Showing posts with label plot bunnies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plot bunnies. Show all posts
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Symbolic and Creative Stubbornness Personified -- it’s Genetic

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been online. In fact, I’ve spent many hours on the web in my quest to complete a project. That’s where the stubbornness comes into play.


If you’ve been around my blog before, you already know I’m a creative with a funky personality. I love plot bunnies, shapeshifters and I’m also a creature of habit. <<< This last statement is so true and the personality trait frequently gets away from me. ;)


So why haven’t I posted to my blog recently?


The creative within me was determined to prepare Claire: the Lost Fae for print edition. 


And…


Since I’m a fiendish creature of habit, it meant doing the work myself. 


Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with this. I was playing in Photoshop long before I sat down to write my first story. Although I didn’t have the program for awhile, my recent computer upgrade gave me all the Adobe programs and I’m back onboard with making covers or promotional banners. (fun! ;)


With the new Photoshop program installed on my computer, I proceeded to download templates for the print book interior and the full cover flat.


For the most part, formatting the book interior was easy. I’m a stickler for a nice format and the Kindle edition of Claire is beautiful. There was one aspect that I wanted to carry over from ebook into the print edition.




  


That little symbol became the most exasperating element of the print book creation. Looking back, I can laugh, but while in the throes of working through dpi issues it wasn’t a laughing matter. Dpi is pixels per inch and Createspace has pretty stringent expectations. That’s okay because I want the print edition to measure up to my own high standards. 


That’s why I stubbornly insisted that this symbol would retain its position on the title page. (stubbornly attached to a symbol...yes that's funky & dare I say genetic?)


But perseverance pays off. YaY!


After fifteen tries, the image worked. Whew! I worried Creatspace would ban me and tell me to never come back. lol


The print edition of Claire: the Lost Fae is coming soon! I’ve ordered the proof copy and want to check if everything is perfect, then it’ll be available for shipment. 


Here’s a sneak peek at the cover flat.




Be sure to watch this blog for updates. ;)



* * *


Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy your day & happy reading!


If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:


March Madness ~ Not Crazy...Just Conflicted
Magically Entising: Is Your Shapeshifter Sexy today?
Mother, Daughter & Plot Bunny Tracks, Oh My! #amwriting



* * * * * * * * *

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
             
Amazon Kindle: Claire: the Lost Fae
             


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here] 


* * * * * * * * *


Peace & Love be with you always.

~ Aithne Jarretta
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Fun Plot Bunny Elements & #Pinterest #blogtaxi

Recently, I've joined the new trend and started posting images on Pinterest. At first I thought it would take time from my writing, but then I realized that having an online storyboard is a pretty cool tool.


What better way to feed the plot bunnies? ;)


So, although it's true that I have several 'boards' that don't have much to do with writing, I also have a board marked, Storyboard ~ Angel Marked. This is my current wip. If you've read some of my posts from the past, you'll know this story is centered around Katrina Oakland, a character shapeshifter from Claire: the Lost Fae.


One of the interesting aspects about Pinterest is the wide variety of images I can put on this board. 


For example:


I went in search of some vintage cars to help with descriptive portions of the story. Imagine my surprise when I came across this ambulance. 


Eager to save this antique beauty in a special place, I added it to my wip storyboard.


Now, instead of inserting a scene with a nondescript mention of the ambulance, I can give my readers more detail. (story secrets will not be revealed today) Okay, the ambulance is red and white with a cherry on top. vbg




There are several other items that play a major part in Angel Marked.




Even in my youth I had a fascination for Black Jet. Since this story will also have magical elements, an important piece of jewelry will play a pivotal role.


The idea of using something that comes from the earth, giving it a magical purpose, and hiding it in plain sight makes the plot bunnies very happy. ;)


Since artifacts are always so much fun to play with, the black jet jewelry will have a boundless historical and mythical companion...  





Hope you don't mind the mystery. ;)


Of course we will have a handsome hero... This image is here just to serve as inspiration. He isn't the reason this novella is titled Angel Marked. 


And of course, since this story centers around Katrina, there will be elements of marble. ;) (see Is Your Shape Shifter Sexy Today. You will find one secret about Katrina and her luscious playfulness with marble.)




When it comes to the end of the day (or story) I think that having a place like Pinterest to post and share is another fun aspect of life on the 'Net. If you'd like to see my collection of growing boards, click [here]. Stop by and give us a look. If you've already started your boards, follow me and I'll follow back and check your boards, too.


* * * * * * * * * 



If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:


March Madness ~ Not Crazy...Just Conflicted
Magically Entising: Is Your Shapeshifter Sexy today?
Mother, Daughter & Plot Bunny Tracks, Oh My! #amwriting



* * * * * * * * *

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
             
Amazon Kindle: Claire: the Lost Fae
            


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here] 


* * * * * * * * *


Peace & Love be with you always.

~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle 

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Aithne Jarretta Shares #FridayFlash

I like sharing this little piece of flash fiction with readers every once in a while. It doesn't take long to read because it's a whopping 750 words.  


The story initially was a flash fiction challenge presented to local writers. Winners were published in  the periodical The Florida Palm. 


One of the memories I love about being chosen...


The periodical placed a really cool lightning flash image as the background for the whole section of pages in the article. 


Hope you enjoy. 


Lancashire England: 1600



“Ow!”


Arsi stared as blood seeped through a cut created by the shattered mirror. She raised her fingers, turning them to see better in the candlelight. Black in darkness becomes red within light. The last image in the mirror was lightning flashing outside her window, giving her black hair a blue tinge.


A strange sensation spiraled within, building trepidation. Broken mirrors were a portent. She frowned at the araneous cracks. They gave the impression of a thousand facetted pieces. Mesmerized by her fragmented reflection, she began to notice a strange mist.


It seeped from the fissures, increasing in thickness, surrounding her like a shroud. An unseen band tightened around her lungs, stealing her breath. Loss of air culminated in shaky knees. “What?”
She stepped away. Her breathing, now rapid and shallow, filled the chamber, in accompaniment of her fast heartbeat. She shuddered.


Someone with a strange accent spoke. “Don’t be afraid.”


The band around her released. She inhaled sharply and threw herself away from the person who appeared.


“Ah, the blood of a phoenix, a lightning strike, and of course—my mirror.”


Her heel caught on the fringe of the hand-woven rug. She landed hard on oak planks. “Omph!” Still frightened, Arsi moved backward. She stared at him, heart thudding. “Who are ye?”


He grinned, showing very white teeth, and then pushed his hand through short black hair. “I’m Raven O’dara. I’m from the future. Don’t fear me.”


The hairs on her neck stood. He was dressed in dark, unfamiliar clothing. She frowned at black boots. Their sheen reflected the candle glow. She had never seen such in her lifetime. Disbelief welled. “The future?”


He shrugged and nodded. Spinning, he studied the room. “Humph. Let me fix this.” He swept a hand over the mirror. It became whole.


She gasped. His reflection, unbroken and highlighted by flickering flames, smiled. “Ye are a witch?” Her querulous voice echoed.


“No. I’m from two thousand-eleven.” He moved closer.


She tried to scamper away across the bed; its quilts hampered her progress. His laughter sent butterfly tingles over her skin. “Ye are a witch if ye claim to be from the future!”


He pounced upon her.


Fear and confusion consumed her. She attempted to hit him.


More laughter, and then he grabbed her wrists. His face lit with amusement. He tilted his head, eyeing her. “You’re young. Nineteen, maybe?”


She growled deep in her throat and shook her head. Warmth saturated her, thrumming through her heated blood.


Someone shouted outside. The sound of shattering glass assaulted her. A large stone landed on the floor, hostility and mayhem, its tail.


“Come out! Witch!”


Stilled by the rock’s intrusion, she tried to swallow. “I’m not a witch,” she whispered through a dry throat.


“I know.” Raven brushed his finger down her temple, moving it to her mouth. A feather light touch, across tender skin, tickled her. “You must face this in order to live. That’s why I’m here. I will take you from the ashes afterward. You will be fine.” He rose, pulling her up.


Humanity surged through the door. Frenzied, she tried to escape. There was nowhere to run. Death’s shadow appeared everywhere, grabbing and pulling her toward the abyss. Someone hit her on the head.


Blackness engulfed her, choking away her scream.


Water.


She gasped at the shock of cold wetness.


“Wake up witch!”


“I am not—”


Belligerent hatred silenced her. Rough hands clenched. The stake, powerful yet temporary, held her tightly to the place of death. Strange, its purpose should cross her mind in the midst of turmoil. She looked for Raven. There, standing at the back of the crowd. Sudden calmness blessed her.


Someone in the mob stepped through him as though he was not present. Eyes gazing upon her, he smiled.


“The end is truly the beginning.” He blew a kiss on his fingertips.


The action brought forth acceptance. She studied the wood below. Damp from the rain, it would smolder and start with painful slowness. A quick inhale and release, the fire blazed from her magic, surrounding her, tickling in its warmth.


This is who I am. In a flashpoint of phoenix fire, she sang, blissful in newfound freedom.




* * *


Thank you! 

* * * * * * * * * 

If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:

March Madness ~ Not Crazy...Just Conflicted
Magically Entising: Is Your Shapeshifter Sexy today?
Mother, Daughter & Plot Bunny Tracks, Oh My! #amwriting


* * * * * * * * *

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
Claire: the Lost Fae ~ Available Now


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here] (soon to be unpublished!)


* * * * * * * * *


Peace & Love be with you always.

~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle 

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Mother, Daughter & Plot Bunny Tracks, Oh My! #amwriting

It’s all about the reading experience. This is a well known fact. At least in my experience it has been. 

Through the years I spent solely as a reader, the authors I loved created worlds where I could simply vanish. *poof* 

That was the pleasure of journeying between the book covers.

Hours spent with imaginative characters eased the other stresses in life.

Then one day I sat on the couch and started writing a story. That became a new adventure and carried me into new realms of magic.

I will be honest, despite years of education; I discovered there was much to learn. ;)

In a million ways it has been the best thing for me. I mean those years spent learning to put my stories into my computer and eventually onto paper. Then the culture shifted and digital ink has become the biggest invention since the printing press. (saw a tv program ranking Kindle #52 in top 100 21st cent. gadgets)

Here we are now on this Internet webpage, where I write about my joy of story telling and the modern tools with which to share them. Yowza!

And guess what? It still comes down to the reading experience for each individual reader. Readers want to delve into the imaginative worlds and journey next to each character as if they are right there with them. Readers want to feel and understand the story they are reading.

That’s a very particular concept when it comes to writing paranormal. Writing magic and sending you on a journey you may have never experienced before is definitely one of my favorite challenges.

So when I write about wind-riding or being confronted by a daemon when he isn’t supposed to be able to see the invisible heroine, those story elements are super charged with magic and fun.

Then we have the not so magical aspects like… Do you really know everything about your mother? Would you even want to?

Frankly, since I’m an author sandwiched between mother and daughter characters, there have been challenges when writing their stories.

Daughter Shayla was very disgruntled to discover her mother Claire knew about wind-riding, the magic in their shared locket and the fact that Shayla’s conception had mystical significance. Naturally, these secrets qualify as important things mom never told Shayla.

About Claire? As a mother, she really didn’t want her daughter Shayla knowing about childhood difficulties, her deep-seated angel issues and the crimson boots of bling. (ß this is my modern term…one which annoys character Claire… ;)

It’s all in the ‘stuff mom never told you’ and would you really want to know if she ever did.

But if you think about the story differently, you discover that Claire had excellent reasons for keeping certain information to herself. As parents, we all want to protect our children from the big bad world. (okay, crimson boots have nothing to do with the big bad world)

So keeping secrets for protective reasons is usually acceptable as a parent.
As an author? vbg 

Keeping story secrets can be fun. Sometimes revealing those secrets in little pieces of plot bunny tracks can literally make us dance in anticipation.

At any rate, thanks to digital ink, story secrets can be spread across the ‘net with awesome delight. 

Let’s not forget that the enjoyment for your leisurely moments can and does affect how we feel as we go about our other real life duties.

So take a break. You've earned it. Curl up with a magical book, explore the world in a way you've never experienced and indulge in the magic! Now that's pure ambrosia for your romantic spirit.

* * * * * * * * *

If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:
* * * * * * * * *

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
Claire: the Lost Fae ~ Available Now


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here] 


* * * * * * * * *
Peace & Love be with you always.
~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle 




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Inspiration of a Different Kind




Sometimes we just need a pick-me-up. This video inspires me because on those days when the words for my stories seem to come slow, I confess I need to be reminded that living though our challenges is what often makes us stronger.

So when the car breaks down, the muse fumbles and our loved ones are far away, let the experiences of these great folk inspire you. I know,they inspire me.

Blessings. ;)









(I'll be back on the bunny tracks later this week.)

* * * * * * * * *
If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:

* * * * * * * * *

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
Claire: the Lost Fae ~ Available Now
Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here]





Peace & Love be with you always.
~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle 

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The Shadow Side of Grace

Please don't be misled by the title. ;) In all honesty, this post is a continuation of my plot bunny tracks. That's the name I've given to the blog posts that reveal hidden aspects within the supernatural stories I create.

Grace is a fictional character, womanly mentor and a matchmaker.

But, I discovered during writing this novella, Claire: the Lost Fae, that Grace can also be a manipulator. It turns out she is a match maker with an ulterior motive and a bossy buss.

I should have seen the shadowing aspect of her character sooner. But it took several reads through the work in progress before I realized her rule breaking side. (most authors read their stories aloud to catch plot glitches)

There are rules for constructing stories. Some authors stick to those rules as if they are written in stone.

That's all right. I like rules. Even though I'm a flying in the mist sort of gal and don't follow the usual guidelines about plotting, I do work on staying within certain rules. (Isn't flying in the mist a cool way of saying that I'm not a plotter? Pure magic. :D )

Readers expect certain rules to be upheld. It makes them comfortable and they can relax and get into the story easier.

Believe it or not, I can relate because as a reader I have certain expectations, too.

So there I was, reading through the manuscript looking for story flow issues and holes in the plot bunny. At about 40% into the story I suddenly realized that parts of the reading made me sound like I have a lisp. I can laugh now, but at the time the situation became frustrating.

Then I figured out the lisping problem.

Grace said...

Yes, you've read that right. Two simple words. Turned out that when read aloud over the space of several pages the words start running together. UGH! Even the feel of saying them repeatedly left a queasy taste in my mouth.

The muse, named Grace in this case, kept poking me on the back of the head. "I don't like that!" Grace repeated, over and over. "I refuse to let you get away with writing those phrases. Change it up, deary."

Then, I would growl back, "Writers are supposed to love said. It's a written rule."

"Rules are made to be broken," Grace remarked. "If you expect us to defeat wicked daemons and save Claire, then step out of that box. If you don't, I'll feed you to the Hades hounds."

So I grumbled, growled some more and poked around the issue. That happens frequently. If I would just allow my muses free rein, then stories would be completed faster.

So I stopped reading aloud and progressed the story forward. Part One was already finished and Part Two slid through the fingers and magically tickled the keyboard, thus putting the story into my writing program. But suddenly at that point there was a major halt.

In fact, it was more of a high pitched screeching. Dare I say those wicked words? That evil thing we never want to admit to that comes from nightmares and bears the initials of WB?

Oh no! Then...

There's Grace the muse sitting on the side desk with her arms crossed and wearing a stern expression. "Do you realize the root of the problem?"

I refrained from banging my head on the keyboard. 

It couldn't be helped and I admitted the setback. 

WB isn't supposed to visit. Writing is one of the joys in my life. Creating stories became an amazing experience and all I ever wanted was to share them. 

Finally, I acknowledged the wicked visitor, writer's block. 

It took some time to go through and edit out those 'Grace said' attributions. But as they were eliminated the fun started again. The words opened once more and peace arrived.

Like I said, Grace can be a bossy buss. (did you see what I typed? Sneaky ;) lol So yes, I still love said and use the word on any occasion. Just not for dialogue for Bossy Grace.


Thank you for stopping by. Before You Leave:


* * * * * * * * *

More Plot Bunny Tracks:
Merry-go-round; Jump on to catch plot bunny...
Mothers, Daughters & Secrets
Hoppin' Kerfluffle! Plot Bunnies Run Amuck!

* * * * * * * * *

Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)


Claire: the Lost Fae ~ Available Now


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here]





Peace & Love be with you always.
~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle

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Hoppin' Kerfluffle! Plot Bunnies Run Amuck


So there I was, trying to be a good person and clean the dust bunnies from under my bed.

Why do they always start hopping around or away when I'm supposed to be focused? I should be cleaning (to prevent allergy flare ups), but to be honest I'm also thinking about the process of healing character Claire's injured knee while the vacuum buzzes it's hungry drone. 

Then... there go the plot bunnies...

Story lines...plot twists... and new character challenges. They all bang around between my ears when I'm supposed to be doing something else. I think I read something about this before. That article was about a Muse gone wild.

I can believe it. (muttering to Muse) I used to think that a hyper active highlander in full regalia marching through my head was annoying. 

These bunnies shed! 

Give me bagpipes any day. ;D (Black Bryan is taking a sabbatical; we have a reunion planned in February.)

Back to poor Claire because her knee still needs healed. She injured it during a skirmish with the wicked daemon underling.

In the world of creating magical healing we can offer many modalities. Since I'm really into energy healing and Reiki, that's often the basis for any fantasy moves a character may include in the story line. 

But, I really wanted to go a different route with Claire's knee. There will be pain. (character growth from that cute little plot bunny) The healing process may actually be rougher than the initial injury. *sigh*

I do love my characters... Really.

So I can say up front, there won't be an angel healing, no potion from Grace, and hero Leeson can't do anything about Claire's injury. (except maybe fret and swear to get the whole hound pack responsible for Clair's troubles...)

And the plot bunny? Naughty and growing like a maddening fiend.

(Think I will mention here that you can get absolutely FREE images at this link: http://fotolia.com/Info/Images/FreeImages. That's the totally free page at Fotolia and it changes every 24 hours. Sometimes, they feature nice images you would have never expected. Enjoy. ;)


P.S. Please give Rosie a pet up in the right hand corner. She's feeling neglected because human mom has been under the weather with allergies and then all this talk of bunnies...well you understand. ;)






Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend & happy reading!


If You Missed these Plot Bunny Tracks:


March Madness ~ Not Crazy...Just Conflicted
Mother, Daughter & Plot Bunny Tracks, Oh My! #amwriting



* * * * * * * * *  

Amazon Kindle: Concentric Circles (Shayla's story)
             
Amazon Kindle: Claire: the Lost Fae
             


Wyndy: in a Heartbeat ~ Short Story [here] 


* * * * * * * * *


Peace & Love be with you always.

~ Aithne Jarretta
Home    Twitter    Kindle 

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