT - #2 - EVERYTHING IS WRAPPED UP
Again, if you get to the end and there are no questions of any kind because everything you plan to tell the reader is written out and you've written the end and all of that, then it's more likely that it's a standalone. I felt this way while writing a few of my standalones, because while I had fallen in love with my characters, they had no more story to tell. Everything that needed to be said had been and to have pushed further would've been pointless and made the second book redundant.

IS - #3 - YOU CAN ENVISION MORE
This is actually a pretty big one. Looking back at the Dying Thoughts series, I always knew that Tara's story would not be just one book. When I got to the planning stages for my next project, I was so sure of that, that I jumped right into book two without even thinking on it further. While planning, if you can see that there's more than one story with these characters there in your mind, then it's probably a series and it would be doing the idea and story an injustice to limit it to the one.

NOT - #3 - IT WOULD NEED TO BE FORCED
However, if the only way you can think up a sequel is to force the issue, then it's just as possible that you have one book, and there's nothing wrong with that. While it is hard to have to say goodbye to characters at the end of writing, there's nothing worse than stringing out stories when you know they're not needed, or it's obvious to the reader that they're not. Sometimes a character's story is just one book, and that's okay.

So there we have it, my three ways to tell if it's a series and three ways to tell if it's not. As always, you mileage may vary, but if you can think of any points to expand on or that I may have missed, feel free to comment and have a discussion, or you can contact me and we'll chat about it. Happy writing!

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