My guest today is Taylor Keating – a pseudonym for two Atlantic Canadian writers. The second book in their Guardian series, Mind Games, will hit bookshelves tomorrow. Please join me in welcoming Catherine and Paula here today to Dark Faerie Tales. You can read an excerpt from Mind Games here. Book 3 will be available in December 2011.
One lucky commenter will have a chance to win a copy of Game Over. As always, details are listed at the end of the post.
Welcome Catherine and Paula!
And…Action!
By Taylor Keating
I love action. I love blowing things up, torturing characters, and making life difficult in general. My husband and co-workers will tell you my writing life isn’t all that much different from my every day one.
In my writing life this sadistic streak is a desirable trait.
In order for a story to move forward, something has to happen. If a writer wants something to happen, s/he needs to write action. Hopefully, the action is interesting.
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states:
The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear. This means that whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force -F on the first body. F and -F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. This law is sometimes referred to as the action-reaction law, with F called the “action” and -F the “reaction”. The action and the reaction are simultaneous. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
You can’t have action without reaction, and unless the writer wants the reader to die of boredom, the cycle of action/reaction in a story has to be driven by conflict. Where’s the fun in reading about passive characters getting all the good things in life handed to them?
Who makes headline news?
In Mind Games, Book 2 in the Guardian Series, we put in lots and lots of conflict. Conflict can be physical or emotional, but it’s always about the main characters overcoming some sort of obstacle that keeps them from getting what they want. Each scene in the story has a goal and several layers of conflict. (I know this because I have the notes.) Each scene ends in disaster. Some disasters are worse than others, causing either renewed determination to achieve the goal, or a shift in what the character wants or thinks they want.
Occasionally, my writing partner would take the whip from me and gently point out that our main characters, River and Hawk, need a love scene. We are, after all, writing a romance. A love scene is still action, it still needs a reaction, and it has to progress the story.
But we make them earn that love scene. River and Hawk aren’t going to get to sleep their way to the finish line. A love scene is their reward for upping the story stakes. If written properly, that love scene is going to mess with their heads and create emotional conflict, or require some sort of concession on someone’s part.
Put up or shut up, baby.
Keeping characters so obviously meant for each other apart for three books has been no easy feat. We think we created a great conflict for River and Hawk’s romance in Mind Games. We let them have their love scenes, but we totally messed with them at the same time. To avoid a spoiler, let me just say that at the end of Game Over, River creates a situation that is going to make the love scenes difficult in Mind Games. They get them—they just don’t get to enjoy them as much as they’d like.
We had to save some of the rewards for Book 3.
Synopsis (Product Description):
River Weston thinks her problems are over. She managed to escape the virtual world of her video game—and the clutches of the Dark Lord who attempted to enslave her—with body and mind intact. But her return to the real world is anything but easy. Framed for monstrous crimes she didn’t commit, and hunted by members of a dark government agency, it is all she can do to stay one step ahead of her pursuers.
Guardian Chase Hawkins gained his freedom from the Dark Lord’s prison, but it came with a heavy price. Trapped in another man’s body, his soul slowly deteriorating, Hawk knows he must return to his world—and his body—before the damage is irreparable.
Racing against time, River and Hawk know that in order to have a future together, they must work to reveal the secrets hidden in River’s past.
Author Bios:
Catherine Verge
A multi published author in the romance genre under another pen name, Catherine is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. Catherine can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.
A maritime native and former financial officer, Catherine has lived all over Canada but has finally settled down in her childhood hometown with her family.
Paula M. Fox
The other half of Taylor Keating, Paula grew up in rural Nova Scotia knowing that at some point in her life she was going to be a fiction writer. Swapping Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey books with her father guaranteed she wasn’t going to be the next Jane Austen, much to the dismay of her English teacher mother.
University followed. A degree in Social Anthropology from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, again meant writing was the logical (meaning only) career path for her, although it did confirm her belief that learning is a life-long experience. She’s taken business courses, writing courses, and physiology of aquatic animals courses, all at the university level and all for fun.
She now works in the Aerospace industry, which surprises everyone who knows her. Happily married, with two terrific sons, she continues to live in rural Nova Scotia but makes a point of traveling as much as she can. New York and Brussels are tied for her favorite cities of all time.
She reads in all genres, which isn’t surprising considering her life is all over the board, but fantasy and paranormal romance are her writing loves. Sorry Dad, Louis L’Amour’s job was already taken.
You can visit Taylor Keating around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES:
One lucky commenter will have a chance to win a copy of Game Over.
To enter, leave a comment below answering the following question:
Why is River ready to sell her soul?
Hint: http://www.taylorkeating.com/books/game-over/
1. +1 entry for answering the question (required).
2. +3 entries for becoming a follower of this blog and Dark Faerie Tales on Twitter and Facebook.
3. +4 entries for tweeting about this contest, blogging about it, linking via your sidebar etc…(please tell me where!).
4. Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
5. Please include your email address in your comment.
6. Giveaway ends Monday, June 6th at 11:59 PM EST.
7. The winner will be picked with the help of Random.org.
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smooth out the glitches in her latest project
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