On Writing & Publishing by Robin D. Owens

Personal notes on writing techniques, writing a novel, my writing career and threading your way through publishing a book.

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Location: Denver, United States

RITA Award Winning Author -- that's like the Oscar, folks! Futuristic/Fantasy Romance and Fantasy with Romantic Subplots.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Hatching New Worlds

First, in case you didn't read the comments. The definition I ran into was for a GLIDE (which I, of course, use as walking or as driving since in the Heart books my vehicles are gliders).

Today's topic:
So, I was looking at the calendar yesterday and realized I had less than 3 weeks to do the proposal for the new series at Luna that I sold. I have 9 pages and a paragraph that I submitted at the request of my agent.

I HAD done some research as you will recall, and some thinking about the books, but I ran up against a major plot point immediately...one that amateur sleuth books must deal with all the time, namely why this quest (and it will be a quest) is PERSONAL to my heroine.

Naturally I call my mentor and she wants me to lay out the whole world first...in moments like these I pretty much freewheel and throw out stuff when she asked. (I got in real trouble with that in the Urban Fantasy, which put me behind), but this one I had a little bit more of an idea. And for me, it's like sculpting, you have this block of marble that is your new world, and you start carving away what doesn't feel "right" and shaping what does.

In any event, when I got to the major plot point, Kay (Cassie Miles) came up with something I would never write in a million years, and that contradicts my first 9 pages, but not so much that I couldn't fix it. And since I wouldn't come up with this in a million years because it would torture my heroine too much, I decided to go with it.

So all last night I don't sleep well. I think my subconscious is lining things up for me, roiling around, so that I carve that marble right. Very restless night, and that may continue.

But I've got my marble started, my LightFolk/Fae worldbuilding begun.

May you enjoy whatever you do today,
Robin

3 Comments:

Blogger NewGuyDave said...

It sounded like you were having fun today with the Brownies. Sorry for comparing to Willow, but I figure they would be recognizable to Astres.

I'm writing this new novel in the same world, but 1200 years earlier, on a different continent, with different tech level, and new human cultures. For some reason I thought it would be easier, but I've used very little from the world that was in the first novel.

I guess worldbuilding never ends...

See you tomorrow.

6:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You might find this interesting as a writer; I did as a reader. http://www.aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/

Thanks

8:42 PM  
Blogger FantasyAuthor RobinDOwens said...

Dave, I'd forgotten there were brownies in Willow, but brownies were what my Mom would call House Elves of the Potter world or whatever...so they have been used before and will be used many times again...

Anonymous, that was interesting once I got past all the digressions. Yes, to keep learning is important so we don't stagnate as a society...

Robin

7:25 AM  

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