Writing. Lots of writing.

Guess what I've been doing the past week? Besides being sick and feeling like I was going to cough up my lungs a time or two? Writing. Writing a lot. Like, I typed out 4,000 the other day when I was sick and feverish. It was awesome. The writing, I mean, not the being sick and feverish.

Right now, I am in the middle of juggling writing several stories. This is a very good thing for me; I write so much better and quicker when I can bounce back and forth between multiple novels. It's even better right now because my co-author, Faith King, and I have picked up writing the fourth book in our Restoration series again, so we're bouncing the file back and forth, taking turns writing, and that's excellent motivation for me. My brain goes: I have to write when it's my turn so that I can get the file back to her for her next session, and then I have to write on my other stuff before she sends it back to me. For the way I write, it's like winning the motivation lottery.

Next month is NaNoWriMo. (Ahhh! How is already almost November again!?) I am not planning on doing it traditionally this year--I hope to use it to finish, or make a lot of headway on, my current novels. Are any of you doing it?

So I listen to songs on repeat while I write. I know some people can't do music while writing, or can only do soundtracks. I listen to a huge variety of stuff.

Anyone have any current songs you're listening to a lot?

K is for Knight in Shining Armor, AKA White Knight, AKA Immen Corper

Dear Knight Immen,

You are not a real knight, but this post was written with you in mind, so I'm addressing it to you specifically. You see, Faith and I started writing you over seven years ago. When we began to plot the Restoration series, you had several specific purposes in Book 1: Awakenings. What we quickly discovered, though, was that you seemed too stinking good. You were Mr. Nice Guy. You were He Who Could Do No Wrong.

You drove us crazy.

You weren't much better when we wrote Book 2: The Guardian Race, and by the time we wrote Book 3: The Lost Scribe, we despaired for you. What kind of character seems to have no flaws? You couldn't be that perfect. Yet, we found that most people who read you loved you a lot. Faith and I discussed the fact that people really do like the White Knights.  They are safe and comforting and who doesn't like to see the goodness shining through?  But when you're the writer and not the reader, it can be frustrating to encounter the White Knight.  Writers are looking for the flaws, for the things they can dig into and pull to the surface.  They're looking for the tension, the drive, and no matter how good a character seems, no normal character can be all white.

Then Faith and I began Book 4: Binding Ties. We talked extensively about you. And we realized: it's all a matter of perspective.

I wrote a post last month on developing characters and the importance of perspective. And boy, was this important to keep in mind for you. We realized that in the first books, you were seen through the perspective of people who saw you as the White Knight.  These were the people who saw you through rose-tinted glasses and who held you up as a hero.  But when we get to Book 4, we see you through the perspectives of people who are jaded by your actions, people who see you in a different light.

Faith and I rejoiced. We are still ridiculously excited about the prospect of showing your not-so-white side. This is the benefit of writing a series—we have time to drag characters through certain things, leave them to stew for a while, and then come back to them when we're ready to drag them through some more mud.  Bwahahahaha.

So, my frustrating Immen Corper, brace yourself, because you may honestly be a good guy and you may be doing what you think is right, but you also have issues and imperfections that will get dug up and thrown out there for all to see.

Positively gleeful,
One of Your Two Authors



*Do you have a character who seems a little too good when seen through one character's eyes, but when seen through another, you begin to uncover the dirt and imperfections?

J is for Jesus and Joe

Dear Jesus,

You are everything to me. I hope all I am and all I do can point back to you.

I love you.
Laura

"I'm lost without You here
Yes, I'm lost without You near me
I'm lost without You here
You knew my name when the world was made"

~The Economy of Mercy by Switchfoot


*I absolutely respect everyone's right to believe (or not believe) whatever they want to. Feel like sharing what you believe/don't believe? That would be awesome. Not comfortable sharing? That's cool, too. :)

---


Dear Joe,

You aren't really a character or a person, but more of an idea. See, there is a form of Joe in every novel I write. This has absolutely nothing to do with my last name being Josephsen. It all started when Faith and I began to co-write the Restoration series and we needed a name for a second antagonist. We got tired of trying to say "the second antagonist who does XYZ!" and so Faith temporarily dubbed the second antagonist "Joe." The name later changed, but the beginning of the name remained Jo.

Then, when I was writing my 2009 NaNo novel, Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School)—also known as "The Novel With the Insanely Long Title"—one of the main characters became Joey. After that, it became my tradition to insert a form of "Joe" in any novel I write. Thus far, I have an antagonist, a high school student, a child's toy, a housekeeper, and a little boy with various forms of "Joe" in their names.

So, ambiguous Joe who appears in some form or another in my books, I am not sure where you will pop up in whatever future books I write, but it will be fun to find out. ;)

From,
A Weird Writer


*Do you have anything random or strange that ties your books together? Anything little tidbits or jokes that you might decide to put in more than one book?

Book Trailer

Book trailer for Awakenings!

Buy a Book Day Results

Thanks to everyone's support in our "Buy a Book" day this past Friday, our rankings on Amazon soared upward.  We reached #499 in bestselling books on Amazon that day.  Considering there are millions of books on Amazon and considering that we had been wavering between 50,000 and 200,000 in bestselling books that week, this is incredible.  We were incredibly amazed and touched at all of the help and encouragement you all gave.  Thanks to all of you for making our Buy a Book day a success!

Here's a screencap of our peak ranking:

My Books

Published:

Rising Book 1: Resistance (Book 1 of 2)

Genre: fantasy/speculative fiction

Summary: All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die.

And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

*****

 Rising Book 2: Rebellion (Book 2 of 2)

Genre: fantasy/speculative fiction 

Summary: Lachlan's had a rough summer. First, the girl he shares a painful history with didn't remember him. Then Brenna, the woman he loves, showed up after seven years away and wants nothing to do with him. To top it all off, he almost died with the rest of his people when soldiers invaded his country.

Now the enemy could be using Lachlan's people as assassins. When Brenna leaves to find the truth, Lachlan invites himself along.

As Lachlan struggles to rebuild the trust he lost with Brenna, they unravel the dark secret their enemy has worked long and hard to hide—and its consequences for them are greater than they could have known.

 *****


Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School) 

Genre: YA contemporary fiction 

Summary: Write what you know.

Persephone "Sephie" Benson scoffs when her creative writing teacher throws that little gem out there. Maybe this advice would work for a professional skydiver or a baseball star or a ninja princess. It's not so great for a high school student who doesn't even know what to do with the rest of her life. Add in being the oldest of six girls, having Responsibilities with a capital R, and living in a town the size of a tick, and you've got a recipe for boring soup.

At least, that's what Sephie thinks until her senior year. Now, her grandfather is losing his house. One of her sisters plays a starring role in the local high school scandal. Even things with her best friend Joey aren't the same.

As Sephie deals with the changes in her life, she finds that nothing is quite what she expects—and that sometimes, the most extraordinary life can be the one that seems the most ordinary.

*****

There is also short story that I wrote as a follow-up to Confessions. It's posted on my blog here: Homecoming. It can be read by itself even if you haven't ever read Confessions.

Other Books:

My Kingdom for a Newt (accepted representation with Natalie Lakosil of Bradford Literary Agency)
Genre: MG fantasy 


Untitled YA Fantasy (rewrite currently under review by my agent, Natalie)


Orion's Song (written for NaNoWriMo 2010, in desperate need of rewriting/revision--not sure if/when this will happen)

Genre: YA contemporary fiction


The Restoration series (seven book series, co-written with Faith King). The first book, Awakenings, was published in 2010, but became unavailable after December 2012. At this time, the series is on indefinite hold.