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I second the Wow! we want more chapters lol ; no pressure but fast please

@boredaf - I'm not sure how that works, so I would say hold off on the reviews!

This whole process has been unreal. I still can't believe BSB wanted to take a chance on me, especially since these are just novellas. Every morning I have to remind myself that this is actually happening.

Now that Wildflower is under contract, I REALLY need to work on Broken Branch. That one is my horse-related novel with lots of emphasis on the horses. It needs some significant rewriting because I followed my story until about halfway in, where I just wandered away from the point like a distracted puppy. It kind of turned into a 'Hallmark' romance (YUCK!) but I'm so pleased with the characters and their interaction that I almost don't mind the sweet storyline. I have a related novel started based on a few of the minor characters in Broken Branch, but that one is going to require some serious concentration to really give the storyline the depth it needs.

Of course, I'm also in the middle of a set of 5 stories to follow The Ghost's Host. They are supposed to be short stories that I can put together in a novella, but I got a little out of control and the first one is already 70 pages, so it might end up being a full novel of 'short' stories with a paranormal twist. I have an idea for a follow-up combining the characters from those 5 stories in a funny, save-the-world situation. So much to do and so little time! I'll keep you guys updated as I get more info or post more excerpts.

Or have the character insist on living in your mind. Can get annoying and distracting at times.

For me, it's Friyazi Demonsbane that insists on living in my mind. lol

@boredaf Actually, I would say short stories are even more about the characters and what they symbolize than the plot. The plot is just there to show the character's inner struggle. It's usually just a slice of the arc, and the midpoint that's usually right at the 50% mark in a novel is closer to the 75% mark in a short story. There isn't enough time to develop very plot heavy stories and the most important, profound turning points in a story always revolve around character anyway. Characters are embodied theme, most of all in a short work like a short story or character-rich poem.

@boredaf lol! It is always fascinating to see things from different perspectives and styles!

I killed off a few characters in Wildflower and they were harder for me to lose than I expected. I feel like seeing good people die (even of old age) is pretty affecting. I never liked books where the main character is a jerk or difficult to empathize with, or overly promiscuous, or flawed in some irredeemable way (of course what is irredeemable to me may be perfectly normal to someone else). Even when those types of books (or movies/shows) are really well done, I find myself feeling uncomfortably apathetic about them. When it comes to Wildflower, Lily has a boatload of really unpleasant things that happen to her, but she is strong and good, the kind of person I want to be or to be around. Her flaws are endearing and the book is written from her perspective. While she may outwardly seem unaffected or unable to reach, she shows the richness of her emotions in her way of thinking. That part comes right from me - I tend to appear calm and stoic when I am rioting inside, unable to express myself or my feelings in any way but on paper.

I find when I really focus on character development, I lose the beauty of character by overindulging in the details. I want the story, the character interactions, and the emotional development to allow the reader to feel what the character would be like if they were to meet. This is so much easier in novellas & short stories because you can create 'your own' character from the outline I draw. As someone who has spent 30 years writing poetry, I feel like less is always more!

I would love to be able to write an epic novel, but I don't think I ever could - not well, at least! I envy those who can, though. I know when I read substantial books (which I love) I tend to skip over significant chunks of text because I find it unnecessary to the plot. Lots of people who write super long novels could probably cut them in half unless you've got a huge number of characters, a generations-long story, or something with a complicated plot, but those types of books tend to have their own issues. This is part of the reason I'm having an issue writing the first book I intended to write. I'm overwhelmed with the complicated plot and the significant cast of characters. Just the back story alone is intimidating. Maybe once I get my land legs with the novel I finished, I can start to tackle the big one!

Glad you think so too, some people get so wiggy when they see opposing view points.

I follow that I cannot abide cheating/love triangle plots unless it's either intended to be a villain or some sort of misunderstanding. I'm actually reading a quite entertaining book called soulless with one scene of the love interest verbally going off on his rival, the joke being that everyone else involved knows the 'rival' is compleeeaately gay. Oh I've always liked that trope, it's a lot of fun to play with in multi-POV because you can have some characters appear completely different between their own POV, an outsider's POV and a close inner-circle pov.

Less is definitely more especially in horror, what kind of poetry do you write? I've not really notice this in my short stories (set in the same universe different characters) but I think I get what you're saying, the characters feel fleshed out to me because I know them but the reader probably does have more leeway with them than the ones in the novels.

Oh me neither, but I borrow techniques from the epic writers alot, or try to at least lol, Steven Erickson is a favorite, what I'm writing is more similar to dresden files in both length and content though. oh I could never skip anything (except particularly lurid romantic interludes) but that's defiantly true about cutting it in half and probably why the wheel of time got better when sanderson took over, no disrespect to jordan he was just from a different era.

Any way I can help, I've been told I handle large casts well?