Equal parts Romance, equal parts Fantasy, please

We’ve all heard of those movies or stories in the fantasy and sci-fi genres where they add a romance plot for absolutely no reason. I’m looking at you The Giver. I actually read Lois Lowry’s book (as a child), which the movie is based off of, and I’ve never seen the movie, but I’ve read about how the producers included a romance plot despite Lowry’s wishes.

No story should be encumbered by an unnecessary romance plot. If it isn’t a romance, don’t turn it one. Using this issue with The Giver production as an example is only to say that stories where the romance element is forced and/or secondary to the fantasy/sci-fi element or where the fantasy/sci-fi element is secondary to the romance element are repellent. What I expect in a fantasy romance book, movie, or television show is that the story is equal parts fantasy and equal parts romance. Both elements should be on equal ground or of equal importance to the story. What I’m finding instead is that most stories have too much of one element and not enough of the other or, like The Giver production, a romance is added and the characters are aged up to attract a certain crowd with no regard for its source material.

From The Muse to The Medium to The Reader

Just like the idea for this post that you’re reading right now, usually when I write a story inspiration has struck me. It has delivered to me the general idea of the story that I want to write, and more, and continues to flow as I write my hopefully copious notes for that story. As the writer, almost like a prophet, I am the medium through which “Divine Inspiration” is choosing to speak. All I have to do is convey what I’m being shown in my head and what I’m feeling to the best of my ability. That’s usually how it works.

Like many writers, I’ve constructed writings for assignments from elementary school to high school and in college, maybe for the odd writing contest or prompt during a writer’s meeting or workshop, but I don’t think I’ve ever constructed an entire novel on my own time, as in written an entire novel from the ground up, so to speak, particularly according to a plot formula. In most events, inspiration usually strikes me before writing something even if it usually only gets me so far and there is some “gap-filling” as I write. Some assembly is required because no story ever comes to me 100% fully formed.

One morning, I was reading the author’s notes of the latest Ruby Dixon book and I found myself thinking about how she builds her worlds. Though I have an eternal love of romance, fantasy, and sci-fi, reading Dixon’s work started because I was bored and, as usual, unable to find anything that suits my desires so I wearily gave her a try after avoiding her for many, many moons. Never having been one of those writer/readers who has a favorite author or writer that I imitate or aspire to be like, it says a lot that I’ve read so many of Dixon’s books. If nothing else, I’ve come to see that she really enjoys what she writes and when I tried to imagine how she channels her enthusiasm, researches for her books, relies on sensitivity readers, etc., I started thinking a little harder about the challenges of relying on inspiration (or rather The Muse™) alone in my own work. Sometimes I feel like I’m cracking under the pressure of living up to my muse’s innocently lofty inspirations and desires of delivering stories in a way that makes people want to read and keep reading what I offer. This brings to mind another Black woman author who advised writers to regularly practice writing instead of waiting for inspiration. Thinking about story crafting and world building, especially while going over some of the resources on National Novel Writing Month’s website as I prep for this year’s 50,000 word challenge, has led to me trying to figure out a new way to balance my writing. (I’m also trying to stick to my deadlines so I can work on something new this November).

So I wonder…

What would happen if I worked at “constructing a story” versus conveying a story delivered to me by The Muse™/Divine Inspiration?

Somewhere inside (likely because I’ve always had a fairly healthy muse on my shoulder whispering in my ear), it usually feels like completely contriving a story, especially when the writing is solely for profit, is…wrong. Acting as a sort of medium through which a story is communicated has always felt natural to me. For the first time, however, I’ve had to wonder if writing fueled by inspiration alone is holding me back. Even if the story is ultimately coming from inside of me and the things around me that inspire me, has solely obeying the will of The Muse™ slowed me down when I could be sharing more of my work with the world and putting myself out there more? Has my unwitting reliance on inspiration made writing less fun and turned it into more of a responsibility and sacred duty than a beautiful expression of creativity and imagination? Am I ultimately asking The Muse™ for permission to write instead of letting my imagination be free to explore and build a story the way I want? Furthermore, am I bowing to Divine Inspiration as the only source capable of bestowing me with a story worth sharing?

With these thoughts in mind, I’ll definitely be reflecting on my writing and seeing what serves me and my stories best in the coming days. Maybe something about the way I write has gotta change and maybe it will change for the better.

Write on,

~S.T.

Updates 9/19

(Published this early–my bad!)

You might be wondering what I’ve been doing recently:

1) I decided not to attend the National Black Book Festival this year since its date conflicts with my niece’s birth and other challenges.

2) By the end of October, I expect to complete The Village Hidden in The Vale (Oracle, Book 2). I made a lot of progress on it in recent months–look forward to more on this novel soon.

3) This November, I will be participating in my 11th National Novel Writing Month and writing 50,000 words in one month. if I meet my other deadlines, I hope to be writing on a new book (or series) entitled Elevated, a fantasy novel–more on that later.

4) Miradey by S.T. Rucker is still being serialized on Wattpad. A wonderful fantasy romance, so go check it out and vote, if you are inclined.

5) Below is my current work in progress! (I know this quickly-put-together cover isn’t awe-inspiring, but as usual I’m working with the resources I have and also just wanted a quick visual to post. I’m also working hard to stop making book covers with dark backgrounds!) My current novel is in fact inspired by Ruby Dixon’s Aspect and Anchor series. I’ll be mentioning her a little more in one of my next post.

Reaping Sin by S.T. Rucker is a fantasy romance about Terian, an exiled god of Harvest, and Seine, a demigod, who must journey together to the city of the gods to return Terian to his heavenly domain regardless of their pilgrimage’s dire costs.

Writing for Whom and for What?

So I’ve written on this blog before on how I feel about writing for money first. I’m against it. My goal is not to have my writing be about money. If I can get a comfy deal where my writing is mine but I get paid for my books, I’m sure I won’t say no, but my I want my writing to be about writing first. It is part of the reason I have chosen to be an independent author.

Even though I write my books for myself, I do consider my audience from time to time. As an author, I do want people to read my books and I care that they do. But I wonder if we live in that twisted a world that I’d have more readers if I was actually charging people for my work and promoting myself in such a way to gain the appeal associated with publishing for pay.

Do readers associate quality with a price tag because we live in such a capitalistic society?

Or could it be that the best way to get people to not read my work at all is to put a price tag on it?

Would people rather read a free book? Or would they feel better or like the book is worth it if it sounds good and they had to pay for it?

Right now, my novels are free with the exception of one of the first books I published electronically on Smashwords (which I am intending to do some work on anyway).

I keep thinking, Shannon, you have to live. You have to get back on you feet. If you can get paid for publishing all the stories you work so hard on, why shouldn’t you? Every one else is. There’s a smaller annoying voice at the back of my head (sometimes at the front) that keeps saying, You deserve to live better than you’re living. You deserve to be paid for your work. You could be one of these bestsellers and New York Times-whatevers. You write well enough to stand among the authors people make such a big deal about. So why don’t you? We don’t live in a world where you can stand by your morals and beliefs and pay your bills. We don’t live in a world where people will engage your work out of a genuine love for reading and stories. You’re wasting your talents.

Those things do pass through my mind, especially when people look at my like I’m crazy when I tell them I only sell hard copies but my novels are free for people who come looking for them online. I try to make people aware of that immediately because my first goal is not profit. Other Black people and Black readers want to see me succeed but its always so obvious that they don’t think I can do that without being traditionally published or participating in publishing for profit.

What is success? I try to define it for myself. In my fantasies, it’s gaining a solid readership and owning my intellectual property. Like a lot of writers, I wouldn’t complain if money somehow came with that. Money just isn’t my first goal. Can you be recognized as an author without fundamentally tying money into what you create? I’ll keep writing regardless of the answers to these questions. ~S.T.

Update

This month I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. Writers around the world are writing 50,000 words this month, donating to the cause and participating in virtual events (all virtual this year because of Covid-19). Last year, I wrote about breaking an almost 10-year streak writing and winning. I “lost” by about 7,000 words and I was devastated. This year I’m not doing so good either and doubt I’ll make the 50,000 word limit though I’m doing my best.

Its been a hard year.

I’ve been sick for over a year, including having surgery to have my gallbladder removed. I’ve also moved out of Fresno, California and relocated to Kansas City, Missouri. Honestly, I was starting to feel trapped in Fresno and think its a good thing that I left but relocating is like starting all over again.

This October, the National Black Book Festival went virtual so I’ll be posting my interview soon. So awkward (I’m laughing, don’t worry), I don’t think I interview well.

I started publishing/serializing Miradey, a fantasy romance novel, on Wattpad. Check it out!

Miradey is cursed. It isn’t her fault and no one can save her. She sees no way out of her fate when she is duty-bound to protect her people…especially when she must eventually protect them from herself.
When Benedict Orion discovers Miradey’s name on a ledger of the cupids meant for him, he refuses to give up on saving her. With the help of The Third Dragon on The Hill and a lot of magic, he will reach across time and reality for her.

Infinity Second, serialized on Wattpad

THE WRITING IS DONE!!!

So sit back and read now that I have published the final chapters of Infinity Second on Wattpad. Once I’m done publishing all the chapters, I will label the book as complete. (I wanted to enter this story in the Watty Awards 2020 but its about 9000 words short and I worked too hard on it to go in and fluff it up for the extra words.)

Everybody knows that everybody dies. But how many people can say they live twice but die only once? Nikelle Evans discovers she is a special kind of human called a Mortality.

Morality are human in almost every way…except before they die and see their life flash before their eyes, they have one very long second in which to live an entirely separate life as a different person. After joining the Mortality Investigations Bureau, Nick/Nikelle unravels the secrets behind the death of her mother and what it truly means to be mortal.

Returning

Struggle. Since I last wrote here or updated any of my social media accounts I have gone through so much struggle. I’ve lost a loved one. Had to resign from my job and leave my students. Been let down over and over again by the system. Realized that there isn’t a single soul except myself that I can rely on. Suicidal depression brought on by lifelong disadvantages. Poverty. Anger. Abuse.

When have I had time write anything, focusing on what I love? Stories. Creating worlds and crafting. How can I focus on what I love when struggling to survive? How can I feel like my stories matter when my life is valued by no one?

So here I’m updating for the sake of updating.

Goodbye, Editor

After the editing of the first four chapters of The Scholar’s Apprentice: Secret of the Valor Lexicon, I had to end my contract and my relationship with my editor.

SB, my editor, tried to have a personal relationship with me but refused to check her race privilege and class privilege. This woman, this so-called professional, would actually rather end our friendship than check her privilege. She suggested we have a professional relationship only.

Which I refused.

I’m not going to give her my money and help her “build her empire”, as she put it, because that means supporting her ignorance and unwillingness to listen and face her issues. I’m not going to support the unprofessional habits she exhibited, such asking me the title and length of my book instead of looking for herself AFTER I submitted it to her. Or claiming she was was ready to do edits on the third and fourth chapters but not actually doing them until days later AFTER I paid her.

I gave her the chance to work on it with me and salvage our relationship. She refused.

In our private conversations, SB claimed she wanted to challenge herself, to stop being fake and dishonest. Well, she failed. Facing your privilege, how you participate in oppressing others and doing something about it is the most genuine way you can challenge yourself as a multiply privileged person. She couldn’t do that. Instead SB made the situation about her hurt feelings. Instead she chose to protect her privilege. She failed me, and that hurt. More importantly though, she failed herself.

Besides. She told me that in her opinion I don’t really need an editor anyway because I check my work well enough on my own. I’ve thought that for a long time but always preferred to have a second set of eyes on my work to make sure it’s as good as it can be. However, I am confident now that I don’t need her or anyone else trying to make a buck off me when it comes to my work. And someone who is unwilling to check their privilege can never be called my friend.

‘My Dearest Darling’, a winter wonderland fantasy romance

This November during NaNoWriMo, as my main work in progress, I started writing My Dearest Darling.

My Dearest Darling is a fantasy romance that takes place in a winter wonderland with a dash of sultry heat and sand from Ancient Egypt.

Here’s the 411:

In the small town of Black Santa where it’s winter all year around, Daniel Snow is looking for love and instead finds a furry friend who turns out to be more than she seems. Daniel soon learns his cat is out to wreck his love life. After Darling’s latest fiasco during his at-home dinner date, he gets ready to give the beautiful gold and black tortoiseshell a stern dressing down where he’s locked her in his bedroom to keep her out of trouble…only to discover that Darling is also in fact a very beautiful woman.

The holiday seasons really fills me with holiday energy and I have to at least try to complete a winter themed story every year

What’s Next? NaNoWriMo, Jukepop shutdown…

I DONE IT AGAIN, FOLKS! ^__^

I did National Novel Writing Month again this year. Albeit, with a lower word count than my ambitious behind normally strives for. The only thing I need to do now is stop involuntarily counting words in my head whenever I write something. (Takes a few weeks sometimes.)

Jukepop is gone, all its content reportedly deleted. The Taker was published there and Oracle and Infinity Second were serialized there. What a headache it gives me to think about all the place I’ll have to go around and correct that link for my novels. Its really made me reconsider how I’m offering my work to readers. Its not like I was doing as well as I’d like there anyway (in terms of numbers and followers, if that even really matters). And its makes me thankful that I started a Wattpad account, no matter how trendy it is and even if I’m rethinking offering my work on platforms like this and Jukepop. Supposedly, the makers of Jukepop are creating a new platform called Scroll. -__- Before I get into that I need to be sure its what I want to do.

I’m now exclusively serializing Oracle and Infinity Second on Wattpad (Lulu for Path of the Righteous in print and Smashwords for my published digital works).